They sat down and began to dry their coats. [Nkunda’s cat was licking her breast and her coal-black paws and the fur of her striped and mottled gray back with all the care in the world.] And the Cat [went on the Alo Man] was so interested in making her beautiful coat quite smooth and glossy that she did not see that the Rat was busily digging a hole in the earth behind her.
“Are you ready?” asked the Cat at last, when every part of her coat was dry and glossy and smooth.
“Certainly,” said the Rat, and he disappeared into the hole.
“You rascal!” cried the Cat, for the hole was only just big enough for the Rat to dive into it.
“Quee, quee!” said the Rat from the bottom of the hole.
“You will never get out of that hole alive,” said the Cat. “I will stay here and wait for you, and when you come out I will eat you.”
“What if I never come out?” said the Rat. “Quee, quee!”
“Then you can stay in that hole and starve,” said the Cat, and she settled down in front of the hole with her nose on her paws and all four feet under her, watching for the Rat to come out.
“Quee, quee!” said the Rat, in the hole, and he began to dig himself in deeper.
All day long the Rat went on digging.