"paradises," as they are called, full of all fair and noble products
which the earth brings forth; and within these chiefly he spends his
days, when the season of the year permits.

Crit. To be sure, Socrates, it is a natural and necessary conclusion
that when the king himself spends so large a portion of his time
there, his paradises should be furnished to perfection with trees and
all else beautiful that earth brings forth.

Soc. And some say, Critobulus, that when the king gives gifts, he
summons in the first place those who have shown themselves brave
warriors, since all the ploughing in the world were but small gain in
the absence of those who should protect the fields; and next to these
he summons those who have stocked their countries best and rendered
them productive, on the principle that but for the tillers of the soil
the warriors themselves could scarcely live. And there is a tale told
of Cyrus, the most famous prince, I need not tell you, who ever wore a
crown,[11] how on one occasion he said to those who had been called to
receive the gifts, "it were no injustice, if he himself received the
gifts due to warriors and tillers of the soil alike," for "did he not
carry off the palm in stocking the country and also in protecting the
goods with which it had been stocked?"

[11] Lit. "the most glorious king that ever lived." The remark would
seem to apply better to Cyrus the Great. Nitsche and others regard
these SS. 18, 19 as interpolated. See Schenkl ad loc.

Crit. Which clearly shows, Socrates, if the tale be true, that this
same Cyrus took as great a pride in fostering the productive energies
of his country and stocking it with good things, as in his reputation