Kitap 8
2.14
People quote a remark of his to the effect that the duties of a good shepherd and of a good king were very much alike; a good shepherd ought, while deriving benefit from his flocks, to make them happy (so far as sheep can be said to have happiness), and in the same way a king ought to make his people and his cities happy, if he would derive benefits from them. Seeing that he held this theory, it is not at all surprising that he was ambitious to surpass all other men in attention to his friends.
2.15
And, among other proofs, Cyrus is said to haveCyrus’s theory of wealth vs. that of Croesus given Croesus one splendid practical demonstration of the correctness of this theory, when the latter warned him that by giving so much away he would make himself poor, whereas he was in a position to lay up in his house more treasures of gold than any other man. And how much gold, pray, Cyrus is said to have asked, do you think I should have by this time, if I had been amassing it, as you propose, ever since I have been in power?
2.16
Croesus named some large sum. Well, then, Croesus, said Cyrus in reply, send along with Hystaspas here a man in whom you have most confidence. And you, Hystaspas, said he to him, go the round of my friends and tell them that I need money for a certain enterprise; for, in truth, I do need more. And bid them write down the amount they could each let me have, and affix their seals to each subscription, and give it to Croesus’s messenger to deliver here.
2.17
And when he had written down what he had said, he sealed the letter and gave it to Hystaspas to carry to his friends. And he included in it also a request that they all receive Hystaspas as his friend.And when he had made the round and Croesus’s messenger had brought in the subscriptions, Hystaspas said: King Cyrus, you should treat me also henceforth as a rich man; for, thanks to your letter, I have come back with a great number of presents.
