As an elderly and a practical man, he offered the priestess rich presents at every visit. His feelings he explained as follows:-- "O Kama, why sit in Pi-Bast and grow thin here? While young, the service of Astaroth may please thee; but when old, a wretched fate will present itself. They will take thy costly robes from thee, and put a younger woman in the temple; thou wilt earn, then, a handful of roasted barley by telling fortunes, or by nursing women in childbirth. Had the gods in punishment created me a woman, I should choose to be the mother and not the nurse attending her." "Hence I say," continued Sargon, "leave the temple and join my household. I will give thee ten talents in gold; I will give forty cows, and of wheat a hundred measures. The priests will fear chastisement from the gods, so as to gain from me a better bargain. But I shall not yield a drachma; I may add, at most, a few sheep to let them celebrate a solemn service. The heavenly Astaroth will appear then, and will free thee from vows if I add a gold chain or a goblet." While listening to these statements Kama bit her lips to restrain laughter; and he continued,-- "If thou go with me to Nineveh, thou wilt be a great lady. Thou shall have a palace; I will give thee also horses, a litter, slaves, and servants. In one month thou wilt pour out on thy person more perfume than thou offerest here in one year to thy goddess. And who knows," concluded he, "thou mayst please King Assar; if so, he would take thee to his palace. Thou wouldst be the happiest of women, and I should get back what I had spent on thee." At the palace of the heir, on the day appointed to receive Sargon, Egyptian troops were drawn up, and a throng of people were standing near, eager for spectacles. The Assyrian retinue appeared about midday, the hour when heat is greatest. In front marched policemen armed with swords and sticks; behind them a number of naked swift runners, and three horses. Those were trumpeters and a herald. At the corner of each street the trumpeters sounded a signal, and the herald called in a loud voice: "Behold, Sargon is approaching; the ambassador of the mighty Assar, a relative of the king, a lord of immense wealth, a conqueror in battles, a ruler of provinces. Give him, O people, due homage as a friend of the ruler of Egypt!" After the trumpeters rode Assyrian cavalry, with pointed caps, in narrow skirts and jackets. Their shaggy and enduring horses had on their foreheads and breasts bronze armor patterned as fish-scales. Next appeared infantry in helmets, and long mantles reaching the earth. One division was armed with heavy clubs, the next with bows, the third with spears and shields. Each man had, besides, a sword, and was armored. After the soldiers came Sargon's horses, chariots, and litters, surrounded by servants in white, red, and green garments. After them came five elephants with litters on their backs; on one rode Sargon, on another the Chaldean priest Istubar.