An Egyptian Princess, Complete

ging presents to their ruler and good wishes; they came also to take part in the great sacrifice

unfulfilled, and in every city the people were feasted at the royal expense. Cambyses had commanded that his marriage with Ni

al palaces on both shores of the Euphrates were overfille

beings,-representing and bringing around him, as it were, his ent

or the first time in his life he believed himself completely happy, and bestowed his gifts, not only

aced the young warriors, gave them horses and gold chains, called them "brothers" and r

ave to grant something important; so he had better wait until my birthday, and then, at supper, when the wine has given him courage, he shall whisper in my ear what he is now afraid to utter. Ask much

ch in praise of Sappho, her virtues and her graces, her talents and skill, that Nitetis and Atossa maintained she mus

of the blood!" cried the blind woman. "Unheard of!

a, "I am as certain that my brother will give his consent, as

ved to marry; but never-the-less this alliance does not seem suitable for a son of Cyrus. And have you forgotten that the Achaem

Persia has had a mother of far lower parentage than my Sappho. I feel persuaded that when

of her eyes has melted your brother's hard heart; her kindness and gentleness bring beauty into the night of my blind old age, and her sweet earnestness and gravity have changed yo

"but I must beg you not to tell my sister

s consent, and may the gods give their blessing!" Early in the morning of the king's birthday the Persians offered their sacrifices on the shores of the Euphrates. A huge altar of silver had been raised on an arti

he priests, the ends of which covered the mouth, and thu

ered to hold this litt

hen they prayed. It w

a drawing of it in h

hana p. 733. He says

for the head hung d

t, and laid out on tender grasses, sprouts of clover, myrtle-blossoms, and laurel-leaves, that the beautif

fell on their knees and hid their faces, in the belief that the fire was now ascending to their great god and father. The Magian then took a morta

he king and his entire realm. The good spirits of light, life and truth; of all noble deeds; of the Earth, the universal giver; of the refreshing waters, the shining metals, the pastures, trees and innocent creatures, were praised: the evil spirits of darkness; of lying, the deceiver of mankind

ascended a splendid chariot drawn by four snow-white Nicoean horses, and studded with topazes, cornelian and amb

ted, for themselves, the best pieces of the flesh which had been of

only the souls of the slaughtered animals, and many a poor man, especially

ey were commanded to pray for the king, in whom the realm was embodied and shadowed forth. It was this beautiful surrender of self for the public weal, that had made the Persians great. The doctrines of the Egyptian priesthood represented the Pharaohs as actual divinities, while the Persian monarchs were only called "sons of the gods;" yet the

n their own gods, after their incorporation in the great Asiatic kingdom. The Jews, Ionians and inhabitants of Asia Minor, in s

acrificial flame, kindled in honor of their own divinities, by th

gigantic furnace. Thick clouds of smoke hovered over

rt in the festival had formed themselves into a procession of interminable length,

nd with leaves of the silver poplar, palm and laurel; the air perfumed with incense, myrrh

-drums and cymbals, the shells and drums of the Arians from the mouth of the Indus, and the loud notes of the Bactrian battle-trumpets. But above all these resounded the rejoicing shouts of the Babyloni

ighing of the horses, and shouts and songs of human beings, all united to produ

on their shaggy necks; waggon-loads of rare woods and ivory, woven goods of exquisite texture, casks of ingots and gold-dust, gold and silver vessels, rare plants for the royal gardens, and foreign animals for the preserves

eighed and tested by treasurers and secretaries, either declared satisfactory, or found wanting

we are writing, the

ver time and to whatev

yses' successor, Dar

stem of taxation, in c

pkeeper." Up to a much

ertain districts to se

. I. 192. Xenop

he way being kept clear by lines of soldiers and w

d been led behind the king's chariot, could be called magnificent, and the march of the envoys

n clogs, stood the throne of gold; above it, supported by four golden pillars studded with

is the spiritual par

existence before the m

rts at his death. The

il spirits, and is

The moment he depart

. After death he beco

deeds have been evil h

n the Ferwer and ent

e God and on this acco

ed d

er side, those who sat at the king's table, his relations and friends, and the

l were covered with plates of burnished

gh Persian cap, their swords in golden scabbards glittering with jewels, and their lances ornamented with gold and silver apples, were stationed

ne, where they cast themselves on the ground as though they would kiss the earth, concealing their hands in the sleeves of their robes. A cloth was bound ove

their province and the munificence of their tribute-offerings. Near the end of the train appeared an embassy from the

e of blue, red and white. A blue garment was thrown over his shoulders and a little bag suspended around his neck containing the sacred lots, the Urim and Thummin, adorned with twelve precious ston

aimed the king to the former of the two men. "Since the

ant, so hearken unto my petition for my nation, which thy great father caused to return unto the land of their fathers' sepulchres. This old man at my side, Joshua, the high-priest of our

I wrong, priest, in supposing that your petition ref

the face of their ruler, and beseech thee by my mouth to visit the land of their fathers, and to grant them permission to set

time and words for your petition. On my birthday it is difficult for me to refuse my faithful people even o

d olives will bear more fruit at thine approach, our gates will lift up their heads to receive t

I have long desired to visit the wealthy city of Tyre, the golden Sidon, and Jerusalem with its strange superstiti

tions, if thou grant unto them this one, to finish t

that this omnipresent Being requires a house? Verily, your great spirit can be but a weak and miserable creature, if he need a covering from the wind and rain, and a shelter from the hea

y father to be the instrument of our deliverance, and will hear my prayer this day and soften thine heart like wise. O mighty king, grant unto thy servants a common place of sacrifice, whither our twelve tribes may

richest and most honorable and respected of the Jews yet remaining in Babylon; a man whom Cyr

ur native land, but while pursuing your work strife and contention entered among you. Cyrus was assailed by repeated letters, signed by the chief men of Syria, entreating him to forbid the work, and I al

ke back a favor, which thy father made sure un

tten d

even to this day laid up in

ing to be continued, but will promote the same," answered the king; "

se of the rolls at Ecbatana?" asked Belteshaz

Massagetae. My general Megabyzus commends their looks and bearing. May thy people prove as valiant now as in the wars of my father! You, Belteshazzar, I bid to my ma

e blessing and happiness," answered Be

ey bring down hatred on themselves by their stiff-necked superstition, and the pride with which they declare their own great spirit to be the only true God. Take example by us; we are content with our own faith and leave others to enjoy theirs

ss; for Belteshazzar knew well that the decree, relative to th

als, whose features bespoke them foreigners in Babylon. They wore girdles and shoulderbands of solid, unwrought gold; and of the same precious metal were their bow-cases, axes,

he exclaimed "What can these men have to crave of me? If I mistake not they belong to the Massagetae, to that people who are so soon to tremb

gold to purchase your forbearance. When they heard that a great festival was being celebrated in your honor, they urgen

bearded Massageta, he said: "Let them come nearer. I am curious

in his native tongue. He was accompanied by the man in a Persian dress, who, as one of Cyrus' prisoners of war, had le

e Massagetae because thy father fell in war with our tribe-a war which

ion," interrupted the king. "Your Queen Tomyri

of that act. Even a child could see that the great Cyrus only desired to add our queen to the num

ided, by the advice of the dethroned king of Lydia, (as we learnt afterwards, through some prisoners of war) on meeting us in our own land and defeating us by a stratagem. With this intention he sent at first only a small body of troops, which could be easily dispersed and destroyed by our arrows and lances, and allowed us to seize his camp without striking a

s liberty, he asked to have his chains taken off. The request was granted, and on obtaining the use of his h

r Massagetaen freedom. Our armies met; ye were worsted and Cyrus fell. When Tomyris found his body lying in a pool of human blood, she cried: 'Methinks, insatiable conqueror, thou art at last sated with blood!' The troop, composed of the flower of your nobility, which you call th

ore this man, my friends, for never did I see a sharper sword nor a more unwearied arm than his; and such heroic courage deserves honor from the brave, whether shown by friend or foe. As for you, Massagetae, I would advise you to go home quickly and prepare for war; the mere recollection of your strength and coura

nd in no way inferior to Cyrus, has bled for him. The shores of the Araxes have been fertilized by the bodies of fifty thousand of my countrymen, slain as offerings for your dead king, while only thirty thousa

"You mean to tell me that the Persians have killed a w

son, and I have therefore a right to say that she too fell a

lves have undertaken to revenge my father's blood on your nation. Yet I tell you that, heavy as your losses may seem, Sparg

My tale is not yet ended. After the death of Tomyris discord broke out among the Massagetae. Two claimants for the crown appeared; half our nation fought for the one, half for the other, and our hosts wer

roes; the numbers of my host, which waits assembled on the plains of Media, will prove that. We cannot go to

avery. But we know your strength; we know that the small remnant of our nation, which war and pestilence have spared, cannot resist your vast and well-armed hosts. This we admit, freely and honestly as is the manner of the Massagetae,

and receive a satrap as my representative with due reverence, or to look upon yourselves as my enemies, in which case you will be forced by arms to conform to those conditions which

orce of arms, you can only bring great damage on yourselves. The moment your army nears the Araxes, we shall depart with our wives and children and seek another home, for we have no fixed dwellings like yours, but are accustomed to rove at will on our swift horses, and to rest in tents. Our gold we shall take with us, and shall fill up, destroy, and conceal the pits in which you could find new treasures. We know every spot where gold is to be found, and can give it in abundance, if you grant us pea

me from his throne: "We will take counsel on this matter over the wine to-night, and to-morrow you shall hear what answer you can bring to your peopl

PTE

s. To-day, for the first time, she had taken part in the general sacrifice made by the king's wives, and had tried to p

squieted and distracted her mind. Her thoughts reverted painfully to the solemn, sultry stillness of the gigantic temples in her native land where she had worshipped the gods of her childhood so earnestly at the side of her mother and sister; and much as

taught from childhood, to look upon these religious songs as higher and holier than any other poetry. Their earliest prayers had been accompanied by such hymns, and, like everything else which has come down to

with difficulty had not yet become a part of herself, and so, while Kassandane and Atossa went through all the outward rites as things of course and perfectly natural to them, Nitetis co

r dressing-table, and came into her mind whenever she attempted to pray. She could not help wondering what news it might

g, and hastened eagerly to the table where her letter lay. Her principal attendant, the young girl who on the journey had dressed her in her first Persian robes, received her with a smile full of

ice. Look at this wonderful purple robe with the white stripe and the rich silver embroidery; and then the tiara with the royal diamonds! Do not you know the high meaning of these gifts? Cambyses begs, (the messenger said 'begs,' not 'commands') you to wear these splendid ornaments at the banquet to-day. How angry Phaedime will be! and how the others will look, for they have never received such presents. Till now only Kassandane has had a right to wear the purple and diamonds

ad to the ground, the girl's wish to dress her was granted without a word, and in a short time the splendid toilette was completed. The royal purple added to her beauty, the high flashing tiara made her slender, perfect figure seem taller than it really was, and when, in the metal mirror which lay on her dressing table, she beheld herself for the

resent she had just received to the inferior attendants and slaves; and Nitetis, her eyes glistening and her heart beating with excess of happiness, threw herself on to the ivory chair which stood before her dressing-table, uttered a short prayer of thanksgiving to her favorite Egyptian goddess, the beautiful Hathor, kissed the gold chain which Cambyses had given her

face soon grew serious and when she had fini

ried so proudly but a few minutes before, now lay on the jewels which covered the table. Tears rolled down

r read as

pper and Lower Egypt, to her daughter Nit

news from home. The trireme by which we sent our letters for you to AEgae was detained b

and since his victory over the Lesbians and Milesians, who endeavored to put a st

il to his side by presenting the Apollo of Delos with the neighboring island of Rhenea. His fifty-oared vessels, requiring to be manned by twenty-thousand men, do immense damage to all the seafa

will become the richest of islands and Polykrates the most powerful of men, unless, as your father says

receiving it again. Polykrates adopted this advice and threw into the sea, from the top of the round tower on his citadel, his most valuable signet-ring, an

of rejoicing your father shook his grey head sadly, saying: 'he saw now it was impossible for any one to avoid his destiny!' On the same day he renounc

his pirates had taken from our trireme, with a derisive gre

for you than any other home news. I answer: to prepare you for your father's state. Would you h

rom tears. My time is passed either at the sick-bed of your sister or in comforting your father and gui

nurses, calling me to your sist

rait which bears evidence not only of the height to which Greek art has risen, but of the master hand of the great Theodorus. To-morrow it w

hear what I need all my strength of mind to tell-the sad

sed to weep and would answer our questions in a low voice, as if resigned; but spent the greater part of every day sitting silently at her wheel. Her fingers, however, which used to be so skilful, either broke the threads they tried

gin to pull at the threads with almost frantic eagerness; but in half an hour her hands would be lying idle in her lap again and her eyes dreamily fixed, either on the gr

wild games of the satyrs are being performed by choruses, hurried on in the unrestrained wantonness of intoxication. When she saw thus for the first time an entire people giv

we brought our poo

transparent, with a tender bloom on her cheek, which I can only liken to a young rose-leaf or the first faint blush of sunrise. H

s, while her tender limbs often shivered with a slight chill, we sent to

iscussed and exorcised, the stars and oracles consulted, rich presents and sacrifices made to the gods. The priest of Hathor from the island of Philae sent us a consecrated amulet, the priest of Os

er no heart in his entrails, which they interpreted as prognosticating evil to our country. They have not yet succeeded in finding a new Apis, and believe that the gods are wroth with your father's kingdom. Indeed t

its ancient inhabit

ck-ear

eadful fever and lay for nine days hovering between life and death; she is

om sunrise until mid-day, and while your sister was so ill he never left her bed, notwithstanding all our entreaties. But I will not enter into par

eigh on his mind; his happy temper is clouded by the unbroken night in which he lives; and the consciousness that he cannot stir a step alone cau

in building a tomb for his mummy, and the same number at Memphis in levelling the temple which the Greeks have

he must forget this world entirely and only try to gain the favor of Osiris and the judges of the nether world by ceaseless prayers and sacrifices. In this manner he only tortures our poor sick child, for she has not lost her love of life. Perhaps I have

aid yesterday: 'She would have sunk long ago if not kept up by her determined will, and a longing which gives her no rest. If she ceased to care for life, she could allow death to take her, just as we dream ourselves

outh might be far less handsome and agreeable than Bartja, and yet take the heart of an innocent girl, still half a child. But her passionate feeling is so strong, and the change in her whole being so great, that sometimes I too am tempted to believe in the use of supernatu

at her wheel, I heard him singing so

, my swee

huttle

is full o

t troubl

love of

ot seen

XXII. Translation

of G

nd asked him: 'Is

'Sappho wrote it

ago,' echoed T

men loved centuries ago, and will love thousands of y

ind her of him she loved. In the delirium of fever, however, Bartja's name was always on her burning lips. When she recovered consciousness we told her what she had said in h

ver and we were crossing the temple-court, we passed some children at play, and Tachot noticed a little girl telli

saying?' she ask

thers something abou

y sister, came back from Thebes quite unexpectedly yesterday evening. Just as the Isis-star was rising, he came suddenly on

he planet Venus bore t

rist De mundo II. 7.

inted with the ident

Lepsius, Chron

other dear, that the words children say in the temple-courts are believed to be oracles.' So, if the little one spoke the truth, he

es, and messages of love, and that when she was stronger she meant to write, as she had a great deal to tell you. S

tter, as the messenger has b

ver way I turn. Your brother yields more and more to the priests' tyranny, and m

tters little whether his place be filled a

he Greek mercenaries. In case they declared themselves willing to return to their native land, the Greek mercenaries were to have been dismissed. The negotiation failed entirely, but Psamtik's treatment of the children of Phanes has given bitter offence to the Greeks. Aristomachus threatened to leave Egy

th the dignity of a ruler. The commanders of the Egyptian and Greek troops, and the governors of different provinces have all alike assured me that the present state of things is intolerable. No one knows what to e

and remember us to Croesus and the young Persians whom we know. Give a special message too from Tachot to Bartja; I beg him to think of it as the last legacy of o

TER

eds a golden sunrise. Nitetis had been so happy in the thought of reading the v

r home and the companions of her happy childhood, had been de

. The joyful future, full of love, joy, and happiness, which had been beckoning her forward only a few minutes before, had vanished. Cambyses

ttendant Mandane came to put a last

he sacrifice this morning has tired her, and we must have her fresh and beautiful fo

mmanded a splendid view over the hanging-gardens, the immense city beneath, th

sparkled in the sun, and she did not notice a richly-dressed man peering in at one of the windows of the room where Nitetis lay

irl in this way. By Mithras, if I had seen you before I heard you, I think I should have fainted. A woma

d for a young and pretty bird like you, to have to live in such a lonely corner, but be patient, sweetheart. Your mistress will soon be queen, and then

have never asked any one to look out a husband for me," she

etty face is as good a bait fo

catch a husband, and lea

, why are you so hard on me? Have I done anything to vex you? Wasn't it thro

Half the people here are Medes, and if I had as many friends as I have countrymen, I might be queen to-morrow. And as to my situati

don't you know, that not a single waiting

that as well as

nthankful race, and don

that you are speaking t

of Oropastes, and grew up with his children. I know too that when you had received the ear-rings, Oropastes' brother Gaumata, (you need not blush, Gaumata is a pretty name) fell in love with your rosy face,

in this way," cried Mandane, blu

ght rather to be angry with the proud Oropastes, who sent his younger br

lander on my

ied with Amytis or Menische for a sister-in-law, but a poor girl like you, who owed everything to his bounty, would only have stood in the way of his ambitious plans. Between ourselves, he would like to be appointed regent of Persia while the king is away at the Massagetan

Bartja for the first time from the window of the station-house, I thought he was Gaumata. They

ness between them is not quite so great as all that. Wh

ionately. "Have you really seen him or are y

lexion, like the bloom on a peach, were so irresistible that I felt inclined to try and work impossibilities for him. Spare your blushes, my little pomegranate-blossom, till I have t

ances. "I have been warned against your smooth tongue, and I

ing her a white ribbon embroidered

ent I worked for him

knew you would not trust me. Who ever

do? Look, the-western sky is beginning to glow. Evening is coming on,

our. I see clearly that your mistress will be Cambyses' favorite wife, and will then forward your marriage, for she is very fond of you, and thinks no praise too high for your fidelity and skill. So to-morrow evening," he continued, falling back into the jesting tone peculiar to him, "when the Tistar-star rises, fortune will begin to shine on you. Why do you look down? Why don't you answer? Gratitude stops your pretty little mouth, eh? is that the reason? Well, my little bird, I hope you won't be quite so silent, if you should ever have a chance of praising poor Boges to your powerful mistress. And what message shall I bring to the ha

m: "Tell him I cannot see him," when her eye caught the ribbon she had once embroidered for her handsome playfellow. Bright pictures from her childhood flashed through her mind, short moments of intoxicating happiness; love, recklessness and longing

river. The door moved easily on its hinges, and when Boges had shut it again and strewed a few of the river-shells from the garden walks over it, it would have been difficult to find, even for any one who had come with that purpose. The eunuch rubbed his jeweled hands, smiling the while as was his custom, and murmured: "It can't fail to succeed now; the girl is caught, her lover is at my be

ly as he said these words

uch, named Neriglissar, who held the office of

e lily going on

it will be in all its beauty. My Egyptian mistress will be delighted, for she is very fond of flowers, and may I ask you to tell the king and the Achaemenidae, that un

tian. Some of the Archimenidae, however, will be sure to come; they are such lovers of horticulture that they would not like to miss this rare sight. Perhaps, too, I may succeed in b

is the most beautiful flower, that has ever bloomed in a royal garden. You saw the bud in the clear waters of the

t down the flight of steps. A two-wheeled wooden carriage was waiting for him there; he took his seat by the driver, the hor

very best, Boges had commanded that they should all be taken to the bath before the banquet.

tittering reached his ears. In the broad porch of the large bathing-room, which had been a

VII. 77. that the king

ays in the year. At

took 329 concubines,

tiv

in silken garments were wet through and clung to their delicate figures, and a warm rain desc

eived a blow from her neighbor's dainty little slipper, while another was lying in lazy contemplation, still as death, on the damp, warm floor. Six Armenians were standing together, singing a saucy love-song in their native language

f the eunuchs, who held the office of door-keepers, and were continually urging the women to greater haste,-the screeching calls of those

wever, the king's wives presen

oom. The wet perfumes still lay on their undried and flowing hair, and nimble female slaves were busied in carefully wiping away, wit

bed by quarrelsome or petulant individuals. Their efforts, however, were seldom so successful as to-day, when every one knew that a disturbance of the peace would b

ant hair ingeniously braided, plaited, and adorned with precious stones. Costly ornaments and silken and woolen robes in all the colors of the rainbow

ir wives the revenue

oney" (pi

eady fully adorned in their costly jewelry, which would have repres

Boges, kissing his hands, stroking his cheeks, whispering in his ear all kinds of requests, and trying by flattery to gain his intercession with the king. The woman's tyrant smiled at it all, stopped his ears and pushed them all back with jests and laughter, promising Amytis the Median that Esther the Phoenician should be punished, and Esther the same of Amytis,-that Parmys should have a

orked even more effectually than usual. Boges' self-satisfied smile showed that he had noticed this; he then favored the assembly with a look expressive of his contentment with their con

scrutiny like soldiers on drill, or

uge, to another a little white powder to subdue a too healthy color, here a different arrangement

e, who as one of the king's lawful wives, had a private

daughter of the Achaemenidae, had b

te band of the Achaemenidae. There could be no question that she was beautiful, but her figure was already too strongly developed, a frequent result of the lazy harem life among Eas

y glance at herself in the looking-glass, and then, fixing her eyes on th

could see you as you were a moment ago. You were really beautiful when you called out, 'Will he admire me?' for passion had turned y

en take us at once to the banquet, for I know my eyes will be darker and more brilliant, and

be allowed to

Boges, do not hide it any longer from me-I will

bitter evening: we have dug the pit for our enemy, and if my golden Phaedime will only do wha

do; I am ready for any

I am going to say, for we have not a minute to lose. Take off all your useless ornaments and only wear the chain the king gave you on your marriage. Put on

ossi

reat you. There, that is right. We cannot succeed unless you obey me

ut

king, tell him you have no wishes, now that

hat I w

sks after your welf

do tha

Achaemenidae can see

e a fearful

surely. Wash the red color from your cheeks and pu

s, you are asking something fearful of me, but I

r mistress's new

look like

is lovely ev

will completel

ng yourself with her. Then people will say: 'Would not Phaedime be as beautif

not bow do

u m

nt to humble

ake anything themselves against a woman, still they will be more likely to help than to hinder us, if I should need their assistance. Then, when the Egyptian is ruined, if you have done as I wish, the king will remember your sad pale face, your humility and forgetfulness of self. The Achaemenidae, and even the Magi, will beg him to take

s she was, answered

he tender flesh of the Egyptian shall have become food for dogs and the birds of the air, and when for the first time after long months of absence, I bring him once mor

........

old plates forming the panelling of the walls. A table of interminable length stood in the middle of the hall, overloaded with gold

he king's cup-bearer, who was a member of the royal family. "Are all the wine-jugs full, has the wine

Chian wine is better than any I ever tasted; indeed, in my opin

the latter high into the air and poured the wine so cleverly into the narrow neck of the little vessel that not a drop was lost, though the liqui

g the cup: "I agree with you, it is indeed a noble wine, and tastes twice as well when presented with s

ce, and it is one which the king only gives to his friends. Still it is a great plague to have to stay

aight from Babylon into the field, but to-day's embassy has changed matters; it is probable that there may be no

little cooler there than here, and besides

id: Then we will start for Susa three days after our marriage. I should like to show the Egyptian Princess that we understand the art of building as well as h

become perfectly indifferent to him, a

daughter of the Achaemenidae,

tever the king wis

will is the

s his king's hand, even when drippi

gods for depriving me of my parents. Here, you fellows! draw the curtains back; the guests are comi

OK

PTE

s they entered, and, assisted by other noble staff-bearers (chamberlai

s near. As he entered the hall every one rose, and the multitude received hi

he golden chair for Cambyses, which stood by it. The king's lawful wives sat on his left hand; Nitetis next to him, then Atossa, and by her side the pale, plainly-dressed Phaedime; next to this last wife of Cambyses sat Boges, t

r rank and age. Of the concubines, the greater number sat at the foot of the table; some stood opposite to Cambyses, and enlivened the ban

at by him in all the splendor and dignity of a queen,

bled her. There was a sad seriousness about her mouth, and a slight cloud, which only he could see, seemed to veil the usually calm, clear and cheerful

reating a happy new year for himself and the Persians-named the immense sum he intended to present to his countrymen on this day, and then call

whether it was admissible, they all received satisfactory answers. The petitions of the women had been enquired into by the eunu

by Phaedime and another beauty. The latter was magnificently dressed and had been paired with Phaedime

on seeing their grandchild and daughter so pale, and in such mis

he asked her in an angry and tyrannical tone: "What is the meaning of this beggarly dress at my table, on the day set apart in my honor? Have you forgotten, that in our country it is the custom never to appear unadorned before the king? Ve

aising her hands and eyes to her angry lord in such a beseeching manner that his anger was changed int

sun of my life has withdrawn his light?"

othing then that you wish for? I used to be able to dry your

whom can she put on jewels when her king, her

int herself with white, for underneath the pale color her cheeks were burning with shame and anger. But, in spite of all, she controlled her passionate

er and grandchild thus humbled, and many an Achaemenidae looked on, feeling deep sympat

ore the king, in a golden basket, and gracefully bordered round with

s enormous size and rare beauty with the eye of a conno

ce. "For many years I have studied the art of gardening, and have ventured

so carefully will do greater things than these. What a splendid fruit! Surely it's like was never seen before. I thank you again, Oropastes, and as the thanks of a king must never consist of empty words a

ll. Their anger on account of the humiliation of a woman was quickly forgotten; thoughts of coming battles, undying renown and co

is day. What indeed could he wish for more than he already possessed? Had not the gods given him every thing that a man could desire? and, over and above all this, had not they flung into his lap the precious gift of love? His usual inflexibility seemed to have changed into benevolence, and his stern severity into good-nature, as he turned to his brother Bartja with the words: "Come brother, have you forgotten my p

to defend his native town Phocaea against the hosts of Cyrus, and this fact the boy cleverly brought forward, speaking of the girl he loved as the daughter of a Greek warr

orbidden by law to c

ly led to say much tha

eld all money transact

o very uncongenial to

and abandoned it to t

more, brother; do what your heart bids you. I know the power of love too, and I will help you to gain our mother's consent." Bartja threw himself at his brother's feet, overcome with gratitude and joy, but Cambyses raised him kin

mmanded by their reli

up to ridicule. Vend

n was to create and pr

erefore considered p

3

r country, Nitetis, and will bring back another jew

her had finished speaking. Nitetis had fainted, and Atossa

andane, when Nitetis had awakened t

ke some wine to revive her completely, gave her the cup with his own hand, and then went on at the point at which he had left off in his account: "Bartja is going to your own coun

" cried the bli

exclaimed Atossa again, in an a

he was afraid of meeting those wonderful, fascinating eyes, and turned his head away, saying in a hoarse voice: "Take the women back to their apartments, Boges. I have seen enough of them-let us begin our drinking-bout-good-night, my mother; take care how you nourish vipers with your heart's blood. Sleep well, Egyptian, and pray to the gods to give you a more equal

-more staggering than walking. Boges accomp

Nile-kitten! Haven't you any message for the beautiful boy, whose love-story frightened you so terribly? Think a little. Poor Boges will very gladly play the go-between; the poor despised Boges wishes you so well-the humble Boges will be so sorry when he sees the proud palm-tree from Sais cut

his impudent manner?" sa

nswered the wr

of your conduct,"

answered Boges. "Go out

scornful words; she saw how full of terror they were for her, turned her back on him and went quickly into the house, but his voice rang after her: "Do

nd least of all messengers from the queen-mother, Atossa or any of the great people, may venture to set foot on these steps. If Croesus or Oropastes should wish to speak to the Egyptian Princess, refuse them decidedly. Do you understand? I repeat it, whoever is begged or bribed into disobedien

threats were never meant in joke, and fancied something great must be comin

nqueting-hall in the same litter

standing in their appointed place, singing their monoto

d confusion rose with every fresh wine-cup. They forgot the dignity of th

e and there a novice was carried away in the arms of a pair of sturdy attendants, while an old hand at the w

ing into the wine-cup as if unconscious of what was going on

he had pretended to love him while her heart really belonged to Bartja. How shamefully they had made sport of him! How deeply rooted must have been the faithlessness of thi

n women seem to take great interest in the love-affairs of their brothers-in-law. The P

ostrich, he feigned deafness and blindness in order not to seem aware of the lo

spicion of his brother, he would have killed him on the spot. Bartja was certainly innocent of any share in the deception and in his brother's misery, but still he was the cause of all; so the old grud

nishment for this false woman. Her death would not content h

ilt, (for he was determined to force a confession from her) shut her up in a solitary dungeon? or should he deliver her over to Boges, to be the servant of his concubines? Yes! now he h

we two-he always fortunate and happy, and I so miserable. Some day or other his descendants w

r into the hall, so that the wine flew round like rain, and cried: "We have had enough of this idle talk and useless noise. Let us hold a council

ersians deliberated a

d when they were sob

us tells the same of

2

ave left us no choice. We cannot go to war against desert wastes; but as our host is already under arms and our swords have

n the staff, which used to be the badge of your rank as commander, and yet you speak like a hot-blooded boy. I agree with you that enemies are easy enough to find, but only fools go out to look for them. The man who tries to make enemies is like a wretch who mutilates his own body. If the

applause, drowned however quickly by cries of

the same time we will follow Hystaspes' advice by raising our claims and pronouncing every one our enemy, who does not cheerfully consent to become a member of the kingdom founded by our great father Cyru

d Zopyrus. "We must h

id Gobryas. "And I too,"

ior Araspes, the old Intaphernes, and so

, striking the table so sharply with his heavy fist, that the golden vessels rang ag

aid the high-priest Oropastes. "The gods them

restrained enthusiasm of his warriors, and then, rising from his

e lowered his voice and went on: "I did not ask whether you wished for peace or war-I know that every Persian prefers the labor of war to an inglorious idleness-but I wished to

he king then asked a second question: "Shall we accept the conditions proposed by their envoys, and gra

onsider what has been resolved on during our intoxication. Drink on, all of you, as long as the night lasts. To-morrow, a

y to the king!" Boges had slipped out quietly before him. In the fo

sked Boges. "I have someth

ed your master to send

sunburnt head an

u then?" said Boges be

ome one

s sent a message to

old yo

Here, give me what you have; I

it to any one but t

ill be safer in my h

are

e at on

, and then called in a loud voice to the whip-bearers o

atter here?" a

e audacity to make his way into the palace with

ad fallen on his knees, touchin

Then, turning to the eunuch, he asked: "What do

rusted to him to no one but Bartja." On hearing this the boy look

ent stamped furiously on the ground at seeing that the

d the boy who had given him the letter. "The Egyptian lady's

brother

e prince, before the banquet, with a greeting fro

the banquet the prince was walking with you, so I could not speak to him, and now I am waiting f

fancying himself shamefully deceived. "No, indee

him quick as thought, and Cambyses, who went off at once to his own

rubbing his fat hands, and

one, he called Boges and said in a low voice: "From this time forward the hanging-gardens and the Egyptian are under your cont

ne or Atossa sho

very attempt to see or communicate with Nitetis

favor for mys

well chosen for

lse to take charge of the hang

ow lea

nsciousness three times during the day-if

ould take

s true as gold, and inflexibly severe. One day of r

your place to-morrow, but give hum the strictest orders, and say

yras, Croesus and Oropastes, the greatest horticulturists at your court, would very much like to see it. May they be all

s eyes open, if he care

e the torches before him. He was so very happy. Every thing had succeeded beyond his expectations:-the fate

concubines. Bartja, the destroyer of his happiness, should set off at once for Egypt, and on his return become the satrap of some distant provinces. He did not wish to incur the guilt of a brothe

of followers armed with shields, swords, lances, bows and lassos, in pursuit of the game which was to be fo

ins of followers of c

g expeditions, as on

very fond of hunting,

y age. According to S

mighty hunters in the

en found in the ruins

ng a lion with his r

storical, not a symbo

on Assyrian monument

h a lion (relief at K

s edition of G. Smit

representations of hu

nstance, stags and wil

mention the immense t

ttended the kings of

Xenophon, Cyrop. I.

d with a bow and arrow

ook of Kings we read t

king was well known to

of Kabus XVIII. p. 4

s as well by the Pers

present savage tri

PTE

own hand, were driven home behind the sports men. At the palace-gates the latter dispersed to their several

the next day for Egypt in order to fetch Sappho and accompany her to Persia. At the same time he assigned him the revenues of Bactra, Rhagae

ambyses remained cold as ice, uttered a few farewell words, and th

ited his bosom-friends Croesus, Darius, Zopyr

as he had promised to visit the blue

the blue lily seemed now to offer him another chance of seeing and speaking to his beloved pupil. He wished for this very

royal gardens, cool fountains plashing round them. Araspes, a Persian of high rank, who had bee

man you love; while I, miserable old fellow, am blamed by everybody, and totter to my grav

repent that he ever took a wife. Be merry, old friend, and remember that it's all your own fault. If you thought a wife would make you happy, wh

smiled b

er man in appearance, strength, courage and perseverance. You are one of the king's nea

aspes. "In your place, I certainly should

as forbidden

the gods announce the future to men. I should have thought that your own father was exam

which you do not u

comprehension a miracle. And you place more confidence in anything that seems to you miraculous, than in the plain simple truth that lies before your face. An

e the gods to be blamed because

s, the necessary penetration for discovering their meaning. What good does a b

ulate every man on becoming a bridegroom, you yourself have so long submitted to be blamed by the priests, slighted

took a long draught from the wine-cup, and said, "I

ell them," wa

drain to the health of the charming Sappho, and thi

med Bartja, joyfully rais

w," muttered Darius,

"Dark looks like these don't sit well on a betrothed lover, who is to drink to the health of his dearest one. Is

r of the Achaemenidae ought to possess," was Darius's

e than that, you must

goblet and looked

ure as my name is Araspes

toms; another has been frightened out of marrying by an oracle; Bartja has determined to be content with only one wife; and Darius looks like a D

ed Araspes. "Darius is

d him, and feeling his own great happiness doubly in that moment, pressed Darius's hand, saying: "I am so sorry that

be able to show a second and

low such examples as Gyges and Araspes have set us. And your one wife, Bartja, is really not worth talking abo

o the women, for we expect them to remain faithful to us all our lives, and we, who are bound to respect truth

ell a he to a man, but our wives are so awfully deceitful, t

me of one, I think her name was Penelope, who waited twenty years faithfully and lovingly for h

back after twenty years. For then I could take some new wives into my harem, young and beautiful, instead of the unfaithful ones, who, besides, would

hear what you are s

t once, or, what is still worse,

ld that

see, that you have

the secrets of y

mine at least carry on an uninterrupted, mortal warfare. But I have accustomed myself to that, and their sprightliness even

re jes

fellow-sufferers. These former enemies rose up against me with the most touching unanimity, and so overwhelmed me with revilings and threats that I left the room. They closed their doors against me. The next morning the lamentations of the evening before were continued. I fled once more and went hunting with the king, and when I came back, tired, hungry and half-frozen-for it was in spring, we were already at Ecbatana, and the snow was lying an ell deep on the Orontes-there was no fire on the hearth and nothing to eat. These noble creatures had entered into an

yrus!" cr

y grow old, what is to hinder me from taking others, still handsomer, and who, by the side of the faded beauties, will be doubly ch

bor and gone out into the garden, was heard calling: "C

upted Araspes. "The flowery darts of love must have entered the

is the lovers' bird among all nations, for love has given her her beautiful song. Wha

istar-star rose so splendidly to-night, that I left the wine to watch it. The nightingales were si

," said Araspes laughing. "Your e

ting wearisome. "I really must beg you to leave off making a

f. If you were not in love, you would have laughed instead of getting angry. Still

llation hanging over the horizon. Zopyrus watched him and called out to his friends, "Something

e other. "Bartja, I have so

eps his own counsel, and from the r

ti

ak o

ould come into th

his friend's hands, and said: "To-day is the third time that things have happened in the heavens, which bode no good for you. Your evil star has approached your favorable constellation so nearly, t

ve implicitly

ly. They

y to try and avoid wha

like a fencing-master-his favorite pupils are those who have the cour

taken leave of my

d tell Croesus to explain the rea

d call me

y mortal, but to go out of the

ius. What would the fencing-m

, by which an isolated individual

tooth aches, I have it drawn at once, instead of tormenting and making myself miserable for weeks by putting off the painful operation as a coward or

know how ser

afraid fo

N

, what you ar

He knew more about the heavens, than any man I ever saw. I learnt a great deal from him, and

did not

sy beforehand? Now that your des

ened to such a warning, but now that I love Sappho, I feel as if my l

and this f

Then Araspes was rig

ithout any hope

oman could

fus

ldest sportsman, the strongest wrestler-the wisest of all t

more, than I would tel

es

f Cyrus, your sister a

stars again, for instead of the danger with which they threatened me, here comes an unexpected happiness. Embrace me, my brother

to escort the carriages containing the king's mother and sister, and his wives. In going through the narrow pass which leads over the Orontes, the horses of your moth

the end of the shaft

to the backs of the ho

-collar and

iages and the dead bodies of its inmates, but the gods had taken them into their almighty protection, and there lay the carriage, with broken wheels, in the

was frightful, for the sides of the carriage had been so shattered by the fall, that they threatened every moment to give way, in which case those inside it must

idea what had taken place within me. I dragged the trembling women out of the carriage, and one minute later it rolled down the abyss crashing into a thousand pieces. I am a strong man, but I confess that all my strength was required to keep myself and the two women from falling over the prec

ane allowed me to kiss her forehead, and gave me all the jewels she had worn at the time of the accident, as a present for my future wife. Atossa took a ring from her finger, put it on mine and kissed my hand in the warmth of her emotion-you know how eager and excitable

nswer for that. As to the king, your father must apply to him; he is our

am? You know that Cambyses has always loo

only eighteen then, would try to gain the crown. Cambyses thought of this dream too; but, when you saved my mother and sister, Croesus explained to him that this mu

lease your brother. He chooses to be the only eagle

roesus be al

y father and Gobryas have

ll, I call that polite! Bartja invites us to a wine-party and leav

ssa. I shall stay here till the day after to-morrow, let the stars threaten me with all the dangers in the world. To-morrow I will f

or Bartja!" His friends called him, and he was on the point of returning to them, when he caught sight of a new star, and began to examine its position carefully. His serious looks gave way to a triumph

om their seats to welcome the old man, but when he saw Bartja's face by

her?" asked Gyges, seiz

appy boy, you are still here? don't delay any longer,-fly at once! the whip-bearers are close at my heels, and I as

esus, I

of the court, and, in appearance at least, have

e speak

so innocently meant, you are still in the greatest danger. You know Cambyses'

t under

byses has long been jealous of you, and th

in the hanging-gardens, si

lie to your o

swear t

into a crime by adding the guilt of per

n here, and ab

nce I myself, Hystaspes, and others of the Ac

led his friends and said "Croesus says he met me an hour ago in the hanging-gardens, you know that since the sun set I have no

Gyges, "that Bartja has not le

" added Araspes, Zopyrus

mad? Do you think that your witness will outweigh the words of such men as Hystaspes, Gobryas, Artaphernes and the high priest, Oropa

terrupting the old man, "if Bartja was in the

any longer, if we have

ision of the bodyguard is coming into the garden. I am to be arrested; I cannot escape because I am innocent, and to fly would lay me open

is I do know, you must fly, and fly at once. You know Cambyses. My carriage is waiting at the gate. Don't spare the horses, save yourself even if you drive them to death. The Soldiers

g: "Fly, Bartja, and remember the warning that th

ground to-day. Cowardice is worse than death in my opinion, and I would rather suffer wrong at the hands of others than disgrace myself.

d fought by his side in the war with the Tapuri, and loved him as if he were his own son. He interrupted him, saying: "There is no need to take

ur life. You must fly. My men will do what I tell them blindfold; they will not pursue you; and

our offer, because I am innocent, and I know that though Cambyses is hasty, he is not

TER

ed sunken; two physicians stood waiting behind him with all kinds of instruments and vessels in their hands. Cambyses had, only a few minutes before,

e to which Herodotus

, and which was called

than epilepsy. S

but it had seized him to-day with fearful violence, owing

nd; but though the epileptic fit had not subdued his anger it had at least so far

that Phaedime whose place in the king's favor had been given to Nitetis, Oropastes the high-priest, Croesus, and behind them Boges, the chief of the eunuc

ther, and said in a dull hollow voice: "High-priest, tell us what awaits the man who dece

awful sentence on the bridge Chinvat; for he has transgressed the highest commands, and, by committing three crimes, has forfeited th

r death, at the rising

y the Divs to the bri

o their past lives

that spot the two sup

the

wretch! never will I listen to that smooth, hypocritical tongue again, or look at those treacherous

the floor with his forehead, raised his hands and cried: "May thy days and years bring nought but happiness and prosperity

"holy immortal ones,"

rews. They surround t

est virtues. Later we

s

shedding a brother's blood; the smoke thereof will rise to heaven and become a cloud that must darken the days of the murderer, and at last cast down the lightnings of vengeance on his head. But I know that thou desirest justice, not murder. Act then as those who have to pronounce a sentence, and hea

sign to Bischen to retire, and comm

ith his life. Finding myself better towards evening, I went up to the hanging-gardens to see if everything was in order there, and also to look at the rare flower which was to blosso

ed the king, "and keep

se noble witnesses, if everything was in order. He affirmed that this was the case and added, that he had just come from Nitetis, that she had wept the whole day, and neither tasted food nor drink. Feeling anxious lest my noble mistress should become worse, I commissioned Kandaules to fetc

the different entrances

.-The man was standing by the window of the Egyptian Princess's apartment, and uttered a low whistle when he heard us coming up. Another figur

istance of not more than four steps. While I was thinking whether I should be justified in arresting a son of Cyrus, Croesus called to Bartja, and the two figures suddenly disappeared behind a cypress. N

ambyses ground his teeth and asked in a voice of great emoti

es

ot lay hands o

diers, not

for every knave more

e criminal just as we formerly l

ognize Bartj

es

, can you too giv

le likeness." Boges grew pale at these words; Cambyses, however, shook his head as if the idea did not please him, and said: "Whom am I to beli

as ours, will prove that

r of such an outrageous criminal?" asked Ca

ted Araspes, Darius, Gyges

upon him, he lowered his voice, and said: "What have you to bring forward in favor of t

ready to swear by Mithras, that we have not left Bartja

e to give in favor of your brother's innocence; I watched the rising of the Tistar-sta

crutinizing eye first on the one and then on the other party of these strange witnesses, who wished

his chained hands, took advantage of the silence to say, making at the sam

pe

. I confess that no judge was ever placed in such a perplexing position. The best men in your kingdom testify against one another, friend against friend, father against son. But I tell you that were the entire Persian nation to rise up against you, and swear that Cambyses had committed this or that evil deed, and you were to say, 'I d

thras, and by all pure spirits, that I am innocent. May my life become extinct and my race perish from off the

few moments' thought, said: "I should like to believe you, for I cannot bear to imagine you the worst and most abandoned of men. To-morrow we will

orm of Bartja, in order to ruin the king's brother and sta

was just going to offer his hand to Bartja, when a staff-bearer came in and gave the

ies and turquoises. As he looked he turned pale, and dashed the dagger on the gr

ad mortally wounded. Croesus, you ought to know it too, for my father brought it from your treasure-house at Sardis. At last you are really convicted, you liar!-you impostor!

must have lost it,

eads for theirs, you guards, if they escape. Not one word more will I hear; away with you, you perjured villains! Boges, go at once to the hanging-gardens and

litary apartments, and, notwithstanding the hour, she had risen in order to try and discover the truth and warn her son against pronouncing a too hasty decision. She believed firmly that Bartja and Nitetis were innocent, though she could not explai

g as many painful details as possible, confirmed her in her belief of th

exhausted. His blind mother seated herself at his side, Croesus and Oropastes took their station at the foot o

medicine should be car

high value upon life

.) maintains, that th

n the science of medic

medical directions to

. VII. there is a det

shall treat a priest

house for a small dra

a team of four oxen.

ouse, a female ass sh

ame Fargard, that the

f he had operated thri

e had been permitted t

or ever." If, on the

rs of the Divs) died

pable of healing

m not to yield to passionate anger, and to remember wh

I see that I must get rid of everything that rouses my anger. The Eg

pacify his anger, but neither prayers, tears, nor her motherly exhortations, could in th

ns any longer. Nitetis has been proved guilty. A man was seen to leave her sleeping-apartment in the night, and that ma

of that letter?" asked Cro

hless creature made use of characters,

the ominous piece of writing lay, saying: "There it is; read it; but do not hide or alter a s

too true; I dare not be angry any longer with those poets who have written severely against women. Alas, they are all false and faithless! O Kassandane, how the Gods deceive us!

robes; but Cambyses clenched his fist whil

asis of Egypt, to Bartja

in your mother's apartments. It lies in your power to comfort a sad and loving heart, and to give it one happy

artja did not wait to be sent for twice by that treacherous woman, and has disgraced himself by swearing falsely. His friends, the flower of our young men, have covered themselves with indelible infamy for his sake; and through him, you

like a madman, till the first crow of the sacred bird Parodar. When the sun had ri

t us be merry," said Zopyrus, "for I believe it will soon be up with all our merriment. I would lay my life, that we are all of us dead by to-morr

will make merry and keep our eyes open; who

ath as innocently as we do," said Gyge

. Come to us and pass the wine-cup. By Mithras, I can truly say I never wished for death, but now I quite look forward to the

try and explain what has re

served the punishment of perjury. Try and get us some golden goblets, Bischen; the wine has no flavor out of these miserable brass mugs

of," said Bartja, "but the wormwood of de

enerally causes death." As he said this, he touched Gyges and whispered: "Be as cheerful as you can! d

le one, that a Div had taken the likeness of Bart

't believe in

e Div, who took the beautiful form of a

ad this legend so often recited at t

sed Div and went to Masenderan, and was beaten

r eyes. And so it will be with us, my friends! We shall be set free, and the eyes of Cambyses and of our blind and infatuated fathers will be opened to see our innocence. Listen, Bischen; if we really should be

real prophecies. Before Abradatas fell in the battle of Sardis, the

you remind us, that it is much more glorious to

ny a death, which I should prefer to our own,-indeed to life itself.

ething about

It won't matter to you in the next w

owever, she refused all my offers, induced Cyrus to remove me from my office near her, and to accept her husband Abradatas as an ally. When her handsome husband went out to the war, this high-minded, faithful woman decked him out with all her own jewels and told him that the noble conduct of Cyrus, in treating her like a sister, when she was his captive, could only be repaid by the most devoted friendship and heroic courage. Abradatas agreed with her, fought

ring a word. At last Bartja raised his hands to heaven and cried: "O thou great Auramazda! why dos

s severe and serious, and his eyes, generally so mild, had a gloomy, almost threatening, expression. He waved the prince coldly back, saying, in a voice which trembled with pain and reproach: "Let my hand go, you infatuated boy! you are n

hed, and stamping his foot, he cried: "But for your age and infirmities, and

Cambyses have the same blood in your veins. It would become you much better to repent of your crimes, and be

s clenched hands sank down powerless at hi

Bartja, and taking the young man's right hand in both his own, he looked at him as a father would who finds his son, wounded on the

hese words cut him to the heart. For the first time in h

ad a sensitive, childlike nature, which did not yet know how to meet the hard strokes of fate. His body and his physical courage had been hardened against bodily and physi

ng deeper into the sad and grieved heart of the younger man. Darius, however, after having watched them for some time, came up with quiet deliberation to Croesus, and said: "You continue to distress and offend one another, and yet the accused does not seem to know wi

asked him to meet her alone. The testimony of his own eyes and of the first men in the realm, nay, even the dagger found under Nitetis' windows, had not been able to convince

the Egyptian Princess, whose heart I had believed to be a mirror for goodness and beauty alone. Can you find fault

a, wringing his hands. "If you loved me you wou

ous enough to reproach him bitterly in his irritated state of mind. The weak thread of his patience broke, and in a fearful passion he commanded the guards to behead me at once. I was seized directly by Giv, one of the whip-bearers; but as t

oused another stor

He then called on the accused himself to answer the charge of disloyalty and perfidy. Bartja rejected the idea of an understanding with Nitetis in such short, decided, and convincing words, and confirmed his asserti

ad really happened. In one thing, however, they were all agreed: that

bt for a moment that she was in love with him. When she let the goblet fall, I heard Phaedime's fathe

sun rose and shone pleasant

hras, "means to make o

only means to light us kindl

PTE

ssandane and Atossa; but now, on her desiring to be carried to them, that she might explain her strange conduct, her new guard, Kandaules, forbade her abruptly to leave the house. She had thought that a free and full account of the contents of her letter from home, would clear up all these misunderstandings. She fancied she saw Cambyses holding out his hand as if to ask forgive

d not shut them out. Mid-day came, the sun stood high and burning in the sky, but no news came from those she loved so well; and a feverish restlessness seized her which increased as night came on. In the twilight Boges came to her, and told her, with bitter scorn, that her letter to Ba

beyed the signal, swung himself over the ledge and into the room at a bound. Then words of love were exchanged, the names Gaumata and Mandane whispered softly, kisses and vows given and received. At last the old man clapped his hands. The youth obeyed, kissed a

tis was accustomed to go to the window looking towards the Euphrates, and spend hours gazing into the river and over the plain; and that at that time she never needed her attenda

d her lover had been discovered, but Boges appearing and whispering: "He has escaped safely," she at once ordered the other attendants, whom she had banished to the women's apartments during her rendezvous, and who now came flocking back, to carry their

st been telling your lord that a royal marten has been making merry in your dove-cote. Farewell, and think of the poor tormented Boges in this tremendous heat, when you feel the co

the hanging-gardens, and had been seen by several of the Achaemenidae as he was on the point of getting in at one of the windows. The king had been told of his brother's treachery, and people were afraid h

ight which seemed as if it would never end. She remembered that in her box of ointments there was a specific for improving the complexion, which, if swallowed in a sufficiently large quantity, would cause death. She had this poison brought to her, and resolved calmly and deliberately, to take her own life directly the executioner should draw near. From that moment she took pleasure in thinking of he

e than my own young life. Kassandane and Atossa must think of me kindly. They will see from my mother's letter that I am innocent, and that it was only for my poor sister's sake that I asked to see Bart

to give both to Cambyses when she was gone. She then fell on her knees and

rest, but she answered: "I do not need any sleep, becaus

erent animals, and her body, to whom the soul had been entrusted, remained in a state of preservation. This, "if" filled her with a feverish restlessness. The doctrine that the well-being of the soul depended on the preservation of the earthly part of every human being left behind at death, had been impressed on her from childhood. She believed in this error, which had built pyramids and excavated rocks, and trembled at the thought that, according to the Persian custom, her body would be thrown to the dogs and birds of prey, and so given up to the powers of destruction, that her soul must be deprived of every hope of eternal life. Then the thought came to her,

e the Nile; the many villages, just as in her own home, peeping out from among luxuriant cornfields and plantations of fig-trees. To the west lay the royal hunting-park; she could see its tall cypresses and nut-trees miles away in the distance. The dew was glistening on every little leaf and blade of

y to rise again from his own ashes more beautiful than before, and, after three days, to fly back again to his home in the East. While she was thinking of this bird, and wishing that she too might rise again from the ashes of her unhappiness to a new and still more glorious joy, a large bird with brilliant plumage rose out of the dark cypresses, which concealed the palace of the man she loved and who had made her so miserable, and flew towards her. I

to her he was the Phoenix. A strange certainty of deliverance filled her heart; she thought the god Ra had sent the bird to her, and that as a happy spirit she should take that form. So long as we are able to hope and wish, we can bear a great deal of sorrow; if the wished-for happiness does not come, anticipation is at

s an unwelcome guest. While Nitetis slept, Mandane lay awake, tormented by fearful remorse. How gladly she would have held back the sun which was bringing on the

ry over her weak heart every time. To confess was certain death, and she felt as if she had been made for life; she had so many hopes for the future, and the grave seemed so dreadful. She thought she could perha

ondence had been discovered, and that was enough of itself to ruin Nitetis, even if she, Mandane, ha

istress's couch, weeping bitterly and won

etis was not only ruined, but certain to die a shameful death. The influence of the king's mother had suffered a severe shock; and lastly, he had the pleasure of knowing, not only that he had outwitted every one and succeeded in all his plans, but that through his favorite P

hed the harem and penetrated to her apartments. She was lying on a purple couch in her dressing-room; a thin silken chemise and yellow slippers thickly sown with turquoises and pearls composed her entire dress. Twe

e lamb, and I've still so much to do to-day. First I must be present at an Egyptian donkey-ride; secondly, I must witness an Egyptian execution... but I see I am anticipating my story; I must begin at the beginning. I'll allow you to cry, laugh and scream for joy as much as you will, but you're forbidden to ask a single question until I have finished. I think really I have deserved these care

ime impatiently; "I want to

y to the trees. You really need not grudge me the pleasure of living my successes over again. While I tel

ience, and every fresh report that the eunuchs and slave-girls bring makes it worse. I am in a perfect fever-I cannot wait.

child I had no greater pleasure than to watch a fish writhing on the hook; now I have got you, my splendi

tortured beauty, and then went on with his tale: "It had not escaped me that Cambyses sent his brother (who had brought Nitetis from Egypt), out to the war with the Tapuri purely from jealousy. That proud woman, who was to take no orders from me, seemed to care as little for the handsome, fair-haired

m to pay me a visit. He came the very same evening. I sent for my best wine, pressed him to drink, and experienced, not for the first time, that the juice of the vine has one quality which outweighs all the rest: it can turn even a silent man into a chatter-box. The youth confessed that the great attraction which had brought him to Babylon was, not the sacrifice, but a girl who held the office of upper attendant to the Egyptian Princess. He said he had loved her since he was a child; but his ambitious brother had higher views for him, and in order to get the lovely Mandane out of his way, had procured her this situation. At last he begged me to arrange an interview with her. I listened good-naturedly, made a few difficulties, and at last asked him to come the next day and see how matters were going on. He came, and I told him that it might be possible to manage it, but only if he would promise to do what I told him

did Gauma

he Euphrates gate at the rising of the Tistar-star. But I had a misfortune with this letter, for the messenger managed the matter clumsily. He declares that he delivered the letter to Bartja; but there can be no doubt that he gave it to some one else, probably to Gaumata, and I was not a little dismayed to hear that Bartja was sitting over the wine with his friends on that very evening. Still what had been done could not be undone, and I knew that the witness of men like your father, Hystaslies, Croesus and Intaphernes, would far outweigh anything that Darius, Gyges and Araspes could say. The former would testify against their friend, the latter for him. And so at last everything went as I would have had it. The young ge

byses. Ariabignes, chi

verily believe Kassandane and Atossa would have been sent after Croesus and Bartja into the other world, if fear of Cyrus's spirit had not prevented the son, even in this furious rage, from laying hands on his father's widow. Kassandane, however, did not say one word for Nite

ich she had caught from his own smooth tongue, and in token of her gratitude, h

PTE

of the king's wives, who had proved false and faithless, promised to afford. The whip-bearers were forced to use all their authority to keep this gaping crowd in order. Later on in the day the news that Bartja and his friends were soon to be e

ries and yells. Their pleasure in the thought of seeing a more fortunate sister humbled, vanished at the painful news that their beloved prince was condemned to death. Men, women and children raged, stormed and cursed, exciting one another to louder and louder bursts of indignati

he body-guard was sent to patrol the streets. At the sight of their shining armor and long lances, the crowd r

Princess was to be led out of the city in shame and disgrace. For this reason a larger number of whipbearers were stationed here, in order to make way for travellers entering the city. Very few people indeed left the ci

ifty, dressed as a Persian courtier, and another, much older, in long white robes, occupied the first carriage. The cart was filled by a number of slaves in simple blouses, and broad-brimmed felt hats, wearing the hair cut close to the head. An old man, dressed as a Persian servant, rode by the side of the cart. The driver of the first carriage had great difficul

you see that it's easier to-day to get out of

rt from the king. Come, be

; your caravan does not

to do with that

." These words were half meant for the travell

ty retinue of the travellers, saying: "Did you ever see such a queer cavalcade? There's something odd about these strangers, as sure as my name's Giv. Why, the lowes

ittle silken roll scented with musk, sealed with the

cters. But no sooner had he deciphered the first letters than he looked even more sharply than before at the travel

not belong to you. Gyges, the son of Croesus, the man you give yourself out for, is in prison and is to be executed to-day. You are

by him in the carriage, for that he had very important news to communicate. The man hesitated a moment; but on seeing a fre

ith a smile and said: "Now,

t you are not a Persian, but

he king, and have no reason for fear. On the contrary, the news I bring gives me reason to expect much from his favor. Let me be taken to Croesus, if this is your duty; he will be surety for me, and will send back your men, of w

ing the examination of the prisoners the night before, and could therefore tell all that had happened with tolerable accuracy. The Greek followed his tale eagerly, with many an incredulous shake of his handsome head, however, when the daughter of Amasis and the son of Cyrus were spoken of as having been disloyal and false, that sentence of death had been pronounced, especially on Croesus, di

glad, if Bartja

han I c

ve at least two talents, if you can procure me an intervie

uch a thing of me,

u must,

can

ce of your king; but my errand brooks no delay, for I can prove that Bartja and his friends a

it pos

dn't you say Darius was

es

his father is a ma

the kingdom, after

He will welcome me when he hea

rful being. You speak with

ste then, and call some of your men to mak

o mind, than a hope that some cherished wish may be fulfilled, especi

scourge and calling to his men: "This nobleman has come on purpose to prove Bartja's inno

in of the whip-bearers went up to their commander, and, seconded by th

d mounted his servant's horse, and no

ded, the crowd fell back more willingly, and loader and fuller grew the

lowly into sight. At the head rode a grey-headed old man; his robes were brown, and rent, in token of mourning, the mane an

before the old man with a cry of joy, and with crossed arms

words of the whip bearer. Hystaspes seemed to feel fresh confidence too after hearing the stranger, for he begged him to follow him into

was easy to read that they were afraid of their ruler's wrath, and preferred keeping as far from him as possible. The dazzling light and oppressive heat of a Babylonian May day came in through the open windows, and not a sound was to be heard in the great room, except the whining of a large dog of the Epirote breed, which had just received a tremendous kick from Cambyse

d huntsmen hastened to obey his orders. He called after them, "I shall ride the unbroken horse Reksch; get the f

ed his powerful frame, and did not see that Hystaspes had entered, for his sullen

tioned himself in the window so as to break the s

and his rent garments, and then asked

or servant and uncle has come

cy for perjurers and false swearers. 'Tis bett

ould not be guilt

stion the justic

the king does is good, and ca

father; but have these last few hours brought me any joy? Old man, I grieve for you

ly should not be gu

ill come to the help of

t a fresh witnes

ive half my kingdom, to be convinced of th

is waiting outside, who seems, to judge by his fi

an cheat us with their sly tricks. How much have you had to pay for this new witness, uncle? A Greek is as ready with a lie as a Magian with his spells, and I know they'll do anything for gold. I'm really curious to see your witness. Call him in. But

himself on the ground before the king. The Greek's bearing, as he approached, under the king's penetratin

e king's gaze, seemed to make a favorable impression on the latter; he did not allow him

is my home. I have served ten years as commander of

eneralship the Egyptians were indeb

a

rought you

s, and the wish to devote my arm

ne single lie may cost your life. We Persians

se, as a distortion and corruption of what

n sp

d like to tell you later. It has reference to matters of the greatest i

mpany me to the chase. You come exactly at the right t

any you with p

king! Have you had muc

esert I have kil

ome, fo

ng the hall, when Hystaspes once more threw himself at his feet, crying with up-raised hands: "Is my son-is your brother, to di

enace and his eyes flashed as he raised his hand and said to the Greek: "Tell me what

cent. I will only say, that I wish and hope I may succeed in accomplishing anything so great and beautiful. The gods have at least allowed me to discover a trace which seems calculated to throw light on the events of yesterday; but you yourself must decide whether my hopes have been presumptuous and

se her! there, speak and have done with

the acquaintance of Croesus and his son; I only saw your brother and his friends once or twice, casually; still I remembered the young prince's h

meet him

Theodorus' memory, that he used them to beautify the head of an Apol

h. How is it possible to copy features so exa

d this master-piece, and if you wish for a proof of h

e for it. Go on

ellent arrangements, I performed in an incredibly short t

a foreigner, to us

me by chance into my hands, when once, in order to s

y-poor Croesus!" and then the old gloomy expression came over his face and he passed his hand across his forehead, as if trying to smooth the lines of care away

d reminded the Athenian, who spoke Persian wi

ed in Babylon to celebrate your birthday, gaze with wonder at the splendor of your court, and enjoy your liberality. At last the irregular beat of horses' hoofs, and the sound of bells struck my ear, and a few minutes later I distinctly heard cries of distress. My resolve was taken at once; I made my Persian servant dismount, sprang into his saddle, told the driver of the cart in which my slaves were sitting not to spare his mules, loosened my dagger and sword in their scabbards, and spurred my horse towards the place from whence the cries came. They grew louder and louder. I had not ridden a minute, when I came on a fearful scene. Three wild-looking fellows had just pulled a youth, dressed in the white robes of a M

" interrupte

king. "Take care, Hellene! remember my arm reaches far.

opher Pythagoras, whose fame may perhaps have reached your ears, and always, before spe

and yet in her deeds turned out to be a most faithful disciple of Angramainjus. You know

the anguish expressed in the king's features, "

pe

the gods never lay a heavier weight on any man than he can bear. Hast thou a wounded heart? touch it as

ythagoras, and smiled bitterly at the word "patience." Still the Athenia

e opened his eyes, looked anxiously at me, and asked who I was and what had happened to him? The master of the station was standing by, so I was obl

d and murmured: 'You are not the man you give yourself out for.' T

ful, and asserted untiringly that the wounded man could be no other than your brother. When we had cleansed the blood from his face, the master of the station too swore that there could be no doubt of his b

medicine-chest is to b

is prettily and compe

, for the inscriptio

at it was made in the

.) in the reign of

more. We bowed down before him, believing him to be your brother, and asked if he would like to be taken to the

me quickly," interrupted the king

s which we should find in the sleeve of his Magian's robe. The landlord found this document and, being able to read, confirme

u underst

emed to fill his thoughts. He must have just escaped some great danger, a

ice; "if I do not mistake, that is the name o

and then exclaimed with a smile; "Set the prisoners free, my King; I will

the allegorical speeches of his own subjects. Nitetis and Phanes were the only human beings, who had ever made him forget that he was a king. With them he was a man speaking to his fellow-man, instead of a despot speaking with creatures whose very existence was the plaything of his own caprice. Such is the effect produced by real manly dignity, superior culture and the consciousness of a right to freedom, on the mind even of a tyrant. But there was something beside all this, that had helped to win Cambyses' favor for the Athenian. This man's coming seemed as if it might possibly give him back the treasure he had believed was lost and more than lost. But how could the life of such a forei

nificent offer, and asked: "Is it permitted me to put a fe

to say and ask wh

y ate at the king's table, entered, out of breath from his endea

er. "I am not sure, that we shall hunt at all t

police, hurried from the room, returning in a few minutes with the desired officer. These moments P

the man lay prostrate before him. "Victory to the king! They

anything of thei

my R

their guilt, when spe

if you could hear them speak, would believe in their

is anger; Cambyses, however, smiled kindly instead of rebuking him. But a sudden thought

n stood on his forehead, and he could scarcely sta

dawn in his mind. "Is it possible, that you did not carry out my orders at o

, raising his hands imploringly towards the king: "Have mercy, have mercy, my

if Croesus is

did not think I was doing wrong in allowing hi

ed, and the treasurer may give you two talents, as you have so many children.-Now go to the pris

ht of the world, an

r them. You, Datis, go at once to the hanging-gardens and order Boges to defer the execution of the sentence on the Egyptian Princess; a

rture, but Phanes detained him, saying: "

pe

ccurate information. During his delirium the youth often mentioned his

atis, and brin

o; and Mandane, whom I have just been assured on the most positiv

her,

is hersel

ng man was afraid of this woman's reproachful looks; he knew the captivating power that lay in her eyes. So he pointed to

as if he would say: "Here no one h

, more and more vividly, and the thought that these features could not have deceived him-that Nitetis must be innocent-took a firmer root in his mind; he had already begun to hope. If Bartja could be cleared, there was no error that might not be conceivable

g, and said: "You offended me, but I will be merciful; I have not forgotten that my father, on his dying bed, told me to make you my friend and adviser. Take your life b

artily welcomed the Athenian, asked him to relate his

if I have ever questioned the justice of your decrees. Is not this marvellous, Cambyses? My son once placed himself in great danger to save the life of this

pes; both shared one feeling; their so

roofs of Bartja's innocence were as yet only founded on conjecture, not one of those present doubted it on

PTE

or did it escape him that malice had had a hand in the affair. How could B

ing his suspicions, Oropas

and without one preliminary wor

the only two left out of a f

younger or olde

; my brother, the youngest, was

arkable likeness between h

tja, that in the school for priests at Rhagae, whe

at Babylon

e last time at the

speaking

ly punishable in one who wears

nd he exclaimed: "Nevertheless you are lying; Gauma

e high-priest-by the most high God, whom I have served faithfully for thirt

as if you were sp

bsent from your side the w

now

of astonishment and enquiry on her, that the king saw she must be in some way connected with him, and th

ation of upper attendant to the-may Aurama

priest,-to do a f

e words: 'If thou withhold help from the man who is pure in heart and from his widow and orphans, then shall the pure, subject earth cast thee out unto the stinging-nettles, to painf

nce with Phanes, and asked: "Why did n

it more suitable to send such a young girl away from my h

brother since she

r; but on discovering later that the passionate love of youth had begun to mingle with the

high-priest by a nod to retire. He then looked down

fresh young face was pale as death, a

y evening; but remember, a lie an

hat she could hardly stand, and her fear

not speak. Then Phanes came forward and asked the angry king to allow him to examine the gi

ept freely, the spell which had seemed to chain her tongue, vanished, and she began to tell her story, interrupted only by low sobs. She hid nothing, confessed that Boges had given her his sanction and assistance to the meeting

sist a smile at the longing tone in which these words wer

always seems to stand at a woman's command in the hour of her greatest danger, had not known how to seize his weak side, and use i

lucked with your own hands for her, some days ago. And when it began to fade, she took every flower separately, spread out the petals with care, laid them between woollen

words into her mistress's mouth which the latter had never uttered; professing that she herself had heard Nitetis a hundred time

and pushing her away with his foot said: "Out of my sight, you dog of a

ded like sweet music in her ears. She rushed through the courts of the palac

he eunuchs was nowhere to be found. He had vanished from the hanging-gardens in an unaccountable manner; b

he officer of police, who prudently concealed the excitement of the crowd from his l

t into the hall, sent by the king's mother t

are to be set at liberty. Go to your sons, you anxious, troubled fathers, and assure them of my mercy and favor. I think we shall be able to find a satrapy a-piece for them, as compensation for to-night

e to use so large a sum,

e, and calling out to him, "We shall meet again at

........

de up her mind that Nitetis was faithless, and her own beloved son innocent. But in whom could she ever place confidence again, now that this girl, whom she ha

allied to her by relationship and friendship, as good as dead. And yet she durst not indul

ntences of death. The self-control which she had learnt from Nitetis ga

he felt now she not only looked up to as her deliverer, but loved with all the warmth of a first

atuated or insane. Then her tears would burst out afresh, she would utter imploring supplications to the gods for mercy, and a few mi

g-gardens would be in vain. Then Atossa began to rage again, until at last her mother was forc

hed, and looking forward to an ignominious death. Suddenly her tearful, weary eyes lighted up as if from some strong purpose, and instead of gazing into the distance, she fixed them on a black speck which flew towards her in a straigh

bird of good fortune! Now e

ad brought so much comfort to Nitetis th

e but the old gardener, she jumped out, trembling like a fawn, plucked a few roses and cypress twigs a

ut her flowers in his brown hand, a

r the old man could utter, as he pre

ce. Say that you had to bring fruit for the table. My poor brother Bartja, and Darius, the son of the noble Hystaspes, are in prison, near the guard-ho

ll not allow me to

, and slip them i

l do m

good Sabaces. Now make ha

know, that I loved them to the last. The rose means, 'I love you,' and the evergreen cypress, 'true and steadfast.'" The

a spreading plane-tree, she pressed them by turns to her lips, murmuring: "Bartja's ring means that h

hen she thought of her friends and their sad fat

hat the innocence of Bartja and his friends had been proved, a

ts. Atossa, as unbridled in her joy as in her grief, ran to meet her friend's litter and flew from one

round Nitetis as she descended, and covered her with kisses and caresses till she perceived that her friend's strengt

ad-more like a marble piece of sculpture than a living head-was resting on the blind queen's lap, she felt At

one by one, passed her hand across her pale fore head as if to remove a veil, smiled at each, and closed her eyes onc

ossa-this her motherly friend, and there stood, not the angry king, but the man she loved. And now his lips opened too, his stern, severe eyes rested on her so beseechingly, and he said: "O Nitetis, awa

she can be guilty," cried the king again, and forget

m his portable medicine-chest. This restored her to perfect consciousness; she raised herself with difficulty into a sitting posture, returned the loving caresses of her two friends, a

this self-renunciation on the part of her son, and s

cried Atossa, proudly and joyf

ook my faith in your inno

k your mother to tell you what you would wish to know, my King. Pray do not scorn my poor, ill sister. When an Egyptian girl once loves, she cannot forget. But I feel so frightened. The end mu

she fell back into th

r life cannot be saved, though this antidote may possibly prolong it for a few days." Cambyses stood by, pale a

arge medicine-chest; and let attendants be called to ca

d Cambyses said to the physician, but witho

he has taken result

ive. It is my will. Here, eunuch! summon all the physicians in Babylon-assemble the priests

ll there, perched on the cypress-tree. Her eyes fell first on her lover, who had sunk down at her side and was pressing his burning lips to her right hand. She murmu

her eyes and was soon seized

TER

on, sick and wounded as he was. He was now awaiting his sentence in a dungeon, while Boges, the man who had led him into crime, was nowhere to be found, notwithstanding all t

d enabled him to obtain with great ease, were restored to the royal treasury. Cambyses, how

g Nitetis, to be removed to Susa, two days after the accused had been declared innocent. Several eunuchs of ran

as, almost entirely, by his anxiety for Nitetis, he caused exact information of this illegal manifestation to be furnished him, and ordered the ringleaders to be severely punished. He fancied it was a proof that Bartja had been trying to gain favor with the people, and Cambyses would perhaps have shown his displeasure by some open act, if a better impulse had not told him th

opyrus, and a numerous retinue charged with splendid presents from Cambyses for Sappho. Darius remained behind, kept back by his

very prudent with regard to Atossa. The secret had been confided to

governed the province of Persia proper, the mother-country, to which this enormous world-empire and its ruler owed their origin. Should the family of Cyrus become extinct, the descendants of Hystaspes would have a well-grounded right to the Persian throne. Darius therefore, apart from his personal advantages, was a fitting claimant for Atos

n this case also, and before Bartja l

iality, and soon won the fancy of the older and more experienced man, who gave him many a useful hint, a

detailed account of Nitetis' sufferings, ending with these words: "Thus the unhappy victim of your ambitious plans will end her life in a few hours by poison, to the use of which she was driven by despair. The arbitrary caprices of the mighty can efface all happiness from the life of a human creature, just as we wipe a picture from the tablet with a spon

hen, amid the joyful shouts of the people, set up outside the city-gate the stones which, ac

epared to return to his p

endly and familiar smile on the face of the other, he quickened his steps, and, holding out his hand with a heartiness for which none of his Persian acquaintances would have given him credit, exclaimed in Egyptian: "Can I believe my eyes? You in Persia, old Hib? I

e right knee, laying one hand on his heart and raising the other to heaven, cried: "Thanks be unto thee, great Isis, for protecting the wanderer and permitting him to see his master once more in health and safety. Ah, child, how anxious I have been! I e

without many a heartache. These foreigners are all the children of Seth. The good and

t its being so blessed,

father Hib. What h

e left house and grandchildren at my age,-going on for eighty,-like any Greek or Phoenician vagabond, and come o

e what it's

take me to your own house, and I won't stir out

Nebenchiari could not help smiling and saying: "

Khamsin!" bluste

which does so much inj

wn to us as the Simoom

lers in t

have been in this hell already, and all that time I was obliged to live among these blasphemers. They said no one could see you; you were never allowed to leave Nitetis' sick-bed.

ame, ol

when he was a poor boy he used to steal your father's nuts, and wrench the name-plates off the house-do

there was such a little difference between you and Amasis as boys, it, i

h servants in the temple, and of co

hat rule, Amasis ought never to have become an

got such an easy conscien

ly half a century, every other word with you has been an abusive one. When I was

you only knew all! It's n

tars I will send a slave to take you to my rooms. Till then you

oor old Hib here to die. I can't possibly

you have m

you as long as w

eated you so

ehead, before I could prevent it. There, you needn't laugh; it will be a month at least before I can get purified from all these pollutions. I took an emetic, and when that at last began to take effect, they all mocked and sneered at me. But that was not all. A cursed cook-boy nearly beat a sacred kitten to death before my very eyes. Then an ointment-mixer, who had heard that I was your servant, made that godless Bu

that the best remedy for t

Another hour among them

made them laugh at you, for the Persians are generally very polite, well-behaved people. Try them ag

oo, like everybody else! Osiris is

rise, our old Ethiopian slave, N

rogue? I never wan

he very

me people who can't say so much of themselves, and who instead of minding their

esired impression. The old man made another obeisance, and before his master left him, said: "I came here under

concern. He c

sick girl, whose eye

ib

a cataract in both. May Pha

to be alon

in a great hurry, and he knows nearly

been gossi

exactl

t you were a man

ows already a great deal of

el

myself. If I did not wear this amulet agains

come with you this evening. But I see the sun is already high in the he

t this ev

al idea of what has happened befo

ve been

that

that e

me. Is t

es

fare

Neben

is exclamation; the gates of the h

ern side of the palace, near to Kassandane's apartments. The friendly manner in which he had welcomed his old servant had given plac

nd never for a moment forgot to be dignified and solemn before the public; but when among their relations and t

him with cold politeness, and, after the first g

he Athenian, "to speak about

dy acquainted," was th

that," said Phanes wit

lted by Psamtik, and you have come to Persia to enlist

but all the more against Amasis and his house. In Egyp

ave led me to think that the priests co

gypt as absolute. So they are; but only in proportion as they know how to emancipate t

e intel

you have already long

t your

tainty that once-you hear me-once, he succeeded in

m home, and do not understan

quietly without clenching your fist, you would be no better than a dog

nsulted me," he said, "but at the same time I must tell you that

compare it to a vineyard where the grapes are so ple

me hither to hir

et give up the hope of securing y

e taken it in hand. Amasis has been severely enough punished for ba

his blindne

ssi

leagues, has succeeded in cutting the skin, which cover

presence of mind, however, in a moment, and answered: "Th

chot is ill, but she prays and sacrifices with her father all the more for that; an

o not under

ncy that I believe your beautiful

ter of Hophra, Amasis' dethroned predecessor. Amasis brought her up as his own child-first, in order to make the Egyptians believe that Hop

mere supp

our old servant Hib brought with him in a small box, there must be some letter

tures on the monuments

seem that in ancient

called in to assist at

n, that in difficult

hieratic medical papyr

isting at such times.

s are devoted to dise

oms set aside in priva

ical ones were reserve

meschen, and from the

dwives, to

st intention of giving them up; besides which you might search Persia from one

ghts of property, I must assure you that, in the present instance, I shall not return the box until its contents have served my purpose. Secondly, the gods have so ordain

pale. "Are you certain," he said, "th

sacred mysteries, the ecclesiastical judges determined on his death. This was to be caused by a poison extracted from peach-kernels. The condemned man, however, heard of their machinations, and fled to Naukratis, where he found a safe asylum in the house of Rhodopis, whom he had heard highly praised by Pythagoras, and whose dwelling was rendered inviolable by the king's letter. Here he met Antimenidas the brother of the poet Alcarus of Lesbos, who, having been banished by Pittakus, the wise ruler of Mitylene, had gone to Babylon, and there taken service in the army of Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Assyria. Antimenida

d during this tale. When Phanes had finished, he gave

s. He is looking among the

o tell me what the box is like, which Hib

isitely-carved lid. In the centre is a w

ther's notices and memorandums," said Neb

ose. I do not know whether you have heard, that

wever, that the paper. which would have been most

est made of sycamore-woo

you kn

not swear, for our great master Pythagoras forbade oaths), that this very chest, with all

cheeks glowed and his eyes flashed. But only for one single minute; then the strong emotion seemed to freeze, his burning cheeks grew pale. "You are trying to make me hate my friends, in order to g

reigners, and therefore must be bad men. But this time your suspicions happen

darkened, as Hib c

he in a commanding

th a shrug of

or evil. You are an old and faithful servant, to whom I owe a great deal, and so I will forgive you if you were taken

angry, half-whining tone: "Didn't I say so? they've bewitched him, they've ruined him in this wicked land. Whatever a man would do himself, he thinks others are capable of. Aye, you may look as angry as you like; it matters but li

d down over the old man's ch

rning to Nebenchari: "Hib is a faithful fellow. I give you leave

d his simple, open features, on which his innocence was written as clearly as in the pages of an open book. "I did not

to be pleased at such

now you can tell me what has ha

o think of it makes my mouth as bit

I had be

ves had belonged to the thieves' caste, for then we should have got the best part of our pro

e architect, who robbe

cording to Herodotus

I. 80. we see that wh

horities to be such,

was set over them. A

of the thieves' cast

ed on relinquishment o

le possibly owed its

ian to appear once in

strict and give an ac

o made false statemen

hus no one who valued

he police, and the th

ns in order to

oint, for my t

and policemen-there must have been at least fifteen of them-forced their way into the house. Pichi,-you know, that impudent fellow from the temple of Neith,-pushed me back, barred the door inside and told the police to put me in fetters if I refused to obey him. Of course I got angry and did not use very civil words to them-you know that's my way when I'm put out-and what does that bit of a fellow do-by our god Thoth, the protector of knowledge who must know all, I'm speaking the truth-but order them to bind my hands, forbid me-me, old Hib-to speak, and then tell me that he had been told by the high-priest to order me five-and-twenty strokes, if I refused to do his bidding. He showed me the high-priest's ring, and so I knew there was nothing for it but to obey the villain, whether I would or no. And what was his modest demand? Why, nothing less than to give him all the written papers you had left behind. But old Hib is not quite so stupid as to let himself be caught in that way, though some people, who ought to know better, do fancy he can be bribed and is no better than the son of an ass. What did I do then? I pretended to be quite crushed into submission by the sight of the signet-ring, begged Pichi as politely as I could to unfasten my hands, and

not hinder me from sending in a written accusation to the magistrates. The wretches,-I suppose only because they were priests too,-refused to take any notice of me or my complaint. Then I sent in a petition to the king, and was turned away there too with the shameful threat, that I should be considered guilty of high treason if I mentioned the papers again. I valued my tongue too much to take any further steps, but the ground burnt under my feet; I could not stay in Egypt, I wanted to see you, tell you what they had done to you, and call on you, who are more powerful than your poor servant, to revenge yourself. And besides, I wanted to see the black box safe in your hands, lest they should take that from me too. And so, old man as I am, with a sad heart I left my home and my grandchildren to go forth into this foreign Typhon's land. Ah, the little

u in the street whenever you appeared behind your master with the medicine-chest. The minute I saw you too I remembered a joke which the king once made in his own way, as you were both passing by. 'The old man,' he said, r

ld man, and burst into

rue, allowed himself to make in one of his merry moods. Phanes had calculated rightly, and had the pleasure of seeing, that as he uttered the last words Nebenchari pressed his hand on a rose which lay on the table before him, and crushed it to pieces. The Greek suppressed a smile of satisfaction, and did not even raise his eyes from the ground, but continued speaking: "Well, now we must bring the travelling adventures of good old Hib to a close. I invited him to share my carriage. At first he refused to sit on

lding in a low tone as he departed. When the door had closed on him, Nebenchari, the man whose calling was

y n

l prove far too mild when compared wit

r solicitude," answered the Athen

e other; "but only

that

n opportunity of seeing our

you are willing to accompan

!" And he sobbed aloud in his agony. Phanes came up and took his band, saying: "The Egyptians have struck you, my friend, but me they have maltreated and abused-thieves have broken into your granaries, but my hearth and home have been burnt to ashes by incendiaries. Do you know, man, what I have had to suffer at their hands? In persecuting me, and driving me out of Egypt, they only did what they had a right to do; by their law I was a condemned man; and I could have forgiven all they did to me personally, for I loved Amasis, as a man loves his friend. The wretch knew that, and yet he suffered them to commit a monstrous, an incredible act-an

ashing eye of the Athenian as he finished his tal

and answered: "Our first point now

ore Kassanda

in your

blindness was my own discovery. Pet

ot exert your

ustomed to bestow pre

a moment, and said: "And I am certain of the king's favor too. The Mass

dane's eunuchs rushed into the room crying: "The Princess Nitet

is confederate, and followed the eunuc

TER

he felt her pulse, or spread sweet-scented ointments on her forehead or chest, and then he would sit gazing dreamily into vacancy. Nitetis seemed to have sunk into a deep sleep after an attack of

once on the physician, but were always dismissed with the same melancholy shrug. It was Atossa. Twice she had ventured into the room, stepping so lightly as hardly to touch the thick carpet of Milesian wool, had stolen to her friend's bedsi

d by Phanes, Prexaspes, Otanes, Darius, and a number of courtiers, only just aroused from their sleep, took a wild ride through the ga

e smouldering ruins, and plaintive cries arose from the tombs in which the very mummies moved like living beings; and all these-priests, warriors, women, and children-the living and the dead-all had uttered his,-Nebenchari's,-name, and had cursed him as a traitor to his country. A cold shiver struck to his heart; it beat more

works,-stood near him; they were heavily fettered and besought mercy at his hands. His lips moved, but this was not the place in which to utter the cruel words which rose to them. And then the stern man wiped away a tear as he remembered the long nights, in which he had sat with the reed in his hand, by the dull light of the lamp, carefully painting every sign of the fine hieratic character in which he committed his ideas and experience to writing. He

of the crown-prince in the grove of Neith, and stirred the consuming fire, after having stolen his discovery of the operation of couching. Their malicious faces were tinged by the red glow of the flames, which rose with their spiteful laughter towards heaven, as if demanding vengeance. A little further off he saw in his dream Amasis receiving his father's letters from the ha

was asleep, and yet I saw and heard everything that had happened in the room. I felt so wea

es

l sunrise; then he went out, mounted his

you kn

saw

ning eyes. She went on: "A great many dogs have

unt, in order to deaden the pain w

taught me, that whenever a Persian dies dogs' ar

living, my mi

more to live, even if I had not seen how you and the other physicians s

oo much, my mistres

i! I must ask you to do som

your s

as always my best friend still. Yes, I see by your face that you forgiven me. Then you must promise not to allow my corpse to be tor

king a

could Cambyses possibly

ill is at y

have still somet

lleagues are already making signs

nd them away

try to

tant incantation, at which no one but the two concerned might be present, and the application of

id: "Give me your priestly blessing on my long journey into

nd in a low voice repeated hymns,

e lord of the nether world-Nitetis t

he last sad and painful hours of one of God's good creatures. During these last moments, compassion and benevolence had excluded every bitter feeling; but when he remembered that this lovely creature owed all her misery to Amasi

and beli

ot before the throne of

our last hour bless those who begot you, and curse those wh

t unders

ng hard as he said the words, and gazing down on the dying girl. "Curse those wretches, girl! that curse will do more in gaining

, and stammered in blind obedience, "I curse those

heir lives," she repeated after him, and then cryi

y, murmuring: "She dies my confederate. The gods hearken to the prayers of those who die inno

frame of the king, who was so completely overpowered by his grief, that he staggered like a drunken man. The dying girl's eyes lighted up as she looked round on this circle. She was wonderfully beautiful. Cambyses came closer and kissed her

s turned towards the corpse in order to scare the demon of death;-how, directly after Nitetis' death, Kassandane, Atossa and their entire retinue moved into another house in order to avoid defilement;-how fire was extinguished throughout the dwelling, that the pure ele

ad, and on his couch. All the magnates of his court were obliged to follow his example. The troops mounted guard with rent banners and muffled drums. The cymbals and kettle-drums of the "Immortals" were bound round with crape. The horses which Nitetis had used, as well as all which were then in use by the court, were

as if for one of their nearest relations, thirty prayers for the dead, while, in a house outside the city gates

ed in three different

.); the second 20 Mina

. Herod. II. 86-88.

through the nose and

were then taken out,

tic spices. When all w

solution of soda, and

with gum. The micros

y Dr. Ure and Prof. C

otton. The manner of e

and the latest chemic

of it by the Greeks wa

at the bodies were fi

resin of the cedar-

ning. According to He

n. Herod. II. 89. The

grew, History of Egyp

copical examinations o

mallest portions of th

tements of Herodotu

much information in r

se of nearly all the

ad

allow his relations or the high-priest to approach him. On the morning of the tenth day he sent for the chief of the seven judges and commanded, that

judge, we, the seven judges of the realm, have determined to grant his forfeited life. Inasmuch, however, as by the folly of this youth the lives of the noblest and best in this realm have been imperilled, and it may reasonably be apprehended that he may again abuse the marvellous likeness to Bartja, the noble son of Cyrus, in which the gods have been pleased in their mercy to fashion his form and face, and

entence at once, and it w

umata's punishment, t

the pretended Smerdis,

rank were sometimes

ption (Spiegel p. 15 a

ghest in rank among th

ments are quot

e than even a sentence of death could have done. As he was afraid that his own influence and consideration might suffer

e of Gaumata. When his sentence was told her as a good joke by a chattering lamp-lighter, she went off into the strangest excitement, and astonished the poor man so much by kissing his robe, that he thought she must be crazed, and gave her an alms. She refused the money, but remained at her post, subsisting on the bread which was given her by the compassionate distributors of food. Three days later Gaumata himself, with

Take me with you! I forgive you all the misery you have brought on me and my poor mistress. I

the very youths, whom he had often treated proudly and haughtily because he was the brother of the high-priest, threw Mandane a purse of gold, which his brother had given him at parting, and ordered the driver to go on as fast as possible. The mules galloped off. Mandane kicked the purse away, rushed after the carriage and clung to it firmly. One of the wheels caught her d

.......

e few days of grief had worked a great change in a man so unaccustomed to suffering as Cambyses. His face was pale, his raven-black hair and beard had grown grey, and the consciousness of victory which usually shone in his eyes was dimmed. Had he not, only too painfully, exp

did not

panion, once for all; c

lace, and in half an hour reappeared

ere very few who did not welcome his appearance gladly, and when-in company with the king-he separated from the rest in chase of a wild ass, they openly confessed to one another, that they had never before seen so perfect a man. The clever way in which he had brought the innocence of the accused to light, the finesse which he had shown in securing the king's favor, and the ease with which he had learnt the Persian language in so short a time, were all subjects of admiration. Neither was there one even of the Achaemenidae themselves, who

I understood what you said and feel obliged to you for your kind opinion. The last sentence, however, gave me even more pleasure than the first, because it con

country. A true Egyptian would rather starve, than eat out of the same dish with one of us. There are more strange, astonishing and wonderful things to be seen in that country than anywhere else in the world. And yet, to do it justice, I must say that Egypt has been well spoken of as the richest and most highly cultivated land under the sun. The man who possesses that kingdom need not envy the very gods themselves. It would be mere child's play to conquer that beautiful country. Ten years there gave me a perfect insight into the condit

h the first smile that had been

utiful country as one of your subjects, nor can I boast of a long acquaintance with the most powerful of monarchs, but yet I cannot resist the presumptuous, perhaps criminal thought, that the gods at my birth appointed me to be your real friend. It is not your rich gifts that have drawn me

o had never been spoken to in this manner before, a

t now the time has come to rouse you from it and to make your heart gl

g more now, that

l not give you pain; on the cont

ke me c

ou and that lovely creature, who died

shed a demand for

u, the lord of the world. That gentle girl was not his da

ossi

o, my Sovereign. Nitetis, the most lovely creature ever born of woman, was the daughter of a king, but not of the usurper Amasis. Hophra, the rightful ki

s, kept by Phanes purposely, that his words might make a deepe

ignominiously mutilated, fell upon him with a troop of slaves and massacred him. Amasis had the unhappy widow brought to his palace at once, and assigned her an apartment next to the one occupied by his own queen Ladice, who was also expecting soon to give birth to a child. A girl was born to Hophra's widow, but the mother died in the same hour, and two days later Ladice bore a child also.-But I see we are in the court of the palace. If you allow, I will have the report of

aemenidae who were in Egypt, will have to appear also. I must have certainty before I can act, and your testimo

re assembled before the king

apyrus-roll in his gaunt hand, and was seated in an easy chair, as his paralyzed limbs did not allow of his standing, even in the king's presence. His dress was snow-white, as beseemed a priest, but there were patches and rents

ost solemn mysteries, but also on account of his great age, stood by his side and ar

-"This noble Greek, who, I am inclined to believe, is my friend, has brought me strange tidings. He says th

ssembly. "This old man is here to prove th

itetis was entrusted to your care, was it expre

that, by confiding his most precious jewel to your care, he meant to put you under a special obligation; and as it seemed to me that Nitetis surpassed her sister, not only in beauty b

were hi

the two sisters," said Croesus in confirmation of the envoy's remark. "Bu

ook too deep into Tachot's eyes, for if you were a god, I could not allow you to take her to Persi

ane

was intoxicated, Amasis let out his secret to me, and Psa

story as i

to his private apartments, he stopped at the door of his daughter's room, and said: 'The girls sleep there. If you will put away your own wife, Athenian, I will give you Nitetis. I should like to have you for a son-in-law. There's a secret about that girl, Phanes; she's not my own child.' Before his drunken father could

e lay another infant, which I recognized as the child of Hophra's widow, who herself had died under my hands on the third day of the same month. The king then said, pointing to this strong child, 'This little creature has no parents, but, as it is written in the law that we are to show mercy to the desolate orphans, Ladice and I have determined to bring her up as our own daughter. We do not, however, wish that this deed should be made known, either to the world or to the child herself, an

er of King Hophra. After a great deal of trouble I succeeded, an hour ago, in obtaining one from a poor girl who had given birth to a child secretly in the house of the old woman, who lives at the entrance to the City of the Dead. The little one had caused her shame and sorrow enough, but she would not be persuaded to give up the body of her darling, until I promised that it should be embalmed and buried i

d in his walk, and said: "Is our oculist Nebenchari

"is the son of this very Sonn

aise his eyes; his face

and, looked at the characters with which it was cov

rs and tell me if it is

on his knees and

ur father pain

ow-whether..

w the truth

y King;

t do not forget that I am your king now. Kassandane tells me, that you are going to undertake

n my own skill,

on. Did you know

es

wed me to rem

led to swear secre

hese Egyptians receive a portion from my tab

ng of hunger and thirst, a clean robe, that I may be pleasing in the eyes of the gods and in my own, an

w s

to give away

eak in

r living; if she should die childless, her husband becomes her legitimate successor. Amasis is a usurper, but the throne of Egypt is the lawful birthright of Hophra and his descendants. Psamtik forfeit

have read in the stars too, that Psamtik's ruin and your ow

the king, "and as for you, you liberal old fel

e follow your army to Egypt. I l

my table are present at this evening's revel. We will hold a council of war over the lusci

left the hall, and Cambyses, summoning his dressers, proceeded for the f

de of the royal palace, which abounded in groves of trees, shrubberies, fountains

atter, "on the burning brand that you

fools that act without re

se who are delu

elong to th

the most fearful o

of feeling. My revenge is as cool as

n, is to subordinate his own w

t I

with Egypt you are delivering you

agree with

he Mediterranean coasts belong to Persia, sh

the hosts of the barbarians, and am confident that their courage and greatness will rise with the nearnes

ld plunge a nation into ruin merely for the gratification of his own ambition. It is a fearful thing that entire nations should have to suffer for the guilt of one

liged to leave Egypt, Psamtik threatened me with his vengeance; your son Gyges saved my life. A few weeks later my two children came to Naukratis, in order to follow me out to Sigeum. Rhodopis took them kindly under her protection, but some wretch had di

our onl

ave sa

ur othe

s still in

er an injury wh

o to one's grave child

ame you any longer. The bo

is emotion, and cried: "Let us go to the council of war now. No one can be so thankful for Psamtik's

an beings are strange creatures; they praise their butchers more than their benefactors. How many poems hav

uired to shed blood,

ne question which I should very much like to ask you, before we go into the hall. Wi

im for this, and advised his assu

he ag

lling to foll

be well to send a messenge

the king's

aining the viands of the royal househo

maintained from the

ifteen t

k the gods, that their king

usehold is said to hav

aily. Athenaus,

PTE

with sweat and dust. The former knew that they were drawing near a town, where there would be stables and mangers, and exerted all their remaining power

e-palms, covered with fruit, stood sprinkled over the fields; and the woods and meadows were carpeted with brightly-colored and sweetly-scented flowers. The road led over ravines and brooks, now half dried up by the heat of summer, and here and there the traveller came upon a well at the side of the road, carefully enclosed, with seats for the weary, and

e wood of birches, the stems of which, up to the very tree-

n the celebrated valley of the Hermus, lay the golden Sardis, formerl

ng Meles had carried a lion in order to render them impregnable. On its southern side the citadel-rock was not so steep, and houses had been built upon it. Croesus' former palace lay to the north, on the golden-sanded Pactolus. This reddish-colored river

the midst of them lay the lake Gygaeus, covered with g

ber of artificial mounds, three of which were e

Asia Minor, I. P. 1

he Lydian kings the

ptian and Babylonian.

y, standing near the r

ea. Hamilton (Asia Mi

d could not ride round

nutes. Prokesch saw

lyattes, still mea

e length of its slope

Phallus columns lie on

n?" said Darius, the leader of the troop, to Pr

, was erected to the father of Croesus, Alyattes. It was raised by the tradesmen, mechanics, and girls, to their late king, and on the five columns, which stand on its summ

have degenerated very

to such pleasures. You see the white walls of that temple yonder in the midst of its sacred grove. That is the temple of the goddess of Sardis, Cybele

lon, at the fest

way back from Egypt, I was met by a troop of lovely girls, who, with songs, dan

ll not grumble at

f Cybele, than at his patient's bedside. How g

out ground. Croesus says we only get low-spirited, when we are either too lazy or too weak to struggle against annoyances, and I believe he is right. But no one shall dare to accuse Darius of weakness or

g great. It was not by chance that, when you were still a mere child, the gods sen

ings have nev

al ones, likely enough. Young man, y

es any need to be af

en their stren

am st

than you will try to

g but what is right, and

know i

r of my birth, and i

ke salt water to the thirsty; the more he gets, the more he wants. I was once only a poor soldier, and am now Cambyses' ambassador. But you, what can you have to strive for? There is no man in the kingdom greater than you

w Zopyrus, how he's waving and

those bushes-quick. We'll answer his green

to enjoy themselves in the open air. Lydian and Persian warriors, the former wearing richly-ornamented helmets, the latter tiaras in the form of a cylinder, were following girls who were painted and wreathed. Children were being led to the lake by their nurses, to see the swans fed. An old blind man was seated

er time it would have delighted them. They were too much intere

lack eyes looked sharply out from beneath a bushy mass of eyebrow. His satrapy was one of the most important and profitable in the entire kingdom, and his household could bear a comparison with that of Cambyses in richness an

king's treasures and works of art had been sent to Cyrus's treasure-house in Pasargadae. When that time of terror had passed, the Lydians brought many a hidden treasure into the light of day once more, and, by their industry and

of the satrap's palace. The marble work, especially, made a great impression on them, as nothing of the kind was

olis did not exist at

black stone from Moun

probably begun by Dar

(Strabo p. 728) that

f gold of immense valu

he precio

the great hall; he looked very pale, a

ble and then retired to Bartja's private room,

his dangerous illness?" was Darius'

overed with dust; the river flows by the station, and its waves looked so clear and bright-so inviting for a bathe-that in a minute Zopyrus and I were off our horses, undressed, and in the water. Gyges told us we were very imprudent, but we fel

hing on as if for our very lives, changing hors

hing about it and kept upright on my saddle, until we had to take fresh horses at Bagis. Just as I was i

ts entirely; he, of course, kept his presence of mind, and after relieving his feelings in words not exactly flattering to us two, he behaved like

id the satrap, laughing, "seeing that you to

own legs, and began running as fast as I could. The people must all have thought me mad. At last I saw a man on horseback-a merchant from Kelaenze-dragged him from his horse, jumped into the saddle, and, before the next morning dawned, I was back again with our invalid, bringing the best physician in Sardis, and Oroetes' most

hey set out to meet you, they have never left me for a minute; a mother could not have nursed her sick child more

that be?" a

ould only come to Sardis directly. The Sainian pirates, who infest the whole Ionian coast, took the messenger captive and brought Oroetes' letter to their master Polykrates. He opened it, and sent the messenger back w

rexaspes, "and

ce. He cured me, as you see, and left u

handsome as Minutscher, as clever as Piran Wisa, as strong as Rustem, and as benevolent and helpful as the god Soma. I wish you could have seen how well he threw those round me

terwards succeeded in

cified him. Herod. I

s VI.

smiling at his friend's enthusiasm. "That Ath

Crotona, a place which must be so

oung friends, you must beware of those fellows; they're as cunning,

erous and sincere

hanes not only an able, but a

arius's remark. "But don't let us talk any more about these Greeks," he went on. "They give Oroe

difficult to keep one Greek town in order, than all

stars are already high in the heavens," he said, "and Bartja is

already. Bartja, especially, was distressed at hearing of Nitetis' sad end, and the discov

een resolved on in intoxication was reconsidered by sober heads; after several opinions had been given, Phanes asked permission to speak, and spoke I should think for an hour. But how well! It was as if every word he said came direct from the gods. He has learnt our language in a wonderfully short time, but it flowed from his lips like honey. Sometimes he drew tears from every eye, at others excited stormy shouts of joy, and the

eck in an ecstasy of delight. Bartja, Gyges and Oroetes were no

ce; in hopes that these sons of the desert may furnish our army with water and guides through their dry and thirsty land. He will also endeavor to win the rich island of Cyprus, which he once conquered for Amasis, over to our side. As it was through his mediation that the

too. A Milesian named Hekataeus, who spends his life in tra

maybe called "the fa

her of history." He im

reat work, "the journe

ients; but unfortunate

agments, has now peri

ataeus was intimately

mpire, and had also t

ur narrative, having b

the fall of his nati

red by Klausen and can

ent Greece. Vol. IV.

iest known being one o

yptian priest, and so

of the part of the c

he Egyptian Mu

exclaimed Zopyrus, who could not explain to him

pper tablet, said Oroetes, but n

mand you, Oroetes, to raise as many forces as possible, especially Ionians and Carians, of whom

asked Oroetes, and

oetes' face. "Phanes has already received assurances from this important nava

ships of war would be quite suffici

against us, we should not be able to hold our own at sea

prove of entering into t

to help us in conquering Egypt. For the present I entreat you to suppress all personal feeling, and keep the success

e this symbol of despotism, and aske

alliance with the Samian; and also to send your troops to joi

he room with a look betrayi

imed: "Poor fellow, it's really very hard for him to have to meet that proud man, who has so often

has no right to receive the king's commands in that way. Didn't you see hi

se man. He left the room so quickly, only becau

keep his conduct a secret from my bro

e king's gate and in the midst of nations hostile to Persia, we want governors who are more rea

e the satrap?"

t, and very seldom find reason to change my mind afterwards. I disliked Oroetes before I heard him

ore freely about home. How is Kassandane? and your worshipped Atossa? Croesus too, how is he? and what are my wives about? They'll soon have a new companion. To-morrow I intend to sue for the

been cured of her blindness! Yes, yes, it is quite true.-Who cured her? Why who should it be, but that crabbed old Nebenchari, who has become, if possible, moodier than ever. Come, now, calm yourselves, and let me go on with my story; or it wi

as Phanes was in Babylon, he seem

his great cheerfulness-a cheerfulness which he always managed to impart to the king, Bartja,-the more admirable. Every morning he went down to the Euphrates with Cambyses and the rest of us, and enjoyed watching the sons of the Achaemenidae at their exercises. When he saw them riding at full speed past the sand-hills and shooting the pots placed on them into fragments with their arrows, or throwing block

ty was, even in th

e Greeks thought noth

Hetaira Phryne was sum

religion. Her defende

unced against his cli

ered her bosom. The a

her not guilty, bein

eauty could only bel

Athen. XI

, that in a wrestling-match the one who is thrown must kiss the hand of his victor. At last he showed us a new exercise:-boxing. He refused, however, to try his skill on any one but a slave, so Cambyses sent for the biggest and strongest man among the servants-my groom, Bessus-a giant who can bring the hind legs of a horse together and hold them so firmly that the creature trembles all over and cannot stir. This big fellow, taller by a head than Phanes, shrugged his shoulders contemptuously on hearing that he was to box with the little foreign gentleman. He felt quite sure of victory, placed himself opposite his adversar

n cured, and this of course tended not a

t going to ask for Atossa's hand in marriage, when P

l, and would wake up the next morning with headache and spasms. In the day-time he would wander about as if looking for something, and in the night they often heard him calling Nitetis. The physicians became very anxious about his health, but when they sent him medicine he threw it away. It was quite right of Croesus to say, as he did once 'Ye Magi and Chaldaeans! before trying to cure a

a harsh rebuff for his pains, that we all pitied him. Soon after this, Cambyses sent one morning for all the Mobeds and Chaldaeans, and commanded them to interpret a strange dream which he had bad. In his dream he had been standing in the midst of a dry and barren plain: barren as a threshing-floor, it did not produce a single blade of grass. Displeased at the desert aspect of the place, he was just going to seek othe

er and interpreted the dream thus? 'Atossa

tened the wise men with death, unless they could give him another and a different interpretation. They

self as he told us his dream. 'The same day Kassandane sent for me and

tern with myself, lest, like the king, I should fall into deep melancholy for the sake of a woman. And this is the end of the story, the close of which we were all expecting, when Atossa, as I lay under sentence of death, sent me a rose, and made me the happiest of mortals. If I had not betrayed my secret then, when we thought our last h

which threatens your life in Egypt-took leave of my bride, in spite of all my father-in-law's protestations, and went off at full speed with Prexaspes, never resting till I reached your side, my dear Bartja. Now I shall go with you and Zopyrus to Egypt, for Gyges must accompany the ambassador to Samos, as interpreter. This is the king's

doctors say the sea-voyage will do me good, a

s, "that Sappho will cure you sooner

er we are going into what may almost be called an enemy's country. I have been thinking the matter over, and it seems t

for cheating peddlers. How would it be, for instance, if we passed ourselves off for

tja, "and I think too that we loo

merchants and ship-owners go about as proudly as if the world

ng. "In that case Oroetes must provide u

id dress of the Chiliarchs at

en, that would excite

appear as co

as Hekato

glad I shall just have time to make sure of the satrap's little daughter, and to visit the grove of Cybele at l

PTE

e Nile had already begun to overflow its banks, and the f

from Chalcis, Phoenician and Syrian craft with gaily-colored sails, and freighted with cargoes of purple stuffs, gems, spices, glass-work, carpets and cedar-trees,-used in Egypt, where wood was very scarce, for building purposes, and taking back gold, ivory, ebony, brightly-plumaged tropical birds, precious stones and black slaves,

and colored, rowers and steersmen, in various costumes, were hurrying hither and thither, while the ships' captains, either dressed in the Greek fashion or in Phoenician garments of the most glaring colors, were shouting orders to their crews and deliv

ind, curiously watching a beautifully-built Samian ship, the Okeia, with a long prow like a swan's neck, on the front of which a likeness of the goddess Hera was conspicuous. It was discharging its c

three young friends, Darius, Bartja and Zopyrus, spoke to one of the harbor police a

e market-place,-where the opening of business had just been announced by the sound of a bell,-to a handsome

nities of impudent fishsellers, and the friendly invitations of butchers, bakers, sausage and vegetable-sellers, and potters. But

the market were set

part appointed for th

no better than they sh

." Aristoph. T

on low stools, binding roses, violets and orange-blossoms into one long wreath. Their charming heads were wreathed with flowe

" she said in a clear, melodious voic

from a far country, my lovely child, and have no sweetheart in Naukratis yet; so let me

handsome present, and answered: "By Eros, such gentleme

N

ty, for we a

e should make thre

ught it, but I

our si

gested by the followi

n thy cheek, with ros

? The flowers? Thyse

den

little averse to such a connection, and

in return, and were not allowed to leave these beaut

rls, who were selling ribbons, wreaths and flowers close by. They all brought roses too

re not difficult to win; but Darius urged him to come away, and begged Bartja to forbid the thoughtless fellow's staying any longer. After passing the table

y a slave. As the master was at the market, the strangers were led by the steward, an old servant gro

he stone floor, when Theopompus, the merchant whom we first learnt to know at the house of Rh

g the Greeks did not d

by their slaves, but

le slaves were general

ed

e of use to them, on which Bartja, having first convinced himself that no unwished-

nions to accept with kindness what I can offer. Pardon my not having recognized you at once in your Lydian dress. It seems to me that your hair is shorter and your beard thicker, than when you left Egypt. Am I right in imagining that you do not wish to be re

me is

ais, and here too, on your arrival and departure. You ask, my prince, whether you would be generally recognized? Certainly not. The foreign dress, the change in

hich more than one gold piece must be paid later; but for a few roses and good words they are not accustomed to be so liberal as you have been. The girls have been boasting about you and your gifts, and showing your good red gold to their stingier suitors. As rumor is a goddess who is very apt to exaggerate and to make a crocodile out of a lizard, it happened that news reached the Egyptian captain on guard at the market, that some newly-arrived Lydian warriors had been scattering gold broadcast among the flower-girls. This excited suspicion, and induced the Toparch to send an officer here to enquire from whence you come, an

-looking man, dressed in white, came in, placed himself opposite the strangers

and begged the functionary to provide them with passes and tell them in what wa

pompus had undertaken to be their surety,

s pass

med:-nose, straight:-forehead, high with a small scar in the middle:-is hereby permitted to remain i

e King

ons,

received passport

as if they were the apple of your eye, and never part from them. Now, however, I must beg you to follow me to breakfast and to tell me, if agreeable to you, whether a report which has just been m

........

ming branches had so often seen and sheltered their young love, she embraced him tenderly, but for a long time they did not speak one word. They saw neither moon nor stars moving silently above them, in the warm summer night; th

for ever on his memory. When he spoke at last, she cast down her eyes, for he said: "In my dreams, Sappho, you have always

thanked him for these words, he drew her clos

ht only

u hope to s

g in my right eyelid; or when I was putting my box to rights and found the laurel crown which I put by as a remembrance, because you looked so well in it,-Melitta says such wreaths are good for keeping true l

e right side, and a tw

ortunate omens. T

by work they foster all the various gifts which Zeus, Apollo, Pallas, Cypris lend; by work they raise, and perfect and ennoble them, until their feelings, actions, words and thoughts become harmonious like a well-tuned lute. You cannot serve the man to whom you have given your whole heart,-to whom in your great love you look up as so much higher than yourself-you cannot prove the steadfastness and faithfulness of that love better, than by raising and improving your mind to the utmost of your power. Every good and beautiful truth that you learn is an offering to him you love best, for in giving y

rl, how perfectly you speak, how well you understand and remember all this beautiful teaching and make it even more beautiful by your way of repea

king's son, the best and

n find in myself is, that you

ld so much joy without breaking? 'Tis like a va

, for mine is again supported by yours, and with that help

women's room, when suddenly we heard aloud, wild noise. The good old Knakias, our faithful slave, just reached the door as all the bolts gave way, and, rushing through the entrance-hall into the peristyle, the andronitis, and so on to us, crashing the door between, came a troop of soldiers. Grandmother showed them the letter by which Amasis secured our house from all attack and made it a sure refuge, but they laughed the writing to scorn and showed us on their side a document with the crown-prince's seal, in which we were sternly commanded to deliver up Phanes' children at once to this rough troop of men. Theopompus reproved the soldiers for their roughness, telling them that the children came from Corinth and had no connection with Phanes; but the captain of the

t gentle boy whom you loved, that little girl who now sits weeping in the dark dungeon, shall both be revenged. Trust

you look so beautiful before. Yes, yes, the boy mus

pho is becomin

o triumphant; women rejoice too when such crimes a

marching to the valley of the E

How many childless mothers Ares makes, how many young fair heads must wear the wid

you when he returns a conqueror from the field. The wife of a Persian, especially, ought to rej

. I shall pray

irst we will conquer Pharaoh's host, t

dren, or-what would be worse-has had him dragged off to some distant quarry. The poor old man was exiled from his home, not for his own fault, but by the malice of his enemies, and the very day on which we lost sight of him an embassy arrived here from the Spartan people recalling Aristo

cruelly to avoid disgrace. By the Anahita star, which is

forehead and passed away. Did not you hear some one call? They will be waiting for us, a

hear our marriage-hymn. But you tremble as if w

ur joy; one always trembles in expec

everything about our wedding with her according to the usual custom; and I sha

ill go w

new wife in Sardis was no end of a beauty until I saw Sappho, and now when I think of her she seems like an owl. If Araspes could see Sappho he would be obliged to confess that even Panthea had been outdone

trouble to learn Persian from the wife of a Babylonian carpet-merchant

ld. She would have liked to have had her as a wife for our son who manages the affairs of my house at Miletus, bu

ornament a bride's house w

a boy has just come into the world, and a strip of woollen cloth hanging over the gate that a girl has been born; but a vessel of water before the door i

opyrus, "I want to order some

use to deny. Well, if you like you can come with me, but don't be so generous as you were yesterda

ccompanied by Zopyrus. In a few hours he returned with such a serious expression on hi

l brother's intentions so early-when suddenly the Toparch appeared among us, and announced that Amasis was not only seriously ill, but that the physicians had given up all hope, and he himself felt he was very near death. We must hold ourselves in readiness for this at any moment, and for a very serious change in the face of affairs. The death of Amasis is the severest loss that could happen to us Greeks; he was always our friend, and favored us whenever he could, while his son is our avowed enemy

all your ancient liberties shall be confirm

on as he possibly can, will order our temples, which are an abomination to him, to be demolishe

w a number of splendid temples

nds behind him. He's laughing so heartily, he must have amused himself famously with the flower-girl

t. But if he dies now, people will have something else to do beside

du

very word she says sounds like music, and though she speaks so gravely and wisely it's as pleasant to the ear as a merry jo

one chance of a conver

nowing everything, and I'm for enjoying. Friends, what

ou've only seen the flower-girls by daylight as yet, a

on a grave face. "On that point I am q

much pleasure with

you please; Stephanion, the

who had been banished from his native land by his own brother, Polykrates the tyrant, had been spending the

as for his strength and cleverness. Syloson was a very handsome man too, and so remarkable for the good taste and splendor of his dress, that the youth of Naukratis prided thems

she had offered sacrifices to Zeus, Hera, and the other deities who protected marriage. The wedding-banquet was to be given at the house of Theopompus, which was looked upon as the bridegroom's. The prince's costly bri

of the night, and soon after, a troop of the watch passed by, taking a man to prison. The prisoner seemed highly indignant, and the less his brok

ard the voice they ran up, an

ectly; indeed every child in Naukratis knew the Milesian merchant and the brother of the tyrant Polykrates by sight; and

o called himself the betrothed lover of Stephanion, on that very morning. The girl had told her troublesome admirer to leave her flowers alone, and had thanked Zopyrus for threatening to use personal violence to the intruder. When the young Achaemenidae found himself surrounded, he drew his sword and easily dispersed his adversaries, as they were only armed with sticks, but chanced to wound the jealous lover, who was more violent than the rest, so seriously, that he fell to the ground. Meanwhile the watch had come up, and as Zopyrus' victim howled "thieves" and "murder" incessantly, they procee

to accept his own personal security for the prisoner. The other, however, refused gravely, saying he might forfeit his own life by doing so, as a law existed in Egypt by which the concealer of a murder was condemned to death. He must, he assured them, take th

'll stab myself without a second thought, if you give yourselves up to those dogs of Egyptians. Why the whole town is talking about the war already, and do you think that if Psamtik knew he'd got such splendid game in his

e head of his men, gave the order to march,

PTE

w of Egypt, Zopyrus

d try to rescue him by stratagem. Syloson, who had friends there

d them with ordinary Greek dresses, and, an hour after Zopyrus' arrest, they met the splendidly-got-up Syloson on the shore of the Nile, entered a boat belonging to him and manned by his sl

und and oval cakes, and rolls in the form of sheep, snails and hearts. These were laid in baskets, and the nimble baker's boys would put three, four, or even five such baskets on their heads at once, and carry them off quickly and safely to the customers living in other quarters of the city. A butcher was slaughtering an ox before his house, the creature's legs having been pinioned; and his me

at was going on in the streets through which

he Taxiarch who was on duty that day, went in and asked him if he had heard anything

. As they found a purse full of money in his girdle, they think he must be a P

ossi

received information. A caravan of Arabian merchants

you come to see me next in Naukratis. Of course you'll stay a few days and bring some friends. My brother has sent me some wine which beats everything I ever tasted. It's perfect nectar, and I confess I grudge offering it to any one who's not, like you, a perfect judge in such matters." The Taxiarch's face b

ed Hetaira of Naukrat