"Verily, Croesus, I the great god, the 'sun of righteousness,' 'the son
of Neith,' 'the lord of warlike glory,' as the Egyptians call me, am
tempted to envy thee, dethroned and plundered as thou art. I have been
as happy as thou art now. Once I was known through all Egypt, though
only the poor son of a captain, for my light heart, happy temper, fun and
high spirits. The common soldiers would do anything for me, my superior
officers could have found much fault, but in the mad Amasis, as they
called me, all was overlooked, and among my equals, (the other under-
officers) there could be no fun or merry-making unless I took a share in
it. My predecessor king Hophra sent us against Cyrene. Seized with
thirst in the desert, we refused to go on; and a suspicion that the king
intended to sacrifice us to the Greek mercenaries drove the army to open
mutiny. In my usual joking manner I called out to my friends: 'You can
never get on without a king, take me for your ruler; a merrier you will
never find!' The soldiers caught the words. 'Amasis will be our king,'
ran through the ranks from man to man, and, in a few hours more, they
came to me with shouts, and acclamations of 'The good, jovial Amasis for
our King!' One of my boon companions set a field-marshal's helmet on my
head: I made the joke earnest, and we defeated Hophra at Momempliis.
The people joined in the conspiracy, I ascended the throne, and men
pronounced me fortunate. Up to that time I had been every Egyptian's
friend, and now I was the enemy of the best men in the nation.

"The priests swore allegiance to me, and accepted me as a member of their
caste, but only in the hope of guiding me at their will. My former
superiors in command either envied me, or wished to remain on the same
terms of intercourse as formerly. But this would have been inconsistent
with my new position, and have undermined my authority. One day,
therefore, when the officers of the host were at one of my banquets and
attempting, as usual, to maintain their old convivial footing, I showed