and with the
cruel realities of his position. His pious and excited fancy generated a
series of shadowy analogies. The dream was sent by Zeus the King, since
it was from him that thunder and lightning proceeded. In one respect,
the sign was auspicious--that a great light had appeared to him from
Zeus in the midst of peril and suffering. But on the other hand, it was
alarming, that the house had appeared to be completely encircled by
flames, preventing all egress, because this seemed to indicate that he
would remain confined where he was in the Persian dominions, without
being able to overcome the difficulties which hedged him in. Yet
doubtful as the promise was, it was still the message of Zeus addressed
to himself, serving as a stimulus to him to break through the common
stupor and take the initiative movement. "Why am I lying here? Night is
advancing; at daybreak the enemy will be on us, and we shall be put to
death with tortures. Not a man is stirring to take measures of defence.
Why do I wait for any man older than myself, or for any man of a
different city, to begin?"

With these reflections, interesting in themselves, and given with
Homeric vivacity, he instantly went to convene the captains who had
served under his late friend Proxenus. He impressed upon them
emphatically the necessity of standing forward to put the army in a
posture of defence. "I cannot sleep, fellow-soldiers; neither, I
presume, can you, under our present perils. The enemy will be upon us at
daybreak--prepared to kill us all with tortures, as his worst enemies.
For my part, I rejoice that his villanous perjury has put an end to a
truce by which we were the great losers; a truce, under which we,
mindful of our oaths, have passed through all the rich possessions of
the King, without touching anything except what we could purchase with
our own scanty means. Now, we have our hands free: all these rich spoils
stand between us and him, as prizes for the better man. The gods, who
preside over the match, will assuredly be on the side of us, who have
kept our oaths in spite of strong temptations, against these perjurers.
Moreover, our bodies are more enduring, and our spirit more gallant,
than theirs. They are easier to wound, and easier to kill, than we are,
under the same favor of the gods as we experienced at Kunaxa.

"Probably others also are feeling just as we feel. But let us not wait
for any one else to come as monitors to us: let us take the