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Then after he had concluded his rites and come home, he thought he would be glad to rest and so lay down; and when the hour came, those whose office it was came in and bade him go to his bath. But he told them that he was resting happily. And then again, when the hour came, those whose office it was set dinner before him. But his soul had no desire for food, but he seemed thirsty and drank with pleasure.

And when the same thing befell him on the next day and the day after that, he summoned his sons; for they had accompanied him, as it chanced, and were still in Persia. He summoned also his friends and the Persian magistrates; and when they were all come, he began to speak as follows:

My sons, and all you my friends about me,[*](His last words) the end of my life is now at hand; I am quite sure of this for many reasons; and when I am dead, you must always speak and act in regard to me as of one blessed of fortune. For when I was a boy, I think I[*](He reviews his life) plucked all the fruits that among boys count for the best; when I became a youth, I enjoyed what is accounted best among young men; and when I became a mature man, I had the best that men can have. And as time went on, it seemed to me that I recognized that my own strength was always increasing with my years, so that I never found my old age growing any more feeble than my youth had been; and, so far as I know, there is nothing that I ever attempted or desired and yet failed to secure.