il there
was but one great outcry. Now Saredamors thinks of her wretched estate
when she hears the cry and lament over her lover. Their anguish and
distress cause her to lose her senses and her colour, and her grief and
sorrow are increased because she dares not openly show a trace of her
distress. She shut up her grief within her heart. Had any one looked at
her, he could have seen by the expression of her face what agony she was
in; but every one was so engrossed with his own sorrow that he had no
care for another's grief. Each one lamented his own loss. For they find
the river bank covered with their relatives and friends, who had been
wounded or roughly treated. Each one wept for his own heavy and bitter
loss: here is a son weeping for a father, there a father for a son;
one swoons at the sight of his cousin, another over his nephew. Thus
fathers, brothers, and relatives bemoan their loss on every side. But
above all is noticeable the sorrow of the Greeks; and yet they might
have anticipated great joy, for the deepest grief of all the camp will
soon be changed into rejoicing.

(Vv. 2147-2200.) The Greeks outside continue their lament, while
those inside strive to let them know the news which will cause them to
rejoice. They disarm and bind their prisoners, who pray and beg of them
to strike off their heads straightway. But the Greeks are unwilling, and
disdain their entreaties, saying that them will keep then under guard
and hand them over to the King, who will grant them such recompense as
shall require their services. When they had disarmed them all they made
them go up on the wall that they might be seen by the troops below. This
privilege is not to their liking, and when they saw their lord bound as
a prisoner, they were unhappy men. Alexander upon the walls swears to
God and all the saints that he will not let one of them live, but will
kill them all speedily, unless they will go to surrender to the King
before he can seize them. "Go," says he, "confidently to the King at
my command, and cast yourselves upon his mercy. None of you, except the
Count, has deserved to die. You shall not lose either life or limb if
you surrender to the King. If you do not deliver yourselves from death
by crying for mercy, you need have little hope of saving your lives or
bodies. Go forth disarmed to meet the King, and tell him from me that
Alexander sends you to him. Your action will not be in vain; for my lord
the King is so gentl