ying the answers, Hystaspas cried, "Cyrus, my lord, you must
know I am a rich man now! I have made my fortune, thanks to your letter!
They have loaded me with gifts." [18] And Cyrus said, "There, Croesus,
that is treasure number one; and now run through the rest, and count
what sums I have in hand, in case I need them." And Croesus counted,
and found, so the story tells us, that the sum was far larger than the
amount he had said would have been lying in the treasury if only Cyrus
had made a hoard. [19] At this discovery Cyrus said, so we are told,
"You see, Croesus, I have my treasures too. Only you advise me to
collect them and hide them, and be envied and hated because of them, and
set mercenaries to guard them, putting my trust in hirelings. But I
hold to it that if I make my friends rich they will be my treasures
themselves, and far better guards too, for me and all we have, than if I
set hired watchmen over my wealth. [20] And I have somewhat else to say;
I tell you, Croesus, there is something the gods have implanted in our
souls, and there they have made us all beggars alike, something I can
never overcome. [21] I too, like all the rest, am insatiate of riches,
only in one respect I fancy I am different. Most men when they have more
wealth than they require bury some of it underground, and let some of it
rot, and some they count and measure, and they guard it and they air
it, and give themselves a world of trouble, and yet for all their
wealth they cannot eat more than they have stomach for--they would burst
asunder if they did--nor wear more clothes than they can carry--they
would die of suffocation--and so their extra wealth means nothing but
extra work. [22] For my part, I serve the gods, and I stretch out my
hands for more and more; only when I have got what is beyond my own
requirements I piece out the wants of my friends, and so, helping my
fellows, I purchase their love and their goodwill, and out of these I
garner security and renown, fruits that can never rot, rich meats that
can work no mischief; for glory, the more it grows, the grander it
becomes, and the fairer, and the lighter to be borne; it even gives a
lighter step to those who bear it. [23] One thing more, Croesus, I would
have you know; the happiest men, in my judgment, are not the holders
of vast riches and the masters who have the most to guard; else the
sentinels of our citadels would be the happiest of mortals, seeing they
guard the whole wea