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Now after Xerxes had sailed down the whole line and was gone ashore,
he sent for Demaratus the son of Ariston, who had accompanied him in
his march upon Greece, and bespake him thus:
"Demaratus, it is my pleasure at this time to ask thee certain things
which I wish to know. Thou art a Greek, and, as I hear from the
other Greeks with whom I converse, no less than from thine own lips,
thou art a native of a city which is not the meanest or the weakest in
their land. Tell me, therefore, what thinkest thou? Will the
Greeks lift a hand against us? Mine own judgment is, that even if
all the Greeks and all the barbarians of the West were gathered
together in one place, they would not be able to abide my onset, not
being really of one mind. But I would fain know what thou thinkest
hereon."
Thus Xerxes questioned; and the other replied in his turn, - "O
king! is it thy will that I give thee a true answer, or dost thou
wish for a pleasant one?"
Then the king bade him speak the plain truth, and promised that he
would not on that account hold him in less favour than heretofore.
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