The histories of Herodotus;

34 HERODOTUS—BOOK I, CLIO [85-86
respects proper enough, but dumb. Now, in the time of his
former prosperity, Croesus had done everything he could
for him, and among other expedients had sent to consult the
oracle of Delphi concerning him ; but the Pythian gave him
this answer : " O Lydian born, king of many, very foolish
Croesus, wish not to hear the longed-for voice of thy son
speaking within thy palace : it were better for thee that this
should be far off; for he will first speak in an unhappy day."
When the city was taken, one of the Persians, not knowing
Croesus, was about to kill him : Croesus, though he saw him
approach, from his present misfortune, took no heed of him,
nor did he care about dying by the blow ; but this speechless
son of his, when he saw the Persian advancing against him,
through dread and anguish, burst into speech, and said, " Man,
kill not Croesus." These were the first words he ever uttered
but from that time he continued to speak during the remainder
of his life. So the Persians got possession of Sardis, and
made Croesus prisoner, after he had reigned fourteen years,
being besieged fourteen days, and lost his great empire, as
the oracle had predicted. The Persians, having taken him,
conducted him to Cyrus ; and he, having heaped up a great
pile, placed Croesus upon it, bound with fetters, and with him
fourteen young Lydians, designing either to offer this sacrifice
to some god, as the first fruits of his victory, or wishing
to perform a vow ; or perhaps, having heard that Croesus
was a religious person, he placed him on the pile for the purpose
of discovering whether any deity would save him from
being burned alive. He accordingly did what has been related
: it is added that when Croesus stood upon the pile, notwithstanding
the weight of his misfortunes, the words of
Solon recurred to him, as spoken by inspiration of the deity,
that no living man could be justly called happy. When this
occurred to him, it is said that after a long silence he recovered
himself, and uttering a groan, thrice pronounced the
name of Solon : that when Cyrus heard him, he commanded
his interpreters to ask Croesus whom it was he called upon
that they drew near and asked him, but Croesus for some time
kept silence : but at last, being constrained to speak, said, " I
named a man whose discourses I more desire all tyrants might
hear than to be possessor of the greatest riches." When he
gave them this obscure answer, they again inquired what he
said : and when they persisted in their inquiries, and were
very importunate, he at length told them that Solon, an
Athenian, formerly visited him, and having viewed all his
treasures, made no account of them; telling, in a word, how
;