362
மயிலை சீனி. வேங்கடசாமி ஆய்வுக்களஞ்சியம் -20
If but, in homage to my sovereign throne,
Thou pay this petty tribute once a year; Six grains of Scythian soil,
One urn of water spared from Scythian fountains.
476
And the Scyth answered - 'Let the Mede demand
That which is mine to give, or gold or life;
The water and the soil
Are, every grain and every drop, my country's:
480
And no man hath a country where a King,
Pays tribute to another for his crown.
And at this stern reply,
The Persian doomed to fire and sword the city.
484
Omartes stood within his palace hall,
And by his side Teleutias, the high priest.
'And rightly,' said the King,
'Did thy prophetic mind rebuke vain - glory.
488
'Lend me thy mantle now; I feel the wind
Pierce through the crannies of the thick-ribbed stone. 'No wind lasts long,' replied,
-
With soothing voice, the hierarch. Calm and tempest
492
'Follow .each other in the outward world,
And joy and sorrow in the heart of man:
Wherefore take comfort now,
The earth and water of the Scyth are grateful,
496
'And as thou hast, inviolate to the Scyth,
His country saved, that country yet to thee
Stretches out chainless arms,
And for these walls gives plains that mock besiegers,
500
Traversed by no invader save the storm,
Nor girt by watchfires nearer than the stars.
Beneath these regal halls,
Know that there lies a road which leads to safety.
504
