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So Demaratus, when he heard the promise, spake as follows:
"O king! since thou biddest me at all risks speak the truth, and not
say what will one day prove me to have lied to thee, thus I answer.
Want has at all times been a fellow-dweller with us in our land,
while Valour is an ally whom we have gained by dint of wisdom and
strict laws. Her aid enables us to drive out want and escape
thraldom. Brave are all the Greeks who dwell in any Dorian land;
but what I am about to say does not concern all, but only the
Lacedaemonians. First then, come what may, they will never accept
thy terms, which would reduce Greece to slavery; and further, they
are sure to join battle with thee, though all the rest of the Greeks
should submit to thy will. As for their numbers, do not ask how many
they are, that their resistance should be a possible thing; for if a
thousand of them should take the field, they will meet thee in battle,
and so will any number, be it less than this, or be it more."
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