He relates what passed concerning Sulpicia, the Niece of Cratilius, King of Lithuania.

The agreeable way in which Periander told the story of his strange adventures, gave pleasure to every one of his hearers, except Maurice, who, when he was alone with his daughter, said to her, "It seemeth to me, Transila, that Periander might relate the events of his life in a few less words, and less diffusely than he does. I do not see why he need detail, so very minutely, all about the fishermen and their festivals, nor yet their marriages, for though episodes may be admitted to ornament a tale, they should not be as long as the original story itself; but the fact, I suspect, is, that Periander likes to show the cleverness with which he can relate, and what fine language he can use in his descriptions." "It may be so," said Transila, "but all I know is, that whether he dilates, or whether he is succinct in what he tells us, all is charming and gives one pleasure to hear it, but to none of us does it give more delight than to Sinforosa, as I believe I told you before; she hangs on every word that drops from Periander's lips, as if her very soul went along with them."

The perpetually changing thoughts of Polycarp prevented him from lending much attention to Periander's discourse, and he wished that there might not be a great deal more to relate; but Sinforosa had so great a desire to hear the end, that she entreated him to return the next day, which he agreed to do, and continued his history thus:—

"You must consider, Sirs, that my crew of mariners were men more rich in valour than in gold, and for my part I began to feel some doubts whether my liberality had quite pleased them, and although allowing the King Leopold to go away free was done by their consent, as well as my own, yet as the dispositions of all men are not the same, I suspected that they were not quite satisfied, and that it would not be easy to make them amends for the hundred thousand pieces of gold which Leopold offered for his ransom, and this moved me to speak to them thus; 'My good friends, do not allow yourselves to regret the recollection of the large treasure you have lost, which was offered to us by the king, for I would have you know that one ounce of honourable fame is worth more than a pound of pearls. And this you cannot feel until you have begun to taste the sweets of having won that renown which is gained by great and good deeds. The poor man, enriched by virtue, may become famous, whilst the rich one, if vicious, can never know anything but infamy. Generosity is one of the most pleasing virtues in him who aspires to renown; and so true is this, that you will never find an ill-conditioned person liberal; an avaricious or covetous man cannot be so.' I was proceeding thus in my discourse, seeing that they lent an attentive ear to me as their countenances showed, when I was interrupted by discovering a ship which was not far from our own—indeed hard a lee upon our course: we flew to arms, and gave chase with all the sails we could set. In a short time I ordered a shot to be fired as a signal to bring her to; we did so, and she slackened sail. On coming near, we beheld one of the strangest sights imaginable: hanging to the yards and the rigging were more than forty men strangled. I marvelled greatly at this; and going alongside, some of my men boarded her without meeting any opposition. They found the deck deluged with blood, and covered with the bodies of men dead and dying, some with their hands cut off, some with their heads cleft asunder, some bleeding, some just expiring; one man was sending forth the most dismal groans, another uttering shrieks of agony. All this death-scene seemed to have taken place after a repast, for divers articles of food swam amidst the blood, and mingled with these were drinking cups and bottles still half full of wine. But now, treading over the bodies of the dead and dying, my mariners passed on to the stern cabin, where they found a party of a dozen beautiful women: foremost amongst them stood one who seemed to be their captain, armed with a white corslet, so clear and polished that it might almost have served as a mirror; she wore a throat piece, but no armour on her arms or legs; on her head was a helmet of curiously twisted workmanship, ornamented with an infinite variety of differently coloured stones; she held a javelin in her hand, all studded over with golden nails, and a large knife of shining and sharp steel. She looked in this array so spirited and graceful, that her bare aspect was enough to make the men, as they entered, stop short and gaze upon her with wonder and awe.

"I, who had been looking on for some time from our own vessel, now came on board the other, to see better what was going on. I arrived just in time to hear her saying to my men, 'I can well suppose, O soldiers, that the sight of this little army of women rather inspires you with wonder than with fear. As for us, after the vengeance we have taken for our wrongs, nothing can ever excite fear in us again. Attack us, if ye are thirsting for blood, and shed ours; we freely give our lives so that we preserve our honour. I am Sulpicia, the niece of Cratilio, king of Lithuania; my uncle gave me in marriage to the great Lampidio, as noble in lineage as he was rich in the gifts of nature and fortune. We were going to visit the king, my uncle, secure, as we imagined, among our own vassals and servants, all of whom were beholden to us for some act of kindness or other with which we were constantly loading them, but all these obligations were forgotten. One night, after they had drunk deeply, although half stupified by wine, they dared to lay their wicked hands on my husband, and deprived him of life, as the first beginning of their abominable designs; but we resolved to defend ourselves, and at least not to die unavenged. Availing ourselves of the state of drunkenness they were in, and the little sense t............