As thogh it were a beste tamed,[1264] And torne awey halfvinge aschamed, That he the man schal nothing grieve. Hou scholde than a Prince achieve 3400 The worldes grace, if that he wolde Destruie a man whanne he is yolde (3600*) And stant upon his mercy al? Bot forto speke in special, Ther have be suche and yit ther be Tirantz, whos hertes no pite Mai to no point of mercy plie, That thei upon her tirannie Ne gladen hem the men to sle; And as the rages of the See 3410 Ben unpitous in the tempeste, Riht so mai no Pite areste[1265] Of crualte the gret oultrage, Which the tirant in his corage Engendred hath: wherof I finde A tale, which comth nou to mynde. [Sidenote: =P. iii. 207=] I rede in olde bokes thus: [Sidenote: [SPERTACHUS AND THAMARIS.]] Ther was a Duk, which Spertachus Men clepe, and was a werreiour, [Sidenote: Hic loquitur precipue[1266] contra tirannos illos qui, cum in bello vincere possunt, humani sanguinis effusione saturari nequiunt. Et narrat in exemplum de quodam Persarum Rege, cuius nomen Spertachus erat, qui pre ceteris tunc in Oriente bellicosus et victoriosus, quoscunque gladio vincere poterat, absque pietate interfici constituit. Set tandem sub manu Thamaris Marsegetarum Regine in bello captus, quod a diu quesivit, seueritatem pro seueritate finaliter inuenit. Nam et ipsa quoddam vas de sanguine Persarum plenum ante se afferri[1267] decreuit, in quo caput tiranni vsque ad mortem mergens dixit: ‘O tirannorum crudelissime, semper esuriens sanguinem sitisti: ecce iam ad saturitatem sanguinem bibe.’] A cruel man, a conquerour 3420 With strong pouer the which he ladde. For this condicion he hadde, That where him hapneth the victoire,[1268] His lust and al his moste gloire Was forto sle and noght to save: Of rancoun wolde he no good have For savinge of a mannes lif, Bot al goth to the swerd and knyf, So lief him was the mannes blod.[1269] And natheles yit thus it stod, 3430 So as fortune aboute wente, He fell riht heir as be descente[1270] To Perse, and was coroned king. And whan the worschipe of this thing Was falle, and he was king of Perse, If that thei weren ferst diverse, The tirannies whiche he wroghte, A thousendfold welmore he soghte Thanne afterward to do malice. The god vengance ayein the vice[1271] 3440 Hath schape: for upon a tyde, Whan he was heihest in his Pride, In his rancour and in his hete Ayein the queene of Marsagete, Which Thameris that time hihte, He made werre al that he myhte: [Sidenote: =P. iii. 208=]