The histories of Herodotus;

21-23] THE ETHIOPIANS l6l
When, therefore, the Ichthyophagi arrived among this
people, they gave the presents to the king, and addressed him
" Cambyses, King of the Persians, desirous of be-
as follows :
coming your friend and ally, has sent us, bidding us confer
with you, and he presents you with these gifts, which are such
as he himself most delights in." But the Ethiopian, knowing
that they came as spies, spoke thus to them : " Neither has
the King of the Persians sent you with presents to me, because
he valued my alliance; nor do you speak the truth; for ye
are come as spies of my kingdom. Nor is he a just man ; for
if he were just, he would not desire any other territory than
his own ; nor would he reduce people into servitude who have
done him no injury. However, give him this bow, and say
these words to him :
' The King of the Ethiopians advises the
King of the Persians, when the Persians can thus easily draw
a bow of this size, then to make war on the Macrobian Ethiopians
with more numerous forces; but until that time let
him thank the gods, who have not inspired the sons of the
Ethiopians with a desire of adding another land to their own.'"
Having spoken thus and unstrung the bow, he delivered it
to the comers. Then taking up the purple cloak, he asked
what it was, and how made ; and when the Ichthyophagi told
him the truth respecting the purple, and the manner of dyeing,
he said that the men are deceptive, and their garments are
deceptive also. Next he inquired about the necklace and
bracelets, and when the Ichthyophagi explained to him their
use as ornaments, the king, laughing, and supposing them to
be fetters, said that they have stronger fetters than these.
Thirdly, he inquired about the ointment ; and when they told
him about its composition and use, he made the same remark
as he had on the cloak. But when he came to the wine, and
inquired how it was made, being very much delighted with
the draught, he further asked what food the king made use
of, and what was the longest age to which a Persian lived.
They answered, that he fed on bread, describing the nature
of wheat ; and that the longest period of the life of a Persian
was eighty years. Upon this the Ethiopian said that he was
not at all surprised if men who fed on dung lived so few years
and they would not be able to live so many years if they
did not refresh themselves with this beverage, showing the
wine to the Ichthyophagi : for in this he admitted they were
surpassed by the Persians. The Ichthyophagi inquiring in
turn of the king concerning the life and diet of the Ethiopians,
he said, that most of them attained to a hundred and twenty
years, and some even exceeded that term, and that their food
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