“Poor chap!” said Harry. “But I daresay the oracle turned out all right in the end—it generally did.”
“Yes,” replied Herodotus, “for Psammetichus, anxious to revenge himself, consulted the oracle of Buto, and was told that ‘vengeance would come from the sea, when brazen men should appear.’ This did not seem very probable, and Psammetichus was much disappointed. But soon afterwards some Carians and Ionians were driven on the Egyptian coast by foul weather, and, behold! they were attired in brazen armour. Word was brought to Psammetichus, and with their help and that of other Egyptians, he advanced against his brother-kings and defeated them.”
“Good business!” said Harry. “And what then?”
“I have little or nothing more to tell thee of Psammetichus. After him followed his son Necho, who is said to have been the first to construct the canal to the Red Sea, which in these days is called the Suez Canal. Thou hast heard of it?”
“Yes, rather,” said Harry. “I never knew, though, that the old Egyptians had one.”
“Indeed, many say that it existed in Sesostris’ days, or even before. I do but tell what I was told. It is said, though, that a hundred and twenty thousand Egyptians perished in the making of it in Necho’s reign.
“After Necho died, his son Psammis reigned, and I will tell thee of a strange but wise judgment, which will please thee, since it speaks of games, and I know thou art as eager for them as were ever the boys of my youth.”
“Yes, the Greeks were Art at games, weren't they? I’ve often heard my father speak about them, and he said that a Greek would sooner have the crown of wild olive—that was what the best man got, wasn’t it?—than anything else in the world.”
“It is true,” replied the Greek, his eyes lighting up at the remembrance of those great days—of the purple hills, and the golden sunlight, and the vast concourse of people, and the pick of Grecian manhood striving for the olive crown.
“Well,” he continued, “ambassadors came to Psammis from Elis, to obtain from the Egyptians—whose wisdom was world-famous—the assurance that the rules and arrangements of the Olympic games were perfect. The king assembled his wise men around him, and asked the boastful Eleans every detail concerning the games. At last he asked
