Page:Aelfric's Lives of Saints Vol 2.djvu/79

 All things  are  clean  to  clean  men;

to the  unbelievers  and  the  unclean  there  is  nothing  clean.

A hare  was  then  unclean,  because  he  is  [not]  cloven-footed,

and a  swine  was  then  unclean  because  it  chewed  not  its  cud.

Some were  then  foul,  which  now  are  also  foul;

but it  will  be  too  tedious  to  discourse  here  fully

concerning the  clean  beasts  or  concerning  the  unclean

in the  old  law,  which  one  eats  now  nevertheless.

Then would  Eleazar  manfully  die

rather than  he  would  transgress  God's  law,

and would  not  swallow  the  bit  of  the  bacon

which they  stuck  in  his  mouth,  because  Moses  forbade  [them]

to eat  swine;    as  we  before  said.

Then the  executioners  prayed  him,  for  old  acquaintance  sake,

that they  might  bring  him  unforbidden,  flesh,

and he  should  do  as  if  he  ate  of  the  sacrifice-bacon,

and so  with  that  deception  save  himself.

Then spake  Eleazar,  'I  am  old  to  practise  deceit,

and the  young  ones  will  think  that  I  am  ready  to  transgress

God's ordinance  for  [the  sake  of]  this  short  life,

and then  shall  my  deception  be  to  their  destruction,

and I  myself  shall  be  an  opponent  [to  God]  by  such  an  example.

Though I  be  saved  from  men's  cruelty,

I may  not  anywhere  escape  from  the  Almighty

in life  or  in  death;    but  I  shall  afford  an  example

to the  young  folk,  if  I  boldly  die

an honourable  death  for  the  holy  law.'

Then became  the  executioners,  who  had  addressed  him  kindly,

very much  angered  because  of  that  answer,

and they  dragged  him  to  the  tortures  that  he  might  be  killed;

and he  then  ended  his  life  with  faith.