Thalia   

exchange oaths, and hold discourse with one another. And when it
came to the turn of Darius to speak his mind, he said as follows:-
"Methought no one but I knew that Smerdis, the son of Cyrus, was not
now alive, and that Smerdis the Magian ruled over us; on this
account I came hither with speed, to compass the death of the
Magian. But as it seems the matter is known to you all, and not to
me only, my judgment is that we should act at once, and not any longer
delay. For to do so were not well." Otanes spoke upon this:- "Son of
Hystaspes," said he, "thou art the child of a brave father, and
seemest likely to show thyself as bold a gallant as he. Beware,
however, of rash haste in this matter; do not hurry so, but proceed
with soberness. We must add to our number ere we adventure to strike
the blow." "Not so," Darius rejoined; "for let all present be well
assured that if the advice of Otanes guide our acts, we shall perish
most miserably. Some one will betray our plot to the Magians for
lucre's sake. Ye ought to have kept the matter to yourselves, and so
made the venture; but as ye have chosen to take others into your
secret, and have opened the matter to me, take my advice and make
the attempt today- or if not, if a single day be suffered to pass
by, be sure that I will let no one betray me to the Magian. I myself
will go to him, and plainly denounce you all."
Otanes, when he saw Darius so hot, replied, "But if thou wilt
force us to action, and not allow a day's delay, tell us, I pray thee,
how we shall get entrance into the palace, so as to set upon them.
Guards are placed everywhere, as thou thyself well knowest- for if
thou hast not seen, at least thou hast heard tell of them. How are
we to pass these guards, I ask thee?" answered Darius, "there are many
things easy enough in act, which by speech it is hard to explain.
There are also things concerning which speech is easy, but no noble
action follows when the speech is done. As for these guards, ye know
well that we shall not find it hard to make our way through them.
Our rank alone would cause them to allow us to enter- shame and fear
alike forbidding them to say us nay. But besides, I have the fairest
plea that can be conceived for gaining admission. I can say that I
have just come from Persia, and have a message to deliver to the
king from my father. An untruth must be spoken, where need requires.
For whether men lie, or say true, it is with one and the same
object. Men lie, because they think to gain by deceiving others; and
speak the truth, because they expect to get something by their true
speaking, and to be trusted afterwards in more important matters.
Thus, though their conduct is so opposite, the end of both is alike.
If there were no gain to be got, your true-speaking man would tell
untruths as much as your liar, and your liar would tell the truth as
much as your true-speaking man. The doorkeeper, who lets us in
readily, shall have his guerdon some day or other; but woe to the
man who resists us, he must forthwith be declared an enemy. Forcing
our way past him, we will press in and go straight to our work."
After Darius had thus said, Gobryas spoke as follows:- "Dear
friends, when will a fitter occasion offer for us to recover the
kingdom, or, if we are not strong enough, at least die in the attempt?
Consider that we Persians are governed by a Median Magus, and one,
too, who has had his ears cut off! Some of you were present when
Cambyses lay upon his deathbed- such, doubtless, remember what
curses he called down upon the Persians if they made no effort to
recover the kingdom. Then, indeed, we paid but little heed to what
he said, because we thought he spoke out of hatred to set us against
his brother. Now, however, my vote is that we do as Darius has
counselled- march straight in a body to the palace from the place
where we now are, and forthwith set upon the Magian." So Gobryas
spake, and the others all approved.
While the seven were thus taking counsel together, it so chanced
that the following events were happening:- The Magi had been
thinking what they had best do, and had resolved for many reasons to
make a friend of Prexaspes. They knew how cruelly he had been outraged