38 THALIA.

habited with Smerdis, tho son of Cyrus, or with any
other person. She returned for answer, "that she
could not tell, as she had never seen Smerdis, the son
of Cyrus, nor did she know the person with whom she
cohabited." Otanes sent a second time to his daugh­
ter : " If," says he, " you do not know the person of
Smerdis, the son of Cyrus, inquire of Atossa who it
ib with whom you and she cohabit, for she must neces­
sarily know her brother." To which she thus replied:
u I can neither speak to Atossa, nor indeed see any of
the women that live with him. Since this person,
whoever he is, came to the throne, the women have
all been kept separate."

LXIX. This reply more and more justified the sus­
picions of Otanes; he sent, therefore, a third time to
his daughter: " My daughter," he observed, " it be­
comes you, who are nobly born, to engage in a dan­
gerous enterprise, when your father commands you.
If this Smerdis be not the son of Cyrus, but the man
whom I suspect, he ought not, possessing your person,
and the sovereignty of Persia, to escape with impunity.
Do this, therefore—when next you shall be admitted
to his bed, and shall observe that he is asleep, exam­
ine whether he has any ears; if he has, you may be
secure you are with Smerdis, the son of Cyrus; but
if he has not, it can be no other than Smerdis, one of
the magi." To this Phsedyma replied, "that she
would oboy him, notwithstanding the danger she in­
curred ; being well assured, that if he had no ears,
and should discover her in endeavouring to know this,
she should be instantly put to death." Cyrus had in
his life-time deprived this Smerdis of his ears for some
atrocious crime.

Phsedyma complied in all respects with the injunc­
tions of her father. The wives of the Persians sleep
with their husbands by turns. When this lady next
slept with the magus, as soon as she saw him in a
profound sleep, she tried to touch his ears, and being
perfectly satisfied that he had none, as soon as it was
day, she communicated the intelligence to her father.

LXX. Otanes instantly revealed the secret to As-
pathines and Gobryas, two of the noblest of the Per­