ingdom, who left as a memorial of himself that gateway to the temple of
Hephaistos which is turned towards the West, and in front of the gateway
he set up two statues, in height five-and-twenty cubits, of which the
one which stands on the North side is called by the Egyptians Summer and
the one on the South side Winter; and to that one which they call Summer
they do reverence and make offerings, while to the other which is called
Winter they do the opposite of these things. This king, they said, got
great wealth of silver, which none of the kings born after him could
surpass or even come near to; and wishing to store his wealth in safety
he caused to be built a chamber of stone, one of the walls whereof was
towards the outside of his palace: and the builder of this, having a
design against it, contrived as follows, that is, he disposed one of the
stones in such a manner that it could be taken out easily from the wall
either by two men or even by one. So when the chamber was finished, the
king stored his money in it, and after some time the builder, being near
the end of his life, called to him his sons (for he had two) and to them
he related how he had contrived in building the treasury of the king,
and all in forethought for them, that they might have ample means of
living. And when he had clearly set forth to them everything concerning
the taking out of the stone, he gave them the measurements, saying that
if they paid heed to this matter they would be stewards of the king's
treasury. So he ended his life, and his sons made no long delay in
setting to work, but went to the palace by night, and having found the
stone in the wall of the chamber they dealt with it easily and carried
forth for themselves great quantity of the wealth within. And the king
happening to open the chamber, he marvelled when he saw the vessels
falling short of the full amount, and he did not know on whom he should
lay the blame, since the seals were unbroken and the chamber had been
close shut; but when upon his opening the chamber a second and a third
time the money was each time seen to be diminished, for the thieves
did not slacken in their assaults upon it, he did as follows:--having
ordered traps to be made he set these round about the vessels in which
the money was; and when the thieves had come as at former times and one
of them had entered, then so soon as he came near to one of the vessels
he was straightway caught in the trap: and when he