on of their hunger, the one being the son of the
very woman who had thrown in the cake, and the other a nephew of
Gelimer; and they were eager to seize the cake as soon as it should seem
to them to be cooked. And of the two children the Vandal got ahead of
the other and snatched the cake first, and, though it was still
exceedingly hot and covered with ashes, hunger overpowered him, and he
threw it into his mouth and was eating it, when the other seized him by
the hair of the head and struck him over the temple and beat him again
and thus compelled him with great violence to cast out the cake which
was already in his throat. This sad experience Gelimer could not endure
(for he had followed all from the beginning), and his spirit was
weakened and he wrote as quickly as possible to Pharas as follows: "If
it has ever happened to any man, after manfully enduring terrible
misfortunes, to take a course contrary to that which he had previously
determined upon, consider me to be such a one, O most excellent Pharas.
For there has come to my mind your advice, which I am far from wishing
to disregard. For I cannot resist fortune further nor rebel against
fate, but I shall follow straightway wherever it seems to her best to
lead; but let me receive the pledges, that Belisarius guarantees that
the emperor will do everything which you recently promised me. For I,
indeed, as soon as you give the pledges, shall put both myself into your
hands and these kinsmen of mine and the Vandals, as many as are here
with us."

Such were the words written by Gelimer in this letter. And Pharas,
having signified this to Belisarius, as well as what they had previously
written to each other, begged him to declare as quickly as possible what
his wish was. And Belisarius (since he was greatly desirous of leading
Gelimer alive to the emperor), as soon as he had read the letter, became
overjoyed and commanded Cyprian, a leader of foederati,[22] to go to
Papua with certain others, and directed them to give an oath concerning
the safety of Gelimer and of those with him, and to swear that he would
be honoured before the emperor and would lack nothing. And when these
men had come to Pharas, they went with him to a certain place by the
foot of the mountain, where Gelimer came at their summons, and after
receiving the pledges just as he wished he came with them to Carthage.
And it happened that Belisarius was staying for a time in the suburb of
the city which the