Cyropaedia The Education Of Cyrus: Xenophon
PREPARER'S NOTE
This was typed from an Everyman's Library edition. It seems that Dakyns
died before Cyropaedia could be included as the planned fourth and final
volume of his series, "The Works of Xenophon," published in the 1890s by
Macmillan and Co. The works in that series can all be found in Project
Gutenberg under their individual titles. The complete list of Xenophon's
works (though there is doubt about some of these) is:
Work Number of books
The Anabasis 7
The Hellenica 7
The Cyropaedia 8
The Memorabilia 4
The Symposium 1
The Economist 1
On Horsemanship 1
The Sportsman 1
The Cavalry General 1
The Apology 1
On Revenues 1
The Hiero 1
The Agesilaus 1
The Polity of the Athenians and the Lacedaemonians 2
Text in brackets "{}" is my transliteration of Greek text into English
using an Oxford English Dictionary alphabet table. The diacritical marks
have been lost.
INTRODUCTION
A very few words may suffice by way of introduction to this translation
of the _Cyropaedia_.
Professor Jowett, whose Plato represents the high-water mark of
classical translation, has given us the following reminders: "An English
translation ought to be idiomatic and interesting, not only to the
scholar, but also to the unlearned reader. It should read as an original
work, and should also be the most faithful transcript which can be made
of the language from which the translation is taken, consistently with
the first requirement of all, that it be English. The excellence of a
translation will consist, not merely in the faithful rendering of words,
or in the composition of a sentence only, or yet of a single paragraph,
but in the colour and style of the whole work."
These tests may be safely applied to the work of Mr. Dakyns. An
accomplished Greek scholar, for many years a careful and sympathetic
student of Xenophon, and possessing a rare mastery of English idiom,
he was unusually well equipped for the work of a translator. And
his version will, as I venture to think, be found to satisfy those
requirements of an effective translation which Professor Jowett laid
down. It is faithful to the tone and spirit of the original, and it has
the literary quality of a good piece of original English writing. For
these and other reasons it should prove attractive and interesting
reading for the average Englishman.
Xenophon, it must be admitted, is not, like Plato, Thucydides, or
Demosthenes, one of the greatest of Greek writers, but there are several
considerations which should commend him to the general reader. He is
more representative of the type of man whom the ordinary Englishman
specially admires and respects, than any other of the Greek authors
usually read.
An Athenian of good social position, endowed with a gift of eloquence
and of literary style, a pupil of Socrates, a distinguished soldier,
an historian, an essayist, a sportsman, and a lover of the country, he
represents a type of country gentleman greatly honoured in English life,
and this should ensure a favourable reception for one of his chief works
admirably rendered into idiomatic English. And the substance of the
_Cyropaedia_, which is in fact a political romance, describing the
education of the ideal ruler, trained to rule as a benevolent despot
over his admiring and willing subjects, should add a further element of
enjoyment for the reader of this famous book in its English garb.
J. HEREFORD.
EDITOR'S NOTE
In preparing this work for the press, I came upon some notes made by Mr.
Dakyns on the margin of his Xenophon. These were evidently for his own
private use, and are full of scholarly colloquialisms, impromptu words
humorously invented for the need of the moment, and individual turns of
phrase, such as the references to himself under his initials in small
letters, "hgd." Though plainly not intended for publication, the notes
are so vivid and illuminating as they stand that I have shrunk from
putting them into a more formal dress, believing that here, as in the
best letters, the personal element is bound up with what is most fresh
and living in the comment, most characteristic of the writer, and most
delightful both to those who knew him and to those who will wish they
had. I have, therefore, only altered a word here and there, and added
a note or two of my own (always in square brackets), where it seemed
necessary for the sake of clearness.
F. M. S.
CYROPAEDIA
THE EDUCATION OF CYRUS
BOOK I
[C.1] We have had occasion before now to reflect how often democracies
have been overthrown by the desire for some other type of government,
how often monarchies and oligarchies have been swept away by movements
of the people, how often would-be despots have fallen in their turn,
some at the outset by one stroke, while whose who have maintained their
rule for ever so brief a season are looked upon with wonder as marvels
of sagacity and success.
The same lesson, we had little doubt, was to be learnt from the family:
the household might be great or small--even the master of few could
hardly count on the obedience of his little flock. [2] And so, one idea
leading to another, we came to shape our reflexions thus: Drovers may
certainly be called the rulers of their cattle and horse-breeders
the rulers of their studs--all herdsmen, in short, may reasonably be
considered the governors of the animals they guard. If, then, we were to
believe the evidence of our senses, was it not obvious that flocks and
herds were more ready to obey their keepers than men their rulers? Watch
the cattle wending their way wherever their herdsmen guide them, see
them grazing in the pastures where they are sent and abstaining from
forbidden grounds, the fruit of their own bodies they yield to their
master to use as he thinks best; nor have we ever seen one flock among
them all combining against their guardian, either to disobey him or to
refuse him the absolute control of their produce. On the contrary, they
are more apt to show hostility against other animals than against
the owner who derives advantage from them. But with man the rule is
converse; men unite against none so readily as against those whom they
see attempting to rule over them. [3] As long, therefore, as we followed
these reflexions, we could not but conclude that man is by nature fitted
to govern all creatures, except his fellow-man. But when we came to
realise the character of Cyrus the Persian, we were led to a change
of mind: here is a man, we said, who won for himself obedience from
thousands of his fellows, from cities and tribes innumerable: we must
ask ourselves whether the government of men is after all an impossible
or even a difficult task, provided one set about it in the right way.
Cyrus, we know, found the readiest obedience in his subjects, though
some of them dwelt at a distance which it would take days and months to
traverse, and among them were men who had never set eyes on him, and for
the matter of that could never hope to do so, and yet they were willing
to obey him. [4] Cyrus did indeed eclipse all other monarchs, before or
since, and I include not only those who have inherited their power, but
those who have won empire by their own exertions. How far he surpassed
them all may be felt if we remember that no Scythian, although
the Scythians are reckoned by their myriads, has ever succeeded in
dominating a foreign nation; indeed the Scythian would be well content
could he but keep his government unbroken over his own tribe and people.
The same is true of the Thracians and the Illyrians, and indeed of all
other nations within our ken; in Europe, at any rate, their condition is
even now one of independence, and of such separation as would seem to
be permanent. Now this was the state in which Cyrus found the tribes and
peoples of Asia when, at the head of a small Persian force, he started
on his career. The Medes and the Hyrcanians accepted his leadership
willingly, but it was through conquest that he won Syria, Assyria,
Arabia, Cappadocia, the two Phrygias, Lydia, Caria, Phoenicia, and
Babylonia. Then he established his rule over the Bactrians, Indians, and
Cilicians, over the Sakians, Paphlagonians, and Magadidians, over a
host of other tribes the very names of which defy the memory of the
chronicler; and last of all he brought the Hellenes in Asia beneath his
sway, and by a descent on the seaboard Cyprus and Egypt also.
[5] It is obvious that among this congeries of nations few, if any,
could have spoken the same language as himself, or understood one
another, but none the less Cyrus was able so to penetrate that vast
extent of country by the sheer terror of his personality that the
inhabitants were prostrate before him: not one of them dared lift hand
against him. And yet he was able, at the same time, to inspire them all
with so deep a desire to please him and win his favour that all they
asked was to be guided by his judgment and his alone. Thus he knit to
himself a complex of nationalities so vast that it would have taxed a
man's endurance merely to traverse his empire in any one direction, east
or west or south or north, from the palace which was its centre. For
ourselves, considering his title to our admiration proved, we set
ourselves to inquire what his parentage might have been and his natural
parts, and how he was trained and brought up to attain so high a pitch
of excellence in the government of men. And all we could learn from
others about him or felt we might infer for ourselves we will here
endeavour to set forth.
[C.2] The father of Cyrus, so runs the story, was Cambyses, a king
of the Persians, and one of the Perseidae, who look to Perseus as
the founder of their race. His mother, it is agreed, was Mandane, the
daughter of Astyages, king of the Medes. Of Cyrus himself, even now in
the songs and stories of the East the record lives that nature made him
most fair to look upon, and set in his heart the threefold love of
man, of knowledge, and of honour. He would endure all labours, he would
undergo all dangers, for the sake of glory. [2] Blest by nature with
such gifts of soul and body, his memory lives to this day in the mindful
heart of ages. It is true that he was brought up according to the laws
and customs of the Persians, and of these laws it must be noted that
while they aim, as laws elsewhere, at the common weal, their guiding
principle is far other than that which most nations follow. Most states
permit their citizens to bring up their own children at their own
discretion, and allow the grown men to regulate their own lives at their
own will, and then they lay down certain prohibitions, for example, not
to pick and steal, not to break into another man's house, not to strike
a man unjustly, not to commit adultery, not to disobey the magistrate,
and so forth; and on the transgressor they impose a penalty. [3] But the
Persian laws try, as it were, to steal a march on time, to make their
citizens from the beginning incapable of setting their hearts on any
wickedness or shameful conduct whatsoever. And this is how they set
about their object.
In their cities they have an open place or square dedicated to Freedom
(Free Square they call it), where stand the palace and other public
buildings. From this place all goods for sale are rigidly excluded, and
all hawkers and hucksters with their yells and cries and vulgarities.
They must go elsewhere, so that their clamour may not mingle with and
mar the grace and orderliness of the educated classes. [4] This square,
where the public buildings stand, is divided into four quarters which
are assigned as follows: one for the boys, another for the youths, a
third for the grown men, and the last for those who are past the age
of military service. The law requires all the citizens to present
themselves at certain times and seasons in their appointed places. The
lads and the grown men must be there at daybreak; the elders may, as a
rule, choose their own time, except on certain fixed days, when they too
are expected to present themselves like the rest. Moreover, the young
men are bound to sleep at night round the public buildings, with their
arms at their side; only the married men among them are exempt, and need
not be on duty at night unless notice has been given, though even in
their case frequent absence is thought unseemly. [5] Over each of these
divisions are placed twelve governors, twelve being the number of the
Persian tribes. The governors of the boys are chosen from the elders,
and those are appointed who are thought best fitted to make the best of
their lads: the governors of the youths are selected from the grown men,
and on the same principle; and for the grown men themselves and their
own governors; the choice falls on those who will, it is hoped, make
them most prompt to carry out their appointed duties, and fulfil
the commands imposed by the supreme authority. Finally, the elders
themselves have presidents of their own, chosen to see that they too
perform their duty to the full.
[6] We will now describe the services demanded from the different
classes, and thus it will appear how the Persians endeavour to improve
their citizens. The boys go to school and give their time to learning
justice and righteousness: they will tell you they come for that
purpose, and the phrase is as natural with them as it is for us to speak
of lads learning their letters. The masters spend the chief part of the
day in deciding cases for their pupils: for in this boy-world, as in the
grown-up world without, occasions of indictment are never far to seek.
There will be charges, we know, of picking and stealing, of violence, of
fraud, of calumny, and so forth. The case is heard and the offender, if
shown to be guilty, is punished. [7] Nor does he escape who is found to
have accused one of his fellows unfairly. And there is one charge the
judges do not hesitate to deal with, a charge which is the source of
much hatred among grown men, but which they seldom press in the courts,
the charge of ingratitude. The culprit convicted of refusing to repay
a debt of kindness when it was fully in his power meets with severe
chastisement. They reason that the ungrateful man is the most likely to
forget his duty to the gods, to his parents, to his fatherland, and
his friends. Shamelessness, they hold, treads close on the heels of
ingratitude, and thus ingratitude is the ringleader and chief instigator
to every kind of baseness. [8] Further, the boys are instructed in
temperance and self-restraint, and they find the utmost help towards
the attainment of this virtue in the self-respecting behaviour of
their elders, shown them day by day. Then they are taught to obey their
rulers, and here again nothing is of greater value than the studied
obedience to authority manifested by their elders everywhere. Continence
in meat and drink is another branch of instruction, and they have no
better aid in this than, first, the example of their elders, who never
withdraw to satisfy their carnal cravings until those in authority
dismiss them, and next, the rule that the boys must take their food, not
with their mother but with their master, and not till the governor gives
the sign. They bring from home the staple of their meal, dry bread
with nasturtium for a relish, and to slake their thirst they bring a
drinking-cup, to dip in the running stream. In addition, they are taught
to shoot with the bow and to fling the javelin.
The lads follow their studies till the age of sixteen or seventeen, and
then they take their places as young men.
[9] After that they spend their time as follows. For ten years they are
bound to sleep at night round the public buildings, as we said before,
and this for two reasons, to guard the community and to practise
self-restraint; because that season of life, the Persians conceive,
stands most in need of care. During the day they present themselves
before the governors for service to the state, and, whenever necessary,
they remain in a body round the public buildings. Moreover, when the
king goes out to hunt, which he will do several times a month, he takes
half the company with him, and each man must carry bow and arrows, a
sheathed dagger, or "sagaris," slung beside the quiver, a light shield,
and two javelins, one to hurl and the other to use, if need be, at close
quarters. [10] The reason of this public sanction for the chase is not
far to seek; the king leads just as he does in war, hunting in person
at the head of the field, and making his men follow, because it is felt
that the exercise itself is the best possible training for the needs of
war. It accustoms a man to early rising; it hardens him to endure heat
and cold; it teaches him to march and to run at the top of his speed; he
must perforce learn to let fly arrow and javelin the moment the quarry
is across his path; and, above all, the edge of his spirit must needs be
sharpened by encountering any of the mightier beasts: he must deal his
stroke when the creature closes, and stand on guard when it makes its
rush: indeed, it would be hard to find a case in war that has not its
parallel in the chase. [11] But to proceed: the young men set out
with provisions that are ampler, naturally, than the boys' fare, but
otherwise the same. During the chase itself they would not think of
breaking their fast, but if a halt is called, to beat up the game, or
for any hunter's reason, then they will make, as it were, a dinner of
their breakfast, and, hunting again on the morrow till dinner-time, they
will count the two days as one, because they have only eaten one day's
food. This they do in order that, if the like necessity should arise in
war, they may be found equal to it. As relish to their bread these
young men have whatever they may kill in the chase, or failing that,
nasturtium like the boys. And if one should ask how they can enjoy the
meal with nasturtium for their only condiment and water for their only
drink, let him bethink himself how sweet barley bread and wheaten can
taste to the hungry man and water to the thirsty. [12] As for the young
men who are left at home, they spend their time in shooting and hurling
the javelin, and practising all they learnt as boys, in one long trial
of skill. Beside this, public games are open to them and prizes are
offered; and the tribe which can claim the greatest number of lads
distinguished for skill and courage and faithfulness is given the meed
of praise from all the citizens, who honour, not only their present
governor, but the teacher who trained them when they were boys.
Moreover, these young men are also employed by the magistrates if
garrison work needs to be done or if malefactors are to be tracked or
robbers run down, or indeed on any errand which calls for strength of
limb and fleetness of foot. Such is the life of the youth. But when the
ten years are accomplished they are classed as grown men. [13] And from
this time forth for five-and-twenty years they live as follows.
First they present themselves, as in youth, before the magistrates for
service to the state wherever there is need for strength and sound sense
combined. If an expedition be on foot the men of this grade march out,
not armed with the bow or the light shield any longer, but equipped with
what are called the close-combat arms, a breastplate up to the throat,
a buckler on the left arm (just as the Persian warrior appears in
pictures), and for the right hand a dagger or a sword. Lastly, it
is from this grade that all the magistrates are appointed except the
teachers for the boys. But when the five-and-twenty years are over and
the men have reached the age of fifty years or more, then they take rank
as elders, and the title is deserved. [14] These elders no longer go on
military service beyond the frontier; they stay at home and decide all
cases, public and private both. Even capital charges are left to their
decision, and it is they who choose all the magistrates. If a youth or
a grown man breaks the law he is brought into court by the governors of
his tribe, who act as suitors in the case, aided by any other citizen
who pleases. The cause is heard before the elders and they pronounce
judgment; and the man who is condemned is disenfranchised for the rest
of his days.
[15] And now, to complete the picture of the whole Persian policy, I
will go back a little. With the help of what has been said before, the
account may now be brief; the Persians are said to number something
like one hundred and twenty thousand men: and of these no one is by
law debarred from honour or office. On the contrary, every Persian is
entitled to send his children to the public schools of righteousness
and justice. As a fact, all who can afford to bring up their children
without working do send them there: those who cannot must forego the
privilege. A lad who has passed through a public school has a right
to go and take his place among the youths, but those who have not gone
through the first course may not join them. In the same way the youths
who have fulfilled the duties of their class are entitled eventually
to rank with the men, and to share in office and honour: but they
must first spend their full time among the youths; if not, they go no
further. Finally, those who as grown men have lived without reproach may
take their station at last among the elders. Thus these elders form a
college, every member of which has passed through the full circle
of noble learning; and this is that Persian polity and that Persian
training which, in their belief, can win them the flower of excellence.
[16] And even to this day signs are left bearing witness to that ancient
temperance of theirs and the ancient discipline that preserved it.
To this day it is still considered shameful for a Persian to spit in
public, or wipe the nose, or show signs of wind, or be seen going apart
for his natural needs. And they could not keep to this standard unless
they were accustomed to a temperate diet, and were trained to exercise
and toil, so that the humours of the body were drawn off in other ways.
Hitherto we have spoken of the Persians as a whole: we will now go back
to our starting-point and recount the deeds of Cyrus from his childhood.
[C.3] Until he was twelve years old or more, Cyrus was brought up in the
manner we have described, and showed himself to be above all his fellows
in his aptitude for learning and in the noble and manly performance of
every duty. But about this time, Astyages sent for his daughter and her
son, desiring greatly to see him because he had heard how noble and fair
he was. So it fell out that Mandane came to Astyages, bringing her son
Cyrus with her. [2] And as soon as they met, the boy, when he heard
that Astyages was his mother's father, fell on his neck and kissed him
without more ado, like the loving lad nature had made him, as though he
had been brought up at his grandfather's side from the first and the two
of them had been playmates of old. Then he looked closer and saw that
the king's eyes were stencilled and his cheeks painted, and that he
wore false curls after the fashion of the Medes in those days (for these
adornments, and the purple robes, the tunics, the necklaces, and the
bracelets, they are all Median first and last, not Persian; the Persian,
as you find him at home even now-a-days, still keeps to his
plainer dress and his plainer style of living.) The boy, seeing his
grandfather's splendour, kept his eyes fixed on him, and cried, "Oh,
mother, how beautiful my grandfather is!" Then his mother asked him
which he thought the handsomer, his father or his grandfather, and he
answered at once, "My father is the handsomest of all the Persians, but
my grandfather much the handsomest of all the Medes I ever set eyes on,
at home or abroad." [3] At that Astyages drew the child to his heart,
and gave him a beautiful robe and bracelets and necklaces in sign of
honour, and when he rode out, the boy must ride beside him on a horse
with a golden bridle, just like King Astyages himself. And Cyrus, who
had a soul as sensitive to beauty as to honour, was pleased with the
splendid robe, and overjoyed at learning to ride, for a horse is a rare
sight in Persia, a mountainous country, and one little suited to the
breed.
[4] Now Cyrus and his mother sat at meat with the king, and Astyages,
wishing the lad to enjoy the feast and not regret his home, plied him
with dainties of every sort. At that, so says the story, Cyrus burst
out, "Oh, grandfather, what trouble you must give yourself reaching for
all these dishes and tasting all these wonderful foods!" "Ah, but," said
Astyages, "is not this a far better meal than you ever had in Persia?"
Thereupon, as the tale runs, Cyrus answered, "Our way, grandfather, is
much shorter than yours, and much simpler. We are hungry and wish to be
fed, and bread and meat brings us where we want to be at once, but you
Medes, for all your haste, take so many turns and wind about so much it
is a wonder if you ever find your way to the goal that we have reached
long ago." [5] "Well, my lad," said his grandfather, "we are not at all
averse to the length of the road: taste the dishes for yourself and see
how good they are." "One thing I do see," the boy said, "and that is
that you do not quite like them yourself." And when Astyages asked him
how he felt so sure of that, Cyrus answered, "Because when you touch an
honest bit of bread you never wipe your hands, but if you take one of
these fine kickshaws you turn to your napkin at once, as if you were
angry to find your fingers soiled." [6] "Well and good, my lad, well and
good," said the king, "only feast away yourself and make good cheer,
and we shall send you back to Persia a fine strong fellow." And with the
word he had dishes of meat and game set before his grandson. The boy was
taken aback by their profusion, and exclaimed, "Grandfather, do you give
me all this for myself, to do what I like with it?" "Certainly I do,"
said the king. [7] Whereupon, without more ado, the boy Cyrus took first
one dish and then another and gave them to the attendants who stood
about his grandfather, and with each gift he made a little speech: "That
is for you, for so kindly teaching me to ride;" "And that is for you, in
return for the javelin you gave me, I have got it still;" "And this is
for you, because you wait on my grandfather so prettily;" "And this for
you, sir, because you honour my mother." And so on until he had got rid
of all the meat he had been given. [8] "But you do not give a single
piece to Sacas, my butler," quoth the grandfather, "and I honour
him more than all the rest." Now this Sacas, as one may guess, was a
handsome fellow, and he had the right to bring before the king all who
desired audience, to keep them back if he thought the time unseasonable.
But Cyrus, in answer to his grandfather's question retorted eagerly,
like a lad who did not know what fear meant, "And why should you honour
him so much, grandfather?" Then Astyages laughed and said, "Can you not
see how prettily he mixes the cup, and with what a grace he serves the
wine?" And indeed, these royal cup-bearers are neat-handed at their
task, mixing the bowl with infinite elegance, and pouring the wine into
the beakers without spilling a drop, and when they hand the goblet they
poise it deftly between thumb and finger for the banqueter to take. [9]
"Now, grandfather," said the boy, "tell Sacas to give me the bowl,
and let me pour out the wine as prettily as he if I can, and win your
favour." So the king bade the butler hand him the bowl, and Cyrus took
it and mixed the wine just as he had seen Sacas do, and then, showing
the utmost gravity and the greatest deftness and grace, he brought
the goblet to his grandfather and offered it with such an air that his
mother and Astyages, too, laughed outright, and then Cyrus burst out
laughing also, and flung his arms round his grandfather and kissed him,
crying, "Sacas, your day is done! I shall oust you from your office, you
may be sure. I shall make just as pretty a cup-bearer as you--and not
drink the wine myself!" For it is the fact that the king's butler when
he offers the wine is bound to dip a ladle in the cup first, and pour
a little in the hollow of his hand and sip it, so that if he has mixed
poison in the bowl it will do him no good himself. [10] Accordingly,
Astyages, to carry on the jest, asked the little lad why he had
forgotten to taste the wine though he had imitated Sacas in everything
else. And the boy answered, "Truly, I was afraid there might be poison
in the bowl. For when you gave your birthday feast to your friends I
could see quite plainly that Sacas had put in poison for you all." "And
how did you discover that, my boy?" asked the king. "Because I saw how
your wits reeled and how you staggered; and you all began doing what you
will not let us children do--you talked at the top of your voices, and
none of you understood a single word the others said, and then you began
singing in a way to make us laugh, and though you would not listen to
the singer you swore that it was right nobly sung, and then each of you
boasted of his own strength, and yet as soon as you got up to dance, so
far from keeping time to the measure, you could barely keep your legs.
And you seemed quite to have forgotten, grandfather, that you were
king, and your subjects that you were their sovereign. Then at last I
understood that you must be celebrating that 'free speech' we hear of;
at any rate, you were never silent for an instant." [11] "Well, but,
boy," said Astyages, "does your father never lose his head when he
drinks?" "Certainly not," said the boy. "What happens then?" asked the
king. "He quenches his thirst," answered Cyrus, "and that is all. No
harm follows. You see, he has no Sacas to mix his wine for him." "But,
Cyrus," put in his mother, "why are you so unkind to Sacas?" "Because I
do so hate him," answered the boy. "Time after time when I have wanted
to go to my grandfather this old villain has stopped me. Do please,
grandfather, let me manage him for three days." "And how would you set
about it?" Astyages asked. "Why," said the boy, "I will plant myself
in the doorway just as he does, and then when he wants to go in to
breakfast I will say 'You cannot have breakfast yet: HE is busy with
some people,' and when he comes for dinner I will say 'No dinner yet: HE
is in his bath,' and as he grows ravenous I will say 'Wait a little: HE
is with the ladies of the court,' until I have plagued and tormented him
as he torments me, keeping me away from you, grandfather, when I want to
come." [12] Thus the boy delighted his elders in the evening, and by
day if he saw that his grandfather or his uncle wanted anything, no one
could forestall him in getting it; indeed nothing seemed to give him
greater pleasure than to please them.
[13] Now when Mandane began to think of going back to her husband,
Astyages begged her to leave the boy behind. She answered that though
she wished to please her father in everything, it would be hard to leave
the boy against his will. [14] Then the old man turned to Cyrus: "My
boy, if you will stay with us, Sacas shall never stop you from coming to
me: you shall be free to come whenever you choose, and the oftener you
come the better it will please me. You shall have horses to ride, my
own and as many others as you like, and when you leave us you shall take
them with you. And at dinner you shall go your own away and follow your
own path to your own goal of temperance just as you think right. And I
will make you a present of all the game in my parks and paradises, and
collect more for you, and as soon as you have learnt to ride you shall
hunt and shoot and hurl the javelin exactly like a man. And you shall
have boys to play with and anything else you wish for: you have only to
ask me and it shall be yours." [15] Then his mother questioned the
boy and asked him whether he would rather stay with his grandfather
in Media, or go back home with her: and he said at once that he would
rather stay. And when she went on to ask him the reason, he answered, so
the story says, "Because at home I am thought to be the best of the lads
at shooting and hurling the javelin, and so I think I am: but here I
know I am the worst at riding, and that you may be sure, mother, annoys
me exceedingly. Now if you leave me here and I learn to ride, when I am
back in Persia you shall see, I promise you, that I will outdo all our
gallant fellows on foot, and when I come to Media again I will try and
show my grandfather that, for all his splendid cavalry, he will not have
a stouter horseman than his grandson to fight his battles for him." [16]
Then said his mother, "But justice and righteousness, my son, how can
you learn them here when your teachers are at home?" "Oh," said Cyrus,
"I know all about them already." "How do you know that you do?" asked
Mandane. "Because," answered the boy, "before I left home my master
thought I had learnt enough to decide the cases, and he set me to try
the suits. Yes! and I remember once, said he, "I got a whipping for
misjudgment. [17] I will tell you about that case. There were two boys,
a big boy and a little boy, and the big boy's coat was small and the
small boy's coat was huge. So the big boy stripped the little boy and
gave him his own small coat, while he put on the big one himself. Now in
giving judgment I decided that it was better for both parties that each
should have the coat that fitted him best. But I never got any further
in my sentence, because the master thrashed me here, and said that the
verdict would have been excellent if I had been appointed to say what
fitted and what did not, but I had been called in to decide to whom the
coat belonged, and the point to consider was, who had a right to it: Was
he who took a thing by violence to keep it, or he who had had it made
and bought it for his own? And the master taught me that what is lawful
is just and what is in the teeth of law is based on violence, and
therefore, he said, the judge must always see that his verdict tallies
with the law. So you see, mother, I have the whole of justice at my
fingers' ends already. And if there should be anything more I need to
know, why, I have my grandfather beside me, and he will always give me
lessons." [18] "But," rejoined his mother, "what everyone takes to be
just and righteous at your grandfather's court is not thought to be so
in Persia. For instance, your own grandfather has made himself master
over all and sundry among the Medes, but with the Persians equality is
held to be an essential part of justice: and first and foremost, your
father himself must perform his appointed services to the state and
receive his appointed dues: and the measure of these is not his own
caprice but the law. Have a care then, or you may be scourged to death
when you come home to Persia, if you learn in your grandfather's school
to love not kingship but tyranny, and hold the tyrant's belief that he
and he alone should have more than all the rest." "Ah, but, mother,"
said the boy, "my grandfather is better at teaching people to have
less than their share, not more. Cannot you see," he cried, "how he
has taught all the Medes to have less than himself? So set your mind
at rest, mother, my grandfather will never make me, or any one else, an
adept in the art of getting too much."
[C.4] So the boy's tongue ran on. But at last his mother went home, and
Cyrus stayed behind and was brought up in Media. He soon made friends
with his companions and found his way to their hearts, and soon won
their parents by the charm of his address and the true affection he bore
their sons, so much so that when they wanted a favour from the king
they bade their children ask Cyrus to arrange the matter for them.
And whatever it might be, the kindliness of the lad's heart and the
eagerness of his ambition made him set the greatest store on getting it
done. [2] On his side, Astyages could not bring himself to refuse his
grandson's lightest wish. For once, when he was sick, nothing would
induce the boy to leave his side; he could not keep back his tears, and
his terror at the thought that his grandfather might die was plain for
every one to see. If the old man needed anything during the night Cyrus
was the first to notice it, it was he who sprang up first to wait upon
him, and bring him what he thought would please him. Thus the old king's
heart was his.
[3] During these early days, it must be allowed, the boy was something
too much of a talker, in part, may be, because of his bringing-up. He
had been trained by his master, whenever he sat in judgment, to give a
reason for what he did, and to look for the like reason from others. And
moreover, his curiosity and thirst for knowledge were such that he must
needs inquire from every one he met the explanation of this, that, and
the other; and his own wits were so lively that he was ever ready with
an answer himself for any question put to him, so that talkativeness had
become, as it were, his second nature. But, just as in the body when a
boy is overgrown, some touch of youthfulness is sure to show itself
and tell the secret of his age, so for all the lad's loquacity, the
impression left on the listener was not of arrogance, but of simplicity
and warm-heartedness, and one would gladly have heard his chatter to the
end rather than have sat beside him and found him dumb.
[4] However, as he grew in stature and the years led him to the time
when childhood passes into youth he became more chary of his words and
quieter in his tone: at times, indeed, he was so shy that he would blush
in the presence of his elders, and there was little sign left of the old
forwardness, the impulsiveness of the puppy who will jump up on every
one, master and stranger alike. Thus he grew more sedate, but his
company was still most fascinating, and little wonder: for whenever it
came to a trial of skill between himself and his comrades he would never
challenge his mates to those feats in which he himself excelled: he
would start precisely one where he felt his own inferiority, averring
that he would outdo them all,--indeed, he would spring to horse in order
to shoot or hurl the javelin before he had got a firm seat--and
then, when he was worsted, he would be the first to laugh at his own
discomfiture. [5] He had no desire to escape defeat by giving up the
effort, but took glory in the resolution to do better another time,
and thus he soon found himself as good a horseman as his peers, and
presently, such was his ardour, he surpassed them all, and at last the
thinning of the game in the king's preserves began to show what he could
do. What with the chasing and the shooting and the spearing, the stock
of animals ran so low that Astyages was hard put to it to collect enough
for him. Then Cyrus, seeing that his grandfather for all his goodwill
could never furnish him with enough, came to him one day and said,
"Grandfather, why should you take so much trouble in finding game for
me? If only you would let me go out to hunt with my uncle, I could fancy
every beast we came across had been reared for my particular delight!"
[6] But however anxious the lad might be to go out to the chase, he had
somehow lost the old childish art of winning what he wanted by coaxing:
and he hesitated a long time before approaching the king again. If in
the old days he had quarrelled with Sacas for not letting him in, now
he began to play the part of Sacas against himself, and could not summon
courage to intrude until he thought the right moment had come: indeed,
he implored the real Sacas to let him know when he might venture. So
that the old butler's heart was won, and he, like the rest of the world,
was completely in love with the young prince.
[7] At last when Astyages saw that the lad's heart was really set on
hunting in the open country, he gave him leave to go out with his uncle,
taking care at the same time to send an escort of mounted veterans at
his heels, whose business it was to keep watch and ward over him in any
dangerous place or against any savage beast. Cyrus plied his retinue
with questions about the creatures they came across, which must he avoid
and which might he hunt? They told him he must be on his guard against
bears and wild-boars and lions and leopards: many a man had found
himself at too close quarters with these dangerous creatures, and been
torn to pieces: but antelopes, they said, and deer and mountain sheep
and wild asses were harmless enough. And the huntsman, they added, ought
to be as careful about dangerous places as about the beasts themselves:
many a time horse and rider had gone headlong down a precipice to death.
[8] The lad seemed to take all their lessons to heart at the time: but
then he saw a stag leap up, and forgot all the wise cautions he had
heard, giving chase forthwith, noticing nothing except the beast ahead
of him. His horse, in its furious plunge forward, slipped, and came down
on its knees, all but throwing the rider over its head. As luck would
have it the boy managed to keep his seat, and the horse recovered its
footing. When they reached the flat bottom, Cyrus let fly his javelin,
and the stag fell dead, a beautiful big creature. The lad was still
radiant with delight when up rode the guard and took him severely to
task. Could he not see the danger he had run? They would certainly tell
his grandfather, that they would. Cyrus, who had dismounted, stood quite
still and listened ruefully, hanging his head while they rated him. But
in the middle of it all he heard the view-halloo again: he sprang to his
horse as though frenzied--a wild-boar was charging down on them, and he
charged to meet it, and drawing his bow with the surest aim possible,
struck the beast in the forehead, and laid him low. [9] But now his
uncle thought it was high time to scold his nephew himself; the lad's
boldness was too much. Only, the more he scolded the more Cyrus begged
he would let him take back the spoil as a present for his grandfather.
To which appeal, says the story, his uncle made reply: "But if your
grandfather finds out that you have gone in chase yourself, he will not
only scold you for going but me for letting you go." "Well, let him whip
me if he likes," said the boy, "when once I have given him my beasts:
and you too, uncle," he went on, "punish me however you choose, only do
not refuse me this." So Cyaxares was forced to yield:--"Have it your own
way then, you are little less than our king already." [10] Thus it was
that Cyrus was allowed to bring his trophies home, and in due course
presented them to his grandfather. "See, grandfather, here are some
animals I have shot for you." But he did not show his weapons in
triumph: he only laid them down with the gore still on them where he
hoped his grandfather would see them. It is easy to guess the answer
Astyages gave:--"I must needs accept with pleasure every gift you bring
me, only I want none of them at the risk of your own life." And Cyrus
said, "If you really do not want them yourself, grandfather, will you
give them to me? And I will divide them among the lads." "With all my
heart," said the old man, "take them, or anything else you like; bestow
them where you will, and welcome." [11] So Cyrus carried off the spoil,
and divided it with his comrades, saying all the while, "What foolery
it was, when we used to hunt in the park! It was no better than hunting
creatures tied by a string. First of all, it was such a little bit of
a place, and then what scarecrows the poor beasts were, one halt,
and another maimed! But those real animals on the mountains and the
plains--what splendid beasts, so gigantic, so sleek and glossy! Why,
the stags leapt up against the sky as though they had wings, and the
wild-boars came rushing to close quarters like warriors in battle! And
thanks to their breadth and bulk one could not help hitting them. Why,
even as they lie dead there," cried he, "they look finer than those
poor walled-up creatures when alive! But you," he added, "could not your
fathers let you go out to hunt too?" "Gladly enough," answered they, "if
only the king gave the order." [12] "Well," said Cyrus, "who will speak
to Astyages for us?" "Why," answered they, "who so fit to persuade him
as yourself?" "No, by all that's holy, not I!" cried Cyrus. "I cannot
think what has come over me: I cannot speak to my grandfather any more;
I cannot look him straight in the face. If this fit grows on me, I am
afraid I shall become no better than an idiot. And yet, when I was a
little boy, they tell me, I was sharp enough at talking." To which the
other lads retorted, "Well, it is a bad business altogether: and if you
cannot bestir yourself for your friends, if you can do nothing for us
in our need, we must turn elsewhere." [13] When Cyrus heard that he was
stung to the quick: he went away in silence and urged himself to put on
a bold face, and so went in to his grandfather, not, however, without
planning first how he could best bring in the matter. Accordingly he
began thus: "Tell me, grandfather," said he, "if one of your slaves were
to run away, and you caught him, what would you do to him?" "What else
should I do," the old man answered, "but clap irons on him and set him
to work in chains?" "But if he came back of his own accord, how would
you treat him then?" "Why, I would give him a whipping, as a warning not
to do it again, and then treat him as though nothing had happened." "It
is high time then," said the boy, "that you began getting a birch ready
for your grandson: for I am planning to take my comrades and run away on
a hunting expedition." "Very kind of you to tell me, beforehand," said
Astyages. "And now listen, I forbid you to set foot outside the palace
grounds. A pretty thing," he added, "if for the sake of a day's hunting
I should let my daughter's lamb get lost." [14] So Cyrus did as he was
ordered and stayed at home, but he spent his days in silence and his
brow was clouded. At last Astyages saw how bitterly the lad felt it,
and he made up his mind to please him by leading out a hunting-party
himself. He held a great muster of horse and foot, and the other lads
were not forgotten: he had the beasts driven down into the flat country
where the horses could be taken easily, and then the hunt began in
splendid style. After the royal fashion--for he was present in person
himself--he gave orders that no one was to shoot until Cyrus had hunted
to his heart's content. But Cyrus would not hear of any such hindrance
to the others: "Grandfather," he cried, "if you wish me to enjoy myself,
let my friends hunt with me and each of us try our best." [15] Thereupon
Astyages let them all go, while he stood still and watched the sight,
and saw how they raced to attack the quarry and how their ambition
burned within them as they followed up the chase and let fly their
javelins. But above all he was overjoyed to see how his grandson could
not keep silence for sheer delight, calling upon his fellows by name
whenever he came up with the quarry, like a noble young hound, baying
from pure excitement. It gladdened the old man's heart to hear how
gleefully the boy would laugh at one of his comrades and how eagerly he
would applaud another without the slightest touch of jealousy. At
length it was time to turn, and home they went, laden with their mighty
trophies. And ever afterwards, so well pleased was the king with the
day's hunting, that whenever it was possible, out he must go with his
grandson, all his train behind him, and he never failed to take the boys
also, "to please Cyrus." Thus did Cyrus spend his early life, sharing in
and helping towards the happiness of all, and bringing no sorrow to any
man.
[16] But when he was about fifteen years of age, it chanced that the
young Prince of Assyria, who was about to marry a wife, planned a
hunting-party of his own, in honour of the bridal. And, having heard
that on the frontiers of Assyria and Media there was much game to be
got, untouched and unmolested because of the war, the prince chose these
marches for his hunting-ground. But for safety sake he took with him
a large escort of cavalry and targeteers, who were to drive the beasts
down from their lairs into the cultivated levels below where it was
easy to ride. He set out to the place where the Assyrian outposts were
planted and a garrison on duty, and there he and his men prepared to
take their supper, intending to begin the hunt with the morrow's dawn.
[17] And as evening had fallen, it happened that the night-watch, a
considerable body of horse and foot, arrived from the city to relieve
the garrison on guard. Thus the prince found that he had something like
a large army at his call: the two garrisons as well as the troop of
horse and foot for the hunt. And then he asked himself whether it would
not be the best of plans to drive off booty from the country of the
Medes? In this way more lustre would be given to the chase, and there
would be great store of beasts for sacrifice. With this intent he rose
betimes and led his army out: the foot soldiers he massed together on
the frontier, while he himself, at the head of his cavalry, rode up to
the border fortresses of the Medes. Here he halted with the strongest
and largest part of his company, to prevent the garrisons from sallying
out, and meanwhile he sent picked men forward by detachments with orders
to raid the country in every direction, waylay everything they chanced
upon, and drive the spoil back to him.
[18] While this was going on news was brought to Astyages that the enemy
was across the border, and he hastened to the rescue at once, himself at
the head of his own body-guard, and his son with such troopers as were
ready to hand, leaving word for others to follow with all despatch. But
when they were in sight of the Assyrians, and saw their serried ranks,
horse and foot, drawn up in order, compact and motionless, they came to
a halt themselves. [19] Now Cyrus, seeing that all the rest of the world
was off to the rescue, boot and saddle, must needs ride out too, and so
put on his armour for the first time, and could scarcely believe it was
true, he had longed so often and so ardently to wear it all. And right
beautiful it was, and right well it fitted the lad, the armour that his
grandsire had had made for him. So he put on the whole accoutrement,
mounted his charger, and galloped to the front. And Astyages, though he
wondered who had sent the boy, bade him stay beside him, now that he
had come. Cyrus, as he looked at the horsemen facing them, turned to
his grandfather with the question, "Can those men yonder be our enemies,
grandfather, those who are standing so quietly beside their horses?"
"Enemies they are too for all that," said the king. "And are those
enemies too?" the boy asked, "those who are riding over there?" "Yes,
to be sure." "Well, grandfather, a sorry set they look, and sorry jades
they ride to ravage our lands! It would be well for some of us to charge
them!" "Not yet, my boy," answered his grandfather, "look at the mass
of horsemen there. If we were to charge the others now, these friends of
theirs would charge us, for our full strength is not yet on the field."
"Yes, but," suggested the boy, "if you stay here yourself, ready to
receive our supporters, those fellows will be afraid to stir either, and
the cattle-lifters will drop their booty quick enough, as soon as they find they are attacked." |
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