Then it caught a grown-up man . After that the cat left the town and took up its abode in a thicket near the road . So if any one passed , going for water , it devoured him . If it saw a cow going to feed , it devoured him . If it saw a goat , it devoured him . Whatever went along that road the cat caught and ate . Then the people went to the sultan in a body , and told him of all the misdeeds of that cat . But he answered as before , ` The cat is mine and the people are mine . ' And no man dared kill the cat , which grew bolder and bolder , and at last came into the town to look for its prey . One day , the sultan said to his six sons , ' I am going into the country , to see how the wheat is growing , and you shall come with me . ' They went on merrily along the road , till they came to a thicket , when out sprang the cat , and killed three of the sons . ` The cat ! The cat ! ' shrieked the soldiers who were with him . And this time the sultan said : ` Seek for it and kill it . 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 XXXXX ` The Nunda , eater of people , ' but though he killed many wild animals he saw no trace of the enemy he was hunting for .
If after along at by for in into of to