perish--we perish! Merciful king and lord, have pity on our family!"

Here Macko kneeled again and having stretched out his arms wasted by war,
he spoke with tears:

"We defended Wilno; God gave us honest booty; to whom shall I leave it?
If the Krzyzak requires punishment, let punishment come; but permit me to
suffer it. What do I care for life without Zbyszko! He is young; let him
redeem the land and beget children, as God ordered man to do. The Krzyzak
will not ask whose head was cut off, if there is one cut. There will be
no shame on the family. It is difficult for a man to die; but it is
better that one man perish than that a family should be destroyed."

Speaking thus he clasped the king's legs; the king began to wink his
eyes, which was a sign of emotion with him; finally he said:

"It can not be! I cannot condemn to death a belted knight! It cannot be!
It cannot be!"

"And there would be no justice in it," added the castellan. "The law will
crush the guilty one; but it is not a monster, which does not look to see
whose blood is being shed. And you must consider what shame would fall on
your family, if your nephew agreed to your proposal. It would be
considered a disgrace, not only to him, but to his children also."

To this Macko replied:

"He would not agree. But if it were done without his knowledge, he would
avenge me, even as I also will avenge him."