"Let them. I want nothing but what is right, and shall trust to my
star."

"Do you know its name?"

"It ruled in the hour of my birth, and its name is Anahita."

"I think I know better. A burning ambition is the sun, whose rays guide
all your actions. Take care; I tried that way myself once; it leads to
fame or to disgrace, but very seldom to happiness. Fame to the ambitious
is like salt water to the thirsty; the more he gets, the more he wants.
I was once only a poor soldier, and am now Cambyses' ambassador. But
you, what can you have to strive for? There is no man in the kingdom
greater than yourself, after the sons of Cyrus . . . Do my eyes
deceive me? Surely those two men riding to meet us with a troop of
horsemen must be Gyges and Zopyrus. The Angare, who left the inn before
us, must have told them of our coming."

"To be sure. Look at that fellow Zopyrus, how he's waving and beckoning
with that palm-leaf."

"Here, you fellows, cut us a few twigs from those bushes-quick. We'll
answer his green palm-leaf with a purple pomegranate-branch."

In a few minutes the friends had embraced one another, and the two bands
were riding together into the populous town, through the gardens
surrounding the lake Gygaeus, the Sardians' place of recreation. It was
now near sunset, a cooler breeze was beginning to blow, and the citizens
were pouring through the gates to enjoy themselves in the open air.