Then Lita said to them “Do not kill the cat; catch it alive and give it to me and I will pay you twenty rupees for it; then you can go to the Raja and say that you have killed it and ask for the reward; and if the Raja asks to see the body tell him that a stranger came and asked for the body, for he thought that a cat which had fed on milk should be good eating and so you gave it to him.”  The villagers thought that this would be an excellent plan and promised to bring him the cat alive.  They soon managed to catch it hiding under a heap of firewood and brought it to Lita and he paid them twenty rupees and then they went to the Raja and got twenty rupees from him.

Then Lita went on, and by-and-bye came to a village where the villagers were hunting an otter in a tank; they had made a cut in the bank and had let out all the water.  Lita went to them and asked what they were doing; they said that they were hunting for an otter which had been destroying the Raja’s fish and the Raja had promised them a reward if they killed it, and they had driven it into the tank and were draining off the water in order to catch it.  Then Lita offered to buy it of them if they brought it to him alive; so when they caught it they brought it to him and he gave them money for it and continued his journey with the cat and the otter.  Presently he saw a crowd of men and he went up to them and asked what they were doing:  and they told him that they were hunting a rat which was always gnawing the Raja’s pens and papers and the Raja had offered a reward for it, and they had driven it out of the palace, but it had taken refuge in a hole and they were going to dig it out Then Lita offered to buy it from them as he had bought the other two animals and they dug it out and sold it to him.

He went on and in the same way found a crowd of men hunting a snake which had bitten many people:  and he offered to buy it for twenty rupees and when they had chased it till it was exhausted, they caught it alive and sold it to Lita.  As his money was all spent, he then set off homewards; and on the way the snake began to speak and said:  “Lita, you have saved my life; had you not come by, those men would certainly have had my life; come with me to my home, where my father and mother are, and I will give you anything you ask for; we have great possessions.”  But Lita was afraid and said:  “When you get me there you will eat me, or if you don’t, your father and mother will.”  But the snake protested that it could not be guilty of such ingratitude and at last Lita agreed to accompany it when he had left the other animals at his home.