Book 1
4.7
However, when Astyages realized that he wasHe goes hunting exceedingly eager to hunt out in the wilds, he let him go out with his uncle and he sent along some older men on horseback to look after him, to keep him away from dangerous places and guard him against wild beasts, in case any should appear. Cyrus, therefore, eagerly inquired of those who attended him what animals one ought not to approach and what animals one might pursue without fear. And they told him that bears and boars and lions and leopards had killed many who came close to them, but that deer and gazelles and wild sheep and wild asses were harmless. And they said this also, that one must be on one’s guard against dangerous places no less than against wild beasts; for many riders had been thrown over precipices, horses and all.