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Then Artabanus, the king's uncle (the same who at the first so
freely spake his mind to the king, and advised him not to lead his army
against Greece), when he heard that Xerxes was in tears, went to
him, and said:
"How different, sire, is what thou art now doing, from what thou
didst a little while ago! Then thou didst congratulate thyself; and
now, behold! thou weepest."
"There came upon me," replied he, "a sudden pity, when I thought
of the shortness of man's life, and considered that of all this host,
so numerous as it is, not one will be alive when a hundred years are
gone by."
"And yet there are sadder things in life than that," returned the
other. "Short as our time is, there is no man, whether it be here
among this multitude or elsewhere, who is so happy, as not to have
felt the wish - I will not say once, but full many a time - that he
were dead rather than alive. Calamities fall upon us; sicknesses vex
and harass us, and make life, short though it be, to appear long.
So death, through the wretchedness of our life, is a most sweet
refuge to our race: and God, who gives us the tastes that we enjoy of
pleasant times, is seen, in his very gift, to be envious."
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