History of the Wars, Books I and II | Page 6

every side by precipitous mountains, and abundantly
screened by a close forest of wide-spreading trees. Now as one
advanced between the mountains to a great distance, a broad way
appeared in the valley, extending apparently to an indefinite distance,
but at the end it had no outlet at all, but terminated in the very midst of
the circle of mountains. So Perozes, with no thought at all of treachery,
and forgetting that he was marching in a hostile country, continued the
pursuit without the least caution. A small body of the Huns were in
flight before him, while the greater part of their force, by concealing
themselves in the rough country, got in the rear of the hostile army; but
as yet they desired not to be seen by them, in order that they might
advance well into the trap and get as far as possible in among the
mountains, and thus be no longer able to turn back. When the Medes
began to realize all this (for they now began to have a glimmering of
their peril), though they refrained from speaking of the situation
themselves through fear of Perozes, yet they earnestly entreated
Eusebius to urge upon the king, who was completely ignorant of his
own plight, that he should take counsel rather than make an untimely
display of daring, and consider well whether there was any way of
safety open to them. So he went before Perozes, but by no means
revealed the calamity which was upon them; instead he began with a
fable, telling how a lion once happened upon a goat bound down and
bleating on a mound of no very great height, and how the lion, bent
upon making a feast of the goat, rushed forward with intent to seize
him, but fell into a trench exceedingly deep, in which was a circular
path, narrow and endless (for it had no outlet anywhere), which indeed
the owners of the goat had constructed for this very purpose, and they
had placed the goat above it to be a bait for the lion. When Perozes
heard this, a fear came over him lest perchance the Medes had brought

harm upon themselves by their pursuit of the enemy. He therefore
advanced no further, but, remaining where he was, began to consider
the situation. By this time the Huns were following him without any
concealment, and were guarding the entrance of the place in order that
their enemy might no longer be able to withdraw to the rear. Then at
last the Persians saw clearly in what straits they were, and they felt that
the situation was desperate; for they had no hope that they would ever
escape from the peril. Then the king of the Ephthalitae sent some of his
followers to Perozes; he upbraided him at length for his senseless
foolhardiness, by which he had wantonly destroyed both himself and
the Persian people, but he announced that even so the Huns would
grant them deliverance, if Perozes should consent to prostrate himself
before him as having proved himself master, and, taking the oaths
traditional among the Persians, should give pledges that they would
never again take the field against the nation of the Ephthalitae. When
Perozes heard this, he held a consultation with the Magi who were
present and enquired of them whether he must comply with the terms
dictated by the enemy. The Magi replied that, as to the oath, he should
settle the matter according to his own pleasure; as for the rest, however,
he should circumvent his enemy by craft. And they reminded him that
it was the custom among the Persians to prostrate themselves before the
rising sun each day; he should, therefore, watch the time closely and
meet the leader of the Ephthalitae at dawn, and then, turning toward the
rising sun, make his obeisance. In this way, they explained, he would
be able in the future to escape the ignominy of the deed. Perozes
accordingly gave the pledges concerning the peace, and prostrated
himself before his foe exactly as the Magi had suggested, and so, with
the whole Median army intact, gladly retired homeward.
IV
Not long after this, disregarding the oath he had sworn, he was eager to
avenge himself upon the Huns for the insult done him. He therefore
straightway gathered together from the whole land all the Persians and
their allies, and led them against the Ephthalitae; of all his sons he left
behind him only one, Cabades by name, who, as it happened, was just
past the age of boyhood; all the others, about thirty in number, he took

with him. The Ephthalitae, upon learning of his invasion, were
aggrieved at the deception they had suffered at the hands of their
enemy, and bitterly reproached their king as