III
You would hardly have known the young prince when the time came for him to appear before his grandfather. He was dressed in the rich uniform of the cupbearer, and he came forward with much dignity and grace.
He carried a white napkin upon his arm, and held the cup of wine very daintily with three of his fingers.
[Illustration]
His manners were perfect. Sarcas himself could not have served the king half so well.
"Bravo! bravo!" cried his mother, her eyes sparkling with pride.
"You have done well" said his grandfather. "But you neglected one important thing. It is the rule and custom of the cupbearer to pour out a little of the wine and taste it before handing the cup to me. This you forgot to do."
"Indeed, grandfather, I did not forget it," answered Cyrus.
"Then why didn't you do it?" asked his mother.
"Because I believed there was poison in the wine."
"Poison, my boy!" cried King Astyages, much alarmed. "Poison! poison!"
"Yes, grandfather, poison. For the other day, when you sat at dinner with your officers, I noticed that the wine made you act queerly. After the guests had drunk quite a little of it, they began to talk foolishly and sing loudly; and some of them went to sleep. And you, grandfather, were as bad as the rest. You forgot that you were king. You forgot all your good manners. You tried to dance and fell upon the floor. I am afraid to drink anything that makes men act in that way."
"Didn't you ever see your father behave so?" asked the king.
"No, never," said Cyrus. "He does not drink merely to be drinking. He drinks to quench his thirst, and that is all."
When Cyrus became a man, he succeeded his father as king of Persia; he also succeeded his grandfather Astyages as king of Media. He was a very wise and powerful ruler, and he made his country the greatest of any that was then known. In history he is commonly called Cyrus the Great.