And when they had finished he bade them hide the rest of the food in the thicket , that if they slew the Nunda they might return and eat and sleep before going back to the town . And the slaves did as he bade them . It was now afternoon , and the lad said : ` It is time we went after the Nunda . ' And they went till they reached the bottom and came to a great forest which lay between them and the Nunda . Here the lad stopped , and ordered every slave that wore two cloths to cast one away and tuck up the other between his legs . ` For , ' said he , ` the wood is not a little one . Perhaps we may be caught by the thorns , or perhaps we may have to run before the Nunda , and the cloth might bind our legs , and cause us to fall before it . ' And they answered , ` Good , master , ' and did as he bade them . Then they crawled on their hands and knees to where the Nunda lay asleep . Noiselessly they crept along till they were quite close to it ; then , at a sign from the boy , they threw their spears . The Nunda did not stir : the spears had done their work , but a great fear seized them all , and they ran away and climbed the mountain . The sun was setting when they reached the top , and glad they were to take out the fruit and the cakes and the water which they had hidden away , and sit down and rest themselves . And after they had eaten and were filled , they lay down and slept till morning . When the dawn broke they rose up and cooked more rice , and drank more water . After that they walked all round the back of the mountain to the place where they had left the Nunda , and they saw it stretched out where they had found it , stiff and dead . And they took it up and carried it back to the town , singing as they went , ` He has killed the Nunda , the eater of people . ' And when his father heard the news , and that his son was come , and was bringing the Nunda with him , he felt that the man did not dwell on the earth whose joy was greater than his . And the people bowed down to the boy and gave him presents , and loved him , because he had delivered them from the bondage of fear , and had slain the Nunda . -LRB- Adapted from Swahili Tales . -RRB- THE STORY OF HASSEBU Once upon a time there lived a poor woman who had only one child , and he was a little boy called Hassebu .
When he ceased XXXXX be a baby , and his mother thought it was time for him to learn to read , she sent him to school .
OF because by from on than that till to with