He bore this with great gentleness at first, saying that it was
the part of a king to do his subjects good and to be ill-spoken of by
them in return. Indeed, he used to take advantage of the most trifling
incidents to show the esteem he had for his intimate friends, of which
I will now give a few examples.
Peukestas once was bitten by a bear, while hunting. He wrote and told
his friends of his mishap, but kept it secret from Alexander. He, when
he heard of it, wrote to Peukestas, blaming him for having concealed
his hurt. "But now," he writes, "let me know how you are, and tell me
if those who were hunting the bear with you deserted you, that I may
punish them." When Hephaestion was absent on some business, he wrote to
him to say that Kraterus had been struck in the thighs with
Perdikkas's spear, while they were amusing themselves by baiting an
ichneumon.
When Peukestas recovered from some illness, he wrote to the physician
Alexippus, congratulating him on the cure which he had effected. When
Kraterus was ill, Alexander had a dream about him, in consequence of
which he offered sacrifice to certain gods, and bade him also
sacrifice to them: and when Pausanias the physician wished to give
Kraterus a draught of hellebore, Alexander wrote to him, advising him
to take the drug, but expressing the greatest anxiety about the
result.
He imprisoned Ephialtes and Kissus, who were the first to bring him
the news that Harpalus had absconded, because he thought that they
wrongfully accused him.
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