The Boys' and Girls' Herodotus / Being Parts of the History of Herodotus, Edited for Boys and Girls

by Herodotus

MILITARY DRUM.

The extreme parts of the inhabited world somehow possess the most excellent products; while Greece enjoys by far the best-tempered climate. In India, the farthest part of the inhabited world toward the east, all animals, both quadrupeds and birds, are much larger than they are in other countries, with the exception of horses; in this respect they are surpassed by the Medic breed called the Nysæan horses. Then there is an abundance of gold there, partly dug, partly brought down by the rivers, and partly seized in the manner I have described. And certain wild trees there bear wool instead of fruit, which in beauty and quality excels that of sheep; and the Indians make their clothing from these trees. Again, Arabia is the farthest of inhabited countries toward the south; and this is the only region in which grow frankincense, myrrh, cassia, cinnamon, and ledanum. All these, except myrrh, the Arabians gather with difficulty. The frankincense they gather by burning styrax, which the Phœnicians import into Greece. Winged serpents, small in size, and various in form, guard the trees that bear frankincense, a great number round each tree. These are the same serpents that invade Egypt. They are driven from the trees by nothing else but the smoke of the styrax. Vipers are found in all parts of the world; but flying serpents in Arabia, and nowhere else; there they appear to be very numerous.

The Arabians obtain the cassia, which grows in marshes or shallow lakes, by covering their whole body and face, except the eyes, with hides and skins, and thus avoiding the attacks of the winged animals, like bats, which infest the marshes, and screech fearfully, and are exceedingly fierce. The cinnamon they collect in a still more wonderful manner. Where it grows and what land produces it they are unable to tell; except that some say it grows in those countries in which Bacchus was nursed. Large birds bring those rolls of bark, which we, from the Phœnicians, call cinnamon, for their nests, which are built with clay, against precipitous mountains, where there is no access for man. The Arabians, to surmount this difficulty, cut up into large pieces the limbs of dead oxen, and asses, and other beasts of burden, carry them to these spots, lay them near the nests, and retire to a distance. The birds fly down and carry up the limbs of the beasts to their nests, which not being strong enough to support the weight, break and fall to the ground. Then the men, coming up, gather the cinnamon, much of which they export to other countries. Still more wonderful is the fragrant ledanum. For it is found sticking like gum to the beards of he-goats, which collect it from the wood. It is useful for many ointments, and the Arabians burn it very generally as a perfume. They are famous for their perfumes; and there breathes from Arabia, as it were, a divine odor. They have two kinds of sheep worthy of admiration, which are seen nowhere else. One kind has large tails, not less than three cubits in length, which, if suffered to trail, would ulcerate, by the tails rubbing on the ground. But every shepherd knows enough of the carpenter's art to prevent this, for they make little carts and fasten them under the tails, binding the tail of each separate sheep to a separate cart. The other kind of sheep have broad tails, even to a cubit in breadth. Where the meridian declines[19] toward the setting sun, the Ethiopian territory extends, being the extreme part of the habitable world. It produces much gold, huge elephants, wild trees of all kinds, ebony, and men of large stature, very handsome, and long-lived.

Such are the extremities of Asia and Libya. Concerning the western extremities of Europe I am unable to speak with certainty, for I do not admit that there is a river, called by barbarians Eridanus, which discharges itself into the sea toward the north, from which amber is said to come; nor am I acquainted with the Cassiterides Islands, whence our tin comes. For in the first place, the name Eridanus shows that it is Grecian and not barbarian, and coined by some poet; in the next place, though I have diligently inquired, I have never been able to hear from any man who has himself seen it, that there is a sea on that side of Europe. However, both tin and amber come to us from the remotest parts. Toward the north of Europe there is evidently a very great quantity of gold, but how procured I am unable to say with certainty; though it is said that the Arimaspians, a one-eyed people, steal it from the griffins. Nor do I believe this, that any men are born with one eye, and yet in other respects resemble the rest of mankind. However, the extremities of the world seem to surround and enclose the rest of the earth, and to possess those productions which we account most excellent and rare.

CHAPTER IV.
REIGN OF DARIUS TO THE TAKING OF BABYLON.

Of the seven men that conspired against the magus, it happened that one of them, Intaphernes, by an act of insolence, lost his life shortly after the revolution. He wished to enter the palace in order to confer with Darius; but the door-keeper and the messenger would not let him pass, saying, that the king was engaged, but Intaphernes, suspecting they told a falsehood, drew his scimetar, cut off their ears and noses, and having strung them to straps taken from his bridle, hung them round their necks, and dismissed them. They presented themselves to the king, and told him the cause for which they had been so treated. Darius, fearing lest the six had done this in concert, sent for them, one by one, and endeavored to discover whether they approved of what had been done. When he found that Intaphernes had not done this with their knowledge, he seized Intaphernes himself, and his children, and all his family, having many reasons to suspect that he, with his relations, would raise a rebellion against him. And he bound them as for death: but the wife of Intaphernes, going to the gates of the palace, wept and lamented aloud; and prevailed on Darius to have compassion on her. He therefore sent a messenger to say as follows: "Madam, king Darius allows you to release one of your relations who are now in prison, whichever of them all you please." She deliberated, and answered: "Since the king grants me the life of one, I choose my brother from them all." Darius, wondering at her choice, asked: "Madam, the king inquires the reason why, leaving your husband and children, you have chosen that your brother should survive; who is not so near related to you as your children, and less dear to you than your husband?" "O king," she answered, "I may have another husband if God will, and other children if I lose these; but as my father and mother are no longer alive, I cannot by any means have another brother; for this reason I spoke as I did." This pleased Darius so well that he granted to her the one whom she asked, and also her eldest son; all the rest he put to death.

Signs in common use.	Signs employed more rarely.	Equivalent in English.
	—	A (as in father).
	—	I (sounded as ee in see).
	—	U (sounded as oo in food).
		B
		P
	—	F
		G (deep guttural).
		K
		KH (sounded like the Hebrew ח).
	—	D
		T
		M
		N
	—	L
		S
	—	SH
		H
		J

ALPHABET

It happened not long after this that Darius, in leaping from his horse while hunting, twisted his foot with such violence that the ankle-bone was dislocated. At first thinking he had about him Egyptians who had the first reputation for skill in the healing art, he made use of their assistance. But they, by twisting the foot, and using force, made the evil worse; and from the pain which he felt, Darius lay seven days and seven nights without sleep. On the eighth day, as he still continued in a bad state, some one who had before heard at Sardis of the skill of Democedes the Crotonian, made it known to Darius; and he ordered them to bring him to him as quickly as possible. They found him among the slaves altogether neglected; and brought him forward, dragging fetters behind him, and clothed in rags. As he stood before him, Darius asked him whether he understood the art. He denied that he did, fearing lest, if he discovered himself, he should be altogether precluded from returning to Greece. But he appeared to Darius to dissemble, although he was skilled in the art; he therefore commanded those who had brought him thither to bring out whips and goads. Whereupon he owned up, saying that he did not know it perfectly, but having been intimate with a physician, he had some poor knowledge of the art. Upon which Darius put himself under his care, and by using Grecian medicines, and applying lenitives after violent remedies, he caused him to sleep, and in a little time restored him to his health, though Darius had begun to despair of ever recovering the use of his foot. After this cure, Darius presented him with two pairs of golden fetters; but Democedes asked him, if he purposely gave him a double evil because he had restored him to health. Darius, pleased with the speech, introduced him to his wives, with the remark that this was the man who had saved the king's life; whereupon each of them dipped a goblet into a chest of gold, and presented it brimful to Democedes—so munificent a gift, that a servant named Sciton, following behind, picked up enough staters that fell from the goblets to make him a rich man.