"And do you know what they amount to ?" "No," he said, "I cannot say that I do." "And yet," his father went on, "you are prepared to rely on what you do not know?
Do you forget that the needs of the morrow must be high, not to speak of the outlay for the day ?" "Oh, no," said Cyrus, "I am well aware of that." "Well," said the father, "suppose the cost is more than Cyaxares can bear, or suppose he actually meant to deceive you, how would your soldiers fare ?" "Ill enough, no doubt," answered he.

"And now tell me, father, while we are still in friendly country, if you know of any resources that I could make my own ?" [10] "You want to know where you could find resources of your own ?" repeated his father.

"And who is to find that out, if not he who holds the keys of power?
We have given you a force of infantry that you would not exchange, I feel sure, for one that was more than twice its size; and you will have the cavalry of Media to support you, the finest in the world.

I conceive there are none of the nations round about who will not be ready to serve you, whether to win your favour or because they fear disaster.

These are matters you must look into carefully, in concert with Cyaxares, so that nothing should ever fail you of what you need, and, if only for habit's sake, you should devise some means for supplying your revenue.