Besides the ever-present Eumenes, I recognized some of the learned Hellenes—the philosophers Anaxarchos and Pyrron and the geographer Polykleitos. This was a great thrill for me. I had long wished to meet these scholars but as a soldier had neither the occasion to do so nor the temerity to invent one.
I took off my helmet, cried: "Rejoice, O King!" and started to prostrate myself, albeit awkwardly because of my wounded leg.
The king, with his usual quickness, saw what troubled me. "Never mind the foreign antics, dear Leon," quoth he. "We are old friends and comrades-in-arms. Sit down. How is your wound? Mending fast, I trust? I have told my historians to make special note of the valor of the Thessalian Troop in the battle of the Hydaspes. Now, speaking of the troop, I hear my few remaining Thessalians wish to go home. That is true, is it not?"
This was, meseemed, a day when one need not take Alexander's godhood too much to heart. I said: "O King, none denies that to serve you is the greatest boon that can fall to the lot of mortal man. Nevertheless, we have been seven or eight years from home—"
He stopped me with a wave. "Forget the rhetoric, old fellow. You are weary of adventures, are you not? Now that the Thracians have come, I can spare you, especially if you make yourself useful to me on your way home. I trust you will not mind going by way of Athens?"
"On the contrary, King, I should rejoice. Ere I was called to your service, I planned to go to Athens to study under the philosophers."
"Know you Aristoteles son of Nikomachos?"
"The philosopher who once tutored you and now teaches in Athens? Aye, I've heard of him."
The king said: "Aristoteles stands less high in my esteem than he did before his great-nephew turned traitor. Still, I promised to send him specimens from far lands I visited, and if Alexander keep not his promises, how shall common mortals do so? I have here a chest of notable things of India. Show them, Pyrron."
Pyrron of Elis, a tall, slender, handsome man somewhat older than I, opened the chest and took out several objects. There were skins of the tiger, the leopard, the crocodile, a lizard as long as a man, and a serpent twelve cubits in length. There were skulls of animals, the horn of the unicorn (a great piglike beast with a single horn on its nose), the shell of a large tortoise, a piece of Indian tree grass, a specimen of tree wool, and other things.
"Besides," said the king, "Aristoteles was always curious about the elephant. Once he told me he would die happy could he but scrutinize one of these creatures himself. Now, I happen to have the finest elephant in the world. When King Poros submitted to me, he gave me his personal war elephant."
"The one he rode in the battle?" I said with a hollow feeling.
"Yes. The beast sustained some wounds but will soon recover. You, my dear Leon, shall take this elephant to Aristoteles."
"But—but Great King!" I cried. "How shall I get this monster to Athens? Hellas is myriads of furlongs from here, beyond towering mountains, parching deserts, and stormy seas. Zeus! How shall I feed it? How—"
The king's look turned to ice and he struck the table with his fist so hard that the scrolls on it bounced. "By the Dog, when Alexander commands an officer, he expects him to leap to the task and not bother him with details. If you know not how to do any of these things, find out! Do you understand, Thessalian?"
"Aye, King."
"You shall be hipparch, with the rank of troop leader. Learn what you will need in men and money and supplies, and take the matter up with Eumenes. He will go as far as he can towards meeting reasonable needs.
"Now, another matter. Aristoteles is not the only philosopher. Many deem his rival Xenokrates the deeper thinker. Therefore, to prove my divine impartiality" (he winked at the philosophers sitting with him), "I shall give you, besides advance pay for yourself and your men, the equal of fifty talents of silver. This money you shall deliver intact to Xenokrates in Athens. You shall send me a receipt from him for the full amount."
The king looked hard at me, as if to say he knew what sometimes befell large sums sent far away, and would take revenge on anybody who stole his gifts.
"However," he went on, "they tell me you are an earnest and trusty young man." Alexander turned a boyish grin on Eumenes. "That will teach old Spindleshanks!"
I grasped his plan. It was a kind of kingly joke. Pie would send the elephant to Aristoteles, as promised, but no money for the upkeep of the brute. Aristoteles would be beggared buying food for it. At the same time, Alexander would send a princely sum to Aristoteles' greatest rival. This money, though ample to support the elephant, would never be used for that purpose because of the hostility between the two philosophers.
Eumenes said: "Have Xenokrates write out that receipt in triplicate, Leon. Send one copy to me and one to Harpalos in Tarsos, and keep one yourself."
"Furthermore," said the king, "Pyrron will go with you. And, moreover, I shall give you letters to Aristoteles and Xenokrates." He handed me two unsealed sheets of papyrus. "Read them, so if they be lost you can still deliver the gist of my message. You read and write, do you not?"
The first letter had the following directions on the outside: "To Aristoteles Nikomachou of Stageira, at the Lykeion at Athens." Unfolding the sheet, I read:
ALEXANDROS PHILIPPOU, KING OF MACEDONIA AND ASIA, WISHES ARISTOTELES WELL
You were wrong to send me forth with the belief that I should treat Hellenes alone as comrades and all foreigners as slaves. In Egypt the priest Psammon taught me a wiser rule, that all men are brethren under the gods, that the basic division amongst them is between the good and the bad, and that no tribe or race is either all good or all evil. The Persians have taught me that one can be a gentleman whether one wear kilt or trousers. And for myself I have learned that, to rule the world, one must use all subjects with equity, whatever their speech and customs. The gods made many nations, each with something to contribute to the world's welfare. I shall devote my life to choosing the best from each and promoting its adoption by all.
Perhaps you have not heard of the fate of your great-nephew Kallisthenes. Pie became so envious of my glory that he stirred up my own pages against me. When I learned of this plot, I put Kallisthenes in prison to await a trial by the full council upon my return to Persia. But recently I was informed he had died of natural causes.
However, as I do not suppose that you wantonly inspired Kallisthenes to these treasons, I send you this letter by Leon of Atrax, together with an elephant and some natural specimens from India. Thus Alexander shows he has not forgotten our early friendship and the many useful things you have taught me. Still, before you dogmatize about any nation of foreigners again, it were wise to live amongst them, as I have done, and come to know them on a man-to-man basis.
The other letter, much shorter, merely stated that Alexander was sending Xenokrates the money in view of his contributions to philosophy.
Eumenes said: "Read them until you can recite them from memory and then bring them to me to be sealed."
"I will," I said. "Shall I withdraw now, King Alexander?"
"One thing more," said the king. "Someday, when I have conquered all of India, I shall return to the West. When I do, I mean to bring some elephants. It will amuse me to see the proud Carthaginians run from them. Hence it is my wish to know which routes are practical for elephants.
"I would also keep in touch with the provinces of my empire, not only through official reports, but also through private correspondence. Therefore, my dear Leon, I expect regular letters telling of the state of things along your road. Note the condition of the route and listen for remarks about the government, either good or bad. Follow the post roads and write at least once every ten-day. Eumenes will give you a seal that will command the Persian couriers to take your letters.