The histories of Herodotus;

48 HERODOTUS—BOOK I, CLIO [117-119
act according to your wish and command, and, without offending
you, I might be free from the crime of murder both
in your daughter's sight and in yours. I therefore acted as
follows : having sent for this herdsman, I gave him the child,
saying that you had commanded him to put it to death ; and
in saying this I did not speak falsely, for such indeed were
your orders. In this manner I delivered the infant to him,
charging him to place it in some desert mountain, and to
stay and watch till the child was dead, threatening the severest
punishment if he should not fully carry out these injunctions.
When he had executed these orders, and the child was dead,
I sent some of the most trusty of my eunuchs, and by means
of them beheld the body, and buried it. This is the whole
truth, O king, and such was the fate of the child."
Thus Harpagus told the real truth ; but Astyages, dissembling
the anger which he felt on account of what had been
done, again related to Harpagus the whole matter as he had
heard it from the herdsman ; and afterward, when he had
repeated it throughout, he ended by saying that the child was
alive and all was well. " For," he added, " I suffered much
on account of what had been done regarding this child, and
could not easily bear the reproaches of my daughter; therefore
since fortune has taken a more favourable turn, do you,
in the first place, send your own son to accompany the boy
I have recovered ; and, in the next place (for I purpose to
offer a sacrifice for the preservation of the child to the gods,
to whom that honour is due), do you be with me at supper."
Harpagus, on hearing these words, when he had paid his
homage, and had congratulated himself that his fault had
turned to so good account, and that he was invited to the
feast under such auspicious circumstances, went to his own
home. And as soon as he entered he sent his only son, who
was about thirteen years of age, and bade him go to Astyages,
and do whatever he should command; and then, being
full of joy, he told his wife what had happened. But when
the son of Harpagus arrived, having slain and cut him into
joints, Astyages roasted some parts of his flesh and boiled
others, and having had them well dressed, kept them in readiness.
At the appointed hour, when the other guests and Harpagus
were come, tables full of mutton were placed before
the rest and Astyages himself, but before Harpagus all the
body of his son, except the head, the hands, and the feet;
these were laid apart in a basket covered over. When Harpagus
seemed to have eaten enough, Astyages asked him if
he was pleased with the entertainment; and when Harpagus