Craesus to haue done him to death not supposing him to haue bene the king Whom he perceyuinge neuerthelesse regarded not the daunger making no difference whether hee perished by sword or otherwyse The dumbe sonne seeyng the imminent perill of the King hys father and fearynge his death brake out in these wordes sayinge Hold thy handes Good fellow slay not king Craesus Which beyng the first wordes that euer he spake hee had alwaies after the ready vse and practise of his toung Thus Craesus and hys city Sardis after he had raygned 14. years and abiden so many dayes siege fell into the hands and power of the Persians hauing lost a great kingdome accordyng to the voyce and sentence of the oracle beyng in this sort apprehended he was brought to king Cyrus who causing his hands feete to be clogged with great waighty giues of yron set him in y e midst of a woodpile made for the nonce accōpanied w t 14. children of the Lydians determinīg to offer these first fruites to y e Gods ether for perfourmāce accōplishment of some vow or for profe or tryall whether any of the Gods vnto whose honor seruice he vnderstode Craesus to be greatly addicted woulde saue deliuer hī frō y e fyre These things are cōmonly spred reported of Cyrus In this most yrksome lamentable case whiles y e kynge of y e Lydiās stode on y e heape or pyle of fagots he bethought hymselfe of the words and saying of Solon who lead by the diuine instinct of some heauenly influence had told hym before that in the number of the liuinge there was no man so singular that might be named happy Wherof beyng admonished in his mynd and fetching from the bottom of his hart a deepe and streyning sigh by report wept bitterly three sundrye tymes cryed out aloude vppon the name of Solon which Cyrus hearing willed the interpreters to aske hym whom he called vppon To whom Craesus made no an sweare at all vntil such tyme as beynge compelled by constraynt he sayd I named him whom I had rather then al the wealth in the worlde hee had lykewyse talked with all those who beynge placed in the hyghest degree of honoure haue the chiefe gouernment of the kingdomes on Earth which woordes for that hee vttered not halfe playnlye and to the cleare and perfyt vnderstanding of those which were attentyue and listened vnto hym they vrged him a fresh to make a recytall therof agayne At whose instant and importunate halinge beynge now constrayned to begynne his speech anew he told them how a long tyme synce Solon an Athenian arriued at his court who beholding his infinite treasure aboundance of wealth made verye light accompt thereof as a thinge of smal and base value in so much that whatsoeuer he had spokē and pronounced of hym the same in due measure had fallen out and comen to euent Which thinges neuerthelesse were not peculiarly spoken by hym but generally of the whole nation and company of men and chiefly of those which please themselues here on earth in a pleasaunt dreame and singular cōtentment of happy blisse Whyles Craesus spake these thinges and the fagottes had taken fyre on euery syde Cyrus vnderstandynge by the expositers of the Lydian toung what he had said was moued with compassion knowinge himselfe also to bee but a man who was now in hand to frye another to death by fyre that of late dayes was nothinge inferiour to himselfe in power and prosperitie And fearing vengeaunce for the same and consydering the instable course and fickle flower of mans affayres commaunded with all diligence the fyre to be extinguished and Craesus with the rest of his company to bee set free But they stroue in vain the fyre hauing taken such vehement holde that it seemed vnquencheable and not to bee ouercome In this place the Lydians recounte that Craesus knowing kyng Cyrus his minde to be chaunged seeing euery man endeuoure to abate the rage and furie of the flame howbeit nothing at all profiting he lyfted vp his voyce cryed to Apollo for succour that if euer any giftes offered by him had ben pleasaunt in his sight he would acquite and deliuer him from this presēt daunger As he was pitifully shedding his teares in plainte and lamentation to the God sodainly the skye being faire the weather smoth and calme the daye was ouercaste and shadowed with the darke vale of dimme and duskie cloudes which breakynge out into maine showres cleane put out and quenched y e fire Herby Cyrus perceiuing that Craesus was a vertuous mā and reuerenced the Gods he saued him from the fyre demaunded him the question saying Tell me now O Craesus whose counsaile was it to inuade my country and became of my friend myne enemy Certes quoth hee G Kinge I haue done this to mine owne great losse and thy gayne the God of the Graecians incyting and leading me hereto who was the cause that I warred agaynst thee For no man is so franticke to desire warre rather then peace when as in tyme of concorde the sonnes bury the fathers but in warre the father carieth the sonne to hys graue Howbeit it seemed good to the God to bringe these things to passe which hauinge saide Cyrus placed him by and hadde hym in great honour and reuerence and stedfastlye beholding him greatly wondred with the rest of his company All which while Craesus in a deepe muse and profound studye sat stil without speaking any worde But sodainly lifting vp his head and vewing the Persian souldiers spoyling and ryflyng the citye Whether shall I speake my mynd noble Cyrus sayde hee and vtter that I thinke or holde my peace at this present and say nothinge But beyng lycenced to speake freely and without feare he asked him saying Wherin is al this company so busily cōuersaunt or what seeke they to do of a truth quoth Cyrus naught else but to pole and dispoile the city and make a hand of thy riches and treasure To whom Cresus answeryng neyther do they wast my city mighty prince sayd he nor consume my goods for the righte of these thinges is no longer myne but they are thy goods which they trayle and lugge aboute and al this wealth pertayueth to thee vpon which wordes the king aduysinge hymselfe drewe Craesus asyde from the company and demaunded of him what he thought meet to be done in this case Who replyed saying For asmuch as it hath pleased the Gods to make mee thy ser 〈…〉 I hold it my duty whatsoeuer I shal perceiue more then thy selfe to make thee priuy and a counsaile therto The Persians quoth he are a croked generation and of nature peruerse and stubburne yet neuertheles verye bare and beggerly whom if in this sort thou securely permit to ryg and ransacke cityes and recouer store plentye of wealth I feare me that as euery one groweth to greattest aboundaunce hee will sonest slipp
Neuerthelesse for myne owne safetyes sake I hold it necessarye this childe shoulde dye yet not by anye of myne but by some of the kinges owne seruantes Hys talke ended forthwith he sent a messenger to y t heardman of Astyages whom he knew wost coÌ„ueniently to be resident in such pastors and hils as were haunted and frequented w t wyld beastes The heard mannes name was Mitradates whose mate in bedde and fellow in seruice was a poore laye woman named in the Greeke toung Cyno which signifyeth a Bytch in the Median lauguage Spaco Spaca in the commoÌ„ vse of their speech being the right name for a vitch The pastours where hee grased his cattell were borderyng to the foote or bottom of a desert mountayne lying to the North syde of Eobatana and to the Euxine sea al that coast of the land of Media which tendeth towardes the people Saspires beinge very hygh full of hils and forrestes but the rest much more low and playne The heardman receyuing the messuage and repayring to the house of Harpagus after he was comen thither he began to salute hym in these wordes Gentle syria quoth he it is the kinges wil you take this litle infante and laye hym in the most wilde and desert place of the woods where he may soonest bee deuoured Which wordes his maiesty coÌ„maunded me to say vnto you with this greeting moreouer that if in case thou make not speedy dispatch of it but by some meanes saue it and kepe it aliue thyselfe in sted therof shalt dye the death Which thing also that it might be done without deceipt he gaue me in precyse charge with myne owne eyes to behold the child dead with which wordes the poore soule toke the babe and returned the same way hee came to his base and simple cottage Now it fortuned that all that day his wife laye in traueile of childbyrth and as the Gods would haue it in the meane space whyle her husband went to the city was deliuered of a sonne beyng very sollicitous and careful one for another Mitradates for y t safe deliuerye of his wifet Cyno for the good successe of hyr husband who besides custome was sent for by Harpagus Beyng returned home with great ioy receaued of his sorrowful wyfe she curyously demaunded of hym what the cause might be that in such post hast he was summoned by Harpagus to come to the city To whom he sayde my deare wyfe at my comming to the city I both heard and saw that which I woulde to God I had neuer seene nor it had bene done by our Lordes and maysters All y t house of Harpagus resounding with teares and yellyng with most pitifull outcryes and lamentation Wherinto after I was entered all agast astonied for fear I beheld a comly younge chyld lying in the middes of the house quaking and cryng wrapped in a rich mantel of gold and diuerse colours whom Harpagus hauing espyed me commaunded me to take by and by and cast it out in the mayne forrest for a pray and spoyle to the sauage and rauenous beastes addynge moreouer y t Astyages charged me so to do with great threats and menâ—cinges if I should do otherwyse The child I toke and haue brought with mee supposing it to belong to some one of the court for that I would neuer haue thoughte it to haue bene of the kinges owne bloud Notwithstanding I maruayled much to see that so rychly arayed with gold and sumptuous attyre as also what it might meane that Harpagus and all his family so bitterly wayled in extreame wae and heauines Now in the way I was acertayâ—ed of all the matter by a seruauÌ„t that brought me out of the city and deliuered the child into my handes who told me it was the sonne of Mandane our kinges daughter begotten of Cambyses sonne of Cyrus and that Astyages commaunded it should bee slayne and this is he Wherwithall he vnfolden the mantle shewed the child to his wyfe The selye woman beholding the young babe to be fayre and beautiful and of body large and well proportioned fell downe on her knees and bathinge her husbandes feete w t her lukewarme teares she besought him in no wyfe to imbrue his handes in the bloud of an infant so goodly and well fauoured Who alleaging that it could not be otherwyse because that Harpagus would send his seruauntes to see it dead and that himselfe should bee miserably tormented to death The woman which by thys tyme had set abroach a new deuise begaÌ„ a fresh to counsaile hym saying If there be no remedye but needes thou must lay it out yet heare me once agayne follow my counsayle how thou mayst craftely dispense with the kings commauÌ„dement and saue the childe This day haue I brought forth a young infant which was stil borne and dead in y t wombe Take yt therfore and saying it out in the desert let vs kepe and foster this in the steed so shall it neither be knowne y t thou hast disobayed the king and our selues shall gayne the heauenly ioy of so goodly an infant By this meanes my good husband both our dead chyld cast out in this kynglye vesture shall enioy a royall and princely sepulcher and this poore seely innocent that is assygned to dye shall be preserued and kept aliue Which deuyse fytted the neatheardes humoure so wel that without any longer deliberation hee put it in practise Wherfore giuinge to his wyfe the childe which he was mynded to haue slayne his owne bratte that was still borne gallantly decked in the others aray he toke and layd out in a most wilde and wast mountayne Which done the 3. day after he had cast it forth leauyng another to ouersee the neat he posted him to the city to the house and mansioÌ„ place of Harpagus geuing him to vnderstande that the child was dead and that for more assurance he myght behold it wher he lay who sending with him certaine of his seruauntes in whom he reposinge geatest affyaunce willed them to take view thereof who fyndyng it to be so as they thought in steede of Mendanes sonne toke the heardmaÌ„s child and buryed it Now the other youÌ„g brat y t was after called Cyrus was brought vp and cherished by y t grasiers wyfe who notwithstanding as yet did not call hym Cyrus but by some other name The child arryuing to the age of tenne yeares descryed his progeny and opened hymselfe by this deed and sportyng in a village where the hearde grased and beynge at sporte and playe with his equalles hee chaunsed by the other children his playfellowes to be choseÌ„ kynge The boy incontinentlye limittynge to euerye one hys propre charge toke vppon him lyke a younge Prince in dede ordaining strayght some of them to builde housen and others to garde hys Bodye and to attende vppon his person one for the steward of his court another for his legate and ambassadour to forreine countries lastly such a one
at a priuye signe to fall to feasting tipling and quaffing betweene themselues aboue measure Which thing he deuysed to the intent the Sardian embassadours beholding so greate plentye and aboundance of grayne and vewing the people in such wise to disport them selues with al kynde of pleasure and delight might make report therof to y e kinge his soueraigne which fell out accordynglye For the ambassadours taking diligent view of all thinges they saw and dispatching their ambassage to Thrasibulus made speedy recourse to Sardis And as I am geuen to vnderstand hereof onelye proceeded a conclusion of peace betwene them For Halyattes supposinge the Milesians to bee oppressed with greate want and penury of grayne at the returne of hys legates hard other newes then hee looked for After this a league was established betweene them of mutuall hospitality and fellowship and in steed of one temple Halyattes caused 2 other to be sumptiuously built at AssessuÌ„ beyng after restored to hysful and perfect strength Such was then the maner of the warre that Halyattes mayntayned agaynst the people of Miletus Periander the some of Sypselus who aduertised Thrasibulus of the oracle was king of Corinth in whose raigne there happened by report of hys people with whom also y e cityzens of Lesbos do iustly accord a miracle right straunge and wonderful Arion Methimnaeus sitting on the backe of a Dolphine by safe and easy conduite arryued at Taenaros hauing the name to bee the most excellent and skylfull musition on the harpe of those â—ymeâ—â— by whom also chieflye was inuented named and taught the kynde and forme of verse called Biâ—hyrambus The fame is how this Aryon hauing a loÌ„g tyme bene resident in the court of Periander was greatly desyrous to passe the Seas into Italye and Cicilie wher beyng growen in wealth and flowinge with infinite summes of money was lead by a desire of retyring backe into hys owne countreye and determyne to in ship himselfe at Tarentum for the speciall credite and good lyking he had to the men of his owne nation hyred a Corinthian barck to returne in which hauing a gall of pleasant wynde and beinge nowe without kenne of Lande the Maryners were all in mind to haue borded Aryon to enioy his money which thing y e pore harper perceyuing freely offred to depart from his wealth if therewith satisfyed they would shew mercy on him selfe and spare his life How beit finding theÌ„ cruelly bent not to bee moued with anye tears but y t either he must kil himselfe be buried on y e laÌ„d or fling hiÌ„selfe hedloÌ„g into y e mids of y e sea he besought theÌ„â—sibly y t since it semed them best to deale so roughly w t him they would graunt him liberty in his richest aray to sing a song wherto they gladly yeldiÌ„g as beyng not a little ioyful to lend their eares to the chiefest and most famous musitioÌ„ then liuing on the earth He weÌ„t from them apart into the middest of the shippe wher hauing decked his body w t most pretious and costlye furniture he framed his voyce to the sweete and melodious verse named Orthium which no soner had he brought to an end but al his pompe glorious arayment he threw himselfe headlonge into the Sea the shipmen held on their course to Corinth Arion receyued by a Dolphin was in perfect safety landed at Taenaros froÌ„ whence so arrayed as he was he framed his steps towarde Corinth to the seate and pallace of the king wher hauing entred a discourse of his strauÌ„ge case incredible fortune y e king supposing him to ouer reach coÌ„mitted him immediatly to close ward wher no maÌ„ might haue accesse vnto hiÌ„ After that diligent serch was made for the mariners who beyng apprehended and curiouslye questioned with about Arion made answere that his abode was aboute Italy and how at their comming from thence they leaft him in florishing estate at Tarentum at which words Arion preseÌ„tly appearing draue them into such a quandarye that hauing no colour of excuse they were compelled perforce to confesse the truth These thinges are verifyed by the men of Corinth and Lesbos Ther is yet to be seene at Taenaros a huge massy monumeÌ„t wrought of brasse Arion sitting on y e back of a Dolphin Howbeit Haliattes prince of Lydia hauing entred the warre with the Milesians gouerned the kingdome 57 yeares finished his dayes who second of that linage after the due recouerye of his strength offred at Delphos a piece of siluer plate of value incomparable and a smal dish of yron curyously wrought a thinge no lesse wonderful to behold then ought that hath bene dedicated in the temple of Apollo being the handy worke of Blaucus Chius who first found out the meane to worke in yron After the death of Haliattes the sceptor descended vnto Craesus his sonne beyng then at the age of thirtye and three yeares This Kyng mynding to haue a fling at the Grecians began first of all and encountred with the people of Ephesus who beyng inuyroned by hym with a siege gaue theyr Citty to the Goddesse tying a rope from the temple of Diana to the walles of the Towne Betweene the olde citye that was besieged and the Temple was the space of 7. furlonges These were the first that Craesus began to quarel with amonges the Grecians After this he began by piecemeale to be doyng with the seuerall cityes of Ionia Aeolia pretending agaynst each diuerse and sundrye causes some very weighty and of due regard other meeretrifles and very friuolous Now when he had subdued the Grecians in Asia and made them tributory to his seat hee determined to furnish a nauy agaynst the inhabitauntes of the Isles To the framing wherof when all things were in readynesse some say that Bias Prienaeus other that Pittacus Mitylaeneus comming to Sardis was demaunded of the Kinge what newes in Greece who shaped him such an answeare that it gaue him small courage to proceede in his enterprise The people of the Isles O King sayd hee haue made prouision of a thousande horses in full purpose to come agaynst thee and thy citye Sardis Craesus thinking he had spoken truth Would God quoth he it might once take them in the brayne to war on horsebacke against the sonnes of the Lydians who taking his talke by the end proceeded saying Most noble Prince it is thy desire to meete with these Sea fishes flooting on shore and what dost thou think they more greedy wish and long after then to take thee and thy Lidyans waueryng and tossing in the water to gleike the one the other syde for so many Grecians become subiect pentionarye to thy kingdome Wherwith Craesus verye much delighted for that he seemed to haue spoken wisely chaunged his mynd and made a friendly league with the people of Ionia that held the Isles in processe of tyme hee became conquerour of al those which are within the ryuer Halis For besydes the
Philitio who at that time kept sheepe in those places Chephrenes dying yeelded the Kingdome to Mycerinus the sonne of his brother Cheops who eschuing the wicked acts and detestable practises of his father caused the temples to be set open giuing libertie to the people being so long distressed vnder the gouernement of his father and vncle to follow their owne affayres and returne to their auncient custome of sacrifice ministring iustice aboue all the Kings that were before him for which cause none of all the princes that haue borne rule in Aegypt is so greatly praysed and renowmed both for other causes which were wisely taken vp by him in iudgement and chiefly for this that a certayne Aegyptian much complayning that the King had wronged him in deciding his cause he commaunded him to value the losse which he had suffered by him which the partie doing he gaue him so much of his owne goods to make him a recompence Mycerinus in this wise gouerning the common weale with great clemency and seekyng by vertue to aduance his fame was sodeinely daunted by a great misfortune the death of his onely daughter hauing no more children but her which was the first and greatest hart-breake that befell him in his kingdome For which cause being stricken with sorrowe aboue measure and desirous to solemnize her funeralles by the most royall and princely kinde of buryall that could be deuised he caused an oxe to be made of wood inwardly vauted and hollow within which being layde ouer and garnished most curiously with gilt he inclosed therein the wanne and forlorne corpse of his best beloued daughter This royall tombe was not interred and buryed in the grounde but remayned vnto our age in the city Sais in open view standing in a certayne parlour of the Kings pallace adorned and set foorth for the same purpose with most beautifull and costly furniture The custome is euermore in the daye time to cast into the belly of the oxe sweete and precious odoures of all sortes that may be gotten and in the nighte to kindle a lampe which burneth by the tombe till the next daye In a chamber next adioyning are certayne pictures of women that were the concubines of Mycerinus if we may beleeue the talke of those that in the same city of Sais are professours in religion forsomuch as there are seene standing in that place certayne mighty images made of wood twentye or thereaboutes in number the most parte of them bare and naked but what women they resemble or whose pictures they be I am not able to alleadge more then hearesay notwithstāding there were which as touching the gilded oxe and the other images framed this tale that Mycerinus being inamoured of his own daughter dealt vnlawfully with her besides the course of nature who for intollerable greefe hanging her selfe was intombed in that oxe by her father the Queene her mother causing the hands of all her gentlewomen to be cut off by whose meanes she had beene betrayed to serue her fathers lust for which cause say they are these images portrayed to declare the misfortune which they abode in their lifetime But this is as true as the man in the moone for that a man with halfe an eye may clearely perceiue that their hands fel offfor very age by reason that the wood through long cōtinuance of time was spaked and perished whiche euen to our memory were to be seene lying at the feete of those which were portrayed The oxe wherein the yong princesse lay was sumptuously clad and arayed all the body wyth a gorgeous mantle of Phenicia hys head and necke beeyng spanged and layde ouer with braces and plates of golde of a maruaylous thickenesse Betweene hys hornes was set a globe or circle of golde glistering as the sunne Neyther is the oxe standing and borne vp vppon hys feete but kneeleth as it were on hys knees equall in bignesse to a great heighfer The manner is once a yeare to bring this image out of the parlour wherein it is kepte hauyng first of all well beaten and cudgelled a certayne image of one of theyr Sainctes whome in thys case wee thynke it not lawfull for vs to name The talke goeth that the Lady besought the Kyng her father that beeing dead she myght once a yeare beholde the sunne whereof sprang the custome and maner aforesayde After this there befell vnto him another mischiefe that sate as neere hys skirtes as the death of his dilling insomuch that he was readie to runne beyonde hymselfe for sorrowe A prophecie arose in the city of Butis that the tearme of sixe yeares fully exspired the Kyng shoulde ende hys lyfe leauing hys Kyngdome to be ruled of another Whereof the Kyng beeing aduertised and greately greeuing at the rigorous and vniust dealing of the gods sped a messenger to the place where the seate of prophecie was helde to expostulate with the god for what cause since hys father and vnckle who had beene so vnmindfull of the gods shutting vp their temples and making hauocke of the people had liued so long he hymselfe that had dealte better with them and caused these thynges to bee restored agayne shoulde so soone be depriued of the benefite of lyfe to whome aunswere was made that hys dayes were therefore shortened because hee tooke a wrong course and dyd not as he should do beyng appoynted by the celestiall powers that the countrey of Aegypt should suffer miserie and be afflicted by their princes y e space of an hūdred fifty yeares which the two former princes well vnderstanding was neuerthelesse by him neglected and left vnperformed Mycerinus hearing this round reply and perceiuing that his thread was almost spoon set al at reuell making great prouision of lights and tapers which at euentide he caused to be lighted passing the night in exceeding great mirth and princely banquetting letting slip no time wherein he either wandered not alongst the riuer and through the woods and groues of the countrey or entertayned the time in some pleasaunt deuises following all things that might eyther breede delighte or bring pleasure which things he did to the end he might prooue the prophecie false and conuince the god of a lie making twelue yeares of sixe by spending the nightes also as he did the dayes Mycerinus also built a pyre not equall to that which his father had set vp before him beeing in measure but twentie foote square framed quadrangularly and another lower then that of three acres in compasse being built to the middest of the stone of Aethiopia There be of the Graecian writers that suppose thys towre to haue bene erected by a woman of notable fame called Rhodope who misse of their account not seeming to knowe what that Rhodope was of whome they speake Besides it is very vnlikely that Rhodope woulde euer haue enterprised a worke of so great value wherein infinite thousands of talentes were spent before it came to perfection Lastly it was not in the