The attitude and bearing of his neighbor Croesus were graceful, and in every way worthy of a king.  His whole manner showed that he had lived in frequent intercourse with the highest and noblest minds of Greece.  Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes of Miletus, Bias of Priene, Solon of Athens, Pittakus of Lesbos, the most celebrated Hellenic philosophers, had in former and happier days been guests at the court of Croesus in Sardis.  His full clear voice sounded like pure song when compared with the shrill tones of Amasis.

[Bias, a philosopher of Ionian origin, flourished about 560 B. C. and was especially celebrated for his wise maxims on morals and law.  After his death, which took place during his defence of a friend in the public court, a temple was erected to him by his countrymen.  Laert.  Diog.  I. 88.]

“Now tell me openly,” began king Pharaoh—­[In English “great house,” the high gate or “sublime porte.’]—­in tolerably fluent Greek, “what opinion hast thou formed of Egypt?  Thy judgment possesses for me more worth than that of any other man, for three reasons:  thou art better acquainted with most of the countries and nations of this earth; the gods have not only allowed thee to ascend the ladder of fortune to its utmost summit, but also to descend it, and thirdly, thou hast long been the first counsellor to the mightiest of kings.  Would that my kingdom might please thee so well that thou wouldst remain here and become to me a brother.  Verily, Croesus, my friend hast thou long been, though my eyes beheld thee yesterday for the first time!”

“And thou mine,” interrupted the Lydian.  “I admire the courage with which thou hast accomplished that which seemed right and good in thine eyes, in spite of opposition near and around thee.  I am thankful for the favor shown to the Hellenes, my friends, and I regard thee as related to me by fortune, for hast thou not also passed through all the extremes of good and evil that this life can offer?”

“With this difference,” said Amasis smiling, “that we started from opposite points; in thy lot the good came first, the evil later; whereas in my own this order has been reversed.  In saying this, however,” he added, “I am supposing that my present fortune is a good for me, and that I enjoy it.”

“And I, in that case,” answered Croesus, “must be assuming that I am unhappy in what men call my present ill-fortune.”

“How can it possibly be otherwise after the loss of such enormous possessions?”

“Does happiness consist then in possession?” asked Croesus.  “Is happiness itself a thing to be possessed?  Nay, by no means!  It is nothing but a feeling, a sensation, which the envious gods vouchsafe more often to the needy than to the mighty.  The clear sight of the latter becomes dazzled by the glittering treasure, and they cannot but suffer continual humiliation, because, conscious of possessing power to obtain much, they wage an eager war for all, and therein are continually defeated.”