Mithridatis, glorious and powerful, <br />ruler of great cities, <br />master of strong armies and fleets, <br />on the march to Sinopi took a route <br />through a remote part of the country <br />where a soothsayer lived. <br /> <br />Mithridatis sent one of his officers <br />to ask the soothsayer how much more wealth, <br />how much more power, he'd accumulate in the future. <br /> <br />He dispatched one of his officers, <br />then continued his march to Sinopi. <br /> <br />The soothsayer withdrew into a secret room. <br />About a half an hour later he came out <br />troubled, and said to the officer: <br />"I wasn't able to clarify things very well. <br />Today is not a propitious day— <br />there were some murky shadows, I didn't understand them fully—. <br />But, I think, the king should be content with what he has. <br />Anything more will prove dangerous for him. <br />Remember, officer, to tell him that: <br />for God's sake to be satisfied with what he has. <br />Fortune changes suddenly. <br />Tell King Mithridatis this: <br />it's extremely rare to come across anyone like his ancestor's companion, <br />that noble companion who wrote in the earth with his lance <br />those timely words that saved him: ‘Escape, Mithridatis.' "<br /><br />Constantine P. Cavafy<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/on-the-march-to-sinopi/
