Selecta capita ex scriptoribus Graecis in usum classis quintae Carolinae

by chasing, striking, and killing them, so that Astyages no longer had any wild animals to collect for him. And Cyrus, perceiving that his grandfather, though wishing to do so, could not provide him with live animals, often said to him, "Grandfather, why do you need to go to such trouble looking for wild animals? But if you send me out to hunt with my uncle, I will consider all the animals I see to be animals you are rearing for me."

Though he desired very strongly to go out hunting, he was no longer able to beg as he had when he was a small boy, but he approached with more hesitation. And the things he had previously complained about to Sacas, that he did not allow him access to his grandfather, he now became like a Sacas himself. For he would not approach unless he saw that it was the right time. And he begged Sacas to by all means signal to him when it was the right time to enter and when it was not, so that Sacas now loved him exceedingly, just as everyone else did.

And so, when Astyages learned that he was strongly desiring the outside hunt, he sent him out with his uncle and sent along older guards on horseback, so that they might protect him from difficult terrain and in case any of the fierce wild beasts appeared. Cyrus, therefore, eagerly inquired from his followers which wild animals one must not approach, and which ones one should pursue with confidence. They said that bears have already destroyed many who approached them, as have lions, boars, and leopards; but that deer, gazelles, wild sheep, and wild asses are harmless. They also said that one must watch out for rough terrain no less than for the wild animals. For many, they said, had already been thrown over cliffs with their very horses.