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Then these two men went and showed themselves to the king, and told
him how it had come to pass that they were thus treated. Darius
trembled lest it was by the common consent of the six that the deed had
been done; he therefore sent for them all in turn, and sounded them to
know if they approved the conduct of Intaphernes. When he found by
their answers that there had been no concert between him and them, he
laid hands on Intaphernes, his children, and all his near kindred;
strongly suspecting that he and his friends were about to raise a
revolt. When all had been seized and put in chains, as malefactors
condemned to death, the wife of Intaphernes came and stood continually
at the palace-gates, weeping and wailing sore. So Darius after a
while, seeing that she never ceased to stand and weep, was touched
with pity for her, and bade a messenger go to her and say, "Lady,
king Darius gives thee as a boon the life of one of thy kinsmen -
choose which thou wilt of the prisoners." Then she pondered awhile
before she answered, "If the king grants me the life of one alone,
I make choice of my brother." Darius, when he heard the reply, was
astonished, and sent again, saying, "Lady, the king bids thee tell
him why it is that thou passest by thy husband and thy children, and
preferrest to have the life of thy brother spared. He is not so near
to thee as thy children, nor so dear as thy husband." She answered,
"O king, if the gods will, I may have another husband and other
children when these are gone. But as my father and my mother are no
more, it is impossible that I should have another brother. This was
my thought when I asked to have my brother spared." Then it seemed
to Darius that the lady spoke well, and he gave her, besides the life
that she had asked, the life also of her eldest son, because he was
greatly pleased with her. But he slew all the rest. Thus one of the
seven died, in the way I have described, very shortly after the insurrection.
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