Thei scholden thanne most relieve
Him whom thei mihten overthrowe,
As be ensample a man mai knowe.[1082]
[Tale of Telaphus and Teucer.]
P. i. 368
He mai noght failen of his mede
That hath merci: for this I rede, 2640
In a Cronique and finde thus.
Hic ponit Confessor exemplum de pietate contra homicidium in guerris habenda. Et narrat qualiter Achilles vna cum Thelapho filio suo contra Regem Mesee, qui tunc Theucer vocabatur, bellum inierunt; et cum Achilles dictum Regem in bello prostratum occidere voluisset, Thelaphus pietate motus ipsum clipeo suo cooperiens veniam pro Rege a patre postulauit: pro quo facto ipse Rex adhuc viuens Thephalum Regni sui heredem libera voluntate constituit.
Whan Achilles with Telaphus[1083]