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 for what he had done.

After this the King set Ring next to himself, and all esteemed him
highly, and held him to be a great hero; nor could Red any longer say
anything against him, though he grew still more determined to destroy
him. One day a good idea came into his head. He came to the King and
said he had something to say to him.

'What is that?' said the King.

Red said that he had just remembered the gold cloak, gold chess