[17] You may be sure they are just as anxious to save their wives and children as you can be to capture them.

Take a lesson from hunting: the wild sow when she is sighted will scamper away with her young, though she be feeding with the herd; but if you attack her little ones she will never fly, even if she is all alone; she will turn on the hunters.

[18] Yesterday the enemy shut themselves up in a fort, and then handed themselves over to us to choose how many we cared to fight.

But if we meet them in open country, and they learn how to divide their forces and take us in front and flank and rear, I wonder how many pairs of eyes and hands each man of us would need! Finally," he added, "I have no great wish myself to disturb my Medes in their enjoyment, and drive them out to further dangers." [19] Then Cyrus took him up: "Nay, I would not have you put pressure on any man; only let those who are willing follow me, and perhaps we shall come back with something for all of you to enjoy.

The mass of the enemy we should not think of pursuing; indeed, how could we overtake them?
But if we cut off any stragglers, we could clap hands on them and bring them back to you.