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Letter of Alexander to Darius

ettre which he brought witnesses; 'A, A lorde ', quoth they, our emperor sent thus to you for your power & your might was unknown unto him. But we beseech you let us go, and we shall make known unto him your great glory, your royalty, & your noblaye.

Then king Alexander bade his knights lowse them, and bring them into his hall, to the meet. And there he made them a great feast & a riot. And as they sat at the meet, their messengers said unto Alexander, ' lorde,' quoth they, 'if it be pleasing to your high majesty [send] with us a thousand of doubty men of arms, and we shall deliver them the Emperor Darius, and Alexander assured again and said, "Sit still,' quoth he, '& make thou merry. For I tell you in certain, for the betraying of your king, I will not grant [though a knight with thou'.] Upon the morn, Alexander the Great write a letter [vr.=] to Darius, whereof the tenor was this.

Ye letter of Alexander

'Alexander, the son of Philippe & of Queen Olympias, unto Alexander,
Darius, king of the land that shines with the gods of Persia, we send. If we greatly and [sothefastly] beheld our self there is nothing that we here have that we may by rights call ours, but all it is lent us for a time. For all we that are whirled about with the wheel of fortune, now are we brought for reaches into port: now for mirth & joy into sorrow & [heaviness?] and againward: and now from hate, we are plunged into lawness. Therefore there should not [man] that is set in high degree tryest to mekill in his highness, that, through pride and vain glory, he should despise the deaths of other men less than he. For he [wate never how sone] the wheel of fortune may turn about, and cast him down to low degree, that sits high aloft: and raise him to high worship and great noblaye that before was poor and in low degree. And therefore they ought to think great shame, that such a worthy emperor as men [haldez] they should send such