History of the Wars, Books I and II | Page 7

having abandoned them to
the Medes. He, with a laugh, enquired of them what in the world of
theirs he had abandoned, whether their land or their arms or any other
part of their possessions. They thereupon retorted that he had
abandoned nothing, except, forsooth, the one opportunity on which, as
it turned out, everything else depended. Now the Ephthalitae with all
zeal demanded that they should go out to meet the invaders, but the
king sought to restrain them at any rate for the moment. For he insisted
that as yet they had received no definite information as to the invasion,
for the Persians were still within their own boundaries. So, remaining
where he was, he busied himself as follows. In the plain where the
Persians were to make their irruption into the land of the Ephthalitae he
marked off a tract of very great extent and made a deep trench of
sufficient width; but in the centre he left a small portion of ground
intact, enough to serve as a way for ten horses. Over the trench he
placed reeds, and upon the reeds he scattered earth, thereby concealing
the true surface. He then directed the forces of the Huns that, when the
time came to retire inside the trench, they should draw themselves
together into a narrow column and pass rather slowly across this neck
of land, taking care that they should not fall into the ditch[7]. And he
hung from the top of the royal banner the salt over which Perozes had
once sworn the oath which he had disregarded in taking the field
against the Huns. Now as long as he heard that the enemy were in their
own territory, he remained at rest; but when he learned from his scouts
that they had reached the city of Gorgo which lies on the extreme
Persian frontier, and that departing thence they were now advancing
against his army, remaining himself with the greater part of his troops
inside the trench, he sent forward a small detachment with instructions
to allow themselves to be seen at a distance by the enemy in the plain,
and, when once they had been seen, to flee at full speed to the rear,
keeping in mind his command concerning the trench as soon as they
drew near to it. They did as directed, and, as they approached the trench,
they drew themselves into a narrow column, and all passed over and
joined the rest of the army. But the Persians, having no means of
perceiving the stratagem, gave chase at full speed across a very level

plain, possessed as they were by a spirit of fury against the enemy, and
fell into the trench, every man of them, not alone the first but also those
who followed in the rear. For since they entered into the pursuit with
great fury, as I have said, they failed to notice the catastrophe which
had befallen their leaders, but fell in on top of them with their horses
and lances, so that, as was natural, they both destroyed them, and were
themselves no less involved in ruin. Among them were Perozes and all
his sons. And just as he was about to fall into this pit, they say that he
realized the danger, and seized and threw from him the pearl which
hung from his right ear,--a gem of wonderful whiteness and greatly
prized on account of its extraordinary size--in order, no doubt, that no
one might wear it after him; for it was a thing exceedingly beautiful to
look upon, such as no king before him had possessed. This story,
however, seems to me untrustworthy, because a man who found
himself in such peril would have thought of nothing else; but I suppose
that his ear was crushed in this disaster, and the pearl disappeared
somewhere or other. This pearl the Roman Emperor then made every
effort to buy from the Ephthalitae, but was utterly unsuccessful. For the
barbarians were not able to find it although they sought it with great
labour. However, they say that the Ephthalitae found it later and sold it
to Cabades.
The story of this pearl, as told by the Persians, is worth recounting, for
perhaps to some it may not seem altogether incredible. For they say
that it was lodged in its oyster in the sea which washes the Persian
coast, and that the oyster was swimming not far from the shore; both its
valves were standing open and the pearl lay between them, a wonderful
sight and notable, for no pearl in all history could be compared with it
at all, either in size or in beauty. A shark, then, of enormous size and
dreadful fierceness, fell in love with this sight and followed close upon
it,