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MANDANES

Volume 12 · 138 words · 1810 Edition

an Indian prince and philosopher, who for the renown of his wisdom was invited by the ambassadors of Alexander the Great to the banquet of the son of Jupiter. A reward was promised him if he obeyed, but he was threatened with punishment in case of a refusal. Unmoved by promises and threatenings, the philosopher dismissed them with observing, that though Alexander ruled over a great part of the universe, he was not the son of Jupiter; and that he gave himself no trouble about the pretensions of a man who possessed not wherewithal to content himself. "I despise his threats (added he): if I live, India is sufficient for my subsistence; and to me death has no terrors, for it will only be an exchange of old age and infirmity for the happiness of a better life."