"Lydian, master of many, much blind to destiny, Crœsus,
Do not desire to hear in thy halls that voice which is prayed for,
Voice of thy son; much better if this from thee were removèd,
Since he shall first utter speech in an evil day of misfortune."

Now when the fortress was being taken, one of the Persians was about
to slay Crœsus taking him for another; and Crœsus for his part, seeing
him coming on, cared nothing for it because of the misfortune which
was upon him, and to him it was indifferent that he should be slain by
the stroke; but this voiceless son, when he saw the Persian coming on,
by reason of terror and affliction burst the bonds of his utterance
and said: "Man, slay not Crœsus." This son, I say, uttered voice then
first of all, but after this he continued to use speech for the whole
time of his life. 86. The Persians then had obtained possession of
Sardis and had taken Crœsus himself prisoner, after he had reigned
fourteen years and had been besieged fourteen days, having fulfilled
the oracle in that he had brought to an end his own great empire. So
the Persians having taken him brought him into the presence of Cyrus:
and he piled up a great pyre and caused Crœsus to go up upon it bound
in fetters, and along with him twice seven sons of Lydians, whether it
was that he meant to dedicate this offering as first-fruits of his
victory to some god, or whether he desired to fulfil a vow, or else
had heard that Crœsus was a god-fearing man and so caused him to go up
on the pyre because he wished to know if any one of the divine powers
would save him, so that he should not be burnt alive. He, they say,
did this; but to Crœsus as he stood upon the pyre there came, although
he was in such evil case, a memory of the saying of Solon, how he had
said with divine inspiration that no one of the living might be called
happy. And when this thought came into his mind, they say that he