When the magi had heard the king's narrative of the circumstances
under which the discovery of the child's preservation had been made,
through complaints which had been preferred against him on account of
the manner in which he had exercised the prerogatives of a king among
his playmates, they decided at once that Astyages had no cause for any
further apprehensions in respect to the dreams which had disturbed him
previous to his grandchild's birth. "He has been a king," they said,
"and the danger is over. It is true that he has been a monarch only in
play, but that is enough to satisfy and fulfill the presages of the
vision. Occurrences very slight and trifling in themselves are often
found to accomplish what seemed of very serious magnitude and moment,
as portended. Your grandchild has been a king, and he will never reign
again. You have, therefore, no further cause to fear, and may send him
to his parents in Persia with perfect safety."
The king determined to adopt this advice. He ordered the soothsayers,
however, not to remit their assiduity and vigilance, and if any signs
or omens should appear to indicate approaching danger, he charged them
to give him immediate warning. This they faithfully promised to do.
They felt, they said, a personal interest in doing it; for Cyrus being
a Persian prince, his accession to the Median throne would involve the
subjection of the Medes to the Persian dominion, a result which they
wished in every account to avoid. So, promising to watch vigilantly
for every indication of danger, they left the presence of the king.
The king then sent for Cyrus.
It seems that Cyrus, though astonished at the great and mysterious
changes which had taken place in his condition, was still ignorant of
his true history. Astyages now told him that he was to go into Persia.
"You will rejoin there," said he, "your true parents, who, you will
find, are of very different rank in life from the herdsman whom you
have lived with thus far. You will make the journey under the charge
and escort of persons that I have appointed for the purpose. They will
explain to you, on the way, the mystery in which your parentage and
birth seems to you at present enveloped. You will find that I was
induced many years ago, by the influence of an untoward dream, to
treat you injuriously. But all has ended well, and you can now go in
peace to your proper home."
As soon as the preparations for the journey could be made, Cyrus set
out, under the care of the party appointed to conduct him, and went to
Persia. His parents were at first dumb with astonishment, and were
then overwhelmed with gladness and joy at seeing their much-loved and
long-lost babe reappear, as if from the dead, in the form of this tall
and handsome boy, with health, intelligence, and happiness beaming in
his countenance. They overwhelmed him with caresses, and the heart of
Mandane, especially, was filled with pride and pleasure.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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