§4.132.1ταῦτα ἀκούσαντες οἱ Πέρσαι ἐβουλεύοντο.
Having heard these things, the Persians held a council.
Δαρείου μέν νυν ἡ γνώμη ἦν Σκύθας ἑωυτῷ διδόναι σφέας τε αὐτοὺς καὶ γῆν τε καὶ ὕδωρ, εἰκάζων τῇδε, ὡς μῦς μὲν ἐν γῇ γίνεται καρπὸν τὸν αὐτὸν ἀνθρώπῳ σιτεόμενος, βάτραχος δὲ ἐν ὕδατι, ὄρνις δὲ μάλιστα ἔοικε ἵππῳ, τοὺς δὲ ὀιστοὺς ὡς τὴν ἑωυτῶν ἀλκὴν παραδιδοῦσι.
Now the opinion of Darius was that the Scythians were giving themselves up to him, along with both land and water; conjecturing in this way: that a mouse is produced in the earth, eating the same food as a human, a frog in the water, a bird is most like a horse, and as for the arrows, that they were surrendering their own military prowess.
§4.132.2αὕτη μὲν Δαρείῳ ἀπεδέδεκτο ἡ γνώμη.
This opinion, indeed, had been declared by Darius.
συνεστήκεε δὲ ταύτῃ τῇ γνώμῃ ἡ Γοβρύεω, τῶν ἀνδρῶν τῶν ἑπτὰ ἑνὸς τῶν τὸν Μάγον κατελόντων, εἰκάζοντος τὰ δῶρα λέγειν §4.132.3ἢν μὴ ὄρνιθες γενόμενοι ἀναπτῆσθε ἐς τὸν οὐρανόν, ὦ Πέρσαι, ἢ μύες γενόμενοι κατὰ τῆς γῆς καταδύητε, ἢ βάτραχοι γενόμενοι ἐς τὰς λίμνας ἐσπηδήσητε, οὐκ ἀπονοστήσετε ὀπίσω ὑπὸ τῶνδε τῶν τοξευμάτων βαλλόμενοι.
But opposed to this opinion was that of Gobryas, one of the seven men who had overthrown the Magus, who conjectured that the gifts meant this: "Unless you become birds and fly up into the sky, O Persians, or become mice and sink down into the earth, or become frogs and leap into the lakes, you shall not return back home, being struck by these arrows."