These boys see splendor and magnificence around them daily; they know how rich they are in reality, and yet have to suffer from hunger and privation.

Who can wonder, if, when at last they gain their liberty, they plunge into the pleasures of life with a tenfold eagerness?
But on the other hand, in time of war, or when going to the chase, they never murmur at hunger or thirst, spring with a laugh into the mud regardless of their thin boots and purple trousers, and sleep as soundly on a rock as on their beds of delicate Arabian wool.

You must see the feats these boys perform, especially when the king is watching them! Cambyses will certainly take you if you ask him." "I know those exercises already.

In Egypt the girls as well as the boys are kept to such gymnastic exercises.

My limbs were trained to flexibility by running, postures, and games with hoops and balls.
"How strange! Here, we women grow up just as we please, and are taught nothing but a little spinning and weaving.