sful.
The judges pronounced her not guilty, being convinced that such
wondrous grace and beauty could only belong to a favorite of
Aphrodite. Athen. XIII. p. 590]

"Then he knocked over a number of bragging fellows, and would have
thrown me too if he had not been too fatigued. I assure you, I am really
stronger than he is, for I can lift greater weights, but he is as
nimble as an eel, and has wonderful tricks by which he gets hold of
his adversary. His being naked too is a great help. If it were not so
indecent, we ought always to wrestle stripped, and anoint our skins, as
the Greeks do, with the olive-oil. He beat us too in throwing the spear,
but the king, who you know is proud of being the best archer in Persia,
sent his arrow farther. Phanes was especially pleased with our rule,
that in a wrestling-match the one who is thrown must kiss the hand of
his victor. At last he showed us a new exercise:--boxing. He refused,
however, to try his skill on any one but a slave, so Cambyses sent for
the biggest and strongest man among the servants--my groom, Bessus--a
giant who can bring the hind legs of a horse together and hold them so
firmly that the creature trembles all over and cannot stir. This
big fellow, taller by a head than Phanes, shrugged his shoulders
contemptuously on hearing that he was to box with the little foreign
gentleman. He felt quite sure of victory, placed himself opposite his
adversary, and dealt him a blow heavy enough to kill an elephant. Phanes
avoided it cleverly, in the same moment hitting the giant with his naked
fist so powerfully under the eyes, that the blood streamed from his nose
and mouth, and the huge, uncouth fellow fell on the ground with a
yell. When they picked him up his face looked like a pumpkin of a
greenish-blue color. The boys shouted with delight at his discomfiture;
but we admired the dexterity of this Greek, and were especially glad to
see the king in such good spirits; we noticed this most when Phanes was
singing Greek songs and dance-melodies to him accompanied by the lute.

"Meanwhile Kassandane's blindness had been cured, and this of course
tended not a little to disperse the king's melancholy.

"In short it was a very pleasant time, and I was just going to ask
for Atossa's hand in marriage, when Phanes went off to Arabia, and
everything was changed.

"No sooner had he turned his back on the gates of Babylon than all the
evil Divs seemed to have entered into the