For some time the kingdom remained , though it became weaker and weaker every year that passed . Then , one day , a rumour reached the king that a large army was marching against him . Vaguely he recollected some tales he had heard about a magic cornet which could provide as many soldiers as would serve to conquer the earth , and which had been removed by his grandfather to a cellar . Thither he hastened that he might renew his power once more , and in that black and slimy spot he found the treasures indeed . But the table fell to pieces as he touched it , in the cornet there remained only a few fragments of leathern belts which the rats had gnawed , and in the bag nothing but broken bits of stone . And the king bowed his head to the doom that awaited him , and in his heart cursed the ruin wrought by the pride and foolishness of himself and his forefathers . The Rover of the Plain -LSB- From Contes Populaires Slaves , par Louis Leger . -RSB- A long way off , near the sea coast of the east of Africa , there dwelt , once upon a time , a man and his wife . They had two children , a son and a daughter , whom they loved very much , and , like parents in other countries , they often talked of the fine marriages the young people would make some day . Out there both boys and girls marry early , and very soon , it seemed to the mother , a message was sent by a rich man on the other side of the great hills offering a fat herd of oxen in exchange for the girl . Everyone in the house and in the village rejoiced , and the maiden was despatched to her new home . When all was quiet again the father said to his son : ` Now that we own such a splendid troop of oxen you had better hasten and get yourself a wife , lest some illness should overtake them . Already we have seen in the villages round about one or two damsels whose parents would gladly part with them for less than half the herd . Therefore tell us which you like best , and we will buy her for you . ' But the son answered : ` Not so ; the maidens I have seen do not please me . If , indeed , I must marry , let me travel and find a wife for myself . ' ` It shall be as you wish , ' said the parents ; ` but if by-and-by trouble should come of it , it will be your fault and not ours . ' The youth , however , would not listen ; and bidding his father and mother farewell , set out on his search . Far , far away he wandered , over mountains and across rivers , till he reached a village where the people were quite different from those of his own race . He glanced about him and noticed that the girls were fair to look upon , as they pounded maize or stewed something that smelt very nice in earthen pots -- especially if you were hot and tired ; and when one of the maidens turned round and offered the stranger some dinner , he made up his mind that he would wed her and nobody else .
So he sent a message to her parents asking their leave to take her for his wife , and they came next day XXXXX bring their answer .
For Out in lest of over that though to with