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And whenever he sent such summons, the[*](Discourtesy toward the king rebuked) men would ride up at full speed to answer it, thereby magnifying the majesty of Cyrus’s authority and at the same time showing their eagerness to obey. There was but one exception: a certain Daïphernes, a fellow rather boorish in his manners, though that he would show more independence if he did not obey at once.

Cyrus noticed this; and so, before Daïphernes came and talked with him, he sent one of his mace-bearers privately to say that he had no more need of him; and he did not send for him again.

But when a man who was summoned later than Daïphernes rode up to him sooner than he, Cyrus gave him one of the horses that were being led in the procession and gave orders to one of the mace-bearers to have it led away for him wherever he should direct. And to those who saw it it seemed to be a mark of great honour, and as a consequence of that event many more people paid court to that man.

So, when they came to the sanctuaries, they[*](The sacrifice and the races) performed the sacrifice to Zeus and made a holocaust of the bulls; then they gave the horses to the flames in honour of the Sun; next they did sacrifice to the Earth, as the magi directed, and lastly to the tutelary heroes of Syria.

And after that, as the locality seemed adapted to the purpose, he pointed out a goal about five stadia distant and commanded the riders, nation by nation, to put their horses at full speed toward it. Accordingly, he himself rode with the Persians and came in far ahead of the rest, for he had given especial attention to horsemanship. Among the Medes, Artabazus won the race, for the horse he had was a gift from Cyrus; among the Assyrians who had revolted to him, Gadatas secured the first place; among the Armenians, Tigranes; and among the Hyrcanians, the son of the master of the horse; but among the Sacians a certain private soldier with his horse actually outdistanced the rest by nearly half the course.

Thereupon Cyrus is said to have asked the young man if he would take a kingdom for his horse. No, answered he; I would not take a kingdom for him, but I would take the chance of laying up a store of gratitude with a brave man.

Aye said Cyrus, and I will show you[*](Pheraulas gets a blow and a horse) where you could not fail to hit a brave man, even if you throw with your eyes shut. All right, then, said the Sacian; show me; and I will throw this clod here. And with that he picked one up.

And Cyrus pointed out to him the place where most of his friends were. And the other, shutting his eyes, let fly with the clod and hit Pheraulas as he was riding by; for Pheraulas happened to be carrying some message under orders from Cyrus. But though he was hit, he did not so much as turn around but went on to attend to his commission.

The Sacian opened his eyes and asked whom he had hit. None of those here, by Zeus, said Cyrus. Well, surely it was not one of those who are not here, said the youth. Yes, by Zeus, said Cyrus, it was; you hit that man who is riding so fast along the line of chariots yonder. And why does he not even turn around? said the youth.

Because he is crazy, I should think, answered Cyrus.On hearing this, the young man went to find out who it was. And he found Pheraulas with his chin covered with dirt and blood, for the blood had flowed from his nose where he had been struck; and when he came up to him he asked him if he had been hit.

As you see, he answered. Well then, said the other, I will make you a present of this horse. What for? asked Pheraulas. Then the Sacian related the circumstances and finally said: And in my opinion, at least, I have not failed to hit a brave man.

But you would give him to a richer man than I, if you were wise, answered Pheraulas. Still, even as it is, I will accept him. And I pray the gods, who have caused me to receive your blow, to grant me to see that you never regret your gift to me. And now, said he, mount my horse and ride away; I will join you presently. Thus they made the exchange. Of the Cadusians, Rhathines was the winner.

The chariots also he allowed to race by[*](The chariot race) divisions; to all the winners he gave cups and cattle, so that they might sacrifice and have a banquet. He himself, then, took the ox as his prize, but his share of the cups he gave to Pheraulas because he thought that that officer, as grand marshal, had managed the procession from the palace admirably.

The procession of the king, therefore, as thus instituted by Cyrus, continues even so unto this day, except that the victims are omitted when the king does not offer sacrifice. When it was all over, they went back to the[*](The procession comes to an end) city to their lodgings—those to whom houses had been given, to their homes; those who had none, to their company’s quarters.

Pheraulas invited to his house the Sacian[*](Pheraulas entertains the Sacian) also, who had given him his horse, and entertained his new friend there and made bountiful provision for him in every way; and when they had dined, he filled up the cups that he had received from Cyrus, drank to his health, and then gave him the cups.

And when the Sacian saw the many beautiful coverlets, the many beautiful pieces of furniture, and the large number of servants, he said: Pray tell me, Pheraulas, were you a rich man at home, too?

Rich, indeed! answered Pheraulas; nay rather, as everybody knows, one of those who lived by the labour of their hands. To be sure, my father, who supported us by hard labour and close economy on his own part, managed to give me the education of the boys; but when I became a young man, he could not support me in idleness, and so he took me off to the farm and put me to work.

And there, as long as he lived, I, in turn, supported him by digging and planting a very little plot of ground. It was really not such a very bad plot of ground, but, on the contrary, the most honest; for all the seed that[*](Cf. Vergil, Georgics i. 4 Menander, Georgos 35) it received it returned fairly and honestly, and yet with no very great amount of interest. And sometimes, in a fit of generosity, it would even return to me twice as much as it received. Thus, then, I used to live at home; but now everything that you see has been given to me by Cyrus.

What a happy fellow you must be, said the Sacian, for every reason, but particularly because from being poor you have become rich. For you must enjoy your riches much more, I think, for the very reason that it was only after being hungry for wealth that you became rich.

Why, do you actually suppose, my Sacian[*](He complains of the burden of riches) friend, answered Pheraulas, that the more I own, the more happily I live? You are not aware, he went on, that it gives me not one whit more pleasure to eat and drink and sleep now than it did when I was poor. My only gain from having so much is that I am obliged to take care of more, distribute more to others, and have the trouble of looking after more than I used to have.