Herodotus - The Histories.pdf

The Histories–Book Three V 17
saying, “Psammenitus, thy lord Cambyses asketh
thee why, when thou sawest thy daughter brought
to shame, and thy son on his way to death, thou
didst neither utter cry nor shed tear, while to a
beggar, who is, he hears, a stranger to thy race,
thou gavest those marks of honour.” To this question
Psammenitus made answer, “O son of Cyrus,
my own misfortunes were too great for tears; but
the woe of my friend deserved them. When a man
falls from splendour and plenty into beggary at
the threshold of old age, one may well weep for
him.” When the messenger brought back this
answer, Cambyses owned it was just; Croesus,
likewise, the Egyptians say, burst into tears- for he
too had come into Egypt with Cambyses- and the
Persians who were present wept. Even Cambyses
himself was touched with pity, and he forthwith
gave an order that the son of Psammenitus should
be spared from the number of those appointed to
die, and Psammenitus himself brought from the
suburb into his presence.
The messengers were too late to save the life of
Psammenitus’ son, who had been cut in pieces