Page:Aelfric's Lives of Saints Vol 2.djvu/209

 himself in    the  water;    but   heavenly  virtue  fortified   him   with patience,  so  that  he  did  it  not. Of a  truth  the  lion  kept  the child unharmed,  by  God's  ordinance;  the  shepherds  of  the  country, seeing  that   the   lion   bare   the   child    thus    alive,   ran   after  and rescued it;  and  also  the  husbandmen  rescued  the  other  child  from the wolf. Verily, both  the  herdsmen  and  the  husbandmen  were of one  district,  and  they  fed  the  children  with  them;  but  Eustace their father  supposed  that  they  had  been  devoured  by  the  wild beasts; so  he  went  lamenting,  and  saying;  '  Well  away! How did I  but   now  grow  like  the  tree  which  is  beautifully  adorned with fruits,  and  am  now  like  the  twig  that  is  cut  off  the  tree  and cast away  in  a  great  storm,  and  buffeted  on  all  sides. Alas! in how great  abundance  I  once  was,  and  am  now  bereaved  like  an enslaved   captive;    formerly  I   was  master   of   the    soldiers,   and compassed about  with  a  great  company;  now  I  am  left  alone,  nor have   I   even    my   children. But  Thou,  Lord,    forsake    me    not, nor despise  my  tears;   I  remember,  dear  Lord,  that  Thou  saidest that I  should  be  tried,  even  as  Job,  but  in  some  things  I  suffer more than  he. He, verily,  although  his  goods  were  lost  to  him, nevertheless his  dunghill  was  left  to  him  that  he  might  sit  thereupon;    I,  indeed,  suffer   anguish  in  exile. He had   friends  who comforted him  and    sorrowed  with    him,  but  I  verily  have  wild beasts in  this  wilderness,  that  have  taken  away  my  bairns;    he had  his  wife  with  him  who  refreshed  him,  though  he  suffered  (the loss   of)   his   bairns. I  verily  on    all    sides    am  unhappy,   being without offspring,  nor  even  a  spark  of  my  kindred  is  left  to  me, but I  am  like  the  boughs  which  in  the  desert  are  beaten  on  all sides  by    storms. Dear   Lord,    reject    Thou    not    Thy    servant's manifold  words;  I,  indeed,  sorrow  in  such  wise  that  I  speak  more than is  fit. Set, Lord,  a  guard  on  my  mouth  that  my  heart  yield not to   evil  words,  lest  I  be  cast   away    from   Thy  countenance. Dear Lord,  give  me  now  rest  from  my  manifold  tribulations.'

And with  these  words  he  went  weeping  into  the  town  which  is called  Dadissus,  and  there  dwelt,  and  procured  for  himself  food  by  his  work. Then after  a  great  time  he  prayed  the  lords  of  the  town that lie  might  occupy  their  fields  and  earn  him  meed;   and  he  lived