226

WELL OF TUNIS TAKEN.

קא

892. And Barbarossa went to help them as they were fighting, and ten thousand men with him; and when he saw that the men of Goletta* fled, who were about three thousand men, he returned unto the city of Tunis, and they shut the gates of the city, and fortified themselves therein. And the Turks left there three hundred brazen battering-rams, and garments and weapons in abundance; and they belonged unto the men of the emperor at that time; and also eighty-three galleys, of which the greater part were not meet for any work; and they set them on fire, and their eye did not spare them. That day was darkness unto Barbarossa§, for the stars of his heaven drew back, and he knew it not||.

893. And it came to pass after another six days, that the emperor brought his camp nigh unto the city, and six of the battering-rams. And they found there a well of water, and the people went thither to drink, but the officers would not let them, lest peradventure mischief should befall them**. And Hayradin, who is Barbarossa, went out against them with much people, and with a strong hand. And he warred against them with

*Galeta, Ægimurus, Galite, Golleta.
‡ Josh. viii. 19.

+ Ezekiel xv. 4.

§ Job. iii. 4.

Comp. Is. xiii. 10; Joel ii. 10; iii. 15. ¶Gen. xxvi. 19.

** Gen. xlii. 4. 38; xliv. 29.

++ Num. xx. 20.

קא

BARBAROSSA SALLIES.

227

battering-rams of brass, and with arrows, and with the bow, so that the one came not near the other all that day*. And the men of Barbarossa could not withstand the many guns, and they turned the neck, and drew back, and the city of Tunis was perplexed; and three of the rams they left there in their haste, and the uncircumcised took them, and the horsemen slew with the edge of the sword those Turks who remained there.

894. And the emperor tarried there all night because the sun was set‡, and he pursued not after them, for they were fatigued, because the way humbled their strength§; their soul loathed|| because of thirst, and had not Barbarossa fought with them, there would not have been left any who remained or escaped¶, for the uncircumcised had no strength to stand upon their feet; the greater part became weary of their life**, for all this was of the Lordt to bring upon Tunis the time of her visitation, for by Him actions are weighed‡‡.

895. Then Barbarossa's thoughts troubled him, and his knees smote one against another§§; and

Exod xiv. 20. Gen. xxviii. 11. || Numb. xxi. 5. Gen. xxvii. 46. ‡‡ 1 Sam. ii. 3.

+ Esth. iii. 15.

§ Ps. cii. 23.

¶ Is. i. 9.

tt Gen. xxiv. 50.

§§ Dan. v. 6.

228

CHRISTIAN SLAVES REVOLT.

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it came to pass when the morning appeared* that he went out to see the men of the city and the host, and that which was in their heart to do. And him who was over his houset, he commanded, saying, "Stand fast and make ready my garments‡, and my vessels upon the camels, for I know not what the day may bring forth§." And it came to pass, that he was yet scarce gone out||, when the Lord put a faintness into the hearts of the keepers of the fort, saying, "He has fled**! And what will become of us††, when we shall be left and fall into the hand of our enemies, and be for a scorn and a derision in the countries of those uncircumcised who seek our destruction?" and they also went out and did not stay, and left the fortress as it was, because they feared for their lives. They were yet between the walls, and the Lord raised evil§§ against Barbarossa from the midst of his own house. And one of his servants who was a Nazarene, who had changed his law||||, went into the prison-house, the place where the uncircumcised prisoners of his master were

* Exod. xiv. 27. Comp. Jer. xlvi. 14. Gen. xxvii. 30.

Gen. xxxi. 20.

‡‡ Ps. xliv. 13.

ti. e. Steward; Comp. Gen. xli. 1.

§ Prov. xxvii. 1.

Lev. xxvi. 36.

++ Comp. Exod. xvi. 7.

SS Comp. 1 Kings xiv. 10; xxi. 21.

i. e. Who had become a renegade.

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TUNIS TAKEN.

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bound*, and brake the bars of iron in sundert, and said unto the prisoners, "Come ye out; gird yourselves with weapons of war; why will ye tarry, when your brethren, the men of the emperor, have set themselves in array at the gate‡;" and the watchmen fled, and became as though they were not." And he brought them out from the prisonhouse, and they warred against the Turks, who had not hearkened unto the voice of their brethren, with pieces of wood and with stones; for there was not found among them a shield or a spear§, and they caused them to flee before them; and they shut the gates of the fortress.

896. And they climbed up the walls, and gave the signal, and called, "God save the emperor|| !" and raised a banner on the wall. And Barbarossa ran when he heard this evil report, and spake unto their hearts, but they would not hearken. And they mocked him from the wall, and cast stones upon Barbarossa¶. When he saw that they warred from heaven against him, and that the war was against him from within and from without, then he laid hold on his own beard**, and cried with a loud and exceeding bitter cryft. And he went

* Gen. xxxix. 20.

Is. xxii. 7.

|| 1 Sam. x. 24; 1 Kings i. 25.

** 2 Sam. xx. 9.

+ Ps. cvii. 16. § Judges v. 8.

Lam. iii. 53.

++ Esth. iv. 1.

220

SIEGE OF GOLETTA.

P

and behind us:" and they besieged it about a month of days. And the Turks went out against them, and the Arabs who ride daily upon swift horses, swifter than the leopards and stronger than the lions*; and they warred against them day by day. And the men of the emperor made trenches round about, so that they could not pass over against them, for they hunted their steps that they could not go. And the Turks who were at Goletta threw great stones into the camp of the emperor and into his ships by day and by night, all those days, until they became tired of throwing; but they destroyed only very few, because of the number of their trenches, and by their little understanding+; or because they fought from heaven against them, they shut their eyes lest they might see it.

884. And the men of the emperor brought down from the ships seventeen battering-rams of the best battering-rams of brass which they had brought with them, and they also builded a fort near Goletta, and besieged it, and Goletta was besieged.

885. And there came out from Goletta about six hundred Turks, all men, on the twenty-third day of the fourth month. And they fell upon the + Lam. iv. 18.

* 2 Sam. i. 23.

i. e. Their want of skill.