Page:Aelfric's Lives of Saints Vol 1.djvu/215

 The judge  asked,  'How  long  wilt  thou,  unhappy,

protract this  vanity  by  confessing  Christ

Renounce thy  Christ,  and  call  upon  the  gods,

lest thou  lose  thy  life  in  thy  youth.'

Agatha answered  simply,  and  said,

' Renounce  thou  thy  gods  which  are  of  stone  and  wood,

and pray  to  thy  Creator  who  truly  liveth;

if thou  despisest  Him,  thou  shalt  suffer  in  eternal  torments.'

Then the  impious   man    became   incensed,  and    bade    stretch    her on  the  rack,

and cruelly  twist  her  like  a  withy-rope,  and  said,

' Forsake  thy  self-will,  that  thy  life  may  be  saved.'

Agatha answered  on  the  rack  thus,

'So greatly  I  rejoice  in  these  painful  torments

even as  he  that  seeth  him  whom  he  hath  desired,

or as  he  that  findeth  many  hoards  of  gold.

My soul  cannot  be  brought  with  joy  to  Heaven

except my  body  be  cramped  in  thy  bonds,

and by  the  executioners  be  gripped  in  thy  fetters.'

Then raged  the  cruel  one,  and  bade  men  torture  her

on the  breast  in  the  rack,  and  bade  it  afterward  be  cut  off.

Agatha said  to  him,  '  O  thou  most  wicked!

aft thou  not  ashamed  to  cut  off  that  which  thou  thyself  hast  sucked?

but I  have  my  breast  sound  in  my  soul,

with which  I  shall  at  any  rate  feed  my  understanding.'

Then Quintianus  bade  them  conduct  her  to  prison,

and bade  them  deprive  her  of  food  and  drink,

and said  that  no  leech  should  be  permitted  to  cure  her.

Lo then! at midnight  came  a  hoar-haired  man

into the  prison,  and  his  servant  before  him,

having a  lamp  in  his  hands,  desiring  to  heal  the  saint.

The blessed  Agatha  said  to  the  leech,

'I never  cared  for  any  leechcraft  in  my  life,

I have  my  Jesus  who  healeth  me  by  His  Word;

He can,  if  He  will,  mightily  heal  me.'