rius, while she offered
her offerings to them that bear rule in hell.

So the old men chanted their hymn. To Earth they cried and to Hermes
that they would send up the spirit of King Darius; also to the King
himself they cried, that he would come and give them counsel in their
need.

And after a while the spirit of the King rose up from his sepulchre,
having a royal crown upon his head, and a purple robe about him, and
sandals of saffron upon his feet. And the spirit spake, saying, "What
trouble is this that seemeth to have come upon the land? For my wife
standeth near to my tomb with offerings; and ye have called me with the
cries that raise the dead. Of a truth this is a hard journey to take;
for they that bear rule below are more ready to take than to give back.
Yet am I come, for I have power among them. Yet hasten, for my time is
short. Tell me, what trouble hath come upon the land of Persia?"

But the old men could not answer him for fear. Whereupon he turned him
to the Queen, and said, "My wife that was in time past, cease awhile
from these lamentations and tell me what hath befallen this land."

And when she had told him all, he said, "Truly the Gods have brought
speedy fulfilment to the oracles, which I had hoped might yet be delayed
for many years. But what madness was this in Xerxes my son! Much do I
fear lest our wealth be the prey of the spoiler."

Then the Queen made reply, "O my lord, Xerxes hath been taught by evil
counsellors; for they told him that thou didst win great wealth for thy
country by thy spear, but that he sat idly at home; wherefore he planned
this thing that hath now had so ill an end."

With this the old men, taking heart, would know of the King what counsel
he gave them for the time to come. And he said, "Take heed that ye make
not war again upon these men of Greece." And when they doubted whether
they might not yet prevail, he said, "Listen, for ye know not yet all
that shall be. When the King, my son, departed, he took not with him his
whole army, but left behind him many chosen men of war in the land of
Boeotia by the river AEsopus. And for these there is a grievous fate in
store. For they shall suffer punishment for all that they have done
against Gods and men, seeing that they spared not the temples of the
Gods, but threw down their altars, and brake their images in pieces.
Wherefore they shall perish miserably, for the spear of the Greeks shall
slay them in the land of Platae