The Persian foot was not much more numerous than the Egyptian, but they

had six times the number of horse-soldiers.

As soon as the armies stood face to face, Cambyses caused the great
Pelusian plain to be cleared of trees and brushwood, and had the
sand-hills removed which were to be found here and there, in order to
give his cavalry and scythe-chariots a fair field of action. Phanes'
knowledge of the country was of great use. He had drawn up a plan of
action with great military skill, and succeeded in gaining not only
Cambyses' approval, but that of the old general Megabyzus and the best
tacticians among the Achaemenidae. His local knowledge was especially
valuable on account of the marshes which intersected the Pelusian plain,
and might, unless carefully avoided, have proved fatal to the Persian
enterprise. At the close of the council of war Phanes begged to be heard
once more: "Now, at length," he said, "I am at liberty to satisfy your
curiosity in reference to the closed waggons full of animals, which I
have had transported hither. They contain five thousand cats! Yes, you
may laugh, but I tell you these creatures will be more serviceable to us
than a hundred thousand of our best soldiers. Many of you are aware that
the Egyptians have a superstition which leads them rather to die than
kill a cat, I, myself, nearly paid for such a murder once with my life.
Remembering this, I have been making a diligent search for cats during my
late journey; in Cyprus, where there are splendid specimens, in Samos and
in Crete. All I could get I ordered to be caught, and now propose that
they be distributed among those troops who will be opposed to the native
Egyptian soldiers. Every man must be told to fasten one firmly to his
shield and hold it out as he advances towards the enemy. I will wager
that there's not one real Egyptian, who would not rather fly from the
battle-field than take aim at one of these sacred animals."

This speech was met by a loud burst of laughter; on being discussed,
however, it was approved of, and ordered to be carried out at once. The
ingenious Greek was honored by receiving the king's hand to kiss, his
expenses were reimbursed by a magnificent present, and he was urged to
take a daughter of some noble Persian family in marriage.

[Themistocles too, on coming to the Persian court, received a high-
born Persian wife in marriage. Diod. XI. 57.]

The king concluded by inviting him to supper, but this the Athenian
declined, on the plea that he must review the Ionian troops, with whom he
was as yet but little acquainted, and withdrew.

At the door of his tent he found his slaves disputing with a ragged,
dirty and unshaven old man, who insisted on speaking with their master.
Fancying he must be a beggar, Phanes threw him a piece of gold; the old
man did not even stoop to pick it up, but, holding the Athenian fast by
his cloak, cried, "I am Aristomachus the Spartan!"

Cruelly as he was altered, Phanes recognized his old friend at once,
ordered his feet to be washed and his head anointed, gave him wine and
meat to revive his strength, took his rags off and laid a new chiton over
his emaciated, but still sinewy, frame.

Aristomachus received all in silence; and when the food and wine had
given him strength to speak, began the following answer to Phanes' eager
questions.

On the murder of Phanes' son by Psamtik, he had declared his intention of
leaving Egypt and inducing the troops under his command to do the same,
unless his friend's little daughter were at once set free, and a
satisfactory explanation given for the sudden disappearance of the boy.
Psamtik promised to consider the matter. Two days later, as Aristomachus
was going up the Nile by night to Memphis, he was seized by Egyptian
soldiers, bound and thrown into the dark hold of a boat, which, after a
voyage of many days and nights, cast anchor on a totally unknown shore.
The prisoners were taken out of their dungeon and led across a desert
under the burning sun, and past rocks of strange forms, until they
reached a range of mountains with a colony of huts at its base. These
huts were inhabited by human beings, who, with chains on their feet, were
driven every morning into the shaft of a mine and there compelled to hew
grains of gold out of the stony rock. Many of these miserable men had
passed forty years in this place, but most died soon, overcome by the
hard work and the fearful extremes of heat and cold to which they were
exposed on entering and leaving the mine.

[Diodorus (III. 12.) describes the compulsory work in the gold mines
with great minuteness. The convicts were either prisoners taken in
war, or people whom despotism in its blind fury found it expedient
to put out of the way. The mines lay in the plain of Koptos, not
far from the Red Sea. Traces of them have been discovered in modern
times. Interesting inscriptions of the time of Rameses the Great,
(14 centuries B. C.) referring to the gold-mines, have been found,
one at Radesich, the other at Kubnn, and have been published and
deciphered in Europe.]

"My companions," continued Aristomachus, "were either condemned murderers
to whom mercy had been granted, or men guilty of high treason whose
tongues had been cut out, and others such as myself whom the king had
reason to fear. Three months I worked among this set, submitting to the
strokes of the overseer, fainting under the fearful heat, and stiffening
under the cold dews of night. I felt as if picked out for death and only
kept alive by the hope of vengeance. It happened, however, by the mercy
of the gods, that at the feast of Pacht, our guards, as is the custom of
the Egyptians, drank so freely as to fall into a deep sleep, during which
I and a young Jew who had been deprived of his right hand for having used
false weights in trade, managed to escape unperceived; Zeus Lacedaemonius
and the great God whom this young man worshipped helped us in our need,
and, though we often heard the voices of our pursuers, they never
succeeded in capturing us. I had taken a bow from one of our guards; with
this we obtained food, and when no game was to be found we lived on
roots, fruits and birds' eggs. The sun and stars showed us our road. We
knew that the gold-mines were not far from the Red Sea and lay to the
south of Memphis. It was not long before we reached the coast; and then,
pressing onwards in a northerly direction, we fell in with some friendly
mariners, who took care of us until we were taken up by an Arabian boat.
The young Jew understood the language spoken by the crew, and in their
care we came to Eziongeber in the land of Edom. There we heard that
Cambyses was coming with an immense army against Egypt, and travelled as
far as Harma under the protection of an Amalekite caravan bringing water
to the Persian army. From thence I went on to Pelusium in the company of
some stragglers from the Asiatic army, who now and then allowed me a seat
on their horses, and here I heard that you had accepted a high command in
Cambyses' army. I have kept my vow, I have been true to my nation in
Egypt; now it is your turn to help old Aristomachus in gaining the only
thing he still cares for--revenge on his persecutors."

"And that you shall have!" cried Phanes, grasping the old man's hand.
"You shall have the command of the heavy-armed Milesian troops, and
liberty to commit what carnage you like among the ranks of our enemies.
This, however, is only paying half the debt I owe you. Praised be the
gods, who have put it in my power to make you happy by one single
sentence. Know then, Aristomachus, that, only a few days after your
disappearance, a ship arrived in the harbor of Naukratis from Sparta. It
was guided by your own noble son and expressly sent by the Ephori in your
honor--to bring the father of two Olympic victors back to his native
land."

The old man's limbs trembled visibly at these words, his eyes filled with
tears and he murmured a prayer. Then smiting his forehead, he cried in a
voice trembling with feeling: "Now it is fulfilled! now it has become a
fact! If I doubted the words of thy priestess, O Phoebus Apollo! pardon
my sin! What was the promise of the oracle?

"If once the warrior hosts from the snow-topped mountains
descending,
Come to the fields of the stream watering richly the plain,
Then shall the lingering boat to the beckoning meadows convey thee,
Which to the wandering foot peace and a home can afford.
When those warriors come, from the snow-topped mountains descending,
Then will the powerful Five grant thee what long they refused."

"The promise of the god is fulfilled. Now I may return home, and I will;
but first I raise my hands to Dice, the unchanging goddess of justice,
and implore her not to deny me the pleasure of revenge."

"The day of vengeance will dawn to-morrow," said Phanes, joining in the
old man's prayer. "Tomorrow I shall slaughter the victims for the
dead--for my son--and will take no rest until Cambyses has pierced the
heart of Egypt with the arrows which I have cut for him. Come, my friend,
let me take you to the king. One man like you can put a whole troop of
Egyptians to flight."

.......................

It was night. The Persian soldiers, their position being unfortified,
were in order of battle, ready to meet any unexpected attack. The
foot-soldiers stood leaning on their shields, the horsemen held their
horses saddled and bridled near the camp-fires. Cambyses was riding
through the ranks, encouraging his troops by words and looks. Only one
part of the army was not yet ranged in order of battle--the centre. It
was composed of the Persian body-guard, the apple-bearers, Immortals, and
the king's own relatives, who were always led into battle by the king in
person.

The Ionian Greeks too had gone to rest, at Phanes' command. He wanted to
keep his men fresh, and allowed them to sleep in their armor, while he
kept watch. Aristomachus was welcomed with shouts of joy by the Greeks,
and kindly by Cambyses, who assigned him, at the head of one half the
Greek troops, a place to the left of the centre attack, while Phanes,
with the other half, had his place at the right. The king himself was to
take the lead at the head of the ten thousand Immortals, preceded by the
blue, red and gold imperial banner and the standard of Kawe. Bartja was
to lead the regiment of mounted guards numbering a thousand men, and that
division of the cavalry which was entirely clothed in mail.

Croesus commanded a body of troops whose duty it was to guard the camp
with its immense treasures, the wives of Cambyses' nobles, and his own
mother and sister.

At last Mithras appeared and shed his light upon the earth; the spirits
of the night retired to their dens, and the Magi stirred up the sacred
fire which had been carried before the army the whole way from Babylon,
until it became a gigantic flame. They and the king united in feeding it
with costly perfumes, Cambyses offered the sacrifice, and, holding the
while a golden bowl high in the air, besought the gods to grant him
victory and glory. He then gave the password, "Auramazda, the helper and
guide," and placed himself at the head of his guards, who went into the
battle with wreaths on their tiaras. The Greeks offered their own
sacrifices, and shouted with delight on hearing that the omens were
auspicious. Their war-cry was "Hebe."

Meanwhile the Egyptian priests had begun their day also with prayer and
sacrifice, and had then placed their army in order of battle.

Psamtik, now King of Egypt, led the centre. He was mounted on a golden
chariot; the trappings of his horses were of gold and purple, and plumes
of ostrich feathers nodded on their proud heads. He wore the double crown
of Upper and Lower Egypt, and the charioteer who stood at his left hand
holding the reins and whip, was descended from one of the noblest
Egyptian families.

The Hellenic and Karian mercenaries were to fight at the left of the
centre, the horse at the extreme of each wing, and the Egyptian and
Ethiopian foot were stationed, six ranks deep, on the right and left of
the armed chariots, and Greek mercenaries.

Psamtik drove through the ranks of his army, giving encouraging and
friendly words to all the men. He drew up before the Greek division, and
addressed them thus: "Heroes of Cyprus and Libya! your deeds in arms are
well known to me, and I rejoice in the thought of sharing your glory
to-day and crowning you with fresh laurels. Ye have no need to fear, that
in the day of victory I shall curtail your liberties. Malicious tongues
have whispered that this is all ye have to expect from me; but I tell
you, that if we conquer, fresh favors will be shown to you and your
descendants; I shall call you the supporters of my throne. Ye are
fighting to-day, not for me alone, but for the freedom of your own
distant homes. It is easy to perceive that Cambyses, once lord of Egypt,
will stretch out his rapacious hand over your beautiful Hellas and its
islands. I need only remind you, that they be between Egypt and your
Asiatic brethren who are already groaning under the Persian yoke. Your
acclamations prove that ye agree with me already, but I must ask for a
still longer hearing. It is my duty to tell you who has sold, not only
Egypt, but his own country to the King of Persia, in return for immense
treasures. The man's name is Phanes! You are angry and inclined to doubt?
I swear to you, that this very Phanes has accepted Cambyses' gold and
promised not only to be his guide to Egypt, but to open the gates of your
own Greek cities to him. He knows the country and the people, and can be
bribed to every perfidy. Look at him! there he is, walking by the side of
the king. See how he bows before him! I thought I had heard once, that
the Greeks only prostrated themselves before their gods. But of course,
when a man sells his country, he ceases to be its citizen. Am I not
right? Ye scorn to call so base a creature by the name of countryman?
Yes? then I will deliver the wretch's daughter into your hands. Do what
ye will with the child of such a villain. Crown her with wreaths of
roses, fall down before her, if it please you, but do not forget that she
belongs to a man who has disgraced the name of Hellene, and has betrayed
his countrymen and country!"

As he finished speaking the men raised a wild cry of rage and took
possession of the trembling child. A soldier held her up, so that her
father--the troops not being more than a bow-shot apart--could see all
that happened. At the same moment an Egyptian, who afterwards earned
celebrity through the loudness of his voice, cried: "Look here, Athenian!
see how treachery and corruption are rewarded in this country!" A bowl of
wine stood near, provided by the king, from which the soldiers had just
been drinking themselves into intoxication. A Karian seized it, plunged
his sword into the innocent child's breast, and let the blood flow into
the bowl; filled a goblet with the awful mixture, and drained it, as if
drinking to the health of the wretched father. Phanes stood watching the
scene, as if struck into a statue of cold stone. The rest of the soldiers
then fell upon the bowl like madmen, and wild beasts could not have
lapped up the foul drink with greater eagerness.--[Herodotus tells this
fearful tale (III. ii.)]

In the same moment Psamtik triumphantly shot off his first arrow into the
Persian ranks.

The mercenaries flung the child's dead body on to the ground; drunk with
her blood, they raised their battle-song, and rushed into the strife far
ahead of their Egyptian comrades.

But now the Persian ranks began to move. Phanes, furious with pain and
rage, led on his heavy-armed troops, indignant too at the brutal
barbarity of their countrymen, and dashed into the ranks of those very
soldiers, whose love he had tried to deserve during ten years of faithful
leadership.

At noon, fortune seemed to be favoring the Egyptians; but at sunset the
Persians had the advantage, and when the full-moon rose, the Egyptians
were flying wildly from the battle-field, perishing in the marshes and in
the arm of the Nile which flowed behind their position, or being cut to
pieces by the swords of their enemies.

Twenty thousand Persians and fifty thousand Egyptians lay dead on the
blood-stained sea-sand. The wounded, drowned, and prisoners could
scarcely be numbered.

[Herod. III. 12. Ktesias, Persica 9. In ancient history the loss
of the conquered is always far greater than that of the conquerors.
To a certain extent this holds good in the present day, but the
proportion is decidedly not so unfavorable for the vanquished.]

Psamtik had been one of the last to fly. He was well mounted, and, with a
few thousand faithful followers, reached the opposite bank of the Nile
and made for Memphis, the well-fortified city of the Pyramids.

Of the Greek mercenaries very few survived, so furious had been Phanes'
revenge, and so well had he been supported by his Ionians. Ten thousand
Karians were taken captive and the murderer of his little child was
killed by Phanes' own hand.

Aristomachus too, in spite of his wooden leg, had performed miracles of
bravery; but, notwithstanding all their efforts, neither he, nor any of
his confederates in revenge, had succeeded in taking Psamtik prisoner.

When the battle was over, the Persians returned in triumph to their
tents, to be warmly welcomed by Croesus and the warriors and priests who
had remained behind, and to celebrate their victory by prayers and
sacrifices.

The next morning Cambyses assembled his generals and rewarded them with
different tokens of distinction, such as costly robes, gold chains,
rings, swords, and stars formed of precious stones. Gold and silver coins
were distributed among the common soldiers.

The principal attack of the Egyptians had been directed against the
centre of the Persian army, where Cambyses commanded in person; and with
such effect that the guards had already begun to give way. At that moment
Bartja, arriving with his troop of horsemen, had put fresh courage into
the wavering, had fought like a lion himself, and by his bravery and
promptitude decided the day in favor of the Persians.

The troops were exultant in their joy: they shouted his praises, as "the
conqueror of Pelusium" and the "best of the Achaemenidae."

Their cries reached the king's ears and made him very angry. He knew he
had been fighting at the risk of life, with real courage and the strength
of a giant, and yet the day would have been lost if this boy had not
presented him with the victory. The brother who had embittered his days
of happy love, was now to rob him of half his military glory. Cambyses
felt that he hated Bartja, and his fist clenched involuntarily as he saw
the young hero looking so happy in the consciousness of his own
well-earned success.

Phanes had been wounded and went to his tent; Aristomachus lay near him,
dying.

"The oracle has deceived me, after all," he murmured. "I shall die
without seeing my country again."

"The oracle spoke the truth," answered Phanes. "Were not the last words
of the Pythia?"

'Then shall the lingering boat to the beckoning meadows convey thee,
Which to the wandering foot peace and a home will afford?'

"Can you misunderstand their meaning? They speak of Charon's lingering
boat, which will convey you to your last home, to the one great
resting-place for all wanderers--the kingdom of Hades."

"Yes, my friend, you are right there. I am going to Hades."

"And the Five have granted you, before death, what they so long
refused,--the return to Lacedaemon. You ought to be thankful to the gods
for granting you such sons and such vengeance on your enemies. When my
wound is healed, I shall go to Greece and tell your son that his father
died a glorious death, and was carried to the grave on his shield, as
beseems a hero."

"Yes, do so, and give him my shield as a remembrance of his old father.
There is no need to exhort him to virtue."

"When Psamtik is in our power, shall I tell him what share you had in his
overthrow?"

"No; he saw me before he took to flight, and at the unexpected vision his
bow fell from his hand. This was taken by his friends as a signal for
flight, and they turned their horses from the battle."

"The gods ordain, that bad men shall be ruined by their own deeds.
Psamtik lost courage, for he must have believed that the very spirits of
the lower world were fighting against him."

"We mortals gave him quite enough to do. The Persians fought well. But
the battle would have been lost without the guards and our troops."

"Without doubt."

"I thank thee, O Zeus Lacedaemonius."

"You are praying?"

"I am praising the gods for allowing me to die at ease as to my country.
These heterogeneous masses can never be dangerous to Greece. Ho,
physician, when am I likely to die?"

The Milesian physician, who had accompanied the Greek troops to Egypt,
pointed to the arrow-head sticking fast in his breast, and said with a
sad smile, "You have only a few hours more to live. If I were to draw the
arrow from your wound, you would die at once."

The Spartan thanked him, said farewell to Phanes, sent a greeting to
Rhodopis, and then, before they could prevent him, drew the arrow from
his wound with an unflinching hand. A few moments later Aristomachus was
dead.

The same day a Persian embassy set out for Memphis on board one of the
Lesbian vessels. It was commissioned to demand from Psamtik the surrender
of his own person and of the city at discretion. Cambyses followed,
having first sent off a division of his army under Megabyzus to invest
Sais.

At Heliopolis he was met by deputations from the Greek inhabitants of
Naukratis and the Libyans, praying for peace and his protection, and
bringing a golden wreath and other rich presents. Cambyses received them
graciously and assured them of his friendship; but repulsed the
messengers from Cyrene and Barka indignantly, and flung, with his own
hand, their tribute of five hundred silver mince among his soldiers,
disdaining to accept so contemptible an offering.

In Heliopolis he also heard that, at the approach of his embassy, the
inhabitants of Memphis had flocked to the shore, bored a hole in the
bottom of the ship, torn his messengers in pieces without distinction, as
wild beasts would tear raw flesh, and dragged them into the fortress. On
hearing this he cried angrily: "I swear, by Mithras, that these murdered
men shall be paid for; ten lives for one."

Two days later and Cambyses with his army stood before the gates of
Memphis. The siege was short, as the garrison was far too small for the
city, and the citizens were discouraged by the fearful defeat at
Pelusium.

King Psamtik himself came out to Cambyses, accompanied by his principal
nobles, in rent garments, and with every token of mourning. Cambyses
received him coldly and silently, ordering him and his followers to be
guarded and removed. He treated Ladice, the widow of Amasis, who appeared
at the same time as her step-son, with consideration, and, at the
intercession of Phanes, to whom she had always shown favor, allowed her
to return to her native town of Cyrene under safe conduct. She remained
there until the fall of her nephew, Arcesilaus III. and the flight of her
sister Pheretime, when she betook herself to Anthylla, the town in Egypt
which belonged to her, and where she passed a quiet, solitary existence,
dying at a great age.

Cambyses not only scorned to revenge the imposture which had been
practised on him on a woman, but, as a Persian, had far too much respect
for a mother, and especially for the mother of a king, to injure Ladice
in any way.

While he was engaged in the siege of Sais, Psamtik passed his
imprisonment in the palace of the Pharaohs, treated in every respect as a
king, but strictly guarded.

Among those members of the upper class who had incited the people to
resistance, Neithotep, the high-priest of Neith, had taken the foremost
place. He was therefore sent to Memphis and put in close confinement,
with one hundred of his unhappy confederates. The larger number of the
Pharaoh's court, on the other hand, did homage voluntarily to Cambyses at
Sais, entitled him Ramestu, "child of the sun," and suggested that he
should cause himself to be crowned King of Upper and Lower Egypt, with
all the necessary formalities, and admitted into the priestly caste
according to ancient custom. By the advice of Croesus and Phanes,
Cambyses gave in to these proposals, though much against his own will: he
went so far, indeed, as to offer sacrifice in the temple of Neith, and
allowed the newly-created high-priest of the goddess to give him a
superficial insight into the nature of the mysteries. Some of the
courtiers he retained near himself, and promoted different administrative
functionaries to high posts; the commander of Amasis' Nile fleet
succeeded so well in gaining the king's favor, as to be appointed one of
those who ate at the royal table.

[On a statue in the Gregorian Museum in the Vatican, there is an
inscription giving an account of Cambyses' sojourn at Sais, which
agrees with the facts related in our text. He was lenient to his
conquered subjects, and, probably in order to secure his position as
the lawful Pharaoh, yielded to the wishes of the priests, was even
initiated into the mysteries and did much for the temple of Neith.
His adoption of the name Ramestu is also confirmed by this statue.
E. de Rough, Memoire sur la statuette naophore du musee Gregorian,
au Vatican. Revue Archeol. 1851.]

On leaving Sais, Cambyses placed Megabyzus in command of the city; but
scarcely had the king quitted their walls than the smothered rage of the
people broke forth; they murdered the Persian sentinels, poisoned the
wells, and set the stables of the cavalry on fire. Megabyzus at once
applied to the king, representing that such hostile acts, if not
repressed by fear, might soon be followed by open rebellion. "The two
thousand noble youths from Memphis whom you have destined to death as an
indemnification for our murdered ambassadors," said he, "ought to be
executed at once; and it would do no harm if the son of Psamtik were
added to the number, as he can some day become a rallying centre for the
rebels. I hear that the daughters of the dethroned king and of the
high-priest Neithotep have to carry water for the baths of the noble
Phanes."

The Athenian answered with a smile: "Cambyses has allowed me to employ
these aristocratic female attendants, my lord, at my own request."

"But has forbidden you to touch the life of one member of the royal
house," added Cambyses. "None but a king has the right to punish kings."

Phanes bowed. The king turned to Megabyzus and ordered him to have the
prisoners executed the very next day, as an example. He would decide the
fate of the young prince later; but at all events he was to be taken to
the place of execution with the rest. "We must show them," he concluded,
"that we know how to meet all their hostile manifestations with
sufficient rigor."

Croesus ventured to plead for the innocent boy. "Calm yourself, old
friend," said Cambyses with a smile; "the child is not dead yet, and
perhaps will be as well off with us as your own son, who fought so well
at Pelusium. I confess I should like to know, whether Psamtik bears his
fate as calmly and bravely as you did twenty-five years ago."

"That we can easily discover, by putting him on trial," said Phanes. "Let
him be brought into the palace-court to-morrow, and let the captives and
the condemned be led past him. Then we shall see whether he is a man or a
coward."

"Be it so," answered Cambyses. "I will conceal myself and watch him
unobserved. You, Phanes, will accompany me, to tell me the name and rank
of each of the captives."

The next morning Phanes accompanied the king on to a balcony which ran
round the great court of the palace--the court we have already described
as being planted with trees. The listeners were hidden by a grove of
flowering shrubs, but they could see every movement that took place, and
hear every word that was spoken beneath them. They saw Psamtik,
surrounded by a few of his former companions. He was leaning against a
palm-tree, his eyes fixed gloomily on the ground, as his daughters
entered the court. The daughter of Neithotep was with them, and some more
young girls, all dressed as slaves; they were carrying pitchers of water.
At sight of the king, they uttered such a loud cry of anguish as to wake
him from his reverie. He looked up, recognized the miserable girls, and
bowed his head lower than before; but only for a moment. Drawing himself
up quickly, he asked his eldest daughter for whom she was carrying water.
On hearing that she was forced to do the work of a slave for Phanes, he
turned deadly pale, nodded his head, and cried to the girls, "Go on."

A few minutes later the captives were led into the court, with ropes
round their necks, and bridles in their mouths.

[This statement of Herodotus (III. 14.) is confirmed by the
monuments, on which we often see representations of captives being
led along with ropes round their necks. What follows is taken
entirely from the same passage in Herodotus.]

At the head of the train was the little prince Necho. He stretched his
hands out to his father, begging him to punish the bad foreigners who
wanted to kill him. At this sight the Egyptians wept in their exceeding
great misery; but Psamtik's eyes were dry. He bowed his tearless face
nearly to the earth, and waved his child a last farewell.

After a short interval, the captives taken in Sais entered. Among them
was Neithotep, the once powerful high-priest, clothed in rags and moving
with difficulty by the help of a staff. At the entrance-gate he raised
his eyes and caught sight of his former pupil Darius. Reckless of all the
spectators around him, he went straight up to the young man, poured out
the story of his need, besought his help, and ended by begging an alms.
Darius complied at once, and by so doing, induced others of the
Achaemenidae, who were standing by, to hail the old man jokingly and
throw him little pieces of money, which he picked up laboriously and
thankfully from the ground.

At this sight Psamtik wept aloud, and smote upon his forehead, calling on
the name of his friend in a voice full of woe.

Cambyses was so astonished at this, that he came forward to the
balustrade of the veranda, and pushing the flowers aside, exclaimed:
"Explain thyself, thou strange man; the misfortunes of a beggar, not even
akin to thee, move thy compassion, but thou canst behold thy son on the
way to execution and thy daughters in hopeless misery without shedding a
tear, or uttering a lament!"

Psamtik looked up at his conqueror, and answered: "The misfortunes of my
own house, O son of Cyrus, are too great for tears; but I may be
permitted to weep over the afflictions of a friend, fallen, in his old
age, from the height of happiness and influence into the most miserable
beggary."

Cambyses' face expressed his approval, and on looking round he saw that
his was not the only eye which was filled with tears. Croesus, Bartja,
and all the Persians-nay, even Phanes himself, who had served as
interpreter to the kings-were weeping aloud.

The proud conqueror was not displeased at these signs of sympathy, and
turning to the Athenian: "I think, my Greek friend" he said, "we may
consider our wrongs as avenged. Rise, Psamtik, and endeavor to imitate
yonder noble old man, (pointing to Croesus) by accustoming yourself to
your fate. Your father's fraud has been visited on you and your family.
The crown, which I have wrested from you is the crown of which Amasis
deprived my wife, my never-to-be-forgotten Nitetis. For her sake I began
this war, and for her sake I grant you now the life of your son--she
loved him. From this time forward you can live undisturbed at our court,
eat at our table and share the privileges of our nobles. Gyges, fetch the
boy hither. He shall be brought up as you were, years ago, among the sons
of the Achaemenidae."

The Lydian was hastening to execute this delightful commission, but
Phanes stopped him before he could reach the door, and placing himself
proudly between the king and the trembling, thankful Psamtik, said: "You
would be going on a useless errand, noble Lydian. In defiance of your
command, my Sovereign, but in virtue of the full powers you once gave me,
I have ordered the grandson of Amasis to be the executioner's first
victim. You have just heard the sound of a horn; that was the sign that
the last heir to the Egyptian throne born on the shores of the Nile has
been gathered to his fathers. I am aware of the fate I have to expect,
Cambyses. I will not plead for a life whose end has been attained.
Croesus, I understand your reproachful looks. You grieve for the murdered
children. But life is such a web of wretchedness and disappointment, that
I agree with your philosopher Solon in thinking those fortunate to whom,
as in former days to Kleobis and Biton, the gods decree an early death.

[Croesus, after having shown Solon his treasures, asked him whom he
held to be the most fortunate of men, hoping to hear his own name.
The sage first named Tellus, a famous citizen of Athens, and then
the brothers Kleobis and Biton. These were two handsome youths, who
had gained the prize for wrestling, and one day, when the draught-
animals had not returned from the field, dragged their mother
themselves to the distant temple, in presence of the people. The
men of Argos praised the strength of the sons,--the women praised
the mother who possessed these sons. She, transported with delight
at her sons' deed and the people's praise, went to the statue of the
goddess and besought her to give them the best that could fall to
the lot of men. When her prayer was over and the sacrifice offered,
the youths fell asleep, and never woke again. They were dead.
Herod. I, 31. Cicero. Tuscul. I. 47.]

"If I have ever been dear to you, Cambyses--if my counsels have been of
any use, permit me as a last favor to say a few more words. Psamtik knows
the causes that rendered us foes to each other. Ye all, whose esteem is
worth so much to me, shall know them too. This man's father placed me in
his son's stead at the head of the troops which had been sent to Cyprus.
Where Psamtik had earned humiliation, I won success and glory. I also
became unintentionally acquainted with a secret, which seriously
endangered his chances of obtaining the crown; and lastly, I prevented
his carrying off a virtuous maiden from the house of her grandmother, an
aged woman, beloved and respected by all the Greeks. These are the sins
which he has never been able to forgive; these are the grounds which led
him to carry on war to the death with me directly I had quitted his
father's service. The struggle is decided now. My innocent children have
been murdered at thy command, and I have been pursued like a wild beast.
That has been thy revenge. But mine!--I have deprived thee of thy throne
and reduced thy people to bondage. Thy daughter I have called my slave,
thy son's death-warrant was pronounced by my lips, and my eyes have seen
the maiden whom thou persecutedst become the happy wife of a brave man.
Undone, sinking ever lower and lower, thou hast watched me rise to be the
richest and most powerful of my nation. In the lowest depth of thine own
misery--and this has been the most delicious morsel of my vengeance--thou
wast forced to see me--me, Phanes shedding tears that could not be kept
back, at the sight of thy misery. The man, who is allowed to draw even
one breath of life, after beholding his enemy so low, I hold to be happy
as the gods themselves I have spoken."

He ceased, and pressed his hand on his wound. Cambyses gazed at him in
astonishment, stepped forward, and was just going to touch his girdle--an
action which would have been equivalent to the signing of a death-warrant
when his eye caught sight of the chain, which he himself had hung round
the Athenian's neck as a reward for the clever way in which he had proved
the innocence of Nitetis.

[The same sign was used by the last Darius to denote that his able
Greek general Memnon, who had offended him by his plainness of
speech, was doomed to death. As he was being led away, Memnon
exclaimed, in allusion to Alexander, who was then fast drawing near:
"Thy remorse will soon prove my worth; my avenger is not far off."
Droysen, Alex. d. Grosse, Diod. XVII. 30. Curtius III. 2.]

The sudden recollection of the woman he loved, and of the countless
services rendered him by Phanes, calmed his wrath his hand dropped. One
minute the severe ruler stood gazing lingeringly at his disobedient
friend; the next, moved by a sudden impulse, he raised his right hand
again, and pointed imperiously to the gate leading from the court.

Phanes bowed in silence, kissed the king's robe, and descended slowly
into the court. Psamtik watched him, quivering with excitement, sprang
towards the veranda, but before his lips could utter the curse which his
heart had prepared, he sank powerless on to the ground.

Cambyses beckoned to his followers to make immediate preparations for a
lion-hunt in the Libyan mountains.



ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:

Between two stools a man falls to the ground
Human beings hate the man who shows kindness to their enemies
Misfortune too great for tears
Nothing is more dangerous to love, than a comfortable assurance
Ordered his feet to be washed and his head anointed
Rules of life given by one man to another are useless




AN EGYPTIAN PRINCESS.

By Georg Ebers

Volume 10.




CHAPTER XIII.

The waters of the Nile had begun to rise again. Two months had passed
away since Phanes' disappearance, and much had happened.

The very day on which he left Egypt, Sappho had given birth to a girl,