View:
By Chapter
[13]
Then he ordered the Hyrcanians to lead the way.
What! they exclaimed, are you not going to wait until we bring the hostages, that you also may have a guarantee of our good faith before you proceed?
No, he is said to have answered; for I consider that we have the guarantee in our own hearts and hands. For it is with these, I think, that we are in a position to do you a service, if you speak the truth; but if you are trying to deceive us, we think that, as things are, we shall not be in your power, but rather, if the gods will, you shall be in ours. And hark you, men of Hyrcania, said he, as you say that your people are bringing up the enemy’s rear, inform us, as soon as you see them, that they are yours, that we may do them no harm.
Then he ordered the Hyrcanians to lead the way.
What! they exclaimed, are you not going to wait until we bring the hostages, that you also may have a guarantee of our good faith before you proceed?
No, he is said to have answered; for I consider that we have the guarantee in our own hearts and hands. For it is with these, I think, that we are in a position to do you a service, if you speak the truth; but if you are trying to deceive us, we think that, as things are, we shall not be in your power, but rather, if the gods will, you shall be in ours. And hark you, men of Hyrcania, said he, as you say that your people are bringing up the enemy’s rear, inform us, as soon as you see them, that they are yours, that we may do them no harm.
Cyropaedia. Xenophon. Walter Miller (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1914.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.
Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.