§3.31.1πρῶτον μὲν δὴ λέγουσι Καμβύσῃ τῶν κακῶν ἄρξαι τοῦτο· δεύτερα δὲ ἐξεργάσατο τὴν ἀδελφεὴν ἑσπομένην οἱ ἐς Αἴγυπτον, τῇ καὶ συνοίκεε καὶ ἦν οἱ ἀπʼ ἀμφοτέρων ἀδελφεή.
Now indeed they say that this was the beginning of evils for Cambyses; and secondly he committed an evil against his sister who followed him into Egypt, whom he also lived with as his wife and who was his sister from both parents.
§3.31.2ἔγημε δὲ αὐτὴν ὧδε· οὐδαμῶς γὰρ ἐώθεσαν πρότερον τῇσι ἀδελφεῇσι συνοικέειν Πέρσαι.
And he married her in this way: for before this, the Persians were by no means accustomed to live with their sisters.
ἠράσθη μιῆς τῶν ἀδελφεῶν Καμβύσης, καὶ ἔπειτα βουλόμενος αὐτὴν γῆμαι, ὅτι οὐκ ἐωθότα ἐπενόεε ποιήσειν, εἴρετο καλέσας τοὺς βασιληίους δικαστὰς εἴ τις ἐστὶ κελεύων νόμος τὸν βουλόμενον ἀδελφεῇ συνοικέειν.
Cambyses fell in love with one of his sisters, and then wishing to marry her, because he was intending to do what was not customary, he summoned the royal judges and asked if there was any law commanding one who wished to live with his sister to do so.
§3.31.3οἱ δὲ βασιλήιοι δικασταὶ κεκριμένοι ἄνδρες γίνονται Περσέων, ἐς οὗ ἀποθάνωσι ἤ σφι παρευρεθῇ τι ἄδικον, μέχρι τούτου· οὗτοι δὲ τοῖσι πέρσῃσι δίκας δικάζουσι καὶ ἐξηγηταὶ τῶν πατρίων θεσμῶν γίνονται, καὶ πάντα ἐς τούτους ἀνακέεται.
Now these royal judges are selected men among the Persians, and they remain so until they die or until some injustice is found in them; these administer justice for the Persians and become interpreters of their ancestral laws, and all things are referred to them.
§3.31.4εἰρομένου ὦν τοῦ Καμβύσεω, ὑπεκρίνοντο αὐτῷ οὗτοι καὶ δίκαια καὶ ἀσφαλέα, φάμενοι νόμον οὐδένα ἐξευρίσκειν ὃς κελεύει ἀδελφεῇ συνοικέειν ἀδελφεόν, ἄλλον μέντοι ἐξευρηκέναι νόμον, τῷ βασιλεύοντι Περσέων ἐξεῖναι ποιέειν τὸ ἂν βούληται.
When Cambyses therefore asked, they gave him an answer that was both just and safe, saying that they found no law which commanded a brother to live with his sister, but that they had found another law, that it was permitted to the ruler of the Persians to do whatever he wished.
§3.31.5οὕτω οὔτε τὸν νόμον ἔλυσαν δείσαντες Καμβύσεα, ἵνα τε μὴ αὐτοὶ ἀπόλωνται τὸν νόμον περιστέλλοντες, παρεξεῦρον ἄλλον νόμον σύμμαχον τῷ θέλοντι γαμέειν ἀδελφεάς.
Thus they neither broke the law out of fear of Cambyses, nor, lest they themselves should perish while defending the law, did they fail to find another law to support the one who wished to marry his sisters.
§3.31.6τότε μὲν δὴ ὁ Καμβύσης ἔγημε τὴν ἐρωμένην, μετὰ μέντοι οὐ πολλὸν χρόνον ἔσχε ἄλλην ἀδελφεήν.
Then indeed Cambyses married the woman he loved, but after no long time he took another sister.
τουτέων δῆτα τὴν νεωτέρην ἐπισπομένην οἱ ἐπʼ Αἴγυπτον κτείνει.
Of these, indeed, he killed the younger, who had followed him to Egypt.