o the deepest misery
of grief. As for Adrastus, he begged to be sacrificed at the grave of
his unfortunate victim. This Croesus, despite his grief, refused,
saying,--

"Some god is the author of my misfortune, not you. I was forewarned of
it long ago."

But Adrastus was not to be thus prevented. Deeming himself the most
unfortunate of men, he slew himself on the tomb of the hapless youth.
And for two years Croesus abandoned himself to grief.

And now we must go on to tell how Croesus met with a greater
misfortune still, and brought the Persians to the gates of Greece.
Cyrus, son of Cambyses, king of Persia, had conquered the neighboring
kingdom of Media, and, inspired by ambition, had set out on a career of
wide-spread conquest and dominion. He had grown steadily more powerful,
and now threatened the great kingdom which Croesus had gained.

The Lydian king, seeing this danger approaching, sought advice from the
oracles. But wishing first to know which of them could best be trusted,
he sent to six of them demanding a statement of what he was doing at a
certain moment. The oracle of Delphi alone gave a correct answer.

Thereupon Croesus offered up a vast sacrifice to the Delphian deity.
Three thousand oxen were slain, and a great sacrificial pile was built,
on which were placed splendid robes and tunics of purple, with couches
and censers of gold and silver, all to be committed to the flames. To
Delphi he sent presents befitting the wealthiest of kings,--ingots,
statues, bowls, jugs, etc., of gold and silver, of great weight. These
Herodotus himself saw with astonishment a century afterwards at Delphi.
The envoys who bore these gifts asked the oracle whether Croesus
should undertake an expedition against the Persians, and should solicit
allies.

He was bidden, in reply, to seek alliance with the most powerful nations
of Greece. He was also told that if he fought with the Persians he would
overturn a "mighty empire." Croesus accepted this as a promise of
success, not thinking to ask whose empire was to be overturned. He sent
again to the oracle, which now replied, "When a mule shall become king
of the Medes, then thou must run away,--be not ashamed." Here was
another enigma of the oracle. Cyrus--son of a royal Median mother and a
Persian father of different race and lower position--was the mule
indicated, though Croesus did not know this. In truth, the oracles of
Greece seem usually to have borne a double meaning, s