| #### CHAPTER 212 |

| #### #### When Tomyris heard what had befallen her son and her army, she sent a herald to Cyrus, who thus addressed the conqueror: "Thou bloodthirsty Cyrus, pride not thyself on this poor success: it was the grape-juice - which, when ye drink it, makes you so mad, and as ye swallow it down brings up to your lips such bold and wicked words - it was this poison wherewith thou didst ensnare my child, and so overcamest him, not in fair open fight. Now hearken what I advise, and be sure I advise thee for thy good. Restore my son to me and get thee from the land unharmed, triumphant over a third part of the host of the Massagetae. Refuse, and I swear by the sun, the sovereign lord of the Massagetae, bloodthirsty as thou art, I will give thee thy fill of blood." ####  |