His mother insists that he repeat the name-but with respect. However, because Chang is out of breath from running he sputters and then mispronounces the name. Chang runs to their mother and tries to tell her that "Tikki Tikki Tembo-no Sa Rembo-chari Bari Ruchi-pip Peri Pembo has fallen into the well." At first she cannot hear him so he says it again. Some time later, the boys are again playing near the well. Chang is rescued and then recovers quickly. Their mother tells him to get the Old Man with the Ladder. Chang falls in the well and his older brother runs to their mother and tells her Chang has fallen down the well. A boy named Tikki Tikki Tembo-no Sa Rembo-chari Bari Ruchi-pip Peri Pembo ("The Most Wonderful Thing in the Whole Wide World") and his little brother Chang ("Little or Nothing") are playing very close to a well at their house that their mother has warned them to avoid. Tikki Tikki Tembo is set in ancient China and invents an ancient Chinese custom whereby parents honor their first-born sons with long, elaborate names that everyone is obliged to say completely – no nicknames, no shortening of any kind – while second-born sons are typically given short, unimportant names.
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