The maiden tickled his chin, and even put up his whiskers in curl
papers. Then she stroked his neck, so that his eyes closed. Soon she
had gently lulled him to slumber, by singing a cradle song, which her
mother had taught her. This she did so softly, and sweetly, that in a
few minutes, with its head in her lap, the monster was sound asleep
and even began to snore.

Then, quietly, from their hiding places in the bushes, Gadern and his
men crawled out. When near the dreaded Afang, they stood up and
sneaked forward, very softly on tip toe. They had wrapped the links of
the chain in grass and leaves, so that no clanking was heard. They
also held the oxen's yokes, so that nobody or anything could rattle,
or make any noise. Slowly but surely they passed the chain over its
body, in the middle, besides binding the brute securely between its
fore and hind legs.

All this time, the monster slept on, for the girl kept on crooning her
melody.

When the forty yoke of oxen were all harnessed together, the drovers
cracked all their whips at once, so that it sounded like a clap of
thunder and the whole team began to pull together.

Then the Afang woke up with a start.

The sudden jerk roused the monster to wrath, and its bellowing was
terrible. It rolled round and round, and dug its four sets of toes,
each with three claws, every one as big as a plowshare, into the
ground. It tried hard to crawl into its lair, or slip into the lake.