a. For the Gods will not that a man should
have thoughts that are above the measure of a man. Also full-flowered
insolence groweth to the fruit of destructions, and men reap from it a
harvest of many tears. Do ye then bear Athens and the land of Greece in
mind, and let no man, despising what is his and coveting another man's
goods, so bring great wealth to ruin. For Zeus is ever ready to punish
them that think more highly than they ought to think, and taketh a stern
account. Wherefore do ye instruct the King with counsels that he cease
to sin against the Gods in the pride of his heart. And do thou that art
his mother go to thy house, and take from it such apparel as is seemly,
and go to meet thy son, for the many rents that he hath made for grief
gape in his garments about him. Comfort him also with gentle words; for
I know that 'tis thy voice only that he will hear. And to you old men,
farewell; and live happily while ye may, for there is no profit of
wealth in the grave whither ye go."

And with these words the spirit of King Darius departed.

THE STORY OF ION.

In the temple of Apollo at Delphi there dwelt a fair youth, whose name
was Ion. Tall he was and comely, like to the son of a King, but of his
birth no man knew anything; for he had been laid, being yet a babe, at
the door of the temple, and the priestess had brought him up for her
son. So he had served the God from a child, being fed from the altar and
from the gifts of the strangers that were wont to resort to the place.
Now it was the lad's custom to rise early in the morning and to sweep
the temple with boughs of bay, and to sprinkle it with water from the
fountain of Castalia. Also he was wont to keep the birds from the
temple--for they would come from the woods of Parnassus hard by, eagles,
and swans, and others--lest they should settle on the pinnacles or
defile the altar with their prey. And for this end he carried arrows
and a bow, slaying the birds if need was, but rather seeking to frighten
them away, for he knew that some carried messages from the Gods to
mortal men, and warned them of things to come, even as did Apollo that
was his master.

Now it befell on a day, when he had done his office in the temple, that
there drew near to the doors a company of women. Maidens they were from
the land of Attica, and they had come with Creuesa, who was Queen of the
country. And first they marvelled at the graved work that was on the
doors and in th