It is no longer a cat , but a demon ! ' And the soldiers answered him , ` Did we not tell you , master , what the cat was doing , and did you not say , `` My cat and my people '' ? ' And he answered : ` True , I said it . ' Now the youngest son had not gone with the rest , but had stayed at home with his mother ; and when he heard that his brothers had been killed by the cat he said , ` Let me go , that it may slay me also . ' His mother entreated him not to leave her , but he would not listen , and he took his sword and a spear and some rice cakes , and went after the cat , which by this time had run of to a great distance . The lad spent many days hunting the cat , which now bore the name of ` The Nunda , eater of people , ' but though he killed many wild animals he saw no trace of the enemy he was hunting for . There was no beast , however fierce , that he was afraid of , till at last his father and mother begged him to give up the chase after the Nunda . But he answered : ` What I have said , I can not take back . If I am to die , then I die , but every day I must go and seek for the Nunda . ' And again his father offered him what he would , even the crown itself , but the boy would hear nothing , and went on his way . Many times his slaves came and told him , ` We have seen footprints , and to-day we shall behold the Nunda . ' But the footprints never turned out to be those of the Nunda . They wandered far through deserts and through forests , and at length came to the foot of a great hill . And something in the boy 's soul whispered that here was the end of all their seeking , and to-day they would find the Nunda . But before they began to climb the mountain the boy ordered his slaves to cook some rice , and they rubbed the stick to make a fire , and when the fire was kindled they cooked the rice and ate it . Then they began their climb . Suddenly , when they had almost reached the top , a slave who was on in front cried : ` Master ! Master ! ' And the boy pushed on to where the slave stood , and the slave said : ` Cast your eyes down to the foot of the mountain . ' And the boy looked , and his soul told him it was the Nunda .
And he crept down with his spear XXXXX his hand , and then he stopped and gazed below him .
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