Fifty Famous Stories Retold (version 2) — A Laconic Answer

Many miles beyond Rome there was a famous country which we call Greece.

The people of Greece were not u-nit-ed like the Romans; but instead there were sev-er-al states, each of which had its own rulers.

Some of the people in the southern part of the country were called Spar-tans, and they were noted for their simple habits and their brav-er-y. The name of their land was La-co´ni-a, and so they were sometimes called La-cons.

One of the strange rules which the Spartans had, was that they should speak briefly, and never use more words than were needed.

And so a short answer is often spoken of as being _la-con-ic_; that is, as being such an answer as a Lacon would be likely to give.

There was in the northern part of Greece a land called Mac´e-don; and this land was at one time ruled over by a war-like king named Philip.

Philip of Mac-e-don wanted to become the master of all Greece.

So he raised a great army, and made war upon the other states, until nearly all of them were forced to call him their king.

Then he sent a letter to the Spartans in La-co-ni-a, and said, "If I go down into your country, I will level your great city to the ground."

In a few days, an answer was brought back to him.

When he opened the letter, he found only one word written there.

That word was "IF."