24
But when we came to where the road split into three the enemy met us on their homeward way. They recognized their unhappy prisoners in the moonlight while we were still at a distance, ran up to us, and laid hold of me, saying: "Oho, my fine madam, where are you going at this unseasonable hour, you poor, suffering thing? Aren't you even afraid of ghosts? Come home with us and we will hand you over to your friends." This they said with a sardonic laugh, and they turned me about and dragged me back. Then I remembered my lame foot and fell to limping. "What," said they, "are you lame now because you were caught running away? When your mind was set on flight you were sound and flew on wings, swifter than a horse." These words were followed by the stick, and I got a wound on my thigh at once as a warning. When we turned into our lodging again we found the old woman hanging from a stone by a cord. Apparently she had been so afraid of her masters when they should discover the girl's flight that she had hanged herself. They spoke admiringly of her courage, cut her down, and threw her over the precipice with the cord round her neck. The girl they tied up inside the house, and then they supped and drank heavily.
