was welnigh blinded: so I enforced the queane to leave off, otherwise I
had died as Meleager did by the sticke, which his mad mother Althea cast
into the fire.





THE EIGHTH BOOKE




THE THIRTY-SECOND CHAPTER


How a young man came and declared the miserable death of Lepolemus and
his wife Charites.

About midnight came a young man, which seemed to be one of the family
of the good woman Charites, who sometimes endured so much misery and
calamity with mee amongst the theeves, who after that hee had taken
a stoole, and sate downe before the fireside, in the company of the
servants, began to declare many terrible things that had happened unto
the house of Charites, saying: O yee house-keepers, shepheards and
cowheards, you shall understand that wee have lost our good mistris
Charites miserably and by evill adventure: and to the end you may learne
and know all the whole matter, I purpose to tell you the circumstances
of every point, whereby such as are more learned then I (to whom fortune
hath ministred more copious stile) may painte it out in paper in forme