Page:Aelfric's Lives of Saints Vol 1.djvu/431

 The judge  said  to  him:  'Tell  me  thy  name,

without any  delay,  now  that  I  thus  ask.'

The champion  of  God  said  to  the  murderer  thus,

'I am  hight  Albanus,  and  I  believe  in  the  Saviour,

who is  the  true  God,  and  made  all  creatures;

to Him  I  pray,  and  Him  will  I  ever  worship.'

The murderer  answered  the  glorious  man,

'If thou  wilt  have  the  felicity  of  the  everlasting  life,

then thou  must  not  delay  to  sacrifice

to the  great  gods,  with  full  submission.'

Alban answered  him:    '  Your  sacrifices  to  the  gods,

which ye  offer  to  devils,  cannot  help  you,

nor profit  your  cause,  but  ye  shall  receive  as  your  meed

everlasting punishments  in  the  wide-reaching  hell,'

Lo! then the  judge  became  fiendishly  irate,

and commanded  men  to  scourge  the  holy  martyr,

weening that  he  might  bend  the  steadfastness  of  his  mind

to his  (own)  forms  of  worship  by  means  of  the  stripes;

but the  blessed  man  was  strengthened  by  God,

and bore  the  scourging  exceeding  patiently,

and with  glad  mind  thanked  God  for  it.

Then the  judge  perceived  that  he  could  not  overcome

the holy  man  by  the  severe  tortures,

nor turn  [him]  from  Christ,  and  commanded  them  to  kill  him

by decapitation,  for  the  Saviour's  name.

Then the  heathen  did  as  the  judge  commanded  them,

and led  the  Saint  unto  his  beheading;

but they  were  delayed  a  long  while  at  a  bridge,

and   stood    still    until    evening    by    reason    of    the    exceeding crowd

of men  and  of  women  who  were  stirred  up,