When Papa Njego went out and was successful, he would bring food to his mate, for she had to be nearly all the time with their dear little ones.
So the old leopards were kept busy. After a while they would leave the little njegos alone, saying, “We can leave them now, for they are still afraid to go out of our lair when we are not with them.”
The little njegos grew fast, feeding only from the breast of their mother, and began to roam around their lair. One day, as their parents were looking at them playing about, the mother said to her mate: “Look how big our little ones are! How much they have grown lately! We must soon give them a taste of blood.”
Two or three nights afterward both were successful, and returned each with a gazelle, and almost at the same time.
They tore the gazelles to pieces, and called their little ones out, and put before them the pieces they had torn off. The little njegos looked at them first, and as if they did not seem to care, for they did not know what blood was, or raw flesh. They came and smelt the meat, but did not lick it, and went back to be nursed by their mamma.
The next day the njegos went after prey and were again successful. Again they tore off pieces of the flesh and put them before the little ones. This time they smelled the meat and licked it two or three times, to the great joy of the old ones. The third time meat was put before them, they licked the meat until no vestige of blood was left on it.
When their parents saw this, they were delighted and said: “Our little ones are doing well. They now enjoy the taste of blood. They are going to be true njegos.”
The little njegos, who had now licked blood, wanted more, and were very restless and cried for it, though they could not yet talk the njego language, for they were too young. The next day Papa Njego was luckier, and brought a young kambi to their lair. This time the eyes of the little njegos fairly glared when they saw the bloody pieces of meat, and they precipitated themselves upon them and licked off the blood with great gusto, for they loved blood more every time they tasted it, to the great delight of the old njegos.
Soon after, as their teeth grew, they began not only to lick the blood, but to eat the meat. One day the big njego said to his mate: “Our little ones are getting big, and soon we shall have to work harder and harder to feed them, for their appetites increase more and more as they grow larger and larger.” Then he rubbed his head against her neck to show how much he loved her.