Such is the nature, believe me, of some who are seated here." [13] And Gobryas smiled.

"By heaven, I wish you would point them out to me, and I would beg you to give me one of them to be my son-in-law." And Cyrus said, "You will not need to learn their names from me; follow us, and you will be able to point them out yourself." [14] With these words he rose, clasped the hand of Gobryas, and went out, all his men behind him.

And though Gobryas pressed him to stay and sup in the citadel, he would not, but took his supper in the camp and constrained Gobryas to take his meal with them.

[15] And there, lying on a couch of leaves, he put this question to him, 'Tell me, Gobryas, who has the largest store of coverlets, yourself, or each of us ?" And the Assyrian answered, "You, I know, have more than I, more coverlets, more couches, and a far larger dwelling-place, for your home is earth and heaven, and every nook may be a couch, and for your coverlets you need not count the fleeces of your flocks, but the brushwood, and the herbage of hill and plain." [16] Nevertheless, when the meal began, it must be said that Gobryas, seeing the poverty of what was set before him, thought at first that his own men were far more open-handed than the Persians.

[17] But his mood changed as he watched the grace and decorum of the company; and saw that not a single Persian who had been schooled would ever gape, or snatch at the viands, or let himself be so absorbed in eating that he could attend to nothing else; these men prided themselves on showing their good sense and their intelligence while they took their food, just as a perfect rider sits his horse with absolute composure, and can look and listen and talk to some purpose while he puts him through his paces.