it is you whom the ogre should eat , and not your beautiful daughter . ' At last they arrived at the village where the ogre lived , and they went straight to his hut . He was nowhere to be seen , but in his place was his son Masilo , who was not an ogre at all , but a very polite young man . He ordered his servants to bring a pile of skins for Thakane to sit on , but told her father he must sit on the ground . Then , catching sight of the girl 's face , which she had kept down , he was struck by its beauty , and put the same question that the rabbit , and the elands , and the gazelles had done . Thakane answered him as before , and he instantly commanded that she should be taken to the hut of his mother , and placed under her care , while the man should be led to his father . Directly the ogre saw him he bade the servant throw him into the great pot which always stood ready on the fire , and in five minutes he was done to a turn . After that the servant returned to Masilo and related all that had happened . Now Masilo had fallen in loved with Thakane the moment he saw her . At first he did not know what to make of this strange feeling , for all his life he had hated women , and had refused several brides whom his parents had chosen for him . However , they were so anxious that he should marry , that they willingly accepted Thakane as their daughter-in-law , though she did bring any marriage portion with her . After some time a baby was born to her , and Thakane thought it was the most beautiful baby that ever was seen . But when her mother-in-law saw it was a girl , she wrung her hands and wept , saying : ' O miserable mother ! Miserable child ! Alas for you ! why were you not a boy ! ' Thakane , in great surprise , asked the meaning of her distress ; and the old woman told her that it was the custom in that country that all the girls who were born should be given to the ogre to eat . Then Thakane clasped the baby tightly in her arms , and cried : ` But it is not the customer in MY country ! There , when children die , they are buried in the earth . No one shall take my baby from me . '
That night , when everyone XXXXX the hut was asleep , Thakane rose , and carrying her baby on her back , went down to a place where the river spread itself out into a large lake , with tall willows all round the bank .
as at by for from in of on to under