Page:Aelfric's Lives of Saints Vol 1.djvu/255

 but he  shall  be  upheld  who  continueth  to  the  end.'

They all  heard  the  Saviour's  words,

and were  affrighted,  and  therefore  continued

without sleep  until  day,  magnifying  their  Lord.

Then Agricola  in  the  early  morning  gathered

his born  kinsmen  to  his  wicked  council,

and bade  lead  to  him  the  holy  soldiers  of  God.

So they  all  forty  stood  before  him.

Then began  the  judge  again  to  praise  them,

saying that  there  were  none  like  them  in  the  emperor's  land,

neither so  extolled  nor  so  dear  to  him,

if they  would  not  turn  that  love  to  hate.

Then said  the  saints  that  they  hated  him

for his  unbelief,  and  loved  their  Lord.

Then raged  the  cruel  one  like  a  greedy  lion,

and bade  that  they  should  be  brought  bound  into  the  dungeon,

because he  awaited  the  chief  magistrate's  coming.

Then about  a  se'nnight  after  this  the  chief  magistrate  came,

and immediately  bade  summon  the  faithful  saints.

Then said  one  of  them,  whose  name  was  Quirio,

Oh ye  brothers,  let  us  be  encouraged;

as often  as  we  have  cried  to  Christ  in  the  fight,

we were  victorious  straightway  through  His  succour,

and we  likewise  overcame  the  approaching  army.

Once we  were  in  a  great  conflict,

and all  our  people  escaped  by  flight,

except we  forty  who  stood  to  the  fight,

earnestly entreating  our  Lord's  assistance,

and some  we  put  to  flight,  others  fell  before  us,

and not  one  of  us  was  harmed  by  all  that  multitude.

Now is  our  adversary  this  bloodthirsty  Prefect,

another is  the  judge,  and  a  third  is  the  devil;

these three  lay  snares  how  they  may  deceive  us;

but let  us  now  call  Christ  to  help  us,

and neither  the  awful  tortures,  nor  the  sharp  punishments,