PERSIAN. All the Queen's guards are descended from the gods, O stranger, save myself. I am Persian, and descended from many kings. BEL AFFRIS (_to the guardsmen_). Hail, cousins! (_To the Persian, condescendingly_) Hail, mortal! BELZANOR. You have been in battle, Bel Affris; and you are a soldier among soldiers. You will not let the Queen's women have the first of your tidings. BEL AFFRIS. I have no tidings, except that we shall have our throats cut presently, women, soldiers, and all. PERSIAN (_to Belzanor_). I told you so. THE SENTINEL (_who has been listening_). Woe, alas! BEL AFFRIS (_calling to him_). Peace, peace, poor Ethiop: destiny is with the gods who painted thee black. (_To Belzanor_) What has this mortal (_indicating the Persian_) told you? BELZANOR. He says that the Roman Julius Caesar, who has landed on our shores with a handful of followers, will make himself master of Egypt. He is afraid of the Roman soldiers. (_The guardsmen laugh with boisterous scorn._) Peasants, brought up to scare crows and follow the plough. Sons of smiths and millers and tanners! And we nobles, consecrated to arms, descended from the gods! PERSIAN. Belzanor: the gods are not always good to their poor relations. BELZANOR (_hotly, to the Persian_). Man to man, are we worse than the slaves of Caesar? BEL AFFRIS (_stepping between them_). Listen, cousin. Man to man, we Egyptians are as gods above the Romans. THE GUARDSMEN (_exultingly_). Aha! BEL AFFRIS. But this Caesar does not pit man against man: he throws a legion at you where you are weakest as he throws a stone from a catapult; and that legion is as a man with one head, a thousand arms, and no religion. I have fought against them; and I know. BELZANOR (_derisively_). Were you frightened, cousin? _The guardsmen roar with laughter, their eyes sparkling at the wit of their captain._ BEL AFFRIS. No, cousin; but I was beaten. They were frightened (perhaps); but they scattered us like chaff. _The guardsmen, much damped, utter a growl of contemptuous disgust._ BELZANOR. Could you not die? BEL AFFRIS. No: that was too easy to be worthy of a descendant of the gods. Besides, there was no time: all was over in a moment. The attack came just where we least expected it. BELZANOR. That shews that the Romans are cowards. BEL AFFRIS. They care nothing about cowardice, these Romans: they fight to win. The pride and honor of war are nothing to them. PERSIAN. Tell us the tale of the battle. What befell? THE GUARDSMEN (_gathering eagerly round Bel Affris_). Ay: the tale of the battle.