CHAPTER III.The old prior crossed his hands and began to recite aloud “The eternal rest;” [32] then he sat down on a bench and kept his eyes closed for a while as if to collect his thoughts; finally he began to talk:
“Wincenty of Szamotul brought them here. I was twenty years old then, and I had just come from Cylia with my uncle Petzoldt. The Krzyzaks attacked the town and set it on fire. We could see from the walls, how in the market square they cut men and women’s heads off, and how they threw little children into the fire. They even killed the priests, because in their fury they spared nobody. The prior Mikolaj, having been born in Elblong, was acquainted with Comthur Herman, the chief of their army. Therefore he went accompanied by the senior brothers, to that dreadful knight, and ha
