his wife tried to help him and one of the guards
killed her. The owner of the estate was furious and put a price on Mad
Cat's head. He hid his children with a friend, and survived by doing
work for local shepherds in the hills.
32 One day he returned to visit his children and found his friend's
house empty. The villagers told him what had happened. Someone had
recognized his children, and the landlord's men had come in the dead of
the night. They dragged his friend, his wife, and all the children to
the trees and hung them. The villagers had taken them down the next
day, and given them a decent burial.
33 Mad Cat's anger was now beyond reason. He swore vengeance on the
landlord, and for four bitter seasons wreaked havoc on his property.
Gathering a small band of followers he raided again and again,
attacking rent collectors, burning crops, killing stewards.
34 Soon, the army searched for him everywhere. He knew that if he stayed
there, sooner or later he would be caught, so one night he slipped into
the landlord's house, woke the man in his own bed, and cut his throat!
He went into his daughter's room and bitterly used her. But as he put
the knife to her throat, and looked in her terrified eyes, his heart
broke. He told her he was sorry for what he had done, and to his
surprise, the woman forgave him!
35 "What my father did," she acknowledged, "was beyond reason. Perhaps
what you did was justice. I will not condemn you. The hurt
did me will pass, the hurt we did you can never be forgotten. Flee.
Get away from this land. There is still some good in you. I
beg of you, do not let it die, do not become like my father!"