by the way: then he commanded they should be
put upon all the assistance to teare them in peeces:
who as soone as they heard the hisse of their master,
ran fiercely upon them invading them on every side,
insomuch that the more they flied to escape away,
the more cruell and terrible were the dogges.
It fortuned amongst all this fearefull company, that
in running, the youngest of the three brethren stombled
at a stone, and fell down to the ground: Then
the dogs came upon him and tare him in peeces with
their teeth, whereby he was compelled to cry for succour:
His other two brethren hearing his lamentable voice
ran towards him to helpe him, casting their cloakes
about their left armes, tooke up stones to chase away
the dogs, but all was in vaine, for they might see
their brother dismembred in every part of his body:
Who lying at the very point of death, desired his
brethren to revenge his death against that cruell
tyrant: And therewithall lie gave up the ghost.
The other two brethren perceiving so great a murther,
and neglecting their owne lives, like desperate persons
dressed themselves against the tyrant, and threw a
great number of stones at him, but the bloudy theefe
exercised in such and like mischiefes, tooke a speare
and thrust it cleane through the body: howbeit
he fell not downe to the ground. For the speare
that came out at his backe ran into the earth, and
sustained him up. By and by came one of these
tyrants servants the most sturdiest of the rest to
helpe his master, who at the first comming tooke up
a stone and threw at the third brother, but by reason
the stone ran along his arme it did not hurt him,
which chanced otherwise then all mens expectation was:
by and by the young man feigning that his arme was
greatly wounded, spake these words unto the cruell
bloud sucker: Now maist thou, thou wretch, triumph
upon the destruction of all our family, now hast thou
fed thy insatiable cruelty with the bloud of three
brethren, now maist thou rejoyce at the fall of us
Citizens, yet thinke not but that how farre thou dost
remove and extend the bounds of thy land, thou shalt
have some neighbor, but how greatly am I sorry in
that I have lost mine arme wherewithall I minded to
cut off thy head. When he had spoken these words,
the furious theefe drew out his dagger, and running
upon the young man thought verily to have slaine him,
but it chanced otherwise: For the young man resisted
him stoutly, and in buckling together by violence wrested
the dagger out of his hand: which done, he killed
the rich theefe with his owne weapon, and to the intent
the young man would escape the hands of the servants
which came running to assist their master, with the
same dagger he cut his owne throat. These things
were signified by the strange and dreadfull wondres
which fortuned in the house of the good man, who after
he had heard these sorrowfull tydings could in no wise
weepe, so farre was he stroken with dolour, but presently
taking his knife wherewith he cut his cheese and other
meate before, he cut his owne throat likewise, in
such sort that he fell upon the bord and imbraced
the table with the streames of his blond, in most miserable
manner. Hereby was my master the Gardener deprived
of his hope, and paying for his dinner the watry teares
of his eyes, mounted upon my backe and so we went
homeward the same way as wee came.