He (knowing that his father had promised to give up all that he possessed, and therefore his son also) said to his father: "Dear father, to whom wilt thou give me?" He said it a second and a third time. Then the father replied (angrily): "I shall give thee unto Death."

In plain words: Since his father had promised to give away everything, Nachiketas asks him three times, 'To whom will you give me?' His father angrily answers, 'I give you to Death.'