"Listen to me," he said, "O king! For king I take you to be by right of nature; even as the king of the hive among the bees, whom all the bees obey and take for their leader of their own free will; where he stays they stay also, not one of them departs, and where he goes, not one of them fails to follow; so deep a desire is in them to be ruled by him. [25] Even thus, I believe, do our men feel towards you. Do you remember the day you left us to go home to Persia? Was there one of us, young or old, who did not follow you until Astyages turned us back? And later, when you returned to bring us aid, did we not see for ourselves how your friends poured after you? And again, when you had set your heart on this expedition, we know that the Medes flocked to your standard with one consent. [26] To-day we have learnt to feel that even in an enemy's country we may be of good heart if you are with us, but, without you, we should be afraid even to return to our homes. The rest may speak for themselves, and tell you how they will act, but for myself, Cyrus, and for those under me, I say we will stand by you; we shall not grow weary of gazing at you, and we will continue to endure your benefits." [27] Thereupon Tigranes spoke: "Do not wonder, Cyrus, if I am silent now. The soul within me is ready, not to offer counsel, but to do your bidding." [28] And the Hyrcanian chieftain said, "For my part, if you Medes turn back to-day I shall say it was the work of some evil genius, who could not brook the fulfilment of your happiness. For no human heart could think of retiring when the foe is in flight, refusing to receive his sword when he surrenders it, rejecting him when he offers himself and all that he calls his own; above all, when we have a prince of men for our leader, one who, I swear it by the holy gods, takes delight to do us service, not to enrich himself." [29] Thereupon the Medes cried with one consent: "It was you, Cyrus, who led us out, and it is you who must lead us home again, when the right moment comes." And when Cyrus heard that, he prayed aloud: "O most mighty Zeus, I supplicate thee, suffer me to outdo these friends of mine in courtesy and kindly dealing." [30] Upon that he gave his orders. The rest of the army were to place their outposts and see to their own concerns, while the Persians took the tents allotted to them, and divided them among their cavalry and infantry, to suit the needs of either arm. Then they arranged for the stewards to wait on them in future, bring them all they needed, and keep their horses groomed, so that they themselves might be free for the work of war. Thus they spent that day.