fiercely, and hack and hew, and cleave, and brain them, and call
the count a traitor. When he hears himself accused of treason, he
flees for refuge towards his keep; and his men flee with him. And
their enemies who fiercely rush after take them captive; they let
not a single one escape of all those that they catch. They kill
and slay so many that I do not think that more than seven reached
a place of safety. When the traitors entered the keep, they are
stayed at the entrance; for their pursuers had followed them so
close that their men would have got in if the entrance had been
open. The traitors defend themselves well; for they expect
succour from them who were arming in the town below. But by the
advice of Nabunal, a Greek who was very wise, the way was held
against the reinforcements, so that they could not come in time,
for they had tarried over-long from lukewarmness and indolence.
Up there into that fortress there was only one single entry; if
the Greeks stop up that entrance, they will have no need to fear
the coming of any force from which ill may befall them. Nabunal
bids and exhorts that twenty of them go to defend the outer
gateway; for easily there might they press in that way to attack
and overwhelm them--foemen who would do them harm if they had
strength and power to do so. "Let a score of men go to defend the
gateway, and let the other ten assail the keep from without, so
that the count may not shut himself up inside." This is what
Nabunal advises: the ten remain in the melee before the entrance
of the keep; the score go to the gate. They have delayed almost
too long; for they see coming a company, flushed and heated with
desire of fighting, in which there were many crossbow-men and
foot-soldiers of divers equipment, bearing diverse arms. Some
carried light missiles, and others, Danish axes, Turkish lances
and swords, arrows and darts and javelins. Very heavy would have