herodotus

had picked it up, took thought and cast the matter about in his ownmind. Then he himself[98] ascended first, and after him came up othersof the Persians, and many having thus made approach, Sardis wasfinally taken and the whole city was given up to plunder. 85.Meanwhile to Crœsus himself it happened thus:--He had a son, of whom Imade mention before, who was of good disposition enough but deprivedof speech. Now in his former time of prosperity Crœsus had doneeverything that was possible for him, and besides other things whichhe devised he had also sent messengers to Delphi to inquire concerninghim. And the Pythian prophetess spoke to him thus:"Lydian, master of many, much blind to destiny, Crœsus,Do not desire to hear in thy halls that voice which is prayed for,Voice of thy son; much better if this from thee were removèd,Since he shall first utter speech in an evil day of misfortune."Now when the fortress was being taken, one of the Persians was aboutto slay Crœsus taking him for another; and Crœsus for his part, seeinghim coming on, cared nothing for it because of the misfortune whichwas upon him, and to him it was indifferent that he should be slain bythe stroke; but this voiceless son, when he saw the Persian coming on,by reason of terror and affliction burst the bonds of his utteranceand said: "Man, slay not Crœsus." This son, I say, uttered voice thenfirst of all, but after this he continued to use speech for the wholetime of his life. 86. The Persians then had obtained possession ofSardis and had taken Crœsus himself prisoner, after he had reignedfourteen years and had been besieged fourteen days, having fulfilledthe oracle in that he had brought to an end his own great empire. Sothe Persians having taken him brought him into the presence of Cyrus:and he piled up a great pyre and caused Crœsus to go up upon it boundin fetters, and along with him twice seven sons of Lydians, whether itwas that he meant to dedicate this offering as first-fruits of hisvictory to some god, or whether he desired to fulfil a vow, or elsehad heard that Crœsus was a god-fearing man and so caused him to go upon the pyre because he wished to know if any one of the divine powerswould save him, so that he should not be burnt alive. He, they say,did this; but to Crœsus as he stood upon the pyre there came, althoughhe was in such evil case, a memory of the saying of Solon, how he hadsaid with divine inspiration that no one of the living might be calledhappy. And when this thought came into his mind, they say that hesighed deeply[99] and groaned aloud, having been for long silent, andthree times he uttered the name of Solon. Hearing this, Cyrus bade theinterpreters ask Crœsus who was this person on whom he called; andthey came near and asked. And Crœsus for a time, it is said, keptsilence when he was asked this, but afterwards being pressed he said:"One whom more than much wealth I should have desired to have speech