work might be.

Or if he saw any skilful and just steward who furnished well the
country over which he ruled, and created revenues, so far from robbing
him at any time, to him who had, he delighted to give more. So that
toil was a pleasure, and gains were amassed with confidence, and least
of all from Cyrus would a man conceal the amount of his possessions,
seeing that he showed no jealousy of wealth openly avowed, but his 19
endeavour was rather to turn to account the riches of those who kept
them secret. Towards the friends he had made, whose kindliness he
knew, or whose fitness as fellow-workers with himself, in aught which
he might wish to carry out, he had tested, he showed himself in turn
an adept in the arts of courtesy. Just in proportion as he felt the
need of this friend or that to help him, so he tried to help each of
them in return in whatever seemed to be their heart's desire.

Many were the gifts bestowed on him, for many and diverse reasons; no
one man, perhaps, ever received more; no one, certainly, was ever more
ready to bestow them upon others, with an eye ever to the taste of
each, so as to gratify what he saw to be the individual requirement.
Many of these presents were sent to him to serve as personal
adornments of the body or for battle; and as touching these he would
say, "How am I to deck myself out in all these? to my mind a man's
chief ornament is the adornment of nobly-adorned friends." Indeed,
that he should triumph over his friends in the great matters of
welldoing is not surprising, seeing that he was much more powerful
than they, but that he should go beyond them in minute attentions, and
in an eager desire to give pleasure, seems to me, I must confess, more
admirable. Frequently when he had tasted some specially excellent
wine, he would send the half remaining flagon to some friend with a