into the faces of the slain, and those whose duty it was could hardly
drag him away to lead him to Astyages: indeed, the youth was glad
enough to keep them as a screen between himself and the king, for he
saw that the countenance of his grandfather grew stern at the sight of
him.

[25] So matters passed in Media: and more and more the name of Cyrus
was on the lip of every man, in song and story everywhere, and
Astyages, who had always loved him, was astonished beyond all measure
at the lad. Meanwhile his father, Cambyses, rejoiced to hear such
tidings of his son; but, when he heard that he was already acting like
a man of years, he thought it full time to call him home again that he
might complete his training in the discipline of his fatherland. The
story tells how Cyrus answered the summons, saying he would rather
return home at once so that his father might not be vexed or his
country blame him. And Astyages, too, thought it his plain duty to
send the boy back, but he must needs give him horses to take with him,
as many as he would care to choose, and other gifts beside, not only
for the love he bore him but for the high hopes he had that the boy
would one day prove a man of mark, a blessing to his friends, and a
terror to his foes. And when the time came for Cyrus to go, the whole
world poured out to speed him on his journey--little children and lads
of his own age, and grown men and greybeards on their steeds, and
Astyages the king. And, so says the chronicle, the eyes of none were
dry when they turned home again. [26] Cyrus himself, they tell us,
rode away in tears. He heaped gifts on all his comrades, sharing with
them what Astyages had given to himself; and at last he took off the
splendid Median cloak he wore and gave it to one of them, to tell him,
plainer than words could say, how his heart clung to him above the
rest. And his friends, they say, took the gifts he gave them, but they