“Now, therefore, return at once to Macedon, or, not as the son of Philip, but as a leader of a band of petty thieves shalt thou be hung.”
And when the letter was written the bearer of the kind’s seal came forward, and the letter was closed, and cords of green silk run through the edges, and dipped in wax, and the great seal was stamped upon the wax, and it was given to the messengers of the king, with strait commandment that they should tarry neither night nor day until the king’s letter was given into the hands of Alexander.
When he saw the letter, his heart was filled with rage nevertheless he read it out in the hearing of his knights & nobles & they were moved with fear.
Now, Alexander was standing in the midst of his barons when the messengers of Darius arrived, and as their commandment was urgent, he bade them to be brought to him at once. And when he saw the letter his heart was filled with rage, nevertheless he read it out in the hearing of his knights and nobles; and when these heard it their hearts were moved with fear of the mighty words of Darius. So Alexander looked on them and he saw that they were afraid, and he spoke to them: “What now! my worthy warriors, my bold knights and barons, the best under heaven that ever king had, let it never be told against you that the proud boasting of a letter of Darius brought you to doubt yourselves, else were it shame indeed. Look you, now, every day we ride through a village you may hear as loud a yelping from any cur at a cottage door, but loud as they bark they never bite. But methinks his letter should rather make you rejoice, when he tells you what treasure of gold he has, for it needs but to be bold and that treasure shall be yours.” And then the anger in the king’s heart broke out, and turning to the messengers of Darius, he said: “But for ye, that dare to bring such threats to a Greek, ye shall learn the anger of Alexander. Take them by the throats,” said he to the attendants, “and for their master’s sake, hang them on the gallows.”
Then the messengers were amazed, and with a keen cry called to Alexander: “Alas, O king, what fault lies in us, if it please thee, that we should die thus suddenly.” “The sayings of your sovereign lord,” said he, “force me to such deeds as I would never have done else: lo, now, he calls me a thief in this letter.” But they fell on their knees before him and said: “O king, Darius himself dictated those words, for he knew not of your knighthood, nor of your strength, nor of your worthiness, and so he wrote boldly; but grant us our lives, and leave to go, and we will show him all your power and your might.” So Alexander forgave them and made them a great feast in his own tent, and made much of them, so that he won their hearts; and they said to him: “Sir Alexander, send with us, we pray thee, but one thousand of your knights, and we will deliver Darius into your hands.” But the king answered them with little love: “Rejoice in your feast, O messengers; verily no knight of mine shall be sent to aid in betraying your lord.”
But in the night, one of the Persian messengers, a little man and a crooked, having one arm longer than the other, came to the tent of the king, and when he was admitted he asked that all men might be put forth. So they were left alone, and the messenger drew from his breast a leathern roll, and in it was a blue embroidered silk bag of fair work, the lion on one side and the rising sun on the other, and he laid it in the hand of the king. Then Alexander opened it, and found within a scarf of green covered with fair half-open flowers, and he looked on the messenger, and he answered: “O king, the fairest dame in Persia sends thee this to the end that thou mayest wear it in thy helm. One day, if the gods will, thou shalt see her and know her name.” Then the messenger bowed low, and went his way to his fellows, and all men slept.
The next day the messengers were called before Alexander and his council, and a letter was given them, closely sealed up, to bear to Darius. Now this was the form of the letter:
“I, ALEXANDER OF MACEDON, son and heir of Philip the defender of Greece, and of Olympias the fair, to thee Darius, prince of the Persians, the conqueror of every land—as you say yourself—thus write under my seal.
“Let no man despise any neighbour who seems to be smaller and poorer than himself, since the lowest is often raised to the heavens, and the proudest ground to dust. And thou, Emperor of the World as thou callest thyself, dost dishonour to thy name when thou sendest such gifts out of Persia. Thou speakest as if thou wert one of the gods that cannot die. I am but a mortal man, and will attack thee.