a narrow column, and all passed over and joined the rest of the army.
But the Persians, having no means of perceiving the stratagem, gave
chase at full speed across a very level plain, possessed as they were by
a spirit of fury against the enemy, and fell into the trench, every man
of them, not alone the first but also those who followed in the rear.
For since they entered into the pursuit with great fury, as I have said,
they failed to notice the catastrophe which had befallen their leaders,
but fell in on top of them with their horses and lances, so that, as was
natural, they both destroyed them, and were themselves no less involved
in ruin. Among them were Perozes and all his sons. And just as he was
about to fall into this pit, they say that he realized the danger, and
seized and threw from him the pearl which hung from his right ear,--a
gem of wonderful whiteness and greatly prized on account of its
extraordinary size--in order, no doubt, that no one might wear it after
him; for it was a thing exceedingly beautiful to look upon, such as no
king before him had possessed. This story, however, seems to me
untrustworthy, because a man who found himself in such peril would have
thought of nothing else; but I suppose that his ear was crushed in this
disaster, and the pearl disappeared somewhere or other. This pearl the
Roman Emperor then made every effort to buy from the Ephthalitae, but
was utterly unsuccessful. For the barbarians were not able to find it
although they sought it with great labour. However, they say that the
Ephthalitae found it later and sold it to Cabades.

The story of this pearl, as told by the Persians, is worth recounting,
for perhaps to some it may not seem altogether incredible. For they say
that it was lodged in its oyster in the sea which washes the Persian
coast, and that the oyster was swimming not far from the shore; both its
valves were standing open and the pearl lay between them, a wonderful
sight and notable, for no pearl in all history could be compared with it