ry much afraid of occasioning trouble or interruption. He
did not any longer need a Sacian to restrain him, but became, as
Xenophon expresses it, a Sacian to himself, taking great care not to
go into his grandfather's apartments without previously ascertaining
that the king was disengaged; so that he and the Sacian now became
very great friends.

This being the state of the case, Astyages consented that Cyrus
should go out with his son Cyaxares into the forests to hunt at the
next opportunity. The party set out, when the time arrived, on
horseback, the hearts of Cyrus and his companions bounding, when
they mounted their steeds, with feelings of elation and pride. There
were certain attendants and guards appointed to keep near to Cyrus,
and to help him in the rough and rocky parts of the country, and to
protect him from the dangers to which, if left alone, he would
doubtless have been exposed. Cyrus talked with these attendants, as
they rode along, of the mode of hunting, of the difficulties of
hunting, the characters and the habits of the various wild beasts,
and of the dangers to be shunned. His attendants told him that the
dangerous beasts were bears, lions, tigers, boars, and leopards;
that such animals as these often attacked and killed men, and that
he must avoid them; but that stags, wild goats, wild sheep, and wild
asses were harmless, and that he could hunt such animals as they as
much as he pleased. They told him, moreover, that steep, rocky, and
broken ground was more dangerous to the huntsman than any beasts,
however ferocious; for riders, off their guard, driving impetuously
over such ways, were often thrown from their horses, or fell with
them over precipices or into chasms, and were killed.

[Illustration: CYRUS'S HUNTING.]

Cyrus listened very attentively to these instructions, with every
disposition to give heed to them; but when he came to the trial,
he found that the ardor and impetuosity of the chase drove all
considerations of prudence wholly from his mind. When the men got into
the forest, those that were with Cyrus roused a stag, and all set off
eagerly in pursuit, Cyrus at the head. Away went the stag over rough
and dangerous ground. The rest of the party turned aside, or followed
cautiously, while Cyrus urged his horse forward in the wildest
excitement, thinking of nothing, and seeing nothing but the stag
bounding before him. The horse came to a chasm which he was obliged to
leap. But the dis