No harm shall come to thee of this." "Fair
king," answered Hengist, "gentle sire, I know not if I can make it
plain. Our race is of a fertile stock, more quick and abounding than
any other you may know, or whereof you have heard speak. Our folk are
marvellously fruitful, and the tale of the children is beyond measure.
Women and men are more in number than the sand, for the greater sorrow
of those amongst us who are here. When our people are so many that the
land may not sustain nor suffice them, then the princes who rule the
realm assemble before them all the young men of the age of fifteen
years and upwards, for such is our use and custom. From out of these
they choose the most valiant and the most strong, and, casting lots,
send them forth from the country, so that they may travel into divers
lands, seeking fiefs and houses of their own. Go out they must, since
the earth cannot contain them; for the children came more thickly than
the beasts which pasture in the fields. Because of the lot that fell
upon us we have bidden farewell to our homes, and putting our trust in
Mercury, the god has led us to your realm." When the king heard the
name of Mercury as the god of their governance, be inquired what
manner of men these were, and of the god in whom they believed.
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