The lion at once sprang towards them with a loud roar , but the deer bounded away , and they were all three soon lost to sight . The cat waited for a long while , but finding that the lion did not return , went back to the house where they lived . It was quite dark when the lion came home , where his brother was sitting curled up in one corner . ` Did you catch the deer for me ? ' asked the boy-brother , springing up . ` Well , no , ' replied the man-brother . ` The fact is , that I did not get up to them till we had run half way across the world and left the wind far behind us . Think what a trouble it would have been to drag it here ! So -- I just ate them both . ' The cat said nothing , but he did not feel that he loved his big brother . He had thought a great deal about that deer , and had meant to get on his back to ride him as a horse , and go to see all the wonderful places the lion talked to him about when he was in a good temper . The more he thought of it the more sulky he grew , and in the morning , when the lion said that it was time for them to start to hunt , the cat told him that he might kill the bear and snake by himself , as HE had a headache , and would rather stay at home . The little fellow knew quite well that the lion would not dare to go out without him and his ball for fear of meeting a bear or a snake . The quarrel went on , and for many days neither of the brothers spoke to each other , and what made them still more cross was , that they could get very little to eat , and we know that people are often cross when they are hungry . At last it occurred to the lion that if he could only steal the magic ball he could kill bears and snakes for himself , and then the cat might be as sulky as he liked for anything that it would matter . But how was the stealing to be done ? The cat had the ball hung round his neck day and night , and he was such a light sleeper that it was useless to think of taking it while he slept . No ! the only thing was to get him to lend it of his own accord , and after some days the lion -LRB- who was not at all clever -RRB- hit upon a plan that he thought would do . ` Dear me , how dull it is here ! '
said the lion one afternoon , when the rain was pouring down in such torrents XXXXX , however sharp your eyes or your nose might be , you could not spy a single bird or beast among the bushes .
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