who thinkest to carry off so safely a prize more
due to my earnest love than to thy idle philandering, why dost thou not
rise from that flowery bank, and tear from my bosom the life which so
abhors thine? And that not for the insult thou puttest upon myself, but
because thou knowest not how to prize the blessing which fortune bestows
upon thee. 'Tis plain, indeed, how little thou esteemest it, since thou
wilt not budge to defend it for fear of ruffling the finical arrangement
of thy pretty attire. Had Achilles been of as placid temper as thou art,
Ulysses would certainly have failed in his attempt, for all his show of
glittering arms and burnished helmets. Go, play among thy mother's
maids; they will help thee to dress thy locks and take care of those
dainty hands that are fitter to wind silk than to handle a sword.'

"In spite of all these taunts Cornelio never stirred from his seat, but
remained perfectly still, staring at me as if he was bewitched. The loud
tones in which I spoke had brought round us all the people who were
walking in the garden, and they arrived in time to hear me assail
Cornelio with many other opprobrious terms. Plucking up heart, at last,
from the presence of numbers, most of whom were his relations, servants,
or friends, he made a show as if he would rise; but before he was on his
feet my sword was out, and I attacked not him only but all who were
before me. The moment Leonisa saw the gleam of my sword she swooned
away, which only exasperated my frantic rage. I know not whether it was
that those whom I assailed contented themselves with acting on the
defensive as against a raving madman, or that it was my own good luck
and adroitness, or Heaven's design to reserve me for greater ills, but
the fact was that I wounded seven or eight of those who came under my
hand. As for Cornelio, he made such good use of his heels that he
escaped me.

"In this imminent danger, surrounded by enemies who were now incensed to
vengeance, I was saved by an extraordinary chance; but better would it
have been to have lost my life on the spot than to be saved in order to
suffer hourly death. On a sudden the garden was invaded by a great
number of Turkish corsairs, who had landed in the neighbourhood without
being perceived by the sentinels in the castles on the coast, or by our
cruisers. As soon as my antagonists descried them they left me, and
escaped with all speed. Of all the persons in the garden the Turks
captured