The Brave Three Hundred

by James Baldwin

　　

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All Greece was in danger. A mighty army, led by the great King ofPersia, had come from the east. It was marching along the seashore,and in a few days would be in Greece. The great king had sentmes-sen-gers into every city and state, bidding them give him waterand earth in token that the land and the sea were his. But theysaid,--"No: we will be free."And so there was a great stir through-out all the land. The men armedthemselves, and made haste to go out and drive back their foe; and thewomen staid at home, weeping and waiting, and trembling with fear.There was only one way by which the Per-sian army could go into Greeceon that side, and that was by a narrow pass between the mountains andthe sea. This pass was guarded by Le-on´i-das, the King of theSpartans, with three hundred Spartan soldiers.Soon the Persian soldiers were seen coming. There were so many of themthat no man could count them. How could a handful of men hope to standagainst so great a host?And yet Le-on-i-das and his Spartans held their ground. They had madeup their minds to die at their post. Some one brought them word thatthere were so many Persians that their arrows dark-ened the sun."So much the better," said the Spartans; "we shall fight in theshade."Bravely they stood in the narrow pass. Bravely they faced their foes.To Spartans there was no such thing as fear. The Persians cameforward, only to meet death at the points of their spears.But one by one the Spartans fell. At last their spears were broken;yet still they stood side by side, fighting to the last. Some foughtwith swords, some with daggers, and some with only their fists andteeth.All day long the army of the Persians was kept at bay. But when thesun went down, there was not one Spartan left alive. Where they hadstood there was only a heap of the slain, all bristled over withspears and arrows.Twenty thousand Persian soldiers had fallen before that handful ofmen. And Greece was saved.Thousands of years have passed since then; but men still like to tellthe story of Leonidas and the brave three hundred who died for theircountry's sake.

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