Say, what is this disaster which thou tell'st,
That turns the scale to greater evils still?
Mess. Those Persians that were in the bloom of life,
Bravest in heart and noblest in their blood,
And by the king himself deemed worthiest trust,
Basely and by most shameful death have died.
Atoss. Ah! woe is me, my friends, for our ill fate!
What was the death by which thou say'st they perished?
Mess. There is an isle that lies off Salamis,[[40]]
Small, with bad anchorage for ships, where Pan,