hungry and wish to be fed, and bread and meat brings us where we want
to be at once, but you Medes, for all your haste, take so many turns
and wind about so much it is a wonder if you ever find your way to the
goal that we have reached long ago." [5] "Well, my lad," said his
grandfather, "we are not at all averse to the length of the road:
taste the dishes for yourself and see how good they are." "One thing I
do see," the boy said, "and that is that you do not quite like them
yourself." And when Astyages asked him how he felt so sure of that,
Cyrus answered, "Because when you touch an honest bit of bread you
never wipe your hands, but if you take one of these fine kickshaws you
turn to your napkin at once, as if you were angry to find your fingers
soiled." [6] "Well and good, my lad, well and good," said the king,
"only feast away yourself and make good cheer, and we shall send you
back to Persia a fine strong fellow." And with the word he had dishes
of meat and game set before his grandson. The boy was taken aback by
their profusion, and exclaimed, "Grandfather, do you give me all this
for myself, to do what I like with it?" "Certainly I do," said the
king. [7] Whereupon, without more ado, the boy Cyrus took first one
dish and then another and gave them to the attendants who stood about
his grandfather, and with each gift he made a little speech: "That is
for you, for so kindly teaching me to ride;" "And that is for you, in
return for the javelin you gave me, I have got it still;" "And this is
for you, because you wait on my grandfather so prettily;" "And this
for you, sir, because you honour my mother." And so on until he had
got rid of all the meat he had been given. [8] "But you do not give a
single piece to Sacas, my butler," quoth the grandfather, "and I
honour him more than all the rest." Now this Sacas, as one may guess,
was a handsome fellow, and he had the right to bring before the king
all who desired audience, to keep them back if he thought the time
unseasonable. But Cyrus, in answer to his grandfather's question