I suspected , ' said the King , ` that Ring was not quite useless ; never have I seen such a day 's work . ' Ring was now in far greater esteem with the King than before , and Red was all the more discontented . One day he came to the King and said , ` If Ring is such a mighty man , I think you might ask him to kill the wild oxen in the wood here , and flay them the same day , and bring you the horns and the hides in the evening . ' ` Do n't you think that a desperate errand ? ' said the King , ` seeing they are so dangerous , and no one has ever yet ventured to go against them ? ' Red answered that he had only one life to lose , and it would be interesting to see how brave he was ; besides , the King would have good reason to ennoble him if he overcame them . The King at last allowed himself , though rather unwillingly , to be won over by Red 's persistency , and one day asked Ring to go and kill the oxen that were in the wood for him , and bring their horns and hides to him in the evening . Not knowing how dangerous the oxen were , Ring was quite ready , and went off at once , to the great delight of Red , who was now sure of his death . As soon as Ring came in sight of the oxen they came bellowing to meet him ; one of them was tremendously big , the other rather less . Ring grew terribly afraid . ` How do you like them ? ' asked Snati . ` Not well at all , ' said the Prince . ` We can do nothing else , ' said Snati , ` than attack them , if it is to go well ; you will go against the little one , and I shall take the other . ' With this Snati leapt at the big one , and was not long in bringing him down . Meanwhile the Prince went against the other with fear and trembling , and by the time Snati came to help him the ox had nearly got him under , but Snati was not slow in helping his master to kill it . Each of them then began to flay their own ox , but Ring was only half through by the time Snati had finished his . In the evening , after they had finished this task , the Prince thought himself unfit to carry all the horns and both the hides , so Snati told him to lay them all on his back until they got to the Palace gate . The Prince agreed , and laid everything on the Dog except the skin of the smaller ox , which he staggered along with himself . At the Palace gate he left everything lying , went before the King , and asked him to come that length with him , and there handed over to him the hides and horns of the oxen .
The King was greatly surprised at his valour , and said he knew no one like him , and thanked him heartily XXXXX what he had done .
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