Page:Swahili tales.djvu/397

Rh And he went back cautiously, and went and stood at a distance, and said, "Salaam house! Salaam house! Salaam house!" And he heard no reply. And the hare said, "How is this? Every day as I pass this place, if I say, 'Salaam,' the house answers me; but to-day perhaps there is some one inside it." The lion was deceived, and replied, "Salaam."

And he said to him, "Oho, lion! you are inside, you want to eat me, your son. And where did you hear of a house's talking?" And the lion said, "Wait for me, that's all." And the hare ran off, and they chased one another till the lion was tired. And he said to the people, "The hare has beaten me; there, I do not want him any more." And he went back.