The prose life of Alexander

The slaying of Darius.

letter comes to thou, thee haste thou to us in all that thee may. For [wite ze wele] for certain, that right as he don to us, so he purpose him in time coming for to do to thou.'

In the meantime, certain men of Darius went from him & come to Alexander, and told him, that Darius purposed him for to fight with him [eftsones], and had sent to Porus, king of India, for to come in great haste, for to help him. When Alexander heard this, [be-lyfe] he removed his Army toward Darius, thinking in his heart that he would on no ways take upon him the. name of Emperor before he had won Darius and his [empire?] in war. And when Darius heard of the coming of Alexander, he dreaded him greatly & the persians also. But there was two princes of Darius, of the which the [tane highte] Bisso & the tother Ariobarsantes, these two when they heard of the coming of Alexander, conspired together for to slay their lord Darius supposing for to have a great [recognition?] of Alexander, and a great reward for their deed. And other of them were sworn to other. And then they went to the king's palace, and unto his chamber with drawn swords in their hands, and found Darius by him[self]. And when Darius saw that, he [trowed] well that they would slay him, And said unto them: 'Dear friends, hither towards have I called thou my servants, but now I call thou my lords. What ails thou at me that thee will slay me? Has Alexander cherished the madeconians more than I have done thou? Have I not sorrow & disease enough of enemies without? But if thee conspire against me for to slay me without guilt, I say forsooth, & thee slay me thus privily, And Alexander may [gete] thou, he will take more cruel vengeance on thou, then on any thieves. For [sothely] it is [neither comforting nor pleasing?] to an Emperor to find another emperor murdered [by] his own men. But they were nothing stirred to pity, nor tenderness, nor mercy, through his words, But went to him and with great cruelty smote him, & [altogether?] mangled him, and went fast their way, & left him for dead.

And when Alexander heard tell that Darius was slain he

54

Alexander comes to Darius.

went over the water of Graunt, and all his Army with him, and come to the city of Susis. And as soon as the persians saw him,, They Opened the gates of the city, & received him with great worship. And when the princes that slew Darius [wiste[ that Alexander was coming into the city they went & held them in hiding until they might [gete knaweynge] of Alexander will, as [towchand] that they had done to Darius. Alexander then went into the king's Palace, adn as he went therein he marvelled him greatly of the building thereof. For Darius the king of Persia [gert] built it royally. And the [pament] thereof was made of stones of diverse colors, & the walls all around with fine gold & precious stones & [sternes lyke] to the firmament, and pillars of gold that bore up the work. When Alexander saw all this curious work, he marvelled him greatly. And then he went to the chamber where Darius lay half-dead. And as soon as he saw him he had great ruth & compassion of him, and he took off his own mantle & covered him therewith, & went and [graped] his wounds and wept for him right tenderly, & said unto him. 'Rise up, sir Darius,' quoth he, '& be of good comfort. And as freely as ever thou rejoysed thine Empire, so must thou this do, And be as mighty, & as glorious as ever thou was. I swear the here by our mighty gods & by the faith in my body, that here I resign unto thee all thine empire, desiring [souerayngly] for to have the life of thee, as the son of the Father, For [sekerly] it is unfitting & unseely to an emperor for to be rejoiced of another emperor's mischief & disease, when fortune has forsaken him Tell me, sir, what they are that has thus [faren] with thee, and I swear thee as I am a true man I shall avenge thee to the utterest.' And when Alexander had said this & much more, sorely weeping, Darius put out his hand, and laid his arm about Alexander's neck, and kissed his breast, his neck, & his hand, & said these words, there that her follows. 'A, dear son Alexander,' quoth he, 'as thy highe with knows well, all this world is corrupt and set in malice. For the sovereign foresight of god, all things known from the beginning, and [hafand felying] of the workings for to come, made man in that way, at the

The dying speech of Darius.

beginning, that nothing is in him stable nor fast. So that all things that are [passande] & worldly, from that he [faile] of governance, turns also to him in contrary. For if god had ordained all things easy to man and always without changing sent him prosperity, man should be lifted up so high in pride & in vain glory, that he should not [arett] all his welfare & his wealth unto god, but till his own desert & his own virtue. And so should men go from their maker. On the tother side if he [heghe] wisdom of god had made the world on that ways that all ills and infelicities fell upon man without any manner of goodness, so many frailties fall upon man without any manner of goodness, so many frailties should follow the kind of man, that we should all be drawn into the gilder of desperation, so that we should have not trust in the goodness of god. And therefore great god would so wisely [skifte] all things, that, when a man full of felicity, through his high pride will not know his maker, from the height of pride into the pit of meekness & lowness he must be plunged. So that he that through pride & felicity forget his god, through falling in wretchedness & disease have mind of his god. Right as thou may see by me, my dear son Alexander, that was raised up so high in pride & vainglory, through riches & prosperity that fell unto me, that I [trowed] not that I was god's creature but god's Fellow. And then, through blindness of pride, I could not see that, that now, through sharpness of meekness and mischief, I see clearly & knows. But if it happen that any man be enveloped with great infelicity, so that he, despairing of the grace of god, suppose no remedy, no none looks [eftere]; * then our lord god raises him up to the height of prosperity, so that then he, that because of wretchedness & infelicity, might not see god not know him, through felicity & prosperity knows that he, that may bring a man to low state, may raise a man to high degree. And he that may raise a man to high degree, may put him to lowness again, when him [lyst] and therefore, son, let not they heart rise too high in pride, for the victories that god has sent thee, if all thou may do now what the [list] right as thou were a god. But always think on thy last end. For thou art a [mortal?] man, and each day if thou behold [greatly?] thou may see thy death before thine [end?]. Considers

Darius dies. His burial.

thou not how our life may be likened to the work of Eranes, that so subtly makes their webs? But also as a little blast of wind puffs upon them, they break, & fall to the ground. Behold & see how glorius I was yesterday & how wretched I am today, & how low I am brought. I was lorde [nerehande] of all the world, & now I have no power of mine own self. Now I beseech thee, son, that thou will vury me with thy benign hands. And suffer for to come to my [exequise] both the Macedonians and the persians. And from this time forward, the empire of Macedonia & the empire persia be both one. Have recommend unto the my Mother Rodogon, & treat her worshipfully as thine own Mother. And I beseech thee also, that thou be Merciful to my wife. And if it be agreeable to thee, take Roxan my daughter to thy wife. For seemly it is, that thee be joined together that [er] coming of so worshipful progenitors, For thou of king Philippe, and she of king Darius. And of thou two may a worshipful & a noble fruit spring.' And right as he has said these words he swelt in Alexander's arms. King Alexander, then after the custom was for to bury emperors, [gert] array Darius's body as royally as he could. And with all the solemnity and worship that might be done, he helped himself for to [bere the bere, sre weapond], and [gert] the Macedonians & the Persians go before the [bere]. The persians also wept [wonder faste,] not only for the death of Darius, but for pity of their hearts, that they saw Alexander wept so entirely. And when Darius was buried Alexander went again to the palace.

And on the morn Alexander went and set him in a throne all of gold & precious stones, the which Cyrus sometime [gert] * make that was king of Persia. And the Macedonians and the Persians set upon his head a crown that was Darius's, the which was so precious, that men knew none like it in the land. For all the palace shone through the brightness of the precious stones, that were set therein. And the throne was all of gold, & of precious stones, & of the siege thereof was [vii] seven cubits high from the ground, and a [grece] of seven steps was made

The throne of seven steps.

thereto, whereby kings ascended thereto. And these steps were made very craftily & curiously. The first step was of an amethyst. The second step was of an Emerald. The third step was of a Topaz. The fourth step was of a garnet. The fifth was of a diamond. The sixth was of fine gold. And the seventh was of clay. And they were not without great causes ordained on this ways.

For the first step was an amethyst, for among all other stones it has this virtue, that it represses & holds down the [fumositee of wine] & the might thereof, & suffers not a man that bear it on him be troubled in his wit and in his mind through drunkenness. The second step was of an Emerald, the which clarifies & keeps the sight of him that bears [it] upon him, and so should a king have clear sight of his heart, wisely for to see & discern that that is speedful & profitable both for himself & for the common profit. The third step was of a Topaz, the which is so clear, that a man behold himself therein, it shall seem to him, as he head were turned downwards, and his feet upwards; And it signifies that a king should always take heed to his last end. The fourth step was of a garnet which passes all manner of precious stones in redness: & signifies that a king should be shameful for to consent to anything that is unlawful. The fifth was of a Diamond. The Diamond is so hard that it may not be broken neither with iron nor with stone, [unless] it first be annointed with [gayte] blood. On the same ways a king should be of se great constance & sadness that, for no prayer, and for no worldly good, he should not [hew?] from the way of right-wiseness. The sixth step was of fine gold; for right as gold passez all manner of metal in between, & in preciousness; right so a king ought to be preferred before other men & governors of them. *The seventh ws of Clay, to that intent that a man that is raised up to the dignity of a king should always [unbethink?] him that he was made of earth, & at the last