"Otanes related all the circumstances to Aspathines and Gobryas, who were the first among the Persians and most worthy of confidence, and as they had also had their suspicions that the case was so, they listened to the proposals of Otanes. The three were of opinion that each should join with him the Persians whom he counted most worthy of confidence. Otanes brought Intaphernes; Gobryas, Megabyzus; and Aspathines, Hydarnes. To these six at Susa, Darius the son of Hystaspes came from Persia, for Hystaspes was satrap of Persia, and when he came, the six resolved to make him their associate. They met, pledged mutual fidelity, and took counsel. And when it came to Darius' turn to give his opinion, he said: 'I believed that I alone knew that the Magian was king, and that Smerdis the son of Cyrus was dead, and for that reason I came with haste to put the Magian to death. But as I feel that you also know this and not I only, we must at once proceed to action without delay; for that will be dangerous.' Then Otanes spoke: 'O son of Hystaspes, thou art the son of a brave father, and thou showest thy courage not less than he. But do not so hasten the matter without consideration; begin it with prudence. We must be more numerous, and then make our attempt.' Darius replied: 'Ye men that are present, if ye enter on the matter as Otanes wishes, ye will come to a shameful end. Some one who seeks his own advantage will betray the matter to the Magian. Ye ought to have taken the matter on yourselves and so accomplished it. But as ye have resolved to take in more confederates, and have confided the matter to me, it must be done to-day. If this day passes by, I tell you that I will allow no informer to be before me; I will myself betray you to the Magian.' When Otanes saw Darius so eager, he said: 'As you compel us to hasten the matter and allow no delay, tell us how shall we enter the palace and overcome them? You know yourself--if you have not seen, you have heard--that guards are set; how shall we pass by them?' 'Many things,' Darius said, 'may be proved by deeds and not by words; other things may be done in word but no brilliant deed corresponds to them. You know that it is not difficult to pass through the guards that are set. No one will prevent men of our rank; one will give way from respect, another from fear. Then I have an excellent excuse for passing through, if I say that I have just come from Persia and have to give a message from my father to the king. If an untruth must be told, let it be told. If a man seeks for no advantage to himself by his untruth, he who tells the truth may be a liar, and he who lies may be a truthful man. If any of the door-keepers allow us to pass willingly by, this will be in the future an advantage for him, but any one who opposes us will show at once that he is our enemy; we will then force our way and begin the work.' Then Gobryas said: 'We can never with greater honour win back