They had only been seven days, in all, in the land of the Carduchians, and yet, during that short time they had suffered so severely, that all their previous encounters, both with the Great King and with Tissaphernes, seemed in comparison but child’s play.
XXXII
THE CROSSING OF THE KENTRITES
The Persian province of Armenia was divided from the land of the Carduchians by the river Kentrites. It was a fertile country, but for a distance of nearly twenty miles from the river there were no villages nor cultivated land, because the Armenians were determined that there should be nothing to tempt their warlike neighbours, the Carduchians, to enter their country in search of plunder.
The news that the Hellenes were approaching had reached them, and on the further side of the river, Persian cavalry were already keeping guard along the shore. Infantry also were posted beyond, in the more hilly part of the country. Notwithstanding this, however, since there was no way of getting round the river, the Hellenes were determined, if possible, to wade through it, in defiance of the Persian troops.
But on stepping into the river, they found that the water was breast deep, and that the stream had a very rapid current, which swept to one side the great shields they carried to protect them in front, so that they were exposed to the arrows and darts of the enemy. They could indeed, by lifting the shields out of the water and holding them above their heads, protect themselves to some extent, but not sufficiently to be out of danger. Besides this, the ground at the bottom of the river was strewn with great stones, so slippery that they could not get any certain footing, and were in constant danger of falling. And in addition to everything else, they now perceived, at the edge of the mountainous country which they had just quitted, a band of armed Carduchians, who were evidently only waiting for the moment when they should be occupied in crossing the river, to come and attack them in the rear.
The position was most embarrassing, and they could not tell what to do for the best. Being urgently in need of rest, they resolved to remain where they were for that day, and encamp at night in the same place as on the previous evening. The Carduchians continued at their post until dark, and then retreated to their nearest villages.
That night Xenophon had a dream. He thought that he was bound with fetters, but suddenly the fetters fell off, and he could move his limbs freely. Thereupon he awoke, with the firm conviction that the dream had been sent from the gods, to signify that they would provide a way of escape from the present difficulty.
Early in the morning he went to Cheirisophus to tell him of the dream, and of his interpretation of it, and both generals agreed to have sacrifices offered, that by means of the omens they might know yet more surely the will of the gods. At the very first, the omens were favourable, and now they felt certain that the gods would not fail to work out their deliverance, though how it was to be accomplished they did not as yet know.
They had not however long to wait, for whilst they were still eating their breakfast, two young soldiers came running into the camp to tell the generals of a discovery that they had made.
‘We were looking for fuel,’ they said, ‘a good way up the stream, when we saw a man, a woman, and two girls, who seemed to be entering a cave among the rocks. So we tried the water in that place, and found that it flows much more quietly than here, and we went right over to the other side, for the country there is hilly, so that we were protected from the enemy’s cavalry, and nowhere did the water come above our waists.’