a man might perhaps dare anything. Now I intend
to make trial of the monster, and hope to make thee
master of the pearl. And if I succeed in this
struggle, it is plain that henceforth I shall be ranked
among those who are counted blessed. For it is
not unlikely that thou, as King of Kings, wilt reward
me with all good things; and for me it will be sufficient,
even if it so fall out that I gain no reward, to have
shewn myself a benefactor of my master. But if
it must needs be that I become the prey of this monster,
thy task indeed it will be, O King, to requite my
children for their father’s death. Thus
even after my death I shall still be a wage-earner
among those closest to me, and thou wilt win greater
fame for thy goodness,—for in helping my
children thou wilt confer a boon upon me, who shall
have no power to thank thee for the benefit—because
generosity is seen to be without alloy only when it
is displayed towards the dead.” With these
words he departed. And when he came to the place
where the oyster was accustomed to swim and the shark
to follow, he seated himself there upon a rock, watching
for an opportunity of catching the pearl alone without
its admirer. As soon as it came about that the
shark had happened upon something which would serve
him for food, and was delaying over it, the fisherman
left upon the beach those who were following him for
this service, and made straight for the oyster with
all his might; already he had seized it and was hastening
with all speed to get out of the water, when the shark
noticed him and rushed to the rescue. The fisherman
saw him coming, and, when he was about to be overtaken
not far from the beach, he hurled his booty with all
his force upon the land, and was himself soon afterwards
seized and destroyed. But the men who had been
left upon the beach picked up the pearl, and, conveying
it to the king, reported all that had happened.
Such, then, is the story which the Persians relate,
just as I have set it down, concerning this pearl.
But I shall return to the previous narrative.
[484 A.D.] Thus Perozes was destroyed and the whole
Persian army with him. For the few who by chance
did not fall into the ditch found themselves at the
mercy of the enemy. As a result of this experience
a law was established among the Persians that, while
marching in hostile territory, they should never engage
in any pursuit, even if it should happen that the
enemy had been driven back by force. Thereupon
those who had not marched with Perozes and had remained
in their own land chose as their king Cabades, the
youngest son of Perozes, who was then the only one
surviving. At that time, then, the Persians became
subject and tributary to the Ephthalitae, until Cabades
had established his power most securely and no longer
deemed it necessary to pay the annual tribute to them.
And the time these barbarians ruled over the Persians
was two years.
V