<h2><SPAN name="XVIII" id="XVIII"></SPAN>XVIII</h2>
<h3><i>Why the Cat kills Rats</i></h3>
<p>Ansa was King of Calabar for fifty years. He had a very faithful cat
as a housekeeper, and a rat was his house-boy. The king was an
obstinate, headstrong man, but was very fond of the cat, who had been
in his store for many years.</p>
<p>The rat, who was very poor, fell in love with one of the king's
servant girls, but was unable to give her any presents, as he had no
money.</p>
<p>At last he thought of the king's store, so in the night-time, being
quite small, he had little difficulty, having made a hole in the roof,
in getting into the store. He then stole corn and native pears, and
presented them to his sweetheart.</p>
<p>At the end of the month, when the cat had to render her account of the
things in the store to the king, it was found that a lot of corn and
native pears were missing. The king was very angry at this, and asked
the cat for an explanation. But the cat could not account for the
loss, until one of her friends told her that the rat had been stealing
the corn and giving it to the girl.</p>
<p>When the cat told the king, he called the girl before him and had her
flogged. The rat he handed<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</SPAN></span> over to the cat to deal with, and
dismissed them both from his service. The cat was so angry at this
that she killed and ate the rat, and ever since that time whenever a
cat sees a rat she kills and eats it.</p>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</SPAN></span></p>
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