heart.  And do thou that art his mother go to thy house, and take from it such apparel as is seemly, and go to meet thy son, for the many rents that he hath made for grief gape in his garments about him.  Comfort him also with gentle words; for I know that ’tis thy voice only that he will hear.  And to you old men, farewell; and live happily while ye may, for there is no profit of wealth in the grave whither ye go.”

And with these words the spirit of King Darius departed.

THE STORY OF ION.

In the temple of Apollo at Delphi there dwelt a fair youth, whose name was Ion.  Tall he was and comely, like to the son of a King, but of his birth no man knew anything; for he had been laid, being yet a babe, at the door of the temple, and the priestess had brought him up for her son.  So he had served the God from a child, being fed from the altar and from the gifts of the strangers that were wont to resort to the place.  Now it was the lad’s custom to rise early in the morning and to sweep the temple with boughs of bay, and to sprinkle it with water from the fountain of Castalia.  Also he was wont to keep the birds from the temple—­for they would come from the woods of Parnassus hard by, eagles, and swans, and others—­lest they should settle on the pinnacles or defile the altar with their prey.  And for this end he carried arrows and a bow, slaying the birds if need was, but rather seeking to frighten them away, for he knew that some carried messages from the Gods to mortal men, and warned them of things to come, even as did Apollo that was his master.

Now it befell on a day, when he had done his office in the temple, that there drew near to the doors a company of women.  Maidens they were from the land of Attica, and they had come with Creuesa, who was Queen of the country.  And first they marvelled at the graved work that was on the doors and in the porch, for some cunning workmen had wrought thereon Hercules slaying the great dragon of Lerna, and Iolaues standing with a torch to sear that which he cut with his knife.  Also Bellerophon was to be seen on a horse with wings, slaying the Chimaera; and Pallas fighting against the Sons of Earth, with the thunderbolt of her father Zeus and the shield of the Gorgon head.  And when they had made an end of seeing these things came the Queen Creuesa herself and had speech with Ion.  And she told him that she was the daughter of Erechtheus, King of Athens, and that she was married to Xuthus, a Prince from the island of Pelops.  And when Ion would know how it had come to pass that Xuthus, being a stranger and a foreigner, had received her that was a Princess of the land in marriage, she said that the Prince had fought for the men of Athens against the land of Euboea, and had subdued it, and so had won for himself this reward.  Also when the youth would know for what end she had come to the oracles of Delphi, she said that she had come because having been long married she was yet childless, and that her husband also was with her, and that he was even then making inquiry about this same matter in the cave of Trophonius.  For there also was an oracle giving answers to men about things to come.  Then the Queen asked Ion of his estate, and heard from him that the priestess of Apollo had brought him up, having found him laid at the door of the temple.