m on every side, insomuch that the more
they flied to escape away, the more cruell and terrible were the dogges.
It fortuned amongst all this fearefull company, that in running, the
youngest of the three brethren stombled at a stone, and fell down to the
ground: Then the dogs came upon him and tare him in peeces with their
teeth, whereby he was compelled to cry for succour: His other two
brethren hearing his lamentable voice ran towards him to helpe him,
casting their cloakes about their left armes, tooke up stones to chase
away the dogs, but all was in vaine, for they might see their brother
dismembred in every part of his body: Who lying at the very point of
death, desired his brethren to revenge his death against that cruell
tyrant: And therewithall lie gave up the ghost. The other two brethren
perceiving so great a murther, and neglecting their owne lives, like
desperate persons dressed themselves against the tyrant, and threw a
great number of stones at him, but the bloudy theefe exercised in such
and like mischiefes, tooke a speare and thrust it cleane through the
body: howbeit he fell not downe to the ground. For the speare that came
out at his backe ran into the earth, and sustained him up. By and by
came one of these tyrants servants the most sturdiest of the rest to
helpe his master, who at the first comming tooke up a stone and threw at
the third brother, but by reason the stone ran along his arme it did not
hurt him, which chanced otherwise then all mens expectation was: by and
by the young man feigning that his arme was greatly wounded, spake these
words unto the cruell bloud sucker: Now maist thou, thou wretch, triumph
upon the destruction of all our family, now hast thou fed thy insatiable
cruelty with the bloud of three brethren, now maist thou rejoyce at the
fall of us Citizens, yet thinke not but that how farre thou dost remove
and extend the bounds of thy land, thou shalt have some neighbor, but
how greatly am I sorry in that I have lost mine arme wherewithall I
minded to cut off thy head. When he had spoken these words, the furious
theefe drew out his dagger, and running upon the young man thought
verily to have slaine him, but it chanced otherwise: For the young man
resisted him stoutly, and in buckling together by violence wrested the
dagger out of his hand: which done, he killed the rich theefe with his
owne weapon, and to the intent the young man would escape the hands of
the servants which came ru