Oh , how much better a servant he was than any of the little girls the bride had refused to bring with her ! If she wanted water , she had only to cross the patch of maize behind the hut and seek out the place where the buffalo lay hidden , and put down her pail beside him . Then she would sit at her ease while he went to the lake and brought the bucket back brimming over . If she wanted wood , he would break the branches off the trees and lay them at her feet . And the villagers watched her return laden , and said to each other : ` Surely the girls of her country are stronger than our girls , for none of them could cut so quickly or carry so much ! ' But then , nobody knew that she had a buffalo for a servant . Only , all this time she never gave the poor buffalo anything to eat , because she had just one dish , out of which she and her husband ate ; while in her old home there was a dish put aside expressly for the Rover of the Plain . The buffalo bore it as long as he could ; but , one day , when his mistress bade him go to the lake and fetch water , his knees almost gave way from hunger . He kept silence , however , till the evening , when he said to his mistress : ' I am nearly starved ; I have not touched food since I came here . I can work no more . ' ` Alas ! ' answered she , ` what can I do ? I have only one dish in the house . You will have to steal some beans from the fields . Take a few here and a few there ; but be sure not to take too many from one place , or the owner may notice it . ' Now the buffalo had always lived an honest life , but if his mistress did not feed him , he must get food for himself . So that night , when all the village was asleep , he came out from the wood and ate a few beans here and a few there , as his mistress had bidden him . And when at last his hunger was satisfied , he crept back to his lair . But a buffalo is not a fairy , and the next morning , when the women arrived to work in the fields , they stood still with astonishment , and said to each other : ` Just look at this ; a savage beast has been destroying our crops , and we can see the traces of his feet ! ' And they hurried to their homes to tell their tale .
In the evening the girl crept out XXXXX the buffalo 's hiding-place , and said to him : ` They perceived what happened , of course ; so to-night you had better seek your supper further off . '
from if in off since than that till to while