others." "What!" said Cyrus; "do you think it will be possible for the
soldiers to diet and train themselves?" "Not only possible," said the
father, "but essential. For surely an army, if it is to fulfil its
function at all, must always be engaged in hurting the foe or helping
itself. A single man is hard enough to support in idleness, a
household is harder still, an army hardest of all. There are more
mouths to be filled, less wealth to start with, and greater waste; and
therefore an army should never be unemployed." [18] "If I take your
meaning," answered Cyrus, "you think an idle general as useless as an
idle farmer. And here and now I answer for the working general, and
promise on his behalf that with God's help he will show you that his
troops have all they need and their bodies are all they ought to be.
And I think," he added, "I know a way by which an officer might do
much towards training his men in the various branches of war. Let him
propose competitions of every kind and offer prizes; the standard of
skill will rise, and he will soon have a body of troops ready to his
hand for any service he requires." "Nothing could be better," answered
the father. "Do this, and you may be sure you will watch your
regiments at their manúuvres with as much delight as if they were a
chorus in the dance."

[19] "And then," continued Cyrus, "to rouse enthusiasm in the men,
there can be nothing, I take it, like the power of kindling hope?"
"True," answered his father, "but that alone would be as though a
huntsman were for ever rousing his pack with the view-halloo. At
first, of course, the hounds will answer eagerly enough, but after
they have been cheated once or twice they will end by refusing the
call even when the quarry is really in sight. And so it is with hope.
Let a man rouse false expectations often enough, and in the end, even
when hope is at the door, he may cry the good news in vain. Rather