286 Pearls.
(p.
30), that in the portraits of the Sassanian kings, a huge Pearl is
represented as hanging from the right ear. This was worn by the monarch
as a fitting mark of sovereignty. The Sassanian dynasty reigned in
Persia from the year 226 to 641 A.D. Procopius who lived in the reign
of Justinian, relates in his History of the Persian wars that a daring
diver obtained, by the sacrifice of his life, a Pearl of great size
from the custody of a shark. This Pearl, considered a miracle of
nature, was worn by King Perozes, who ultimately lost it in an
engagement with the Huns. Charging their flying hordes, he was lured
by their feigned retreat into a vast pitfall, but to prevent the enemy
from possessing such a precious trophy of their victory, he tore the
Pearl from his right ear, and cast it before him. This noble jewel was
never recovered, although the Huns were stimulated to the search by his
Byzantine rival, who promised an enormous reward to the discoverer (see
p. 31).
