Page:Aelfric's Lives of Saints Vol 1.djvu/327

 and. swore by  the  sun,  and  by  all  his  gods,

that he  would  destroy  him  by  divers  torments.

Then said  the  blessed  George  to  him,

'Thy tortures  are  transitory,

but I  fear  not  for  thy  threatening;

thou hast  my  body  in  thy  power,

but nevertheless  not  thou  hast,  but  God  (has)  my  soul.'

Then the  emperor  bade  his  torturers  fetch

a brazen  caldron,  and  fill  it  full

with boiling  lead,  and  lay  George

within the  caldron,  when  it  was  hottest.

Then the  saint  raised  his  eyes  to  heaven,

praying to  his  Lord,  and  saying  boldly,

' I  go  into  thee  in  my  Lord's  name,

and I  hope  in  the  Lord  that  He  will  now  deliver  me

unhurt out  of  this  boiling  caldron,

to whom  is  praise  and  glory  throughout  all  the  world.'

And he  made  the  sign  of  the  cross  over  the  caldron,  and  laid

himself upon  it,

and the  lead  was  cooled  by  God's  might,

and George  sat  sound  in  the  caldron.

Then said  the  emperor  to  Christ's  servant,

' Knowest  thou  not,  O  George,  that  our  gods  are  striving  with  thee,

and even  yet  they  are  patient,  that  they  may  pity  thee;

now I  exhort  thee,  as  a  beloved  son,

that thou  altogether  quit  the  Christians'  doctrine,

and quickly  incline  to  my  counsel,

so that  thou  sacrifice  to  the  venerable  Apollo,

and thou  mayest  so  obtain  great  honour.'

Then the  holy  martyr,  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,

smiled with  his  mouth,  and  said  to  the  wicked  man,

' It  befitteth  us  to  sacrifice  to  the  immortal  God.'