Again his mother entreated him to stay at home, but he would not listen to her, and started off again.
This time he went away off into the forest, and seeing a bigger cat than the last one, he killed it, bound it, and dragged it home, singing,
“Oh, mother, I have killed
The noondah, eater of the people.”
But directly his mother saw it, she had to tell him, as before, “My son, this is not the noondah, eater of the people.”
He was, of course, very much troubled at this; and his mother said, “Now, where do you expect to find this noondah? You don’t know where it is, and you don’t know what it looks like. You’ll get sick over this; you’re not looking so well now as you did. Come, stay at home.”
But he said: “There are three things, one of which I shall do: I shall die; I shall find the noondah and kill it; or I shall return home unsuccessful. In any case, I’m off again.”
This time he went farther than before, saw a zebra, killed it, bound it, and dragged it home, singing,
“Oh, mother, I have killed
The noondah, eater of the people.”