Once, a foreign king came to Sparta with a great army. He sent a man with a letter to the Spartan king. In this letter he wrote: "Your soldiers are good, but you have very few of them. My army is so strong that you cannot fight it. If you try to fight it, you will die. If I win, I shall kill all your soldiers. If I win, I shall break up everything in your cities and towns. If I win, I shall make every woman and every child my slave."
The Spartans sent him their answer. There was only one word in it: "If."
