Key to Easy Latin Stories for beginners/Part I/XIII
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
XIII— THE OLDEST NATION.
69.Psammeticlius, having obtained the empire of Egypt, wished to discover the most ancient people in the world; so he used an artifice of the following kind. He gave two boys born quite lately to a slave, and said to him: ‘Do not utter any sound before them; give them milk only.’ The slave did this for two successive years. At last the boys used to call out ‘becos’ to him when opening the door. The slave, on first hearing this, kept it secret, but when the boys kept repeating the same word, he told the king, and by his order brought them into his presence. Now, bread is called ‘becos’ in the Phrygian language. Therefore the Phrygians were considered the most ancient of all people by the Egyptians.