{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_10315/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_10315","id":"gutenberg_10315","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10315","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Classics of Literature","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Poetry","Persian literature -- Translations into English"],"text":"PERSIAN LITERATURE\n\ncomprising\n\nTHE SH\u00c1H N\u00c1MEH, THE RUB\u00c1IY\u00c1T\nTHE DIVAN, AND THE GULISTAN\n\nRevised Edition, Volume 1\n\n1909\n\nWith a special introduction by\nRICHARD J. H. GOTTHEIL, Ph.D.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSPECIAL INTRODUCTION\n\nA certain amount of romantic interest has always attached to Persia.\nWith a continuous history stretching back into those dawn-days of\nhistory in which fancy loves to play, the mention of its name brings to\nour minds the vision of things beautiful and artistic, the memory of\ngreat deeds and days of chivalry. We seem almost to smell the fragrance\nof the rose-gardens of Tus and of Shiraz, and to hear the knight-errants\ntell of war and of love. There are other Oriental civilizations, whose\ncoming and going have not been in vain for the world; they have done\ntheir little bit of apportioned work in the universe, and have done it\nwell. India and Arabia have had their great poets and their great\nheroes, yet they have remained well-nigh unknown to the men and women of\nour latter day, even to those whose world is that of letters. But the\nnames of Firdusi, Sa'di, Omar Khayy\u00e1m, Jami, and H\u00e1fiz, have a place in\nour own temples of fame. They have won their way into the book-stalls\nand stand upon our shelves, side by side with the other books which\nmould our life and shape our character.\n\nSome reason there must be for the special favor which we show to these\nproducts of Persian genius, and for the hold which they have upon us. We\nneed not go far to find it. The under-current forces, which determine\nour own civilization of to-day, are in a general way the same forces\nwhich were at play during the heyday of Persian literary production. We\nowe to the Hellenic spirit, which at various times has found its way\ninto our midst, our love for the beautiful in art and in literature. We\nowe to the Semitic, which has been inbreathed into us by religious forms\nand beliefs, the tone of our better life, the moral level to which we\naspire. The same two forces were at work in Persia. Even while that\ncountry was purely Ir\u00e1nian, it was always open to Semitic influences.\nThe welding together of the two civilizations is the true signature of\nPersian history. The likeness which is so evident between the religion\nof the Avesta, the sacred book of the pre-Mohammedan Persians, and the\nreligion of the Old and New Testaments, makes it in a sense easy for us\nto understand these followers of Zoroaster. Persian poetry, with its\nlove of life and this-worldliness, with its wealth of imagery and its\nappeal to that which is human in all men, is much more readily\ncomprehended by us than is the poetry of all the rest of the Orient.\nAnd, therefore, Goethe, Platen, R\u00fcckert, von Schack, Fitzgerald, and\nArnold have been able to re-sing their masterpieces so as to delight and\ninstruct our own days--of which thing neither India nor Arabia can\nboast.\n\nTales of chivalry have always delighted the Persian ear. A certain\ninherent gayety of heart, a philosophy which was not so sternly vigorous\nas was that of the Semite, lent color to his imagination. It guided the\nhands of the skilful workmen in the palaces of Susa and Persepolis, and\nfixed the brightly colored tiles upon their walls. It led the deftly\nworking fingers of their scribes and painters to illuminate their\nmanuscripts so gorgeously as to strike us with wonder at the assemblage\nof hues and the boldness of designs. Their Zoroaster was never deified.\nThey could think of his own doings and of the deeds of the mighty men of\nvalor who lived before and after him with very little to hinder the free\nplay of their fancy. And so this fancy roamed up and down the whole\ncourse of Persian history: taking a long look into the vista of the\npast, trying even to lift the veil which hides from mortal sight the\nbeginnings of all things; intertwining fact with fiction, building its\nmansions on earth, and its castles in the air.\n\nThe greatest of all Eastern national epics is the work of a Persian. The\n\"Sh\u00e1h N\u00e1meh,\" or Book of Kings, may take its place most worthily by the\nside of the Indian Nala, the Homeric Iliad, the German Niebelungen. Its\nplan is laid out on a scale worthy of its contents, and its execution is\nequally worthy of its planning. One might almost say that with it\nneo-Persian literature begins its history. There were poets in Persia\nbefore the writer of the \"Sh\u00e1h N\u00e1meh\"--Rudagi, the blind (died 954),\nZandshi (950), Chusravani (tenth century). There were great poets during\nhis own day. But Firdusi ranks far above them all; and at the very\nbeginning sets up so high a standard that all who come after him must\ntry to live up to it, or else they will sink into oblivion.\n\nThe times in which Firdusi lived were marked by strange revolutions. The\nArabs, filled with the daring which Mohammed had breathed into them, had\nindeed conquered Persia. In A.D. 657, when Merv fell, and the last\nSassanian king, Yezdegird III, met his end, these Arabs became nominally\nsupreme. Persia had been conquered--but not the Persian spirit. Even\nthough Turkish speech reigned supreme at court and the Arabic script\nbecame universal, the temper of the old Arsacides and Sassanians still\nlived on. It is true that Ormuzd was replaced by Allah, and Ahriman by\nSatan. But the Persian had a glorious past of his own; and in this the\nconquered was far above the conqueror. This past was kept alive in the\nmyth-loving mind of this Aryan people; in the songs of its poets and in\nthe lays of its minstrels. In this way there was, in a measure, a\ncontinuous opposition of Persian to Arab, despite the mingling of the\ntwo in Islam; and the opposition of Persian Shiites to the Sunnites of\nthe rest of the Mohammedan world at this very day is a curious survival\nof racial antipathy. The fall of the only real Arab Mohammedan\ndynasty--that of the Umayyid caliphs at Damascus--the rise of the\nseparate and often opposing dynasties in Spain, Sicily, Egypt, and\nTunis, served to strengthen the Persians in their desire to keep alive\ntheir historical individuality and their ancient traditions.\n\nFirdusi was not the first, as he was not the only one, to collect the\nold epic materials of Persia. In the Avesta itself, with its ancient\ntraditions, much can be found. More than this was handed down and\nbandied about from mouth to mouth. Some of it had even found its way\ninto the Kalam of the Scribe; to-wit, the \"Zarer, or Memorials of the\nWarriors\" (A.D. 500), the \"History of King Ardeshir\" (A.D. 600), the\nChronicles of the Persian Kings. If we are to trust Baisonghur's preface\nto the \"Sh\u00e1h N\u00e1meh,\" there were various efforts made from time to time\nto put together a complete story of the nation's history, by Farruchani,\nRamin, and especially by the Dihkan Danishwar (A.D. 651). The work of\nthis Danishwar, the \"Chodainameh\" (Book of Kings), deserves to be\nspecially singled out. It was written, not in neo-Persian and Arabic\nscript, but in what scholars call middle-Persian and in what is known as\nthe Pahlavi writing. It was from this \"Chodainameh\" that Abu Mansur,\nlord of Tus, had a \"Sh\u00e1h N\u00e1meh\" of his own prepared in the neo-Persian.\nAnd then, to complete the tale, in 980 a certain Zoroastrian whose name\nwas Dakiki versified a thousand lines of this neo-Persian Book of Kings.\n\nIn this very city of Tus, Abul Kasim Mansur (or Ahmed) Firdusi was born,\nA.D. 935. One loves to think that perhaps he got his name from the\nPersian-Arabic word for garden; for, verily, it was he that gathered\ninto one garden all the beautiful flowers which had blossomed in the\nfancy of his people. As he has draped the figures in his great epic, so\nhas an admiring posterity draped his own person. His fortune has been\ninterwoven with the fame of that Mahmud of Ghazna (998-1030), the first\nto bear the proud title of \"Sultan,\" the first to carry Mohammed and the\nprophets into India. The Round Table of Mahmud cannot be altogether a\nfigment of the imagination. With such poets as Farruchi, Unsuri,\nMinutsheri, with such scientists as Biruni and Avicenna as intimates,\nwhat wonder that Firdusi was lured by the splendors of a court life! But\nbefore he left his native place he must have finished his epic, at least\nin its rough form; for we know that in 999 he dedicated it to Ahmad ibn\nMuhammad of Chalandsha. He had been working at it steadily since 971,\nbut had not yet rounded it out according to the standard which he had\nset for himself. Occupying the position almost of a court poet, he\ncontinued to work for Mahmud, and this son of a Turkish slave became a\npatron of letters. On February 25, 1010, his work was finished. As poet\nlaureate, he had inserted many a verse in praise of his master. Yet the\nstory goes, that though this master had covenanted for a gold dirhem a\nline, he sent Firdusi sixty thousand silver ones, which the poet spurned\nand distributed as largesses and hied him from so ungenerous a master.\n\nIt is a pretty tale. Yet some great disappointment must have been his\nlot, for a lampoon which he wrote a short time afterwards is filled with\nthe bitterest satire upon the prince whose praises he had sung so\nbeautifully. Happily, the satire does not seem to have gotten under the\neyes of Mahmud; it was bought off by a friend, for one thousand dirhems\na verse. But Firdusi was a wanderer; we find him in Herat, in\nTaberist\u00e1n, and then at the Buyide Court of Bagdad, where he composed\nhis \"Yusuf and Salikha,\" a poem as Mohammedan in spirit as the \"Sh\u00e1h\nN\u00e1meh\" was Persian. In 1021, or 1025, he returned to Tus to die, and to\nbe buried in his own garden--because his mind had not been orthodox\nenough that his body should rest in sacred ground. At the last\nmoment--the story takes up again--Mahmud repented and sent the poet the\ncoveted gold. The gold arrived at one gate while Firdusi's body was\nbeing carried by at another; and it was spent by his daughter in the\nbuilding of a hospice near the city. For the sake of Mahmud let us try\nto believe the tale.\n\nWe know much about the genesis of this great epic, the \"Sh\u00e1h N\u00e1meh\"; far\nmore than we know about the make-up of the other great epics in the\nworld's literature. Firdusi worked from written materials; but he\nproduced no mere labored mosaic. Into it all he has breathed a spirit of\nfreshness and vividness: whether it be the romance of Alexander the\nGreat and the exploits of Rustem, or the love scenes of Z\u00e1l and Rodhale,\nof Bezhan and Manezhe, of Gusht\u00e1sp and Kitayim. That he was also an\nexcellent lyric poet, Firdusi shows in the beautiful elegy upon the\ndeath of his only son; a curious intermingling of his personal woes with\nthe history of his heroes. A cheerful vigor runs through it all. He\npraises the delights of wine-drinking, and does not despise the comforts\nwhich money can procure. In his descriptive parts, in his scenes of\nbattle and encounters, he is not often led into the delirium of\nextravagance. Sober-minded and free from all fanaticism, he leans not\ntoo much to Zoroaster or to Mohammed, though his desire to idealize his\nIr\u00e1nian heroes leads him to excuse their faith to his readers. And so\nthese fifty or more thousand verses, written in the Arabic heroic\nMutakarib metre, have remained the delight of the Persians down to this\nvery day--when the glories of the land have almost altogether departed\nand Mahmud himself is all forgotten of his descendants.\n\nFirdusi introduces us to the greatness of Mahmud of Ghazna's court. Omar\nKhayy\u00e1m takes us into its ruins; for one of the friends of his boyhood\ndays was Nizam al-Mulk, the grandson of that Toghrul the Turk, who with\nhis Seljuks had supplanted the Persian power. Omar's other friend was\nIbn Sabbah, the \"old Man of the Mountain,\" the founder of the Assassins.\nThe doings of both worked misery upon Christian Europe, and entailed a\ntremendous loss of life during the Crusades. As a sweet revenge, that\nsame Europe has taken the first of the trio to its bosom, and has made\nof Omar Khayy\u00e1m a household friend. \"My tomb shall be in a spot where\nthe north wind may scatter roses\" is said to have been one of Omar's\nlast wishes. He little thought that those very roses from the tomb in\nwhich he was laid to rest in 1123 would, in the nineteenth century,\ngrace the spot where his greatest modern interpreter--Fitzgerald--lies\nburied in the little English town of Woodbridge!\n\nThe author of the famous Quatrains--Omar Ibn Ibrahim al-Khayy\u00e1m--not\nhimself a tent-maker, but so-called, as are the Smiths of our own\nday--was of the city of N\u00edshap\u00far. The invention of the Rub\u00e1iy\u00e1t, or\nEpigram, is not to his credit. That honor belongs to Abu Said of\nKhorasan (968-1049), who used it as a means of expressing his mystic\npantheism. But there is an Omar Khayy\u00e1m club in London--not one bearing\nthe name of Abu Said. What is the bond which binds the Rub\u00e1iy\u00e1t-maker in\nfar-off Persia to the literati of modern Anglo-Saxondom?\n\nBy his own people Omar was persecuted for his want of orthodoxy; and yet\nhis grave to this day is held in much honor. By others he was looked\nupon as a Mystic. Reading the five hundred or so authentic quatrains one\nasks, Which is the real Omar? Is it he who sings of wine and of\npleasure, who seems to preach a life of sensual enjoyment? or is it the\nstern preacher, who criticises all, high and low; priest, dervish, and\nMystic--yea, even God himself? I venture to say that the real Omar is\nboth; or, rather, he is something higher than is adequately expressed in\nthese two words. The Ecclesiastes of Persia, he was weighed down by the\ngreat questions of life and death and morality, as was he whom people so\nwrongly call \"the great sceptic of the Bible.\" The \"_Weltschmerz_\" was\nhis, and he fought hard within himself to find that mean way which\nphilosophers delight in pointing out. If at times Omar does preach\n_carpe diem_, if he paint in his exuberant fancy the delights of\ncarousing, Fitzgerald is right--he bragged more than he drank. The\nunder-current of a serious view of life runs through all he has written;\nthe love of the beautiful in nature--a sense of the real worth of\ncertain things and the worthlessness of the Ego. Resignation to what is\nman's evident fate; doing well what every day brings to be done--this is\nhis own answer. It was Job's--it was that of Ecclesiastes.\n\nThis same \"_Weltschmerz_\" is ours to-day; therefore Omar Khayy\u00e1m is of\nus beloved. He speaks what often we do not dare to speak; one of his\nquatrains can be more easily quoted than some of those thoughts can be\nformulated. And then he is picturesque--picturesque because he is at\ntimes ambiguous. Omar seems to us to have been so many things--a\nbelieving Moslem, a pantheistic Mystic, an exact scientist (for he\nreformed the Persian calendar). Such many-sidedness was possible in\nIslam; but it gives him the advantage of appealing to many and different\nclasses of men; each class will find that he speaks their mind and their\nmind only. That Omar was also tainted by Sufism there can be no doubt;\nand many of his most daring flights must be regarded as the results of\nthe greater license which Mystic interpretation gave to its votaries.\n\nBy the side of Firdusi the epic poet, and Omar the philosopher, Sa'di\nthe wise man, well deserves a place. His countrymen are accustomed to\nspeak of him simply as \"the Sheikh,\" much more to his real liking than\nthe titles \"The nightingale of the groves of Shiraz,\" or \"The\nnightingale of a Thousand Songs,\" in which Oriental hyperbole expresses\nits appreciation. Few leaders and teachers have had the good fortune to\nlive out their teachings in their own lives as had Sa'di. And that life\nwas long indeed. Muharrif al-Din Abdallah Sa'di was born at Shiraz in\n1184, and far exceeded the natural span of life allotted to man--for he\nlived to be one hundred and ten years of age--and much of the time was\nlived in days of stress and trouble. The Mongols were devastating in the\nEast; the Crusaders were fighting in the West. In 1226 Sa'di himself\nfelt the effects of the one--he was forced to leave Shiraz and grasp the\nwanderer's staff, and by the Crusaders he was taken captive and led away\nto Tripoli. But just this look into the wide world, this thorough\nexperience of men and things, produced that serenity of being that gave\nhim the firm hold upon life which the true teacher must always have. Of\nhis own spiritual condition and contentment he says: \"Never did I\ncomplain of my forlorn condition but on one occasion, when my feet were\nbare, and I had not wherewithal to shoe them. Soon after, meeting a man\nwithout feet, I was thankful for the bounty of Providence to myself, and\nwith perfect resignation submitted to my want of shoes.\"\n\nThus attuned to the world, Sa'di escapes the depths of misanthropy as\nwell as the transports of unbridled license and somewhat blustering\nswagger into which Omar at times fell. In his simplicity of heart he\nsays very tenderly of his own work;--\n\n  \"We give advice in its proper place,\n  Spending a lifetime in the task.\n  If it should not touch any one's ear of desire,\n  The messenger told his tale; it is enough.\"\n\nThat tale is a long one. His apprenticeship was spent in Arabic Bagdad,\nsitting at the feet of noted scholars, and taking in knowledge not only\nof his own Persian Sufism, but also of the science and learning which\nhad been gathered in the home of the Abbaside Caliphs. His\njourneyman-years took him all through the dominions which were under\nArab influence--in Europe, the Barbary States, Egypt, Abyssinia, Arabia,\nSyria, Palestine, Asia Minor, India. All these places were visited\nbefore he returned to Shiraz, the \"seat of learning,\" to put to writing\nthe thoughts which his sympathetic and observing mind had been evolving\nduring all these years. This time of his mastership was spent in the\nseclusion almost of a recluse and in producing the twenty-two works\nwhich have come down to us. An Oriental writer says of these periods of\nhis life: \"The first thirty years of Sa'di's long life were devoted to\nstudy and laying up a stock of knowledge; the next thirty, or perhaps\nforty, in treasuring up experience and disseminating that knowledge\nduring his wide extending travels; and that some portion should\nintervene between the business of life and the hour of death (and that\nwith him chanced to be the largest share of it), he spent the remainder\nof his life, or seventy years, in the retirement of a recluse, when he\nwas exemplary in his temperance and edifying in his piety.\"\n\nOf Sa'di's versatility, these twenty-two works give sufficient evidence.\nHe could write homilies (Risalahs) in a Mystic-religious fashion. He\ncould compose lyrics in Arabic and Turkish as well as in Persian. He was\neven led to give forth erotic verses. Fondly we hope that he did this\nlast at the command of some patron or ruler! But Sa'di is known to us\nchiefly by his didactic works, and for these we cherish him. The\n\"Bustan,\" or \"Tree-Garden,\" is the more sober and theoretical, treating\nof the various problems and questions of ethics, and filled with Mystic\nand Sufic descriptions of love.\n\nHis other didactic work, the \"Gulistan,\" is indeed a \"Garden of Roses,\"\nas its name implies; a mirror for every one alike, no matter what his\nstation in life may be. In prose and in poetry, alternating; in the form\nof rare adventures and quaint devices; in accounts of the lives of kings\nwho have passed away; in maxims and apothegms, Sa'di inculcates his\nworldly wisdom--worldly in the better sense of the word. Like Goethe in\nour own day, he stood above the world and yet in it; so that while we\nfeel bound to him by the bonds of a common human frailty, he reaches out\nwith us to a higher and purer atmosphere. Though his style is often\nwonderfully ornate, it is still more sober than that of H\u00e1fiz. Sa'di is\nknown to all readers of Persian in the East; his \"Gulistan\" is often a\nfavorite reading-book.\n\nThe heroic and the didactic are, however, not the only forms in which\nthe genius of Persian poetry loved to clothe itself. From the earliest\ntimes there were poets who sung of love and of wine, of youth and of\nnature, with no thought of drawing a moral, or illustrating a tale. From\nthe times of Rudagi and the Samanide princes (tenth century), these\npoets of sentiment sang their songs and charmed the ears of their\nhearers. Even Firdusi showed, in some of his minor poems, that joyous\nlook into and upon the world which is the soul of all lyric poetry. But\nof all the Persian lyric poets, Shams al-Din Mohammed H\u00e1fiz has been\ndeclared by all to be the greatest. Though the storms of war and the\nnoise of strife beat all about his country and even disturbed the peace\nof his native place--no trace of all this can be found in the poems of\nH\u00e1fiz--as though he were entirely removed from all that went on about\nhim, though seeing just the actual things of life. He was, to all\nappearance, unconcerned: glad only to live and to sing. At Shiraz he was\nborn; at Shiraz he died. Only once, it is recorded, did he leave his\nnative place, to visit the brother of his patron in Yezd. He was soon\nback again: travel had no inducement for him. The great world outside\ncould offer him nothing more than his wonted haunts in Shiraz. It is\nfurther said that he put on the garb of a Dervish; but he was altogether\nfree of the Dervish's conceit. \"The ascetic is the serpent of his age\"\nis a saying put into his mouth.\n\nHe had in him much that resembled Omar Khayy\u00e1m; but he was not a\nphilosopher. Therefore, in the East at least, his \"Divan\" is more\npopular than the Quatrains of Omar; his songs are sung where Omar's name\nis not heard. He is substantially a man of melody--with much mannerism,\nit is true, in his melody--but filling whatever he says with a wealth of\ncharming imagery and clothing his verse in delicate rhythms. Withal a\nman, despite his boisterous gladsomeness and his overflowing joy in what\nthe present has to offer, in whom there is nothing common, nothing low.\n\"The Garden of Paradise may be pleasant,\" he tells us, \"but forget not\nthe shade of the willow-tree and the fair margin of the fruitful field.\"\nHe is very human; but his humanity is deeply ethical in character.\n\nMuch more than Omar and Sa'di, H\u00e1fiz was a thorough Sufi. \"In one and\nthe same song you write of wine, of Sufism, and of the object of your\naffection,\" is what Sh\u00e1h Shuja said to him once. In fact, we are often\nat an entire loss to tell where reality ends and Sufic vacuity\ncommences. For this Mystic philosophy that we call Sufism patched up a\nsort of peace between the old Persian and the conquering Mohammedan. By\nusing veiled language, by taking all the every-day things of life as\nmere symbols of the highest transcendentalism, it was possible to be an\nobserving Mohammedan in the flesh, whilst the mind wandered in the\nrealms of pure fantasy and speculation. While enjoying H\u00e1fiz, then, and\nbathing in his wealth of picture, one is at a loss to tell whether the\nbodies he describes are of flesh and blood, or incorporeal ones with a\nmystic background; whether the wine of which he sings really runs red,\nand the love he describes is really centred upon a mortal being. Yet,\nwhen he says of himself, \"Open my grave when I am dead, and thou shalt\nsee a cloud of smoke rising out from it; then shalt thou know that the\nfire still burns in my dead heart--yea, it has set my very winding-sheet\nalight,\" there is a ring of reality in the substance which pierces\nthrough the extravagant imagery. This the Persians themselves have\nalways felt; and they will not be far from the truth in regarding H\u00e1fiz\nwith a very peculiar affection as the writer who, better than anyone\nelse, is the poet of their gay moments and the boon companion of their\nfeasts.\n\nFirdusi, Omar, Sa'di, H\u00e1fiz, are names of which any literature may be\nproud. None like unto them rose again in Persia, if we except the great\nJami. At the courts of Sh\u00e1h Abbas the Great (1588-1629) and of Akbar of\nIndia (1556-1605), an attempt to revive Persian letters was indeed made.\nBut nothing came that could in any measure equal the heyday of the great\npoets. The political downfall of Persia has effectually prevented the\ncoming of another spring and summer. The pride of the land of the Sh\u00e1h\nmust now rest in its past.\n\n[Illustration: (Signature of Richard Gottheil)]\n\nColumbia University, June 11, 1900.\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\nTHE SH\u00c1H N\u00c1MEH\n\n  Introduction\n  Kai\u00famers\n  H\u00fasheng\n  Tah\u00famers\n  Jemsh\u00edd\n  Mirt\u00e1s-T\u00e1z\u00ed, and His Son Zoh\u00e1k\n  Kavah, the Blacksmith\n  Ferid\u00fan\n  Ferid\u00fan and His Three Sons\n  Min\u00fachihr\n  Z\u00e1l, the Son of S\u00e1m\n  The Dream of S\u00e1m\n  R\u00fad\u00e1beh\n  Death of Min\u00fachihr\n  Nauder\n  Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b Marches against Nauder\n  Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b\n  Zau\n  Garsh\u00e1sp\n  Kai-Kob\u00e1d\n  Kai-K\u00e1\u00fas\n  The Seven Labors of Rustem\n  Invasion of Ir\u00e1n by Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b\n  The Return of Kai-K\u00e1\u00fas\n  Story of Sohr\u00e1b\n  The Story of Sai\u00e1wush\n  Kai-Khosr\u00e1u\n  Akw\u00e1n D\u00edw\n  The Story of Byzun and Man\u00edjeh\n  Barz\u00fa, and His Conflict with Rustem\n  S\u00fasen and Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b\n  The Expedition of G\u00fadarz\n  The Death of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b\n  The Death of Kai-Khosr\u00e1u\n  Lohur\u00e1sp\n  Gusht\u00e1sp, and the Faith of Zerdusht\n  The Heft-Khan of Isfendiy\u00e1r\n  Capture of the Brazen Fortress\n  The Death of Isfendiy\u00e1r\n  The Death of Rustem\n  Bahman\n  H\u00fama\u00ed and the Birth of D\u00e1r\u00e1b\n  D\u00e1r\u00e1b and D\u00e1r\u00e1\n  Sikander\n  Firdusi's Invocation\n  Firdusi's Satire on Mahmud\n\nTHE RUB\u00c1IY\u00c1T\n\n  Introduction\n  Omar Khayy\u00e1m\n  The Rub\u00e1iy\u00e1t\n\nTHE DIVAN\n\n  Introduction\n  Fragment by H\u00e1fiz\n  The Divan\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE SH\u00c1H N\u00c1MEH\n\nby\n\nFIRDUSI\n\n(_Abul Kasim Mansur_)\n\n[_Translated into English by James Atkinson_]\n\n\n\nThe system of Sir William Jones in the printing of Oriental words has\nbeen kept in view in the following work, viz.: The letter _a_ represents\nthe short vowel as in _bat, \u00e1_ with an accent the broad sound of _a_ in\n_hall, i_ as in _lily, \u00ed_ with an accent as in _police, u_ as in _bull,\n\u00fa_ with an accent as in _rude, \u00f3_ with an accent as _o_ in _pole_, the\ndiphthong _ai_ as in _aisle, au_ as in the German word _kraut_ or _ou_\nin _house_.\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\nWhen Sir John Lubbock, in the list of a hundred books which he\npublished, in the year 1886, as containing the best hundred worth\nreading, mentioned the \"Sh\u00e1h N\u00e1meh\" or \"Book of Kings,\" written by the\nPersian poet Firdusi, it is doubtful whether many of his readers had\neven heard of such a poem or of its author. Yet Firdusi, \"The Poet of\nParadise\" (for such is the meaning of this pen-name), is as much the\nnational poet of Persia as Dante is of Italy or Shakespeare of England.\nAbul Kasim Mansur is indeed a genuine epic poet, and for this reason his\nwork is of genuine interest to the lovers of Homer, Vergil, and Dante.\nThe qualities that go to make up an epic poem are all to be found in\nthis work of the Persian bard. In the first place, the \"Sh\u00e1h N\u00e1meh\" is\nwritten by an enthusiastic patriot, who glorifies his country, and by\nthat means has become recognized as the national poet of Persia. In the\nsecond place, the poem presents us with a complete view of a certain\ndefinite phase, and complete era of civilization; in other words, it is\na transcript from the life; a portrait-gallery of distinct and unique\nindividuals; a description of what was once an actual society. We find\nin it delineated the Persia of the heroic age, an age of chivalry,\neclipsing, in romantic emotion, deeds of daring, scenes of love and\nviolence, even the mediaeval chivalry of France and Spain. Again, this\npoem deals principally with the adventures of one man. For all other\nparts of the work are but accessories to the single figure of Rustem,\nthe heroic personage whose superhuman strength, dignity, and beauty make\nhim to be a veritable Persian Achilles. But when we regard the details\nof this work we see how deeply the literary posterity of Homer are\nindebted to the Father of European Poetry. The fantastic crowd of\ndemons, peris, and necromancers that appear as the supernatural\nmachinery of the Sh\u00e1h N\u00e1meh, such grotesque fancies as the serpents that\ngrew from the shoulders of King Zoh\u00e1k, or the ladder of Zerdusht, on\nwhich he mounted from earth to heaven--all these and a hundred other\nfancies compare unfavorably with the reserve of Homer, in his use of\nsuch a personage as Circe, and the human grace and dignity which he\nlends to that genial circle on Olympus, whose inextinguishable laughter\nis called forth by the halting wine-bearer a god like themselves. While\nwe read the \"Sh\u00e1h N\u00e1meh\" with keen interest, because from its study the\nmind is enlarged and stimulated by new scenes, new ideas and\nunprecedented situations, we feel grateful that the battle of Salamis\nstopped the Persian invasion of Europe, which would doubtless have\nresulted in changing the current of literature from that orderly and\nstately course which it had taken from its fountain in a Greek\nParnassus, and diverted it into the thousand brawling rills of Persian\nfancy and exaggeration.\n\nIt is a hundred years ago that a certain physician in the employment of\nthe East India Company, who then represented British supremacy in Bengal\nand Calcutta, published the \"Story of Sohrab,\" a poem in heroic\ncouplets, being a translation of the most pathetic episode in the \"Sh\u00e1h\nN\u00e1meh.\" If we compare this English poem with Jules Mohl's literal\ntranslation of the Persian epic into French, we find that James Atkinson\nstands very much in the same relation to Firdusi as Pope does to Homer.\nIt would be indeed absurd for an English writer to attempt to conform,\nin an English version, to the vagaries of Persian idiom, or even to\nattempt a literal rendering of the Persian trope. The manner of a poet\ncan never be faithfully reproduced in a translation, but all that is\nreally valuable, really affecting, in an epic poem will survive\ntransfusion into the frank and natural idiom of another tongue. We say\nepic poem, because one of the distinguishing features in this form of\nliterary expression is that its action hinges on those fundamental\npassions of humanity, that \"touch which makes the whole world kin,\"\nwhose alphabet is the same in every latitude. The publication of\n\"Sohrab\" was nevertheless the revelation of a new world to London\ncoteries, and the influence of Mr. Atkinson's work can be traced as well\nin the Persian pastorals of Collins as in the oriental poems of Southey\nand Moore. This metrical version of \"Sohrab\" is the only complete\nepisode of the Sh\u00e1h N\u00e1meh contained in the present collection. When we\nconsider that the Persian original consists of some one hundred and\ntwenty thousand lines, it will easily be understood that a literal\nrendering of the whole would make a volume whose bulk would put it far\nout of reach to the general reader. Atkinson has very wisely furnished\nus with a masterly _r\u00e9sum\u00e9_ of the chief episodes, each of which he\noutlines in prose, occasionally flashing out into passages of sparkling\nverse, which run through the narrative like golden threads woven into\nthe tissue of some storied tapestry. The literary style of the\ntranslator is admirable. Sometimes, as when he describes the tent of\nMan\u00edjeh, he becomes as simple and direct as Homer in depicting the\npalace of Alcinous. The language of his Sohrab recalls the pathos of\nVergil's Nisus and Euryalus, and the paternal love and despair of\nDante's Ugolino. But in Rustem the tears of anguish and sorrow seem to\nvanish like morning dew, in the excitement of fresh adventure, and human\nfeeling, as depicted by Firdusi, lacks not only the refined gradations,\nbut also the intensity, which we see in the Florentine poet. Atkinson's\nversification is rather that of Queen Anne's time than what we of the\nVictorian age profess to admire in Browning and Tennyson. But it is one\nof the chief praises of Tennyson that he has treated Sir Thomas Malory\nvery much in the same way as Mr. Atkinson has treated Abul Kasim Mansur,\nby bringing the essential features of an extinct society within the\nrange of modern vision, and into touch with modern sympathies. All that\nis of value in Firdusi, to the reader of to-day, will be found in this\nversion of Atkinson, while the philologist or the antiquarian can\nsatisfy their curiosity either in the original, or in the French\nversions whose fidelity is above suspicion. For it is bare justice to\nsay that James Atkinson's Firdusi is one of those translations, even\nthough it be at the same time an abridgment, which have taken their\nplace in the rank of British classics. It is the highest praise that can\nbe given to a work of this character to say that it may be placed on the\nbookshelf side by side with Jeremy Collier's \"Marcus Aurelius,\" Leland's\n\"Demosthenes,\" and the \"Montaigne\" of Charles Cotton. It embalms the\ngenuine spirit and life of an Oriental poem in the simple yet tasteful\nform of English narrative. The blending of verse and prose is a happy\nexpedient. If we may use the metaphor of Horace, we should say, that Mr.\nAtkinson alternately trudges along on foot, and rises on the wings of\nverse into the upper air. The reader follows with pleasure both his\nmarch and his flight, and reaches the end of the volume with the\ndistinct impression that he has been reading a Persian poem, and all the\nwhile forgotten that it was written in the English language.\n\nE.W.\n\n\n\nTHE SH\u00c1H N\u00c1MEH\n\n\n\nKAI\u00daMERS\n\nAccording to the traditions of former ages, recorded in the\nBastan-n\u00e1meh, the first person who established a code of laws and\nexercised the functions of a monarch in Persia, was Kai\u00famers. It is said\nthat he dwelt among the mountains, and that his garments were made of\nthe skins of beasts.\n\n  His reign was thirty years, and o'er the earth\n  He spread the blessings of paternal sway;\n  Wild animals, obsequious to his will,\n  Assembled round his throne, and did him homage.\n  He had a son named Sai\u00e1muk, a youth\n  Of lovely form and countenance, in war\n  Brave and accomplished, and the dear delight\n  Of his fond father, who adored the boy,\n  And only dreaded to be parted from him.\n  So is it ever with the world--the parent\n  Still doating on his offspring. Kai\u00famers\n  Had not a foe, save one, a hideous Demon,\n  Who viewed his power with envy, and aspired\n  To work his ruin. He, too, had a son,\n  Fierce as a wolf, whose days were dark and bitter,\n  Because the favoring heavens in kinder mood\n  Smiled on the monarch and his gallant heir.\n  --When Sai\u00e1muk first heard the Demon's aim\n  Was to o'erthrow his father and himself,\n  Surprise and indignation filled his heart,\n  And speedily a martial force he raised,\n  To punish the invader. Proudly garbed\n  In leopard's skin, he hastened to the war;\n  But when the combatants, with eager mien,\n  Impatient met upon the battle-field.\n  And both together tried their utmost strength,\n  Down from his enemy's dragon-grasp soon fell\n  The luckless son of royal Kai\u00famers,\n  Vanquished and lifeless. Sad, unhappy fate!\n\nDisheartened by this disastrous event, the army immediately retreated,\nand returned to Kai\u00famers, who wept bitterly for the loss of his son, and\ncontinued a long time inconsolable. But after a year had elapsed a\nmysterious voice addressed him, saying:--\"Be patient, and despair\nnot--thou hast only to send another army against the Demons, and the\ntriumph and the victory will be thine.\n\n \"Drive from the earth that Demon horrible,\n  And sorrow will be rooted from thy heart.\"\n\nSai\u00e1muk left a son whose name was H\u00fasheng, whom the king loved much more\neven than his father.\n\n  H\u00fasheng his name. There seemed in him combined,\n  Knowledge and goodness eminent. To him\n  Was given his father's dignity and station.\n  And the old man, his grandsire, scarcely deigned\n  To look upon another, his affection\n  For him was so unbounded.\n\nKai\u00famers having appointed H\u00fasheng the leader of the army, the young hero\nset out with an immense body of troops to engage the Demon and his son.\nIt is said that at that time every species of animal, wild and tame, was\nobedient to his command.\n\n  The savage beasts, and those of gentler kind,\n  Alike reposed before him, and appeared\n  To do him homage.\n\nThe wolf, the tiger, the lion, the panther, and even the fowls of the\nair, assembled in aid of him, and he, by the blessing of God, slew the\nDemon and his offspring with his own hand. After which the army of\nKai\u00famers, and the devouring animals that accompanied him in his march,\ndefeated and tore to pieces the scattered legions of the enemy. Upon the\ndeath of Kai\u00famers H\u00fasheng ascended the throne of Persia.\n\n\n\nH\u00daSHENG\n\nIt is recorded that H\u00fasheng was the first who brought out fire from\nstone, and from that circumstance he founded the religion of the\nFire-worshippers, calling the flame which was produced, the Light of the\nDivinity. The accidental discovery of this element is thus described:--\n\n  Passing, one day, towards the mountain's side,\n  Attended by his train, surprised he saw\n  Something in aspect terrible--its eyes\n  Fountains of blood; its dreadful mouth sent forth\n  Volumes of smoke that darkened all the air.\n  Fixing his gaze upon that hideous form,\n  He seized a stone, and with prodigious force\n  Hurling it, chanced to strike a jutting rock,\n  Whence sparks arose, and presently a fire\n  O'erspread the plain, in which the monster perished.\n  --Thus H\u00fasheng found the element which shed\n  Light through the world. The monarch prostrate bowed,\n  Praising the great Creator, for the good\n  Bestowed on man, and, pious, then he said,\n  \"This is the Light from Heaven, sent down from God;\n  If ye be wise, adore and worship it!\"\n\nIt is also related that, in the evening of the day on which the luminous\nflash appeared to him from the stone, he lighted an immense fire, and,\nhaving made a royal entertainment, he called it the Festival of Siddeh.\nBy him the art of the blacksmith was discovered, and he taught river and\nstreamlet to supply the towns, and irrigate the fields for the purposes\nof cultivation. And he also brought into use the fur of the sable, and\nthe squirrel, and the ermine. Before his time mankind had nothing for\nfood but fruit, and the leaves of trees and the skins of animals for\nclothing. He introduced, and taught his people, the method of making\nbread, and the art of cookery.\n\n  Then ate they their own bread, for it was good,\n  And they were grateful to their benefactor;\n  Mild laws were framed--the very land rejoiced,\n  Smiling with cultivation; all the world\n  Remembering H\u00fasheng's virtues.\n\nThe period of his government is said to have lasted forty years, and he\nwas succeeded by his son, Tah\u00famers.\n\n\n\nTAH\u00daMERS\n\nThis sovereign was also called D\u00edw-bund, or the Binder of Demons. He\nassembled together all the wise men in his dominions, to consider and\ndeliberate upon whatever might be of utility and advantage to the people\nof God. In his days wool was spun and woven, and garments and carpets\nmanufactured, and various animals, such as panthers, falcons, hawks, and\nsyagoshes, were tamed, and taught to assist in the sports of the field.\nTah\u00famers had also a vizir, renowned for his wisdom and understanding.\nHaving one day charmed a Demon into his power by philters and magic, he\nconveyed him to Tah\u00famers; upon which, the brethren and allies of the\nprisoner, feeling ashamed and degraded by the insult, collected an army,\nand went to war against the king. Tah\u00famers was equally in wrath when he\nheard of these hostile proceedings, and having also gathered together an\narmy on his part, presented himself before the enemy. The name of the\nleader of the Demons was Gh\u00fa. On one side the force consisted of fire,\nand smoke, and Demons; on the other, brave and magnanimous warriors.\nTah\u00famers lifted his mace, as soon as he was opposed to the enemy, and\ngiving Gh\u00fa a blow on the head, killed him on the spot. The other Demons\nbeing taken prisoners, he ordered them to be destroyed; but they\npetitioned for mercy, promising, if their lives were spared, that they\nwould teach him a wonderful art. Tah\u00famers assented, and they immediately\nbrought their books, and pens and ink, and instructed him how to read\nand write.\n\n  They taught him letters, and his eager mind\n  With learning was illumined. The world was blest\n  With quiet and repose, Peris and Demons\n  Submitting to his will.\n\nThe reign of Tah\u00famers lasted thirty years, and after him the monarchy\ndescended to Jemsh\u00edd, his son.\n\n\n\nJEMSH\u00cdD\n\nJemsh\u00edd was eminently distinguished for learning and wisdom. It is said\nthat coats of mail, cuirasses, and swords and various kinds of armor\nwere invented and manufactured in his time, and also that garments of\nsilk were made and worn by his people.\n\n  Helmets and swords, with curious art they made,\n  Guided by Jemsh\u00edd's skill; and silks and linen\n  And robes of fur and ermine. Desert lands\n  Were cultivated; and wherever stream\n  Or rivulet wandered, and the soil was good,\n  He fixed the habitations of his people;\n  And there they ploughed and reaped: for in that age\n  All labored; none in sloth and idleness\n  Were suffered to remain, since indolence\n  Too often vanquishes the best, and turns\n  To nought the noblest, firmest resolution.\n\nJemsh\u00edd afterwards commanded his Demons to construct a splendid palace,\nand he directed his people how to make the foundations strong.\n\n  He taught the unholy Demon-train to mingle\n  Water and clay, with which, formed into bricks,\n  The walls were built, and then high turrets, towers,\n  And balconies, and roofs to keep out rain\n  And cold, and sunshine. Every art was known\n  To Jemsh\u00edd, without equal in the world.\n\nHe also made vessels for the sea and the river, and erected a\nmagnificent throne, embellished with pearls and precious stones; and\nhaving seated himself upon it, commanded his Demons to raise him up in\nthe air, that he might be able to transport himself in a moment wherever\nhe chose. He named the first day of the year _N\u00fa-r\u00faz_ and on every\n_N\u00fa-r\u00faz_ he made a royal feast, so that under his hospitable roof,\nmortals, and Genii, and Demons, and Peris, were delighted and happy,\nevery one being equally regaled with wine and music. His government is\nsaid to have continued in existence seven hundred years, and during that\nperiod, it is added, none of his subjects suffered death, or was\nafflicted with disease.\n\n  Man seemed immortal, sickness was unknown,\n  And life rolled on in happiness and joy.\n\nAfter the lapse of seven hundred years, however, inordinate ambition\ninflamed the heart of Jemsh\u00edd, and, having assembled all the illustrious\npersonages and learned men in his dominions before him, he said to\nthem:--\"Tell me if there exists, or ever existed, in all the world, a\nking of such magnificence and power as I am?\" They unanimously\nreplied:--\"Thou art alone, the mightiest, the most victorious: there is\nno equal to thee!\" The just God beheld this foolish pride and vanity\nwith displeasure, and, as a punishment, cast him from the government of\nan empire into a state of utter degradation and misery.\n\n  All looked upon the throne, and heard and saw\n  Nothing but Jemsh\u00edd, he alone was king,\n  Absorbing every thought; and in their praise,\n  And adoration of that mortal man,\n  Forgot the worship of the great Creator.\n  Then proudly thus he to his nobles spoke,\n  Intoxicated with their loud applause,\n  \"I am unequalled, for to me the earth\n  Owes all its science, never did exist\n  A sovereignty like mine, beneficent\n  And glorious, driving from the populous land\n  Disease and want. Domestic joy and rest\n  Proceed from me, all that is good and great\n  Waits my behest; the universal voice\n  Declares the splendor of my government,\n  Beyond whatever human heart conceived,\n  And me the only monarch of the world.\"\n  --Soon as these words had parted from his lips,\n  Words impious, and insulting to high heaven,\n  His earthly grandeur faded--then all tongues\n  Grew clamorous and bold. The day of Jemsh\u00edd\n  Passed into gloom, his brightness all obscured.\n  What said the Moralist? \"When thou wert a king\n  Thy subjects were obedient, but whoever\n  Proudly neglects the worship of his God,\n  Brings desolation on his house and home.\"\n  --And when he marked the insolence of his people,\n  He knew the wrath of Heaven had been provoked,\n  And terror overcame him.\n\n\n\nMIRT\u00c1S-T\u00c1Z\u00cd, AND HIS SON ZOH\u00c1K\n\nThe old historians relate that Mirt\u00e1s was the name of a king of the\nArabs; and that he had a thousand animals which gave milk, and the milk\nof these animals he always distributed in charity among the poor. God\nwas pleased with his goodness, and accordingly increased his favor upon\nhim.\n\n  Goats, sheep, and camels, yielded up their store\n  Of balmy milk, with which the generous king\n  Nourished the indigent and helpless poor.\n\nMirt\u00e1s had a son called Zoh\u00e1k, who possessed ten thousand Arab horses,\nor Taz\u00eds, upon which account he was surnamed B\u00edwurasp; biwur meaning ten\nthousand, and asp a horse. One day Ibl\u00eds, the Evil Spirit, appeared to\nZoh\u00e1k in the disguise of a good and virtuous man, and conversed with him\nin the most agreeable manner.\n\n  Pleased with his eloquence, the youth\n  Suspected not the speaker's truth;\n  But praised the sweet impassioned strain,\n  And asked him to discourse again.\n\nIbl\u00eds replied, that he was master of still sweeter converse,\nbut he could not address it to him, unless he first entered into\na solemn compact, and engaged never on any pretence to divulge\nhis secret.\n\n  Zoh\u00e1k in perfect innocence of heart\n  Assented to the oath, and bound himself\n  Never to tell the secret; all he wished\n  Was still to hear the good man's honey words.\n\nBut as soon as the oath was taken, Ibl\u00eds said to him: \"Thy father has\nbecome old and worthless, and thou art young, and wise, and valiant. Let\nhim no longer stand in thy way, but kill him; the robes of sovereignty\nare ready, and better adapted for thee.\"\n\n  The youth in agony of mind,\n  Heard what the stranger now designed;\n  Could crime like this be understood!\n  The shedding of a parent's blood!\n  Ibl\u00eds would no excuses hear--\n  The oath was sworn--his death was near.\n  \"For if thou think'st to pass it by,\n  The peril's thine, and thou must die!\"\n\nZoh\u00e1k was terrified and subdued by this warning, and asked Ibl\u00eds in what\nmanner he proposed to sacrifice his father. Ibl\u00eds replied, that he would\ndig a pit on the path-way which led to Mirt\u00e1s-T\u00e1zi's house of prayer.\nAccordingly he secretly made a deep well upon the spot most convenient\nfor the purpose, and covered it over with grass. At night, as the king\nwas going, as usual, to the house of prayer, he fell into the pit, and\nhis legs and arms being broken by the fall, he shortly expired. O\nrighteous Heaven! that father too, whose tenderness would not suffer\neven the winds to blow upon his son too roughly--and that son, by the\ntemptation of Ibl\u00eds, to bring such a father to a miserable end!\n\n  Thus urged to crime, through cruel treachery,\n  Zoh\u00e1k usurped his pious father's throne.\n\nWhen Ibl\u00eds found that he had got Zoh\u00e1k completely in his power, he told\nhim that, if he followed his counsel and advice implicitly, he would\nbecome the greatest monarch of the age, the sovereign of the seven\nclimes, signifying the whole world. Zoh\u00e1k agreed to every thing, and\nIbl\u00eds continued to bestow upon him the most devoted attention and\nflattery for the purpose of moulding him entirely to his will. To such\nan extreme degree had his authority attained, that he became the sole\ndirector even in the royal kitchen, and prepared for Zoh\u00e1k the most\ndelicious and savory food imaginable; for in those days bread and fruit\nonly were the usual articles of food. Ibl\u00eds himself was the original\ninventor of the cooking art. Zoh\u00e1k was delighted with the dishes, made\nfrom every variety of bird and four-footed animal. Every day something\nnew and rare was brought to his table, and every day Ibl\u00eds increased in\nfavor. But an egg was to him the most delicate of all! \"What can there\nbe superior to this?\" said he. \"To-morrow,\" replied Ibl\u00eds, \"thou shalt\nhave something better, and of a far superior kind.\"\n\n  Next day he brought delicious fare, and dressed\n  In manner exquisite to please the eye,\n  As well as taste; partridge and pheasant rich,\n  A banquet for a prince. Zoh\u00e1k beheld\n  Delighted the repast, and eagerly\n  Relished its flavor; then in gratitude,\n  And admiration of the matchless art\n  Which thus had ministered to his appetite,\n  He cried:--\"For this, whatever thou desirest,\n  And I can give, is thine.\" Ibl\u00eds was glad,\n  And, little anxious, had but one request--\n  One unimportant wish--it was to kiss\n  The monarch's naked shoulder--a mere whim.\n  And promptly did Zoh\u00e1k comply, for he\n  Was unsuspicious still, and stripped himself,\n  Ready to gratify that simple wish.\n\n  Ibl\u00eds then kissed the part with fiendish glee,\n  And vanished in an instant.\n\n                              From the touch\n  Sprang two black serpents! Then a tumult rose\n  Among the people, searching for Ibl\u00eds\n  Through all the palace, but they sought in vain.\n\n  To young and old it was a marvellous thing;\n  The serpents writhed about as seeking food,\n  And learned men to see the wonder came,\n  And sage magicians tried to charm away\n  That dreadful evil, but no cure was found.\n\nSome time afterwards Ibl\u00eds returned to Zoh\u00e1k, but in the shape of a\nphysician, and told him that it was according to his own horoscope that\nhe suffered in this manner--it was, in short, his destiny--and that the\nserpents would continue connected with him throughout his life,\ninvolving him in perpetual misery. Zoh\u00e1k sunk into despair, upon the\nassurance of there being no remedy for him, but Ibl\u00eds again roused him\nby saying, that if the serpents were fed daily with human brains, which\nwould probably kill them, his life might be prolonged, and made easy.\n\n  If life has any charm for thee,\n  The brain of man their food must be!\n\nWith the adoption of this deceitful stratagem, Ibl\u00eds was highly pleased,\nand congratulated himself upon the success of his wicked exertions,\nthinking that in this manner a great portion of the human race would be\ndestroyed. He was not aware that his craft and cunning had no influence\nin the house of God; and that the descendants of Adam are continually\nincreasing.\n\nWhen the people of Ir\u00e1n and T\u00far\u00e1n heard that Zoh\u00e1k kept near him two\ndevouring serpents, alarm and terror spread everywhere, and so universal\nwas the dread produced by this intelligence, that the nobles of Persia\nwere induced to abandon their allegiance to Jemsh\u00edd, and, turning\nthrough fear to Zoh\u00e1k, confederated with the Arab troops against their\nown country. Jemsh\u00edd continued for some time to resist their efforts,\nbut was at last defeated, and became a wanderer on the face of the\nearth.\n\n  To him existence was a burden now,\n  The world a desert--for Zoh\u00e1k had gained\n  The imperial crown, and from all acts and deeds\n  Of royal import, razed out the very name\n  Of Jemsh\u00edd hateful in the tyrant's eyes.\n\nThe Persian government having fallen into the hands of the usurper, he\nsent his spies in every direction for the purpose of getting possession\nof Jemsh\u00edd wherever he might be found, but their labor was not crowned\nwith success. The unfortunate wanderer, after experiencing numberless\nmisfortunes, at length took refuge in Z\u00e1bulist\u00e1n.\n\n  Flying from place to place, through wilderness,\n  Wide plain, and mountain, veiled from human eye,\n  Hungry and worn out with fatigue and sorrow,\n  He came to Z\u00e1bul.\n\nThe king of Z\u00e1bulist\u00e1n, whose name was G\u00fareng, had a daughter of extreme\nbeauty. She was also remarkable for her mental endowments, and was\nfamiliar with warlike exercises.\n\n  So graceful in her movements, and so sweet,\n  Her very look plucked from the breast of age\n  The root of sorrow--her wine-sipping lips,\n  And mouth like sugar, cheeks all dimpled o'er\n  With smiles, and glowing as the summer rose--\n  Won every heart.\n\nThis damsel, possessed of these beauties and charms, was accustomed to\ndress herself in the warlike habiliments of a man, and to combat with\nheroes. She was then only fifteen years of age, but so accomplished in\nvalor, judgment, and discretion, that Min\u00fachihr, who had in that year\ncommenced hostile operations against her father, was compelled to\nrelinquish his pretensions, and submit to the gallantry which she\ndisplayed on that occasion. Her father's realm was saved by her\nmagnanimity. Many kings were her suitors, but G\u00fareng would not give his\nconsent to her marriage with any of them. He only agreed that she should\nmarry the sovereign whom she might spontaneously love.\n\n  It must be love, and love alone,[1]\n  That binds thee to another's throne;\n  In this my father has no voice,\n  Thine the election, thine the choice.\n\nThe daughter of G\u00fareng had a K\u00e1bul woman for her nurse, who was deeply\nskilled in all sorts of magic and sorcery.\n\n  The old enchantress well could say,\n  What would befall on distant day;\n  And by her art omnipotent,\n  Could from the watery element\n  Draw fire, and with her magic breath,\n  Seal up a dragon's eyes in death.\n  Could from the flint-stone conjure dew;\n  The moon and seven stars she knew;\n  And of all things invisible\n  To human sight, this crone could tell.\n\nThis K\u00e1bul sorceress had long before intimated to the damsel that,\nconformably with her destiny, which had been distinctly ascertained from\nthe motions of the heavenly bodies, she would, after a certain time, be\nmarried to King Jemsh\u00edd, and bear him a beautiful son. The damsel was\noverjoyed at these tidings, and her father received them with equal\npleasure, refusing in consequence the solicitations of every other\nsuitor. Now according to the prophecy, Jemsh\u00edd arrived at the city of\nZ\u00e1bul in the spring season, when the roses were in bloom; and it so\nhappened that the garden of King G\u00fareng was in the way, and also that\nhis daughter was amusing herself at the time in the garden. Jemsh\u00edd\nproceeded in that direction, but the keepers of the garden would not\nallow him to pass, and therefore, fatigued and dispirited, he sat down\nby the garden-door under the shade of a tree. Whilst he was sitting\nthere a slave-girl chanced to come out of the garden, and, observing\nhim, was surprised at his melancholy and forlorn condition. She said to\nhim involuntarily: \"Who art thou?\" and Jemsh\u00edd raising up his eyes,\nreplied:--\"I was once possessed of wealth and lived in great affluence,\nbut I am now abandoned by fortune, and have come from a distant country.\nWould to heaven I could be blessed with a few cups of wine, my fatigue\nand affliction might then be relieved.\" The girl smiled, and returned\nhastily to the princess, and told her that a young man, wearied with\ntravelling, was sitting at the garden gate, whose countenance was more\nlovely even than that of her mistress, and who requested to have a few\ncups of wine. When the damsel heard such high praise of the stranger's\nfeatures she was exceedingly pleased, and said: \"He asks only for wine,\nbut I will give him both wine and music, and a beautiful mistress\nbeside.\"\n\n  This saying, she repaired towards the gate,\n  In motion graceful as the waving cypress,\n  Attended by her hand-maid; seeing him,\n  She thought he was a warrior of Ir\u00e1n\n  With spreading shoulders, and his loins well bound.\n  His visage pale as the pomegranate flower,\n  He looked like light in darkness. Warm emotions\n  Rose in her heart, and softly thus she spoke:\n  \"Grief-broken stranger, rest thee underneath\n  These shady bowers; if wine can make thee glad,\n  Enter this pleasant place, and drink thy fill.\"\n\nWhilst the damsel was still speaking and inviting Jemsh\u00edd into the\ngarden, he looked at her thoughtfully, and hesitated; and she said to\nhim: \"Why do you hesitate? I am permitted by my father to do what I\nplease, and my heart is my own.\n\n  \"Stranger, my father is the monarch mild\n  Of Z\u00e1bulist\u00e1n, and I his only child;\n  On me is all his fond affection shown;\n  My wish is his, on me he dotes alone.\"\n\nJemsh\u00edd had before heard of the character and renown of this\nextraordinary damsel, yet he was not disposed to comply with her\nentreaty; but contemplating again her lovely face, his heart became\nenamoured, when she took him by the hand and led him along the beautiful\nwalks.\n\n  With dignity and elegance she passed--\n  As moves the mountain partridge through the meads;\n  Her tresses richly falling to her feet,\n  And filling with perfume the softened breeze.\n\nIn their promenade they arrived at the basin of a fountain, near which\nthey seated themselves upon royal carpets, and the damsel having placed\nJemsh\u00edd in such a manner that they might face each other, she called for\nmusic and wine.\n\n  But first the rose-cheeked handmaids gathered round,\n  And washed obsequiously the stranger's feet;\n  Then on the margin of the silvery lake\n  Attentive sate.\n\nThe youth, after this, readily took the wine and refreshments which were\nordered by the princess.\n\n  Three cups he drank with eager zest,\n    Three cups of ruby wine;\n  Which banished sorrow from his breast,\n    For memory left no sign\n  Of past affliction; not a trace\n  Remained upon his heart, or smiling face.\n\nWhilst he was drinking, the princess observed his peculiar action and\nelegance of manner, and instantly said in her heart: \"This must be a\nking!\" She then offered him some more food, as he had come a long\njourney, and from a distant land, but he only asked for more wine. \"Is\nyour fondness for wine so great?\" said she. And he replied: \"With wine I\nhave no enemy; yet, without it I can be resigned and contented.\n\n \"Whilst drinking wine I never see\n  The frowning face of my enemy;\n  Drink freely of the grape, and nought\n  Can give the soul one mournful thought;\n  Wine is a bride of witching power,\n  And wisdom is her marriage dower;\n  Wine can the purest joy impart,\n  Wine inspires the saddest heart;\n  Wine gives cowards valour's rage,\n  Wine gives youth to tottering age;\n  Wine gives vigour to the weak,\n  And crimson to the pallid cheek;\n  And dries up sorrow, as the sun\n  Absorbs the dew it shines upon.\"\n\nFrom the voice and eloquence of the speaker she now conjectured that\nthis certainly must be King Jemsh\u00edd, and she felt satisfied that her\nnotions would soon be realized. At this moment she recollected that\nthere was a picture of Jemsh\u00edd in her father's gallery, and thought of\nsending for it to compare the features; but again she considered that\nthe person before her was certainly and truly Jemsh\u00edd, and that the\npicture would be unnecessary on the occasion.\n\nIt is said that two ring-doves, a male and female, happened to alight on\nthe garden wall near the fountain where they were sitting, and began\nbilling and cooing in amorous play, so that seeing them together in such\nsoft intercourse, blushes overspread the cheeks of the princess, who\nimmediately called for her bow and arrows. When they were brought she\nsaid to Jemsh\u00edd, \"Point out which of them I shall hit, and I will bring\nit to the ground.\" Jemsh\u00edd replied: \"Where a man is, a woman's aid is\nnot required--give me the bow, and mark my skill;\n\n \"However brave a woman may appear,\n  Whatever strength of arm she may possess,\n  She is but half a man!\"\n\nUpon this observation being made, the damsel turned her head aside\nashamed, and gave him the bow. Her heart was full of love. Jemsh\u00edd took\nthe bow, and selecting a feathered arrow out of her hand, said:--\"Now\nfor a wager. If I hit the female, shall the lady whom I most admire in\nthis company be mine?\" The damsel assented. Jemsh\u00edd drew the string, and\nthe arrow struck the female dove so skilfully as to transfix both the\nwings, and pin them together. The male ring-dove flew away, but moved by\nnatural affection it soon returned, and settled on the same spot as\nbefore. The bow was said to be so strong that there was not a warrior in\nthe whole kingdom who could even draw the string; and when the damsel\nwitnessed the dexterity of the stranger, and the ease with which he used\nthe weapon, she thought within her heart, \"There can be no necessity for\nthe picture; I am certain that this can be no other than the King\nJemsh\u00edd, the son of Tah\u00famers, called the Binder of Demons.\" Then she\ntook the bow from the hand of Jemsh\u00edd, and observed: \"The male bird has\nreturned to its former place, if my aim be successful shall the man whom\nI choose in this company be my husband?\" Jemsh\u00edd instantly understood\nher meaning. At that moment the K\u00e1bul nurse appeared, and the young\nprincess communicated to her all that had occurred. The nurse leisurely\nexamined Jemsh\u00edd from head to foot with a slave-purchaser's eye, and\nknew him, and said to her mistress--\"All that I saw in thy horoscope and\nforetold, is now in the course of fulfilment. God has brought Jemsh\u00edd\nhither to be thy spouse. Be not regardless of thy good fortune, and the\nAlmighty will bless thee with a son, who will be the conqueror of the\nworld. The signs and tokens of thy destiny I have already explained.\"\nThe damsel had become greatly enamoured of the person of the stranger\nbefore she knew who he was, and now being told by her nurse that he was\nJemsh\u00edd himself, her affection was augmented twofold.\n\n  The happy tidings, blissful to her heart,\n  Increased the ardour of her love for him.\n\nAnd now the picture was brought to the princess, who, finding the\nresemblance exact, put it into Jemsh\u00edd's hand. Jemsh\u00edd, in secretly\nrecognizing his own likeness, was forcibly reminded of his past glory\nand happiness, and he burst into tears.\n\n  The memory of the diadem and throne\n  No longer his, came o'er him, and his soul\n  Was rent with anguish.\n\nThe princess said to him: \"Why at the commencement of our friendship\ndost thou weep? Art thou discontented--dissatisfied, unhappy? and am I\nthe cause?\" Jemsh\u00edd replied: \"No, it is simply this; those who have\nfeeling, and pity the sufferings of others, weep involuntarily. I pity\nthe misfortunes of Jemsh\u00edd, driven as he is by adversity from the\nsplendor of a throne, and reduced to a state of destitution and ruin.\nBut he must now be dead; devoured, perhaps, by the wolves and lions of\nthe forest.\" The nurse and princess, however, were convinced, from the\nsweetness of his voice and discourse, that he could be no other than\nJemsh\u00edd himself, and taking him aside, they said: \"Speak truly, art thou\nnot Jemsh\u00edd?\" But he denied himself. Again, they observed: \"What says\nthis picture?\" To this he replied; \"It is not impossible that I may be\nlike Jemsh\u00edd in feature; for surely there may be in the world two men\nlike each other?\" And notwithstanding all the efforts made by the damsel\nand her nurse to induce Jemsh\u00edd to confess, he still resolutely denied\nhimself. Several times she assured him she would keep his secret, if he\nhad one, but that she was certain of his being Jemsh\u00edd. Still he denied\nhimself. \"This nurse of mine, whom thou seest,\" said she, \"has often\nrepeated to me the good tidings that I should be united to Jemsh\u00edd, and\nbear him a son. My heart instinctively acknowledged thee at first sight:\nthen wherefore this denial of the truth? Many kings have solicited my\nhand in marriage, but all have been rejected, as I am destined to be\nthine, and united to no other.\" Dismissing now all her attendants, she\nremained with the nurse and Jemsh\u00edd, and then resumed:--\n\n  \"How long hath sleep forsaken me? how long\n  Hath my fond heart been kept awake by love?\n  Hope still upheld me--give me one kind look,\n  And I will sacrifice my life for thee;\n  Come, take my life, for it is thine for ever.\"\n\nSaying this, the damsel began to weep, and shedding a flood of tears,\ntenderly reproached him for not acknowledging the truth. Jemsh\u00edd was at\nlength moved by her affection and sorrow, and thus addressed\nher:--\"There are two considerations which at present prevent the truth\nbeing told. One of them is my having a powerful enemy, and Heaven forbid\nthat he should obtain information of my place of refuge. The other is, I\nnever intrust my secrets to a woman!\n\n \"Fortune I dread, since fortune is my foe,\n  And womankind are seldom known to keep\n  Another's secret. To be poor and safe,\n  Is better far than wealth exposed to peril.\"\n  To this the princess: \"Is it so decreed,\n  That every woman has two tongues, two hearts?\n  All false alike, their tempers all the same?\n  No, no! could I disloyally betray thee?\n  I who still love thee better than my life?\"\n\nJemsh\u00edd found it impossible to resist the damsel's incessant entreaties\nand persuasive tenderness, mingled as they were with tears of sorrow.\nVanquished thus by the warmth of her affections, he told her his name,\nand the history of his misfortunes. She then ardently seized his hand,\noverjoyed at the disclosure, and taking him privately to her own\nchamber, they were married according to the customs of her country.\n\n  Him to the secret bower with blushing cheek\n  Exultingly she led, and mutual bliss,\n  Springing from mutual tenderness and love,\n  Entranced their souls.\n\nWhen G\u00fareng the king found that his daughter's visits to him became less\nfrequent than usual, he set his spies to work, and was not long in\nascertaining the cause of her continued absence. She had married without\nhis permission, and he was in great wrath. It happened, too, at this\ntime that the bride was pale and in delicate health.\n\n  The mystery soon was manifest,\n  And thus the king his child addrest,\n  Whilst anger darkened o'er his brow:--\n  \"What hast thou done, ungrateful, now?\n  Why hast thou flung, in evil day,\n  The veil of modesty away?\n  That cheek the bloom of spring displayed,\n  Now all is withered, all decayed;\n  But daughters, as the wise declare,\n  Are ever false, if they be fair.\"\n\n  Incensed at words so sharp and strong,\n  The damsel thus repelled the wrong:--\n  \"Me, father, canst thou justly blame?\n  I never, never, brought thee shame;\n  With me can sin and crime accord,\n  When Jemsh\u00edd is my wedded lord?\"\n\nAfter this precipitate avowal, the K\u00e1bul nurse, of many spells,\ninstantly took up her defence, and informed the king that the prophecy\nshe had formerly communicated to him was on the point of fulfilment, and\nthat the Almighty having, in the course of destiny, brought Jemsh\u00edd into\nhis kingdom, the princess, according to the same planetary influence,\nwould shortly become a mother.\n\n  And now the damsel grovels on the ground\n  Before King G\u00fareng. \"Well thou know'st,\" she cries,\n  \"From me no evil comes. Whether in arms,\n  Or at the banquet, honour guides me still:\n  And well thou know'st thy royal will pronounced\n  That I should be unfettered in my choice,\n  And free to take the husband I preferred.\n  This I have done; and to the greatest king\n  The world can boast, my fortunes are united,\n  To Jemsh\u00edd, the most perfect of mankind.\"\n\nWith this explanation the king expressed abundant and unusual\nsatisfaction. His satisfaction, however, did not arise from the\ncircumstance of the marriage, and the new connection it established, but\nfrom the opportunity it afforded him of betraying Jemsh\u00edd, and\ntreacherously sending him bound to Zoh\u00e1k, which he intended to do, in\nthe hopes of being magnificently rewarded. Exulting with this\nanticipation, he said to her smiling:--\n\n  \"Glad tidings thou hast given to me,\n  My glory owes its birth to thee;\n  I bless the day, and bless the hour,\n  Which placed this Jemsh\u00edd in my power.\n  Now to Zoh\u00e1k, a captive bound,\n  I send the wanderer thou hast found;\n  For he who charms the monarch's eyes,\n  With this long-sought, this noble prize,\n  On solemn word and oath, obtains\n  A wealthy kingdom for his pains.\"\n\nOn hearing these cruel words the damsel groaned, and wept exceedingly\nbefore her father, and said to him: \"Oh, be not accessory to the murder\nof such a king! Wealth and kingdoms pass away, but a bad name remains\ntill the day of doom.\n\n \"Turn thee, my father, from this dreadful thought,\n  And save his sacred blood: let not thy name\n  Be syllabled with horror through the world,\n  For such an act as this. When foes are slain,\n  It is enough, but keep the sword away\n  From friends and kindred; shun domestic crime.\n  Fear him who giveth life, and strength, and power,\n  For goodness is most blessed. On the day\n  Of judgment thou wilt then be unappalled.\n  But if determined to divide us, first\n  Smite off this head, and let thy daughter die.\"\n\nSo deep and violent was the grief of the princess, and her lamentations\nso unceasing, that the father became softened into compassion, and, on\nher account, departed from the resolution he had made. He even promised\nto furnish Jemsh\u00edd with possessions, with treasure, and an army, and\nrequested her to give him the consolation he required, adding that he\nwould see him in the morning in his garden.\n\n  The heart-alluring damsel instant flew\n  To tell the welcome tidings to her lord.\n\nNext day King G\u00fareng proceeded to the garden, and had an interview with\nJemsh\u00edd, to whom he expressed the warmest favor and affection; but\nnotwithstanding all he said, Jemsh\u00edd could place no confidence in his\nprofessions, and was anxious to effect his escape. He was, indeed, soon\nconvinced of his danger, for he had a private intimation that the king's\nvizirs were consulting together on the expedience of securing his\nperson, under the apprehension that Zoh\u00e1k would be invading the country,\nand consigning it to devastation and ruin, if his retreat was\ndiscovered. He therefore took to flight.\n\nJemsh\u00edd first turned his steps towards Ch\u00edn, and afterwards into Ind. He\nhad travelled a great distance in that beautiful country, and one day\ncame to a tower, under whose shadow he sought a little repose, for the\nthoughts of his melancholy and disastrous condition kept him almost\nconstantly awake.\n\n  And am I thus to perish? Thus forlorn,\n  To mingle with the dust? Almighty God!\n  Was ever mortal born to such a fate,\n  A fate so sad as mine! O that I never\n  Had drawn the breath of life, to perish thus!\n\nExhausted by the keenness of his affliction Jemsh\u00edd at length fell\nasleep. Zoh\u00e1k, in the meanwhile, had despatched an envoy, with an escort\nof troops, to the Khak\u00e1n of Ch\u00edn, and at that moment the cavalcade\nhappened to be passing by the tower where Jemsh\u00edd was reposing. The\nenvoy, attracted to the spot, immediately recognized him, and awakening\nhim to a sense of this new misfortune, secured the despairing and\nagonized wanderer, and sent him to Zoh\u00e1k.\n\n  He saw a person sleeping on the ground,\n  And knew that it was Jemsh\u00edd. Overjoyed,\n  He bound his feet with chains, and mounted him\n  Upon a horse, a prisoner.\n\n                             What a world!\n  No place of rest for man! Fix not thy heart,\n  Vain mortal! on this tenement of life,\n  On earthly pleasures; think of Jemsh\u00edd's fate;\n  His glory reached the Heavens, and now this world\n  Has bound the valiant monarch's limbs in fetters,\n  And placed its justice in the hands of slaves.\n\nWhen Zoh\u00e1k received intelligence of the apprehension of his enemy, he\nordered him to be brought before the throne that he might enjoy the\ntriumph.\n\n  All fixed their gaze upon the captive king,\n  Loaded with chains; his hands behind his back;\n  The ponderous fetters passing from his neck\n  Down to his feet; oppressed with shame he stood,\n  Like the narcissus bent with heavy dew.\n  Zoh\u00e1k received him with a scornful smile,\n  Saying, \"Where is thy diadem, thy throne,\n  Where is thy kingdom, where thy sovereign rule;\n  Thy laws and royal ordinances--where,\n  Where are they now? What change is this that fate\n  Has wrought upon thee?\" Jemsh\u00edd thus rejoined:\n  \"Unjustly am I brought in chains before thee,\n  Betrayed, insulted--thou the cause of all,\n  And yet thou wouldst appear to feel my wrongs!\"\n  Incensed at this defiance, mixed with scorn,\n  Fiercely Zoh\u00e1k replied, \"Then choose thy death;\n  Shall I behead thee, stab thee, or impale thee,\n  Or with an arrow's point transfix thy heart!\n  What is thy choice?\"--\n\n                          \"Since I am in thy power,\n  Do with me what thou wilt--why should I dread\n  Thy utmost vengeance, why express a wish\n  To save my body from a moment's pain!\"\n\nAs soon as Zoh\u00e1k heard these words he resolved upon a horrible deed of\nvengeance. He ordered two planks to be brought, and Jemsh\u00edd being\nfastened down between them, his body was divided the whole length with a\nsaw, making two figures of Jemsh\u00edd out of one!\n\n  Why do mankind upon this fleeting world\n  Place their affections, wickedness alone\n  Is nourished into freshness; sounds of death, too,\n  Are ever on the gale to wear out life.\n  My heart is satisfied--O Heaven! no more,\n  Free me at once from this continual sorrow.\n\nIt was not long before tidings of the foul proceedings, which put an end\nto the existence of the unfortunate Jemsh\u00edd, reached Z\u00e1bulist\u00e1n. The\nprincess, his wife, on hearing of his fate, wasted away with\ninconsolable grief, and at last took poison to unburden herself of\ninsupportable affliction.\n\nIt is related that Jemsh\u00edd had two sisters, named Shahrn\u00e1z and Arnaw\u00e1z.\nThey had been both seized, and conveyed to Zoh\u00e1k by his people, and\ncontinued in confinement for some time in the King's harem, but they\nwere afterwards released by Ferid\u00fan.\n\nThe tyrant's cruelty and oppression had become intolerable. He was\nconstantly shedding blood, and committing every species of crime.\n\n  The serpents still on human brains were fed,\n  And every day two youthful victims bled;\n  The sword, still ready--thirsting still to strike,\n  Warrior and slave were sacrificed alike.\n\nThe career of Zoh\u00e1k himself, however, was not unvisited by terrors. One\nnight he dreamt that he was attacked by three warriors; two of them of\nlarge stature, and one of them small. The youngest struck him a blow on\nthe head with his mace, bound his hands, and casting a rope round his\nneck, dragged him along in the presence of crowds of people. Zoh\u00e1k\nscreamed, and sprung up from his sleep in the greatest horror. The\nfemales of his harem were filled with amazement when they beheld the\nterrified countenance of the king who, in reply to their inquiries,\nsaid, trembling: \"This is a dream too dreadful to be concealed.\" He\nafterwards called together the M\u00fabids, or wise men of his court; and\nhaving communicated to them the particulars of what had appeared to him\nin his sleep, commanded them to give him a faithful interpretation of\nthe dream. The M\u00fabids foresaw in this vision the approaching declension\nof his power and dominion, but were afraid to explain their opinions,\nbecause they were sure that their lives would be sacrificed if the true\ninterpretation was given to him. Three days were consumed under the\npretence of studying more scrupulously all the signs and appearances,\nand still not one of them had courage to speak out. On the fourth day\nthe king grew angry, and insisted upon the dream being interpreted. In\nthis dilemma, the M\u00fabids said, \"Then, if the truth must be told, without\nevasion, thy life approaches to an end, and Ferid\u00fan, though yet unborn,\nwill be thy successor,\"--\"But who was it,\" inquired Zoh\u00e1k impatiently,\n\"that struck the blow on my head?\" The M\u00fabids declared, with fear and\ntrembling, \"it was the apparition of Ferid\u00fan himself, who is destined to\nsmite thee on the head.\"--\"But why,\" rejoined Zoh\u00e1k, \"does he wish to\ninjure me?\"--\"Because, his father's blood being spilt by thee, vengeance\nfalls into his hands.\" Hearing this interpretation of his dream, the\nking sunk senseless on the ground; and when he recovered, he could\nneither sleep nor take food, but continued overwhelmed with sorrow and\nmisery. The light of his day was forever darkened.\n\nAbt\u00edn was the name of Ferid\u00fan's father, and that of his mother Far\u00e1nuk,\nof the race of Tah\u00famers. Zoh\u00e1k, therefore, stimulated to further cruelty\nby the prophecy, issued an order that every person belonging to the\nfamily of the Kais, wherever found, should be seized and fettered, and\nbrought to him. Abt\u00edn had long avoided discovery, continuing to reside\nin the most retired and solitary places; but one day his usual\ncircumspection forsook him, and he ventured beyond his limits. This\nimprudent step was dreadfully punished, for the spies of Zoh\u00e1k fell in\nwith him, recognized him, and carrying him to the king, he was\nimmediately put to death. When the mother of Ferid\u00fan heard of this\nsanguinary catastrophe, she took up her infant and fled. It is said that\nFerid\u00fan was at that time only two months old. In her flight, the mother\nhappened to arrive at some pasturage ground. The keeper of the pasture\nhad a cow named Pur'm\u00e1ieh, which yielded abundance of milk, and he gave\nit away in charity. In consequence of the grief and distress of mind\noccasioned by the murder of her husband, Far\u00e1nuk's milk dried up in her\nbreasts, and she was therefore under the necessity of feeding the child\nwith the milk from the cow. She remained there one night, and would have\ndeparted in the morning; but considering the deficiency of milk, and the\nmisery in which she was involved, continually afraid of being discovered\nand known, she did not know what to do. At length she thought it best to\nleave Ferid\u00fan with the keeper of the pasture, and resigning him to the\nprotection of God, went herself to the mountain Alberz. The keeper\nreadily complied with the tenderest wishes of the mother, and nourished\nthe child with the fondness and affection of a parent during the space\nof three years. After that period had elapsed, deep sorrow continuing to\nafflict the mind of Far\u00e1nuk, she returned secretly to the old man of the\npasture, for the purpose of reclaiming and conveying Ferid\u00fan to a safer\nplace of refuge upon the mountain Alberz. The keeper said to her: \"Why\ndost thou take the child to the mountain? he will perish there;\" but she\nreplied that God Almighty had inspired a feeling in her heart that it\nwas necessary to remove him. It was a divine inspiration, and verified\nby the event.\n\nIntelligence having at length reached Zoh\u00e1k that the son of Abt\u00edn was\nnourished and protected by the keeper of the pasture, he himself\nproceeded with a large force to the spot, where he put to death the\nkeeper and all his tribe, and also the cow which had supplied milk to\nFerid\u00fan, whom he sought for in vain.\n\n  He found the dwelling of his infant-foe,\n  And laid it in the dust; the very ground\n  Was punished for the sustenance it gave him.\n\nThe ancient records relate that a dervish happened to have taken up his\nabode in the mountain Alberz, and that Far\u00e1nuk committed her infant to\nhis fostering care. The dervish generously divided with the mother and\nson all the food and comforts which God gave him, and at the same time\nhe took great pains in storing the mind of Ferid\u00fan with various kinds of\nknowledge. One day he said to the mother: \"The person foretold by wise\nmen and astrologers as the destroyer of Zoh\u00e1k and his tyranny, is thy\nson!\n\n \"This child to whom thou gavest birth,\n  Will be the monarch of the earth;\"\n\nand the mother, from several concurring indications and signs, held a\nsimilar conviction.\n\nWhen Ferid\u00fan had attained his sixteenth year, he descended from the\nmountain, and remained for a time on the plain beneath. He inquired of\nhis mother why Zoh\u00e1k had put his father to death, and Far\u00e1nuk then told\nhim the melancholy story; upon hearing which, he resolved to be revenged\non the tyrant. His mother endeavored to divert him from his\ndetermination, observing that he was young, friendless, and alone,\nwhilst his enemy was the master of the world, and surrounded by armies.\n\"Be not therefore precipitate,\" said she. \"If it is thy destiny to\nbecome a king, wait till the Almighty shall bless thee with means\nsufficient for the purpose.\"\n\n  Displeased, the youth his mother's caution heard,\n  And meditating vengeance on the head\n  Of him who robbed him of a father, thus\n  Impatiently replied:--\"'Tis Heaven inspires me;\n  Led on by Heaven, this arm will quickly bring\n  The tyrant from his palace, to the dust.\"\n  \"Imprudent boy!\" the anxious mother said;\n  \"Canst thou contend against imperial power?\n  Must I behold thy ruin? Pause awhile,\n  And perish not in this wild enterprise.\"\n\nIt is recorded that Zoh\u00e1k's dread of Ferid\u00fan was so great, that day by\nday he became more irritable, wasting away in bitterness of spirit, for\npeople of all ranks kept continually talking of the young invader, and\nwere daily expecting his approach. At last he came, and Zoh\u00e1k was\nsubdued, and his power extinguished.\n\n\n\nKAVAH, THE BLACKSMITH\n\nZoh\u00e1k having one day summoned together all the nobles and philosophers\nof the kingdom, he said to them: \"I find that a young enemy has risen up\nagainst me; but notwithstanding his tender years, there is no safety\neven with an apparently insignificant foe. I hear, too, that though\nyoung, he is distinguished for his prowess and wisdom; yet I fear not\nhim, but the change of fortune. I wish therefore to assemble a large\narmy, consisting of Men, Demons, and Peris, that this enemy may be\nsurrounded, and conquered. And, further, since a great enterprise is on\nthe eve of being undertaken, it will be proper in future to keep a\nregister or muster-roll of all the people of every age in my dominions,\nand have it revised annually.\" The register, including both old and\nyoung, was accordingly prepared.\n\nAt that period there lived a man named Kavah, a blacksmith, remarkably\nstrong and brave, and who had a large family. Upon the day on which it\nfell to the lot of two of his children to be killed to feed the\nserpents, he rose up with indignation in presence of the king, and said:\n\n  \"Thou art the king, but wherefore on my head\n  Cast fire and ashes? If thou hast the form\n  Of hissing dragon, why to me be cruel?\n  Why give the brains of my beloved children\n  As serpent-food, and talk of doing justice?\"\n\n  At this bold speech the monarch was dismayed,\n  And scarcely knowing what he did, released\n  The blacksmith's sons. How leapt the father's heart,\n  How warmly he embraced his darling boys!\n  But now Zoh\u00e1k directs that Kavah's name\n  Shall be inscribed upon the register.\n  Soon as the blacksmith sees it written there,\n  Wrathful he turns towards the chiefs assembled,\n  Exclaiming loud: \"Are ye then men, or what,\n  Leagued with a Demon!\" All astonished heard,\n  And saw him tear the hated register,\n  And cast it under foot with rage and scorn.\n\nKavah having thus reviled the king bitterly, and destroyed the register\nof blood, departed from the court, and took his children along with him.\nAfter he had gone away, the nobles said to the king:\n\n  \"Why should reproaches, sovereign of the world,\n  Be thus permitted? Why the royal scroll\n  Torn in thy presence, with a look and voice\n  Of proud defiance, by the rebel blacksmith?\n  So fierce his bearing, that he seems to be\n  A bold confederate of this Ferid\u00fan.\"\n  Zoh\u00e1k replied: \"I know not what o'ercame me,\n  But when I saw him with such vehemence\n  Of grief and wild distraction, strike his forehead,\n  Lamenting o'er his children, doomed to death,\n  Amazement seized my heart, and chained my will.\n  What may become of this, Heaven only knows,\n  For none can pierce the veil of destiny.\"\n\n  Kavah, meanwhile, with warning voice set forth\n  What wrongs the nation suffered, and there came\n  Multitudes round him, who called out aloud\n  For justice! justice! On his javelin's point\n  He fixed his leathern apron for a banner,\n  And lifting it on high, he went abroad\n  To call the people to a task of vengeance.\n  Wherever it was seen crowds followed fast,\n  Tired of the cruel tyranny they suffered.\n  \"Let us unite with Ferid\u00fan,\" he cried,\n  \"And from Zoh\u00e1k's oppression we are free!\"\n  And still he called aloud, and all obeyed\n  Who heard him, high and low. Anxious he sought\n  For Ferid\u00fan, not knowing his retreat:\n  But still he hoped success would crown his search.\n\n  The hour arrived, and when he saw the youth,\n  Instinctively he knew him, and thanked Heaven\n  For that good fortune. Then the leathern banner\n  Was splendidly adorned with gold and jewels,\n  And called the flag of Kavah. From that time\n  It was a sacred symbol; every king\n  In future, on succeeding to the throne,\n  Did honor to that banner, the true sign\n  Of royalty, in veneration held.\n\nFerid\u00fan, aided by the directions and advice of the blacksmith, now\nproceeded against Zoh\u00e1k. His mother wept to see him depart, and\ncontinually implored the blessing of God upon him. He had two elder\nbrothers, whom he took along with him. Desirous of having a mace formed\nlike the head of a cow, he requested Kavah to make one of iron, and it\nwas accordingly made in the shape he described. In his progress, he\nvisited a shrine or place of pilgrimage frequented by the worshippers of\nGod, where he besought inspiration and aid, and where he was taught by a\nradiant personage the mysteries of the magic art, receiving from him a\nkey to every secret.\n\n  Bright beamed his eye, with firmer step he strode,\n  His smiling cheek with warmer crimson glowed.\n\nWhen his two brothers saw his altered mien, the pomp and splendor of his\nappearance, they grew envious of his good fortune, and privately\nmeditated his fall. One day they found him asleep at the foot of a\nmountain, and they immediately went to the top and rolled down a heavy\nfragment of rock upon him with the intention of crushing him to death;\nbut the clattering noise of the stone awoke him, and, instantly\nemploying the knowledge of sorcery which had been communicated to him,\nthe stone was suddenly arrested by him in its course. The brothers\nbeheld this with astonishment, and hastening down the mountain, cried\naloud: \"We know not how the stone was loosened from its place: God\nforbid that it should have done any injury to Ferid\u00fan.\" Ferid\u00fan,\nhowever, was well aware of this being the evil work of his brothers, but\nhe took no notice of the conspiracy, and instead of punishing them,\nraised them to higher dignity and consequence.\n\nThey saw that Kavah directed the route of Ferid\u00fan over the mountainous\ntracts and plains which lie contiguous to the banks of the Dijleh, or\nTigris, close to the city of Bagdad. Upon reaching that river, they\ncalled for boats, but got no answer from the ferryman; at which Ferid\u00fan\nwas enraged, and immediately plunged, on horseback, into the foaming\nstream. All his army followed without delay, and with the blessing of\nGod arrived on the other side in safety. He then turned toward the\nBait-el-Mukaddus, built by Zoh\u00e1k. In the Pahlavi language it was called\nKunuk-duz-mokt. The tower of this edifice was so lofty that it might be\nseen at the distance of many leagues, and within that tower Zoh\u00e1k had\nformed a talisman of miraculous virtues. Ferid\u00fan soon overthrew this\ntalisman, and destroyed or vanquished successively with his mace all the\nenchanted monsters and hideous shapes which appeared before him. He\ncaptured the whole of the building, and released all the black-eyed\ndamsels who were secluded there, and among them Shahrn\u00e1z and Arnaw\u00e1z,\nthe two sisters of Jemsh\u00edd before alluded to. He then ascended the empty\nthrone of Zoh\u00e1k, which had been guarded by the talisman, and the Demons\nunder his command; and when he heard that the tyrant had gone with an\nimmense army toward Ind, in quest of his new enemy, and had left his\ntreasury with only a small force at the seat of his government, he\nrejoiced, and appropriated the throne and the treasure to himself.\n\n  From their dark solitudes the Youth brought forth\n  The black-haired damsels, lovely as the sun,\n  And Jemsh\u00edd's sisters, long imprisoned there;\n  And gladly did the inmates of that harem\n  Pour out their gratitude on being freed\n  From that terrific monster; thanks to Heaven\n  Devoutly they expressed, and ardent joy.\n\nFerid\u00fan inquired of Arnaw\u00e1z why Zoh\u00e1k had chosen the route towards Ind;\nand she replied, \"For two reasons: the first is, he expects to encounter\nthee in that quarter; and if he fails, he will subdue the whole country,\nwhich is the seat of sorcery, and thus obtain possession of a renowned\nmagician who can charm thee into his power.\n\n \"He wishes to secure within his grasp\n  That region of enchantment, Hind\u00fast\u00e1n,\n  And then obtain relief from what he feels;\n  For night and day the terror of thy name\n  Oppresses him, his heart is all on fire,\n  And life is torture to him.\"\n\n\n\nFERID\u00daN\n\nKandr\u00fa, the keeper of the talisman, having effected his escape, fled to\nZoh\u00e1k, to whom he gave intelligence of the release of his women, the\ndestruction of the talisman, and the conquest of his empire.\n\n  \"The sign of retribution has appeared,\n  For sorrow is the fruit of evil deeds.\"\n  Thus Kandr\u00fa spoke: \"Three warriors have advanced\n  Upon thy kingdom from a distant land,\n  One of them young, and from his air and mien\n  He seems to me of the Kai\u00e1nian race.\n  He came, and boldly seized the splendid throne,\n  And all thy spells, and sorceries, and magic,\n  Were instantly dissolved by higher power,\n  And all who dwelt within thy palace walls,\n  Demon or man, all utterly destroyed,\n  Their severed heads cast weltering on the ground.\"\n  Then was Zoh\u00e1k confounded, and he shrunk\n  Within himself with terror, thinking now\n  His doom was sealed; but anxious to appear\n  In presence of his army, gay and cheerful,\n  Lest they too should despair, he dressed himself\n  In rich attire, and with a pleasant look,\n  Said carelessly: \"Perhaps some gamesome guest\n  Hath in his sport committed this strange act.\"\n  \"A guest, indeed!\" Kandr\u00fa replied, \"a guest,\n  In playful mood to batter down thy palace!\n  If he had been thy guest, why with his mace,\n  Cow-headed, has he done such violence?\n  Why did he penetrate thy secret chambers,\n  And bring to light the beautiful Shahrn\u00e1z,\n  And red-lipped Arnaw\u00e1z?\" At this, Zoh\u00e1k\n  Trembled with wrath--the words were death to him;\n  And sternly thus he spoke: \"What hast thou fled\n  Through fear, betraying thy important trust?\n  No longer shalt thou share my confidence,\n  No longer share my bounty and regard.\"\n  To this the keeper tauntingly replied:\n  \"Thy kingdom is overthrown, and nothing now\n  Remains for thee to give me; thou art lost.\"\n\nThe tyrant immediately turned towards his army, with the intention of\nmaking a strong effort to regain his throne, but he found that as soon\nas the soldiers and the people were made acquainted with the proceedings\nand success of Ferid\u00fan, rebellion arose among them, and shuddering with\nhorror at the cruelty exercised by him in providing food for the\naccursed serpents, they preferred embracing the cause of the new king.\nZoh\u00e1k, seeing that he had lost the affections of the army, and that\nuniversal revolt was the consequence, adopted another course, and\nendeavored alone to be revenged upon his enemy. He proceeded on his\njourney, and arriving by night at the camp of Ferid\u00fan, hoped to find him\noff his guard and put him to death. He ascended a high place, himself\nunobserved, from which he saw Ferid\u00fan sitting engaged in soft dalliance\nwith the lovely Shahrn\u00e1z. The fire of jealousy and revenge now consumed\nhim more fiercely, and he was attempting to effect his purpose, when\nFerid\u00fan was roused by the noise, and starting up struck a furious blow\nwith his cow-headed mace upon the temples of Zoh\u00e1k, which crushed the\nbone, and he was on the point of giving him another; but a supernatural\nvoice whispered in his ear,\n\n  \"Slay him not now--his time is not yet come,\n  His punishment must be prolonged awhile;\n  And as he cannot now survive the wound,\n  Bind him with heavy chains--convey him straight\n  Upon the mountain, there within a cave,\n  Deep, dark, and horrible--with none to soothe\n  His sufferings, let the murderer lingering die.\"\n\n  The work of heaven performing, Ferid\u00fan\n  First purified the world from sin and crime.\n\n  Yet Ferid\u00fan was not an angel, nor\n  Composed of musk or ambergris. By justice\n  And generosity he gained his fame.\n  Do thou but exercise these princely virtues,\n  And thou wilt be renowned as Ferid\u00fan.\n\n\n\nFERID\u00daN AND HIS THREE SONS\n\nFerid\u00fan had three sons. One of them was named S\u00edlim, the other T\u00far, and\nthe third Irij. When they had grown up, he called before him a learned\nperson named Chundel, and said to him: \"Go thou in quest of three\ndaughters, born of the same father and mother, and adorned with every\ngrace and accomplishment, that I may have my three sons married into one\nfamily.\" Chundel departed accordingly, and travelled through many\ncountries in fruitless search, till he came to the King of Yemen, whose\nname was Sar\u00fa, and found that he had three daughters of the character\nand qualifications required. He therefore delivered Ferid\u00fan's\nproposition to him, to which the King of Yemen agreed. Then Ferid\u00fan sent\nhis three sons to Yemen, and they married the three daughters of the\nking, who gave them splendid dowries in treasure and jewels. It is\nrelated that Ferid\u00fan afterwards divided his empire among his sons. To\nS\u00edlim he gave R\u00fam and Kh\u00e1wer; to T\u00far, T\u00far\u00e1n;[2] and to Irij, Ir\u00e1n or\nPersia. The sons then repaired to their respective kingdoms. Persia was\na beautiful country, and the garden of spring, full of freshness and\nperfume; T\u00far\u00e1n, on the contrary, was less cultivated, and the scene of\nperpetual broils and insurrections. The elder brother, S\u00edlim, was\ntherefore discontented with the unfair partition of the empire, and\ndispleased with his father. He sent to T\u00far, saying: \"Our father has\ngiven to Irij the most delightful and productive kingdom, and to us, two\nwild uncultivated regions. I am the eldest son, and I am not satisfied\nwith this distribution--what sayest thou?\" When this message was\ncommunicated to T\u00far, he fully concurred in the sentiments expressed by\nhis brother, and determined to unite with him in any undertaking that\nmight promise the accomplishment of their purpose, which was to deprive\nIrij of his dominions. But he thought it would be most expedient, in the\nfirst instance, to make their father acquainted with the dissatisfaction\nhe had produced; \"for,\" he thought to himself, \"in a new distribution,\nhe may assign Persia to me.\" Then he wrote to S\u00edlim, advising that a\nmessenger should be sent at once to Ferid\u00fan to inform him of their\ndissatisfaction, and bring back a reply. The same messenger was\ndispatched by S\u00edlim accordingly on that mission,\n\n  Charged with unfilial language. \"Give,\" he said,\n  \"This stripling Irij a more humble portion,\n  Or we will, from the mountains of T\u00far\u00e1n,\n  From R\u00fam, and Ch\u00edn, bring overwhelming troops,\n  Inured to war, and shower disgrace and ruin\n  On him and Persia.\"\n\nWhen the messenger arrived at the court of Ferid\u00fan, and had obtained\npermission to appear in the presence of the king, he kissed the ground\nrespectfully, and by command related the purpose of his journey. Ferid\u00fan\nwas surprised and displeased, and said, in reply:\n\n  \"Have I done wrong, done evil? None, but good.\n  I gave ye kingdoms, that was not a crime;\n  But if ye fear not me, at least fear God.\n  My ebbing life approaches to an end,\n  And the possessions of this fleeting world\n  Will soon pass from me. I am grown too old\n  To have my passions roused by this rebellion;\n  All I can do is, with paternal love,\n  To counsel peace. Be with your lot contented;\n  Seek not unnatural strife, but cherish peace.\"\n\nAfter the departure of the messenger Ferid\u00fan called Irij before him, and\nsaid: \"Thy two brothers, who are older than thou art, have confederated\ntogether and threaten to bring a large army against thee for the purpose\nof seizing thy kingdom, and putting thee to death. I have received this\ninformation from a messenger, who further says, that if I take thy part\nthey will also wage war upon me.\" And after Irij had declared that in\nthis extremity he was anxious to do whatever his father might advise,\nFerid\u00fan continued: \"My son, thou art unable to resist the invasion of\neven one brother; it will, therefore, be impossible for thee to oppose\nboth. I am now aged and infirm, and my only wish is to pass the\nremainder of my days in retirement and repose. Better, then, will it be\nfor thee to pursue the path of peace and friendship, and like me throw\naway all desire for dominion.\n\n \"For if the sword of anger is unsheathed,\n  And war comes on, thy head will soon be freed\n  From all the cares of government and life.\n  There is no cause for thee to quit the world,\n  The path of peace and amity is thine.\"\n\nIrij agreed with his father, and declared that he would willingly\nsacrifice his throne and diadem rather than go to war with his brothers.\n\n \"Look at the Heavens, how they roll on;\n  And look at man, how soon he's gone.\n  A breath of wind, and then no more;\n  A world like this, should man deplore?\"\n\nWith these sentiments Irij determined to repair immediately to his\nbrothers, and place his kingdom at their disposal, hoping by this means\nto merit their favor and affection, and he said:\n\n  \"I feel no resentment, I seek not for strife,\n  I wish not for thrones and the glories of life;\n  What is glory to man?--an illusion, a cheat;\n  What did it for Jemsh\u00edd, the world at his feet?\n  When I go to my brothers their anger may cease,\n  Though vengeance were fitter than offers of peace.\"\n\nFerid\u00fan observed to him: \"It is well that thy desire is for\nreconciliation, as thy brothers are preparing for war.\" He then wrote a\nletter to his sons, in which he said: \"Your younger brother considers\nyour friendship and esteem of more consequence to him than his crown and\nthrone. He has banished from his heart every feeling of resentment\nagainst you; do you, in the like manner, cast away hostility from your\nhearts against him. Be kind to him, for it is incumbent upon the eldest\nborn to be indulgent and affectionate to their younger brothers.\nAlthough your consideration for my happiness has passed away, I still\nwish to please you.\" As soon as the letter was finished, Irij mounted\nhis horse, and set off on his journey, accompanied by several of his\nfriends, but not in such a manner, and with such an equipment, as might\nbetray his rank or character. When he arrived with his attendants in\nTurkist\u00e1n, he found that the armies of his two brothers were ready to\nmarch against him. S\u00edlim and T\u00far, being apprised of the approach of\nIrij, went out of the city, according to ancient usage, to meet the\ndeputation which was conveying to them their father's letter. Irij was\nkindly received by them, and accommodated in the royal residence.\n\nIt is said that Irij was in person extremely prepossessing, and that\nwhen the troops first beheld him, they exclaimed: \"He is indeed fit to\nbe a king!\" In every place all eyes were fixed upon him, and wherever he\nmoved he was followed and surrounded by the admiring army and crowds of\npeople.\n\n  In numerous groups the soldiers met, and blessed\n  The name of Irij, saying in their hearts,\n  This is the man to lead an armed host,\n  And worthy of the diadem and throne.\n\nThe courtiers of the two brothers, alarmed by these demonstrations of\nattachment to Irij continually before their eyes, represented to S\u00edlim\nand T\u00far that the army was disaffected towards them, and that Irij alone\nwas considered deserving of the supreme authority. This intimation\nexasperated the malignant spirit of the two brothers: for although at\nfirst determined to put Irij to death, his youth and prepossessing\nappearance had in some degree subdued their animosity. They were\ntherefore pleased with the intelligence, because it afforded a new and\npowerful reason for getting rid of him. \"Look at our troops,\" said S\u00edlim\nto T\u00far, \"how they assemble in circles together, and betray their\nadmiration of him. I fear they will never march against Persia. Indeed\nit is not improbable that even the kingdom of T\u00far\u00e1n may fall into his\nhands, since the hearts of our soldiers have become so attached to him.\n\n  \"No time is this to deviate from our course,\n  We must rush on; our armies plainly show\n  Their love for Irij, and if we should fail\n  To root up from its place this flourishing tree,\n  Our cause is lost for ever.\"\n\nAgain, S\u00edlim said to T\u00far: \"Thou must put Irij to death, and then his\nkingdom will be thine.\" T\u00far readily undertook to commit that crime, and,\non the following day, at an interview with Irij, he said to him: \"Why\ndidst thou consent to be the ruler of Persia, and fail in showing a\nproper regard for the interests of thy elder brothers? Whilst our barren\nkingdoms are constantly in a state of warfare with the Turks, thou art\nenjoying peace and tranquillity upon the throne of a fruitful country?\nMust we, thy elder brothers, remain thus under thy commands, and in\nsubordinate stations?\n\n \"Must thou have gold and treasure,\n  And thy heart be wrapt in pleasure,\n  Whilst we, thy elder born,\n  Of our heritage are shorn?\n  Must the youngest still be nursed,\n  And the elder branches cursed?\n  And condemned, by stern command,\n  To a wild and sterile land?\"\n\nWhen Irij heard these words from T\u00far, he immediately replied, saying:\n\n \"I only seek tranquillity and peace;\n  I look not on the crown of sovereignty.\n  Nor seek a name among the Persian host;\n  And though the throne and diadem are mine,\n  I here renounce them, satisfied to lead\n  A private life. For what hath ever been\n  The end of earthly power and pomp, but darkness?\n  I seek not to contend against my brothers;\n  Why should I grieve their hearts, or give distress\n  To any human being? I am young,\n  And Heaven forbid that I should prove unkind!\"\n\nNotwithstanding, however, these declarations of submission, and repeated\nassurances of his resolution to resign the monarchy of Persia, T\u00far would\nnot believe one word. In a moment he sprung up, and furiously seizing\nthe golden chair from which he had just risen, struck a violent blow\nwith it on the head of Irij, calling aloud, \"Bind him, bind him!\" The\nyouth, struggling on the ground, exclaimed: \"O, think of thy father, and\npity me! Have compassion on thy own soul! I came for thy protection,\ntherefore do not take my life: if thou dost, my blood will call out for\nvengeance to the Almighty. I ask only for peace and retirement. Think of\nmy father, and pity me!\n\n  \"Wouldst thou, with life endowed, take life away?\n  Torture not the poor ant, which drags the grain\n  Along the dust; it has a life, and life\n  Is sweet and precious. Did the innocent ant\n  Offend thee ever? Cruel must he be\n  Who would destroy a living thing so harmless!\n  And wilt thou, reckless, shed thy brother's blood,\n  And agonize the feelings of a father?\n  Pause, and avoid the wrath of righteous Heaven!\"\n\nBut T\u00far was not to be softened by the supplications of his brother.\nWithout giving any reply, he drew his dagger, and instantly dissevered\nthe head of the youth from his body.\n\n  With musk and ambergris he first embalmed\n  The head of Irij, then to his old father\n  Dispatched the present with these cruel words:\n  \"Here is the head of thy beloved son,\n  Thy darling favourite, dress it with a crown\n  As thou wert wont; and mark the goodly fruit\n  Thou hast produced. Adorn thy ivory throne,\n  In all its splendour, for this worthy head,\n  And place it in full majesty before thee!\"\n\nIn the meantime, Ferid\u00fan had prepared a magnificent reception for his\nson. The period of his return had arrived, and he was in anxious\nexpectation of seeing him, when suddenly he received intelligence that\nIrij had been put to death by his brothers. The mournful spectacle soon\nreached his father's house.\n\n  A scream of agony burst from his heart,\n  As wildly in his arms he clasped the face\n  Of his poor slaughtered son; then down he sank\n  Senseless upon the earth. The soldiers round\n  Bemoaned the sad catastrophe, and rent\n  Their garments in their grief. The souls of all\n  Were filled with gloom, their eyes with flowing tears,\n  For hope had promised a far different scene;\n  A day of heart-felt mirth and joyfulness,\n  When Irij to his father's house returned.\n\nAfter the extreme agitation of Ferid\u00fan had subsided, he directed all his\npeople to wear black apparel, in honor of the murdered youth, and all\nhis drums and banners to be torn to pieces. They say that subsequent to\nthis dreadful calamity he always wore black clothes. The head of Irij\nwas buried in a favorite garden, where he had been accustomed to hold\nweekly a rural entertainment. Ferid\u00fan, in performing the last ceremony,\npressed it to his bosom, and with streaming eyes exclaimed:\n\n  \"O Heaven, look down upon my murdered boy;\n  His severed head before me, but his body\n  Torn by those hungry wolves! O grant my prayer,\n  That I may see, before I die, the seed\n  Of Irij hurl just vengeance on the heads\n  Of his assassins; hear, O hear my prayer.\"\n  --Thus he in sorrow for his favourite son\n  Obscured the light which might have sparkled still,\n  Withering the jasmine flower of happy days;\n  So that his pale existence looked like death.\n\n\n\nMIN\u00daCHIHR\n\nFerid\u00fan continued to cherish with the fondest affection the memory of\nhis murdered son, and still looked forward with anxiety to the\nanticipated hour of retribution. He fervently hoped that a son might be\nborn to take vengeance for his father's death. But it so happened that\nMahafr\u00edd, the wife of Irij, gave birth to a daughter. When this daughter\ngrew up, Ferid\u00fan gave her in marriage to Pishung, and from that union an\nheir was born who in form and feature resembled Irij and Ferid\u00fan. He was\ncalled Min\u00fachihr, and great rejoicings took place on the occasion of his\nbirth.\n\n  The old man's lips, with smiles apart,\n  Bespoke the gladness of his heart.\n  And in his arms he took the boy\n  The harbinger of future joy;\n  Delighted that indulgent Heaven\n  To his fond hopes this pledge had given,\n  It seemed as if, to bless his reign,\n  Irij had come to life again.\n\nThe child was nourished with great tenderness during his infancy, and\nwhen he grew up he was sedulously instructed in every art necessary to\nform the character, and acquire the accomplishments of a warrior.\nFerid\u00fan was accustomed to place him on the throne, and decorate his\nbrows with the crown of sovereignty; and the soldiers enthusiastically\nacknowledged him as their king, urging him to rouse himself and take\nvengeance of his enemies for the murder of his grandfather. Having\nopened his treasury, Ferid\u00fan distributed abundance of gold among the\npeople, so that Min\u00fachihr was in a short time enabled to embody an\nimmense army, by whom he was looked upon with attachment and admiration.\n\nWhen S\u00edlim and T\u00far were informed of the preparations that were making\nagainst them, that Min\u00fachihr, having grown to manhood, was distinguished\nfor his valor and intrepidity, and that multitudes flocked to his\nstandard with the intention of forwarding his purpose of revenge, they\nwere seized with inexpressible terror, and anticipated an immediate\ninvasion of their kingdoms. Thus alarmed, they counselled together upon\nthe course it would be wisest to adopt.\n\n  \"Should he advance, his cause is just,\n  And blood will mingle with the dust,\n  But heaven forbid our power should be\n  O'erwhelmed to give him victory;\n  Though strong his arm, and wild his ire,\n  And vengeance keen his heart inspire.\"\n\nThey determined, at length, to pursue pacific measures, and endeavor by\nsplendid presents and conciliatory language to regain the good-will of\nFerid\u00fan. The elephants were immediately loaded with treasure, a crown of\ngold, and other articles of value, and a messenger was dispatched,\ncharged with an acknowledgment of guilt and abundant expressions of\nrepentance. \"It was Ibl\u00eds,\" they said, \"who led us astray, and our\ndestiny has been such that we are in every way criminal. But thou art\nthe ocean of mercy; pardon our offences. Though manifold, they were\ninvoluntary, and forgiveness will cleanse our hearts and restore us to\nourselves. Let our tears wash away the faults we have committed. To\nMin\u00fachihr and to thyself we offer obedience and fealty, and we wait your\ncommands, being but the dust of your feet.\"\n\nWhen the messenger arrived at the court of Ferid\u00fan he first delivered\nthe magnificent presents, and the king, having placed Min\u00fachihr on a\ngolden chair by his side, observed to him, \"These presents are to thee a\nprosperous and blessed omen--they show that thy enemy is afraid of\nthee.\" Then the messenger was permitted to communicate the object of his\nmission.\n\n  He spoke with studied phrase, intent to hide,\n  Or mitigate the horror of their crime;\n  And with excuses plausible and bland\n  His speech was dressed. The brothers, he observed,\n  Desired to see their kinsman Min\u00fachihr,\n  And with the costliest gems they sought to pay\n  The price of kindred blood unjustly shed--\n  And they would willingly to him resign\n  Their kingdoms for the sake of peace and friendship.\n\n  The monarch marked him scornfully, and said:\n  \"Canst thou conceal the sun? It is in vain\n  Truth to disguise with words of shallow meaning.\n  Now hear my answer. Ask thy cruel masters,\n  Who talk of their affection for the prince,\n  Where lies the body of the gentle Irij?\n  Him they have slain, the fierce, unnatural brothers,\n  And now they thirst to gain another victim.\n  They long to see the face of Min\u00fachihr!\n  Yes, and they shall, surrounded by his soldiers,\n  And clad in steel, and they shall feel the edge\n  Of life-destroying swords. Yes, they shall see him!\"\n\nAfter uttering this indignant speech, Ferid\u00fan showed to the messenger\nhis great warriors, one by one. He showed him Kavah and his two sons,\nShahp\u00far, and Sh\u00edr\u00faeh, and K\u00e1run, and S\u00e1m,[3] and Nar\u00edm\u00e1n, and other\nchiefs--all of admirable courage and valor in war--and thus resumed:\n\n  \"Hence with your presents, hence, away,\n  Can gold or gems turn night to day?\n  Must kingly heads be bought and sold,\n  And shall I barter blood for gold?\n  Shall gold a father's heart entice,\n  Blood to redeem beyond all price?\n  Hence, hence with treachery; I have heard\n  Their glozing falsehoods, every word;\n  But human feelings guide my will,\n  And keep my honour sacred still.\n  True is the oracle we read:\n  'Those who have sown oppression's seed\n  Reap bitter fruit; their souls, perplext,\n  Joy not in this world or the next.'\n  The brothers of my murdered boy,\n  Who could a father's hopes destroy,\n  An equal punishment will reap,\n  And lasting vengeance o'er them sweep.\n  They rooted up my favourite tree,\n  But yet a branch remains to me.\n  Now the young lion comes apace,\n  The glory of his glorious race;\n  He comes apace, to punish guilt,\n  Where brother's blood was basely spilt;\n  And blood alone for blood must pay;\n  Hence with your gold, depart, away!\"\n\nWhen the messenger heard these reproaches, mingled with poison, he\nimmediately took leave, and trembling with fear, returned to S\u00edlim and\nT\u00far with the utmost speed. He described to them in strong and alarming\nterms the appearance and character of Min\u00fachihr, and his warriors; of\nthat noble youth who with frowning eyebrows was only anxious for battle.\nHe then communicated to them in what manner he had been received, and\nrepeated the denunciations of Ferid\u00fan, at which the brothers were\nexceedingly grieved and disappointed. But S\u00edlim said to T\u00far:\n\n  \"Let us be first upon the field, before\n  He marshals his array. It follows not,\n  That he should be a hero bold and valiant,\n  Because he is descended from the brave;\n  But it becomes us well to try our power,--\n  For speed, in war, is better than delay.\"\n\nIn this spirit the two brothers rapidly collected from both their\nkingdoms a large army, and proceeded towards Ir\u00e1n. On hearing of their\nprogress, Ferid\u00fan said: \"This is well--they come of themselves. The\nforest game surrenders itself voluntarily at the foot of the sportsman.\"\nThen he commanded his army to wait quietly till they arrived; for skill\nand patience, he observed, will draw the lion's head into your toils.\n\nAs soon as the enemy had approached within a short distance, Min\u00fachihr\nsolicited Ferid\u00fan to commence the engagement--and the king having\nsummoned his chief warriors before him, appointed them all, one by one,\nto their proper places.\n\n  The warriors of renown assembled straight\n  With ponderous clubs; each like a lion fierce,\n  Girded his loins impatient. In their front\n  The sacred banner of the blacksmith waved;\n  Bright scimitars were brandished in the air;\n  Beneath them pranced their steeds, all armed for fight,\n  And so incased in iron were the chiefs\n  From top to toe, their eyes were only seen.\n\n  When K\u00e1run drew his hundred thousand troops\n  Upon the field, the battle-word was given,\n  And Min\u00fachihr was, like the cypress tall,\n  Engaged along the centre of the hosts;\n  And like the moon he shone, amid the groups\n  Of congregated clouds, or as the sun\n  Glittering upon the mountain of Alberz.\n  The squadrons in advance Kab\u00e1d commanded,\n  Garsh\u00e1sp the left, and S\u00e1m upon the right.\n\n  The shedders of a brother's blood had now\n  Brought their innumerous legions to the strife,\n  And formed them in magnificent array:\n  The picket guards were almost thrown together,\n  When T\u00far sprung forward, and with sharp reproach,\n  And haughty gesture, thus addressed Kab\u00e1d:\n  \"Ask this new king, this Min\u00fachihr, since Heaven\n  To Irij gave a daughter, who on him\n  Bestowed the mail, the battle-axe, and sword?\"\n  To this insulting speech, Kab\u00e1d replied:\n  \"The message shall be given, and I will bring\n  The answer, too. Ye know what ye have done;\n  Have ye not murdered him who, trusting, sought\n  Protection from ye? All mankind for this\n  Must curse your memory till the day of doom;\n  If savage monsters were to fly your presence,\n  It would not be surprising. Those who die\n  In this most righteous cause will go to Heaven,\n  With all their sins forgotten!\" Then Kab\u00e1d\n  Went to the king, and told the speech of T\u00far:\n  A smile played o'er the cheek of Min\u00fachihr\n  As thus he spoke: \"A boaster he must be,\n  Or a vain fool, for when engaged in battle,\n  Vigour of arm and the enduring soul,\n  Will best be proved. I ask but for revenge--\n  Vengeance for Irij slain. Meanwhile, return;\n  We shall not fight to-day.\"\n\n                               He too retired,\n  And in his tent upon the sandy plain,\n  Ordered the festive board to be prepared,\n  And wine and music whiled the hours away.\n\nWhen morning dawned the battle commenced, and multitudes were slain on\nboth sides.\n\n  The spacious plain became a sea of blood;\n  It seemed as if the earth was covered o'er\n  With crimson tulips; slippery was the ground,\n  And all in dire confusion.\n\nThe army of Min\u00fachihr was victorious, owing to the bravery and skill of\nthe commander. But Heaven was in his favor.\n\nIn the evening S\u00edlim and T\u00far consulted together, and came to the\nresolution of effecting a formidable night attack on the enemy. The\nspies of Min\u00fachihr, however, obtained information of this intention, and\ncommunicated the secret to the king. Min\u00fachihr immediately placed the\narmy in charge of K\u00e1run, and took himself thirty thousand men to wait in\nambuscade for the enemy, and frustrate his views. T\u00far advanced with a\nhundred thousand men; but as he advanced, he found every one on the\nalert, and aware of his approach. He had gone too far to retreat in the\ndark without fighting, and therefore began a vigorous conflict.\nMin\u00fachihr sprung up from his ambuscade, and with his thirty thousand men\nrushed upon the centre of the enemy's troops, and in the end encountered\nT\u00far. The struggle was not long. Min\u00fachihr dexterously using his javelin,\nhurled him from his saddle precipitately to the ground, and then with\nhis dagger severed the head from his body. The body he left to be\ndevoured by the beasts of the field, and the head he sent as a trophy to\nFerid\u00fan; after which, he proceeded in search of S\u00edlim.\n\nThe army of the confederates, however, having suffered such a signal\ndefeat, S\u00edlim thought it prudent to fall back and take refuge in a fort.\nBut Min\u00fachihr went in pursuit, and besieged the castle. One day a\nwarrior named Kak\u00fa made a sally out of the fort, and approaching the\ncentre of the besieging army, threw a javelin at Min\u00fachihr, which,\nhowever, fell harmless before it reached its aim. Then Min\u00fachihr seized\nthe enemy by the girdle, raised him up in air, and flung him from his\nsaddle to the ground.\n\n  He grasped the foe-man by the girth,\n  And thundering drove him to the earth;\n  By wound of spear, and gory brand,\n  He died upon the burning sand.\n\nThe siege was continued for some time with the view of weakening the\npower of S\u00edlim; at last Min\u00fachihr sent a message to him, saying: \"Let\nthe battle be decided between us. Quit the fort, and boldly meet me\nhere, that it may be seen to whom God gives the victory.\" S\u00edlim could\nnot, without disgrace, refuse this challenge: he descended from the\nfort, and met Min\u00fachihr. A desperate conflict ensued, and he was slain\non the spot. Min\u00fachihr's keen sword severed the royal head from the\nbody, and thus quickly ended the career of S\u00edlim. After that, the whole\nof the enemy's troops were defeated and put to flight in every\ndirection.\n\nThe leading warriors of the routed army now sought protection from\nMin\u00fachihr, who immediately complied with their solicitation, and by\ntheir influence all the forces of S\u00edlim and T\u00far united under him. To\neach he gave rank according to his merits. After the victory, Min\u00fachihr\nhastened to pay his respects to Ferid\u00fan, who received him with praises\nand thanksgivings, and the customary honors. Returning from the battle,\nFerid\u00fan met him on foot; and the moment Min\u00fachihr beheld the venerable\nmonarch, he alighted and kissed the ground. They then, seated in the\npalace together, congratulated themselves on the success of their arms.\nIn a short time after, the end of Ferid\u00fan approached; when recommending\nMin\u00fachihr to the care of S\u00e1m and Nar\u00edm\u00e1n, he said: \"My hour of departure\nhas arrived, and I place the prince under your protection.\" He then\ndirected Min\u00fachihr to be seated on the throne;\n\n  And put himself the crown upon his head,\n  And stored his mind with counsel good and wise.\n\nUpon the death of Ferid\u00fan, Min\u00fachihr accordingly succeeded to the\ngovernment of the empire, and continued to observe strictly all the laws\nand regulations of his great grandfather. He commanded his subjects to\nbe constant in the worship of God.\n\n  The army and the people gave him praise,\n  Prayed for his happiness and length of days;\n  Our hearts, they said, are ever bound to thee;\n  Our hearts, inspired by love and loyalty.\n\n\n\nZ\u00c1L, THE SON OF S\u00c1M\n\nAccording to the traditionary histories from which Firdusi has derived\nhis legends, the warrior S\u00e1m had a son born to him whose hair was\nperfectly white. On his birth the nurse went to S\u00e1m and told him that\nGod had blessed him with a wonderful child, without a single blemish,\nexcepting that his hair was white; but when S\u00e1m saw him he was grieved:\n\n  His hair was white as goose's wing,\n  His cheek was like the rose of spring\n  His form was straight as cypress tree--\n  But when the sire was brought to see\n  That child with hair so silvery white,\n  His heart revolted at the sight.\n\nHis mother gave him the name of Z\u00e1l and the people said to S\u00e1m, \"This is\nan ominous event, and will be to thee productive of nothing but\ncalamity; it would be better if thou couldst remove him out of sight.\n\n \"No human being of this earth\n  Could give to such a monster birth;\n  He must be of the Demon race,\n  Though human still in form and face.\n  If not a Demon, he, at least,\n  Appears a party-coloured beast.\"\n\nWhen S\u00e1m was made acquainted with these reproaches and sneers of the\npeople, he determined, though with a sorrowful heart, to take him up to\nthe mountain Alberz, and abandon him there to be destroyed by beasts of\nprey. Alberz was the abode of the S\u00edm\u00fargh or Griffin,[4] and, whilst\nflying about in quest of food for his hungry young ones, that surprising\nanimal discovered the child lying alone upon the hard rock, crying and\nsucking its fingers. The S\u00edm\u00fargh, however, felt no inclination to devour\nhim, but compassionately took him up in the air, and conveyed him to his\nown habitation.\n\n  He who is blest with Heaven's grace\n  Will never want a dwelling-place\n  And he who bears the curse of Fate\n  Can never change his wretched state.\n  A voice, not earthly, thus addressed\n  The S\u00edm\u00fargh in his mountain nest--\n  \"To thee this mortal I resign,\n  Protected by the power divine;\n  Let him thy fostering kindness share,\n  Nourish him with paternal care;\n  For from his loins, in time, will spring\n  The champion of the world, and bring\n  Honour on earth, and to thy name;\n  The heir of everlasting fame.\"\n\nThe young ones were also kind and affectionate to the infant, which was\nthus nourished and protected by the S\u00edm\u00fargh for several years.\n\n\n\nTHE DREAM OF S\u00c1M\n\nIt is said that one night, after melancholy musings and reflecting on\nthe miseries of this life, S\u00e1m was visited by a dream, and when the\nparticulars of it were communicated to the interpreters of mysterious\nwarnings and omens, they declared that Z\u00e1l was certainly still alive,\nalthough he had been long exposed on Alberz, and left there to be torn\nto pieces by wild animals. Upon this interpretation being given, the\nnatural feelings of the father returned, and he sent his people to the\nmountain in search of Z\u00e1l, but without success. On another night S\u00e1m\ndreamt a second time, when he beheld a young man of a beautiful\ncountenance at the head of an immense army, with a banner flying before\nhim, and a M\u00fabid on his left hand. One of them addressed S\u00e1m, and\nreproached him thus:--\n\n  Unfeeling mortal, hast thou from thy eyes\n  Washed out all sense of shame? Dost thou believe\n  That to have silvery tresses is a crime?\n  If so, thy head is covered with white hair;\n  And were not both spontaneous gifts from Heaven?\n  Although the boy was hateful to thy sight,\n  The grace of God has been bestowed upon him;\n  And what is human tenderness and love\n  To Heaven's protection? Thou to him wert cruel,\n  But Heaven has blest him, shielding him from harm.\n\nS\u00e1m screamed aloud in his sleep, and awoke greatly terrified. Without\ndelay he went himself to Alberz, and ascended the mountain, and wept and\nprayed before the throne of the Almighty, saying:--\n\n  \"If that forsaken child be truly mine,\n  And not the progeny of Demon fell,\n  O pity me! forgive the wicked deed,\n  And to my eyes, my injured son restore.\"\n\nHis prayer was accepted. The S\u00edm\u00fargh, hearing the lamentations of S\u00e1m\namong his people, knew that he had come in quest of his son, and thus\nsaid to Z\u00e1l:--\"I have fed and protected thee like a kind nurse, and I\nhave given thee the name of Dust\u00e1n, like a father. S\u00e1m, the warrior, has\njust come upon the mountain in search of his child, and I must restore\nthee to him, and we must part.\" Z\u00e1l wept when he heard of this\nunexpected separation, and in strong terms expressed his gratitude to\nhis benefactor; for the Wonderful Bird had not omitted to teach him the\nlanguage of the country, and to cultivate his understanding, removed as\nthey were to such a distance from the haunts of mankind. The S\u00edm\u00fargh\nsoothed him by assuring him that he was not going to abandon him to\nmisfortune, but to increase his prosperity; and, as a striking proof of\naffection, gave him a feather from his own wing, with these\ninstructions:--\"Whenever thou art involved in difficulty or danger, put\nthis feather on the fire, and I will instantly appear to thee to ensure\nthy safety. Never cease to remember me.\n\n \"I have watched thee with fondness by day and by night,\n  And supplied all thy wants with a father's delight;\n  O forget not thy nurse--still be faithful to me--\n  And my heart will be ever devoted to thee.\"\n\nZ\u00e1l immediately replied in a strain of gratitude and admiration; and\nthen the S\u00edm\u00fargh conveyed him to S\u00e1m, and said to him: \"Receive thy\nson--he is of wonderful promise, and will be worthy of the throne and\nthe diadem.\"\n\n  The soul of S\u00e1m rejoiced to hear\n  Applause so sweet to a parent's ear;\n  And blessed them both in thought and word,\n  The lovely boy, and the Wondrous Bird.\n\nHe also declared to Z\u00e1l that he was ashamed of the crime of which he had\nbeen guilty, and that he would endeavor to obliterate the recollection\nof the past by treating him in future with the utmost respect and honor.\n\nWhen Min\u00fachihr heard from Z\u00e1bul of these things, and of S\u00e1m's return, he\nwas exceedingly pleased, and ordered his son, Nauder, with a splendid\nistakb\u00e1l,[5] to meet the father and son on their approach to the city.\nThey were surrounded by warriors and great men, and S\u00e1m embraced the\nfirst moment to introduce Z\u00e1l to the king.\n\n  Z\u00e1l humbly kissed the earth before the king,\n  And from the hands of Min\u00fachihr received\n  A golden mace and helm. Then those who knew\n  The stars and planetary signs, were told\n  To calculate the stripling's destiny;\n  And all proclaimed him of exalted fortune,\n  That he would be prodigious in his might,\n  Outshining every warrior of the age.\n\nDelighted with this information, Min\u00fachihr, seated upon his throne, with\nK\u00e1run on one side and S\u00e1m on the other, presented Z\u00e1l with Arabian\nhorses, and armor, and gold, and splendid garments, and appointed S\u00e1m to\nthe government of K\u00e1bul, Z\u00e1bul, and Ind. Z\u00e1l accompanied his father on\nhis return; and when they arrived at Z\u00e1bulist\u00e1n, the most renowned\ninstructors in every art and science were collected together to\ncultivate and enrich his young mind.\n\nIn the meantime S\u00e1m was commanded by the king to invade and subdue the\nDemon provinces of Karugs\u00e1r and M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n;[6] and Z\u00e1l was in\nconsequence left by his father in charge of Z\u00e1bulist\u00e1n. The young\nnursling of the S\u00edm\u00fargh is said to have performed the duties of\nsovereignty with admirable wisdom and discretion, during the absence of\nhis father. He did not pass his time in idle exercises, but with zealous\ndelight in the society of accomplished and learned men, for the purpose\nof becoming familiar with every species of knowledge and acquirement.\nThe city of Z\u00e1bul, however, as a constant residence, did not entirely\nsatisfy him, and he wished to see more of the world; he therefore\nvisited several other places, and proceeded as far as K\u00e1bul, where he\npitched his tents, and remained for some time.\n\n\n\nR\u00daD\u00c1BEH\n\nThe chief of K\u00e1bul was descended from the family of Zoh\u00e1k. He was named\nMihr\u00e1b, and to secure the safety of his state, paid annual tribute to\nS\u00e1m. Mihr\u00e1b, on the arrival of Z\u00e1l, went out of the city to see him, and\nwas hospitably entertained by the young hero, who soon discovered that\nhe had a daughter of wonderful attractions.\n\n  Her name R\u00fad\u00e1beh; screened from public view,\n  Her countenance is brilliant as the sun;\n  From head to foot her lovely form is fair\n  As polished ivory. Like the spring, her cheek\n  Presents a radiant bloom,--in stature tall,\n  And o'er her silvery brightness, richly flow\n  Dark musky ringlets clustering to her feet.\n  She blushes like the rich pomegranate flower;\n  Her eyes are soft and sweet as the narcissus,\n  Her lashes from the raven's jetty plume\n  Have stolen their blackness, and her brows are bent\n  Like archer's bow. Ask ye to see the moon?\n  Look at her face. Seek ye for musky fragrance?\n  She is all sweetness. Her long fingers seem\n  Pencils of silver, and so beautiful\n  Her presence, that she breathes of Heaven and love.\n\nSuch was the description of R\u00fad\u00e1beh, which inspired the heart of Z\u00e1l\nwith the most violent affection, and imagination added to her charms.\n\nMihr\u00e1b again waited on Z\u00e1l, who received him graciously, and asked him\nin what manner he could promote his wishes. Mihr\u00e1b said that he only\ndesired him to become his guest at a banquet he intended to invite him\nto; but Z\u00e1l thought proper to refuse, because he well knew, if he\naccepted an invitation of the kind from a relation of Zoh\u00e1k, that his\nfather S\u00e1m and the King of Persia would be offended. Mihr\u00e1b returned to\nK\u00e1bul disappointed, and having gone into his harem, his wife, S\u00edndokht,\ninquired after the stranger from Z\u00e1bul, the white-headed son of S\u00e1m. She\nwished to know what he was like, in form and feature, and what account\nhe gave of his sojourn with the S\u00edm\u00fargh. Mihr\u00e1b described him in the\nwarmest terms of admiration--he was valiant, he said, accomplished and\nhandsome, with no other defect than that of white hair. And so boundless\nwas his praise, that R\u00fad\u00e1beh, who was present, drank every word with\navidity, and felt her own heart warmed into admiration and love. Full of\nemotion, she afterwards said privately to her attendants:\n\n  \"To you alone the secret of my heart\n  I now unfold; to you alone confess\n  The deep sensations of my captive soul.\n  I love, I love; all day and night of him\n  I think alone--I see him in my dreams--\n  You only know my secret--aid me now,\n  And soothe the sorrows of my bursting heart.\"\n\nThe attendants were startled with this confession and entreaty, and\nventured to remonstrate against so preposterous an attachment.\n\n  \"What! hast thou lost all sense of shame,\n  All value for thy honored name!\n  That thou, in loveliness supreme,\n  Of every tongue the constant theme,\n  Should choose, and on another's word.\n  The nursling of a Mountain Bird!\n  A being never seen before,\n  Which human mother never bore!\n  And can the hoary locks of age,\n  A youthful heart like thine engage?\n  Must thy enchanting form be prest\n  To such a dubious monster's breast?\n  And all thy beauty's rich array,\n  Thy peerless charms be thrown away?\"\n\nThis violent remonstrance was more calculated to rouse the indignation\nof R\u00fad\u00e1beh than to induce her to change her mind. It did so. But she\nsubdued her resentment, and again dwelt upon the ardor of her passion.\n\n  \"My attachment is fixed, my election is made,\n  And when hearts are enchained 'tis in vain to upbraid.\n  Neither K\u00edzar nor Faghf\u00far I wish to behold,\n  Nor the monarch of Persia with jewels and gold;\n  All, all I despise, save the choice of my heart,\n  And from his beloved image I never can part.\n  Call him aged, or young, 'tis a fruitless endeavour\n  To uproot a desire I must cherish for ever;\n  Call him old, call him young, who can passion control?\n  Ever present, and loved, he entrances my soul.\n  'Tis for him I exist--him I worship alone,\n  And my heart it must bleed till I call him my own.\"\n\nAs soon as the attendants found that R\u00fad\u00e1beh's attachment was deeply\nfixed, and not to be removed, they changed their purpose, and became\nobedient to her wishes, anxious to pursue any measure that might bring\nZ\u00e1l and their mistress together. R\u00fad\u00e1beh was delighted with this proof\nof their regard.\n\nIt was spring-time, and the attendants repaired towards the\nhalting-place of Z\u00e1l, in the neighborhood of the city. Their occupation\nseemed to be gathering roses along the romantic banks of a pellucid\nstreamlet, and when they purposely strayed opposite the tent of Z\u00e1l, he\nobserved them, and asked his friends--why they presumed to gather roses\nin his garden. He was told that they were damsels sent by the moon of\nK\u00e1bulist\u00e1n from the palace of Mihr\u00e1b to gather roses, and upon hearing\nthis his heart was touched with emotion. He rose up and rambled about\nfor amusement, keeping the direction of the river, followed by a servant\nwith a bow. He was not far from the damsels, when a bird sprung up from\nthe water, which he shot, upon the wing, with an arrow. The bird\nhappened to fall near the rose-gatherers, and Z\u00e1l ordered his servant to\nbring it to him. The attendants of R\u00fad\u00e1beh lost not the opportunity, as\nhe approached them, to inquire who the archer was. \"Know ye not,\"\nanswered the servant, \"that this is N\u00edm-r\u00faz, the son of S\u00e1m, and also\ncalled Dust\u00e1n, the greatest warrior ever known.\" At this the damsels\nsmiled, and said that they too belonged to a person of distinction--and\nnot of inferior worth--to a star in the palace of Mihr\u00e1b. \"We have come\nfrom K\u00e1bul to the King of Z\u00e1bulist\u00e1n, and should Z\u00e1l and R\u00fad\u00e1beh be of\nequal rank, her ruby lips may become acquainted with his, and their\nwished-for union be effected.\" When the servant returned, Z\u00e1l was\nimmediately informed of the conversation that had taken place, and in\nconsequence presents were prepared.\n\n  They who to gather roses came--went back\n  With precious gems--and honorary robes;\n  And two bright finger-rings were secretly\n  Sent to the princess.\n\nThen did the attendants of R\u00fad\u00e1beh exult in the success of their\nartifice, and say that the lion had come into their toils. R\u00fad\u00e1beh\nherself, however, had some fears on the subject. She anxiously sought to\nknow exactly the personal appearance of Z\u00e1l, and happily her warmest\nhopes were realized by the description she received. But one difficulty\nremained--how were they to meet? How was she to see with her own eyes\nthe man whom her fancy had depicted in such glowing colors? Her\nattendants, sufficiently expert at intrigue, soon contrived the means of\ngratifying her wishes. There was a beautiful rural retreat in a\nsequestered situation, the apartments of which were adorned with\npictures of great men, and ornamented in the most splendid manner. To\nthis favorite place R\u00fad\u00e1beh retired, and most magnificently dressed,\nawaiting the coming of Z\u00e1l, whom her attendants had previously invited\nto repair thither as soon as the sun had gone down. The shadows of\nevening were falling as he approached, and the enamoured princess thus\naddressed him from her balcony:--\n\n  \"May happiness attend thee ever, thou,\n  Whose lucid features make this gloomy night\n  Clear as the day; whose perfume scents the breeze;\n  Thou who, regardless of fatigue, hast come\n  On foot too, thus to see me--\"\n\nHearing a sweet voice, he looked up, and beheld a bright face in the\nbalcony, and he said to the beautiful vision:--\n\n  \"How often have I hoped that Heaven\n    Would, in some secret place display\n  Thy charms to me, and thou hast given\n    My heart the wish of many a day;\n  For now thy gentle voice I hear,\n    And now I see thee--speak again!\n  Speak freely in a willing ear,\n    And every wish thou hast obtain.\"\n\nNot a word was lost upon R\u00fad\u00e1beh, and she soon accomplished her object.\nHer hair was so luxuriant, and of such a length, that casting it loose\nit flowed down from the balcony; and, after fastening the upper part to\na ring, she requested Z\u00e1l to take hold of the other end and mount up. He\nardently kissed the musky tresses, and by them quickly ascended.\n\n  Then hand in hand within the chambers they\n  Gracefully passed.--Attractive was the scene,\n  The walls embellished by the painter's skill,\n  And every object exquisitely formed,\n  Sculpture, and architectural ornament,\n  Fit for a king. Z\u00e1l with amazement gazed\n  Upon what art had done, but more he gazed\n  Upon the witching radiance of his love,\n  Upon her tulip cheeks, her musky locks,\n  Breathing the sweetness of a summer garden;\n  Upon the sparkling brightness of her rings,\n  Necklace, and bracelets, glittering on her arms.\n  His mien too was majestic--on his head\n  He wore a ruby crown, and near his breast\n  Was seen a belted dagger. Fondly she\n  With side-long glances marked his noble aspect,\n  The fine proportions of his graceful limbs,\n  His strength and beauty. Her enamoured heart\n  Suffused her cheek with blushes, every glance\n  Increased the ardent transports of her soul.\n  So mild was his demeanour, he appeared\n  A gentle lion toying with his prey.\n  Long they remained rapt in admiration\n  Of each other. At length the warrior rose,\n  And thus addressed her: \"It becomes not us\n  To be forgetful of the path of prudence,\n  Though love would dictate a more ardent course,\n  How oft has S\u00e1m, my father, counselled me,\n  Against unseeming thoughts,--unseemly deeds,--\n  Always to choose the right, and shun the wrong.\n  How will he burn with anger when he hears\n  This new adventure; how will Min\u00fachihr\n  Indignantly reproach me for this dream!\n  This waking dream of rapture! but I call\n  High Heaven to witness what I now declare--\n  Whoever may oppose my sacred vows,\n  I still am thine, affianced thine, for ever.\"\n\n  And thus R\u00fad\u00e1beh: \"Thou hast won my heart,\n  And kings may sue in vain; to thee devoted,\n  Thou art alone my warrior and my love.\"\n  Thus they exclaimed,--then Z\u00e1l with fond adieus\n  Softly descended from the balcony,\n  And hastened to his tent.\n\nAs speedily as possible he assembled together his counsellors and M\u00fabids\nto obtain their advice on the present extraordinary occasion, and he\nrepresented to them the sacred importance of encouraging matrimonial\nalliances.\n\n  For marriage is a contract sealed by Heaven--\n  How happy is the Warrior's lot, amidst\n  His smiling children; when he dies, his son\n  Succeeds him, and enjoys his rank and name.\n  And is it not a glorious thing to say--\n  This is the son of Z\u00e1l, or this of S\u00e1m,\n  The heir of his renowned progenitor?\n\nHe then related to them the story of his love and affection for the\ndaughter of Mihr\u00e1b; but the M\u00fabids, well knowing that the chief of K\u00e1bul\nwas of the family of Zoh\u00e1k, the serpent-king, did not approve the union\ndesired, which excited the indignation of Z\u00e1l. They, however,\nrecommended his writing a letter to S\u00e1m, who might, if he thought\nproper, refer the matter to Min\u00fachihr. The letter was accordingly\nwritten and despatched, and when S\u00e1m received it, he immediately\nreferred the question to his astrologers, to know whether the nuptials,\nif solemnized between Z\u00e1l and R\u00fad\u00e1beh, would be prosperous or not. They\nforetold that the nuptials would be prosperous, and that the issue would\nbe a son of wonderful strength and power, the conqueror of the world.\nThis announcement delighted the heart of the old warrior, and he sent\nthe messenger back with the assurance of his approbation of the proposed\nunion, but requested that the subject might be kept concealed till he\nreturned with his army from the expedition to Karugs\u00e1r, and was able to\nconsult with Min\u00fachihr.\n\nZ\u00e1l, exulting at his success, communicated the glad tidings to R\u00fad\u00e1beh\nby their female emissary, who had hitherto carried on successfully the\ncorrespondence between them. But as she was conveying an answer to this\nwelcome news, and some presents to Z\u00e1l, S\u00edndokht, the mother of R\u00fad\u00e1beh,\ndetected her, and, examining the contents of the packet, she found\nsufficient evidence, she thought, of something wrong.\n\n  \"What treachery is this? What have we here!\n  Sirbund and male attire? Thou, wretch, confess!\n  Disclose thy secret doings.\"\n\nThe emissary, however, betrayed nothing; but declared that she was a\ndealer in jewels and dresses, and had been only showing her merchandise\nto R\u00fad\u00e1beh. S\u00edndokht, in extreme agitation of mind, hastened to her\ndaughter's apartment to ascertain the particulars of this affair, when\nR\u00fad\u00e1beh at once fearlessly acknowledged her unalterable affection for\nZ\u00e1l,\n\n  \"I love him so devotedly, all day,\n  All night my tears have flowed unceasingly;\n  And one hair of his head I prize more dearly\n  Than all the world beside; for him I live;\n  And we have met, and we have sat together,\n  And pledged our mutual love with mutual joy\n  And innocence of heart.\"\n\nR\u00fad\u00e1beh further informed her of S\u00e1m's consent to their nuptials, which\nin some degree satisfied the mother. But when Mihr\u00e1b was made acquainted\nwith the arrangement, his rage was unbounded, for he dreaded the\nresentment of S\u00e1m and Min\u00fachihr when the circumstances became fully\nknown to them. Trembling with indignation he drew his dagger, and would\nhave instantly rushed to R\u00fad\u00e1beh's chamber to destroy her, had not\nS\u00edndokht fallen at his feet and restrained him. He insisted, however, on\nher being brought before him; and upon his promise not to do her any\nharm, S\u00edndokht complied. R\u00fad\u00e1beh disdained to take off her ornaments to\nappear as an offender and a supplicant, but, proud of her choice, went\ninto her father's presence, gayly adorned with jewels, and in splendid\napparel. Mihr\u00e1b received her with surprise.\n\n  \"Why all this glittering finery? Is the devil\n  United to an angel? When a snake\n  Is met with in Arabia, it is killed!\"\n\nBut R\u00fad\u00e1beh answered not a word, and was permitted to retire with her\nmother.\n\nWhen Min\u00fachihr was apprised of the proceedings between Z\u00e1l and R\u00fad\u00e1beh,\nhe was deeply concerned, anticipating nothing but confusion and ruin to\nPersia from the united influence of Z\u00e1l and Mihr\u00e1b. Ferid\u00fan had purified\nthe world from the abominations of Zoh\u00e1k, and as Mihr\u00e1b was a descendant\nof that merciless tyrant, he feared that some attempt would be made to\nresume the enormities of former times; S\u00e1m was therefore required to\ngive his advice on the occasion.\n\nThe conqueror of Karugs\u00e1r and M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n was received on his return with\ncordial rejoicings, and he charmed the king with the story of his\ntriumphant success. The monarch against whom he had fought was\ndescended, on the mother's side, from Zoh\u00e1k, and his Demon army was more\nnumerous than ants, or clouds of locusts, covering mountain and plain.\nS\u00e1m thus proceeded in his description of the conflict.\n\n  \"And when he heard my voice, and saw what deeds\n  I had performed, approaching me, he threw\n  His noose; but downward bending I escaped,\n  And with my bow I showered upon his head\n  Steel-pointed arrows, piercing through the brain;\n  Then did I grasp his loins, and from his horse\n  Cast him upon the ground, deprived of life.\n  At this, the demons terrified and pale,\n  Shrunk back, some flying to the mountain wilds,\n  And others, taken on the battle-field,\n  Became obedient to the Persian king.\"\n\nMin\u00fachihr, gratified by this result of the expedition, appointed S\u00e1m to\na new enterprise, which was to destroy K\u00e1bul by fire and sword,\nespecially the house of Mihr\u00e1b; and that ruler, of the serpent-race, and\nall his adherents were to be put to death. S\u00e1m, before he took leave to\nreturn to his own government at Z\u00e1bul, tried to dissuade him from this\nviolent exercise of revenge, but without making any sensible impression\nupon him.\n\nMeanwhile the vindictive intentions of Min\u00fachihr, which were soon known\nat K\u00e1bul, produced the greatest alarm and consternation in the family of\nMihr\u00e1b. Z\u00e1l now returned to his father, and S\u00e1m sent a letter to\nMin\u00fachihr, again to deprecate his wrath, and appointed Z\u00e1l the\nmessenger. In this letter S\u00e1m enumerates his services at Karugs\u00e1r and\nM\u00e1zinder\u00e1n, and especially dwells upon the destruction of a prodigious\ndragon.\n\n  \"I am thy servant, and twice sixty years\n  Have seen my prowess. Mounted on my steed,\n  Wielding my battle-axe, overthrowing heroes,\n  Who equals S\u00e1m, the warrior? I destroyed\n  The mighty monster, whose devouring jaws\n  Unpeopled half the land, and spread dismay\n  From town to town. The world was full of horror,\n  No bird was seen in air, no beast of prey\n  In plain or forest; from the stream he drew\n  The crocodile; the eagle from the sky.\n  The country had no habitant alive,\n  And when I found no human being left,\n  I cast away all fear, and girt my loins,\n  And in the name of God went boldly forth,\n  Armed for the strife. I saw him towering rise,\n  Huge as a mountain, with his hideous hair\n  Dragging upon the ground; his long black tongue\n  Shut up the path; his eyes two lakes of blood;\n  And, seeing me, so horrible his roar,\n  The earth shook with affright, and from his mouth\n  A flood of poison issued. Like a lion\n  Forward I sprang, and in a moment drove\n  A diamond-pointed arrow through his tongue,\n  Fixing him to the ground. Another went\n  Down his deep throat, and dreadfully he writhed.\n  A third passed through his middle. Then I raised\n  My battle-axe, cow-headed, and with one\n  Tremendous blow, dislodged his venomous brain,\n  And deluged all around with blood and poison.\n  There lay the monster dead, and soon the world\n  Regained its peace and comfort. Now I'm old,\n  The vigour of my youth is past and gone,\n  And it becomes me to resign my station,\n  To Z\u00e1l, my gallant son.\"\n\nMihr\u00e1b continued in such extreme agitation, that in his own mind he saw\nno means of avoiding the threatened desolation of his country but by\nputting his wife and daughter to death. S\u00edndokht however had a better\nresource, and suggested the expediency of waiting upon S\u00e1m herself, to\ninduce him to forward her own views and the nuptials between Z\u00e1l and\nR\u00fad\u00e1beh. To this Mihr\u00e1b assented, and she proceeded, mounted on a richly\ncaparisoned horse, to Z\u00e1bul with most magnificent presents, consisting\nof three hundred thousand d\u00ednars; ten horses with golden, and thirty\nwith silver, housings; sixty richly attired damsels, carrying golden\ntrays of jewels and musk, and camphor, and wine, and sugar; forty pieces\nof figured cloth; a hundred milch camels, and a hundred others for\nburden; two hundred Indian swords, a golden crown and throne, and four\nelephants. S\u00e1m was amazed and embarrassed by the arrival of this\nsplendid array. If he accepted the presents, he would incur the anger of\nMin\u00fachihr; and if he rejected them, Z\u00e1l would be disappointed and driven\nto despair. He at length accepted them, and concurred in the wishes of\nS\u00edndokht respecting the union of the two lovers.\n\nWhen Z\u00e1l arrived at the court of Min\u00fachihr, he was received with honor,\nand the letter of S\u00e1m being read, the king was prevailed upon to consent\nto the pacific proposals that were made in favor of Mihr\u00e1b, and the\nnuptials. He too consulted his astrologers, and was informed that the\noffspring of Z\u00e1l and R\u00fad\u00e1beh would be a hero of matchless strength and\nvalor. Z\u00e1l, on his return through K\u00e1bul, had an interview with R\u00fad\u00e1beh,\nwho welcomed him in the most rapturous terms:--\n\n  Be thou for ever blest, for I adore thee,\n  And make the dust of thy fair feet my pillow.\n\nIn short, with the approbation of all parties the marriage at length\ntook place, and was celebrated at the beautiful summer-house where first\nthe lovers met. S\u00e1m was present at K\u00e1bul on the happy occasion, and soon\nafterwards returned to S\u00edst\u00e1n, preparatory to resuming his martial\nlabors in Karugs\u00e1r and M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n.\n\nAs the time drew near that R\u00fad\u00e1beh should become a mother, she suffered\nextremely from constant indisposition, and both Z\u00e1l and S\u00edndokht were in\nthe deepest distress on account of her precarious state.\n\n  The cypress leaf was withering; pale she lay,\n  Unsoothed by rest or sleep, death seemed approaching.\n\nAt last Z\u00e1l recollected the feather of the S\u00edm\u00fargh, and followed the\ninstructions which he had received, by placing it on the fire. In a\nmoment darkness surrounded them, which was, however, immediately\ndispersed by the sudden appearance of the S\u00edm\u00fargh. \"Why,\" said the\nS\u00edm\u00fargh, \"do I see all this grief and sorrow? Why are the tear-drops in\nthe warrior's eyes? A child will be born of mighty power, who will\nbecome the wonder of the world.\"\n\nThe S\u00edm\u00fargh then gave some advice which was implicitly attended to, and\nthe result was that R\u00fad\u00e1beh was soon out of danger. Never was beheld so\nprodigious a child. The father and mother were equally amazed. They\ncalled the boy Rustem. On the first day he looked a year old, and he\nrequired the milk of ten nurses. A likeness of him was immediately\nworked in silk, representing him upon a horse, and armed like a warrior,\nwhich was sent to S\u00e1m, who was then fighting in M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n, and it made\nthe old champion almost delirious with joy. At K\u00e1bul and Z\u00e1bul there was\nnothing but feasting and rejoicing, as soon as the tidings were known,\nand thousands of d\u00ednars were given away in charity to the poor. When\nRustem was five years of age, he ate as much as a man, and some say that\neven in his third year he rode on horseback. In his eighth year he was\nas powerful as any hero of the time.\n\n  In beauty of form and in vigour of limb,\n  No mortal was ever seen equal to him.\n\nBoth S\u00e1m and Mihr\u00e1b, though far distant from the scene of felicity, were\nequally anxious to proceed to Z\u00e1bulist\u00e1n to behold their wonderful\ngrandson. Both set off, but Mihr\u00e1b arrived first with great pomp, and a\nwhole army for his suite, and went forth with Z\u00e1l to meet S\u00e1m, and give\nhim an honorable welcome. The boy Rustem was mounted on an elephant,\nwearing a splendid crown, and wanted to join them, but his father kindly\nprevented him undergoing the inconvenience of alighting. Z\u00e1l and Mihr\u00e1b\ndismounted as soon as S\u00e1m was seen at a distance, and performed the\nceremonies of an affectionate reception. S\u00e1m was indeed amazed when he\ndid see the boy, and showered blessings on his head.\n\nAfterwards S\u00e1m placed Mihr\u00e1b on his right hand, and Z\u00e1l on his left, and\nRustem before him, and began to converse with his grandson, who thus\nmanifested to him his martial disposition.\n\n  \"Thou art the champion of the world, and I\n  The branch of that fair tree of which thou art\n  The glorious root: to thee I am devoted,\n  But ease and leisure have no charms for me;\n  Nor music, nor the songs of festive joy.\n  Mounted and armed, a helmet on my brow,\n  A javelin in my grasp, I long to meet\n  The foe, and cast his severed head before thee.\"\n\nThen S\u00e1m made a royal feast, and every apartment in his palace was\nrichly decorated, and resounded with mirth and rejoicing. Mihr\u00e1b was the\nmerriest, and drank the most, and in his cups saw nothing but himself,\nso vain had he become from the countenance he had received. He kept\nsaying:--\n\n  \"Now I feel no alarm about S\u00e1m or Z\u00e1l-zer,\n  Nor the splendour and power of the great Min\u00fachihr;\n  Whilst aided by Rustem, his sword, and his mace,\n  Not a cloud of misfortune can shadow my face.\n  All the laws of Zoh\u00e1k I will quickly restore,\n  And the world shall be fragrant and blest as before.\"\n\nThis exultation plainly betrayed the disposition of his race; and though\nS\u00e1m smiled at the extravagance of Mihr\u00e1b, he looked up towards Heaven,\nand prayed that Rustem might not prove a tyrant, but be continually\nactive in doing good, and humble before God.\n\nUpon S\u00e1m departing, on his return to Karugs\u00e1r and M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n, Z\u00e1l went\nwith Rustem to S\u00edst\u00e1n, a province dependent on his government, and\nsettled him there. The white elephant, belonging to Min\u00fachihr, was kept\nat S\u00edst\u00e1n. One night Rustem was awakened out of his sleep by a great\nnoise, and cries of distress when starting up and inquiring the cause,\nhe was told that the white elephant had got loose, and was trampling and\ncrushing the people to death. In a moment he issued from his apartment,\nbrandishing his mace; but was soon stopped by the servants, who were\nanxious to expostulate with him against venturing out in the darkness of\nnight to encounter a ferocious elephant. Impatient at being thus\ninterrupted he knocked down one of the watchmen, who fell dead at his\nfeet, and the others running away, he broke the lock of the gate, and\nescaped. He immediately opposed himself to the enormous animal, which\nlooked like a mountain, and kept roaring like the River Nil. Regarding\nhim with a cautious and steady eye, he gave a loud shout, and fearlessly\nstruck him a blow, with such strength and vigor, that the iron mace was\nbent almost double. The elephant trembled, and soon fell exhausted and\nlifeless in the dust. When it was communicated to Z\u00e1l that Rustem had\nkilled the animal with one blow, he was amazed, and fervently returned\nthanks to heaven. He called him to him, and kissed him, and said: \"My\ndarling boy, thou art indeed unequalled in valor and magnanimity.\"\n\nThen it occurred to Z\u00e1l that Rustem, after such an achievement, would be\na proper person to take vengeance on the enemies of his grandfather\nNar\u00edm\u00e1n, who was sent by Ferid\u00fan with a large army against an enchanted\nfort situated upon the mountain Sipund, and who whilst endeavoring to\neffect his object, was killed by a piece of rock thrown down from above\nby the besieged. The fort[7], which was many miles high, inclosed\nbeautiful lawns of the freshest verdure, and delightful gardens\nabounding with fruit and flowers; it was also full of treasure. S\u00e1m, on\nhearing of the fate of his father, was deeply afflicted, and in a short\ntime proceeded against the fort himself; but he was surrounded by a\ntrackless desert. He knew not what course to pursue; not a being was\never seen to enter or come out of the gates, and, after spending months\nand years in fruitless endeavors, he was compelled to retire from the\nappalling enterprise in despair. \"Now,\" said Z\u00e1l to Rustem, \"the time is\ncome, and the remedy is at hand; thou art yet unknown, and may easily\naccomplish our purpose.\" Rustem agreed to the proposed adventure, and\naccording to his father's advice, assumed the dress and character of a\nsalt-merchant, prepared a caravan of camels, and secreted arms for\nhimself and companions among the loads of salt. Everything being ready\nthey set off, and it was not long before they reached the fort on the\nmountain Sipund. Salt being a precious article, and much wanted, as soon\nas the garrison knew that it was for sale, the gates were opened; and\nthen was Rustem seen, together with his warriors, surrounded by men,\nwomen, and children, anxiously making their purchases, some giving\nclothes in exchange, some gold, and some silver, without fear or\nsuspicion.\n\n  But when the night came on, and it was dark,\n  Rustem impatient drew his warriors forth,\n  And moved towards the mansion of the chief--\n  But not unheard. The unaccustomed noise,\n  Announcing warlike menace and attack,\n  Awoke the Kotw\u00e1l, who sprung up to meet\n  The peril threatened by the invading foe.\n  Rustem meanwhile uplifts his ponderous mace,\n  And cleaves his head, and scatters on the ground\n  The reeking brains. And now the garrison\n  Are on the alert, all hastening to the spot\n  Where battle rages; midst the deepened gloom\n  Flash sparkling swords, which show the crimson earth\n  Bright as the ruby.\n\nRustem continued fighting with the people of the fort all night, and\njust as morning dawned, he discovered the chief and slew him. Those who\nsurvived, then escaped, and not one of the inhabitants remained within\nthe walls alive. Rustem's next object was to enter the governor's\nmansion. It was built of stone, and the gate, which was made of iron, he\nburst open with his battle-axe, and advancing onward, he discovered a\ntemple, constructed with infinite skill and science, beyond the power of\nmortal man, and which contained amazing wealth, in jewels and gold. All\nthe warriors gathered for themselves as much treasure as they could\ncarry away, and more than imagination can conceive; and Rustem wrote to\nZ\u00e1l to know his further commands on the subject of the capture. Z\u00e1l,\noverjoyed at the result of the enterprise, replied:\n\n  Thou hast illumed the soul of Nar\u00edm\u00e1n,\n  Now in the blissful bowers of Paradise,\n  By punishing his foes with fire and sword.\n\nHe then recommended him to load all the camels with as much of the\ninvaluable property as could be removed, and bring it away, and then\nburn and destroy the whole place, leaving not a single vestige; and the\ncommand having been strictly complied with, Rustem retraced his steps to\nZ\u00e1bulist\u00e1n.\n\n  On his return Z\u00e1l pressed him to his heart,\n  And paid him public honors. The fond mother\n  Kissed and embraced her darling son, and all\n  Uniting, showered their blessings on his head.\n\n\n\nDEATH OF MIN\u00daCHIHR\n\n  To Min\u00fachihr we now must turn again,\n  And mark the close of his illustrious reign.\n\nThe king had flourished one hundred and twenty years, when now the\nastrologers ascertained that the period of his departure from this life\nwas at hand.\n\n  They told him of that day of bitterness,\n  Which would obscure the splendour of his throne;\n  And said--\"The time approaches, thou must go,\n  Doubtless to Heaven. Think what thou hast to do;\n  And be it done before the damp cold earth\n  Inshrine thy body. Let not sudden death\n  O'ertake thee, ere thou art prepared to die!\"\n  Warned by the wise, he called his courtiers round him,\n  And thus he counselled Nauder:--\"O, my son!\n  Fix not thy heart upon a regal crown,\n  For this vain world is fleeting as the wind;\n  The pain and sorrows of twice sixty years\n  Have I endured, though happiness and joy\n  Have also been my portion. I have fought\n  In many a battle, vanquished many a foe;\n  By Ferid\u00fan's commands I girt my loins,\n  And his advice has ever been my guide.\n  I hurled just vengeance on the tyrant-brothers\n  S\u00edlim and T\u00far, who slew the gentle Irij;\n  And cities have I built, and made the tree\n  Which yielded poison, teem with wholesome fruit.\n  And now to thee the kingdom I resign,\n  That kingdom which belonged to Ferid\u00fan,\n  And thou wilt be the sovereign of the world!\n  But turn not from the worship of thy God,\n  That sacred worship Moses taught, the best\n  Of all the prophets; turn not from the path\n  Of purest holiness, thy father's choice.\n\n  \"My son, events of peril are before thee;\n  Thy enemy will come in fierce array,\n  From the wild mountains of T\u00far\u00e1n, the son\n  Of Poshang, the invader. In that hour\n  Of danger, seek the aid of S\u00e1m and Z\u00e1l,\n  And that young branch just blossoming; T\u00far\u00e1n\n  Will then have no safe buckler of defence,\n  None to protect it from their conquering arms.\"\n\n  Thus spoke the sire prophetic to his son,\n  And both were moved to tears. Again the king\n  Resumed his warning voice: \"Nauder, I charge thee\n  Place not thy trust upon a world like this,\n  Where nothing fixed remains. The caravan\n  Goes to another city, one to-day,\n  The next, to-morrow, each observes its turn\n  And time appointed--mine has come at last,\n  And I must travel on the destined road.\"\n\nAt the period Min\u00fachihr uttered this exhortation, he was entirely free\nfrom indisposition, but he shortly afterwards closed his eyes in death.\n\n\n\nNAUDER\n\nUpon the demise of Min\u00fachihr, Nauder ascended the throne, and commenced\nhis reign in the most promising manner; but before two months had\npassed, he neglected the counsels of his father, and betrayed the\ndespotic character of his heart. To such an extreme did he carry his\noppression, that to escape from his violence, the people were induced to\nsolicit other princes to come and take possession of the empire. The\ncourtiers labored under the greatest embarrassment, their monarch being\nsolely occupied in extorting money from his subjects, and amassing\nwealth for his own coffers. Nauder was not long in perceiving the\ndissatisfaction that universally prevailed, and, anticipating, not only\nan immediate revolt, but an invading army, solicited, according to his\nfather's advice, the assistance of S\u00e1m, then at M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n. The\ncomplaints of the people, however, reached S\u00e1m before the arrival of the\nmessenger, and when he received the letter, he was greatly distressed on\naccount of the extreme severity exercised by the new king. The champion,\nin consequence, proceeded forthwith from M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n to Persia, and when\nhe entered the capital, he was joyously welcomed, and at once entreated\nby the people to take the sovereignty upon himself. It was said of\nNauder:\n\n  The gloom of tyranny has hid\n    The light his father's counsel gave;\n  The hope of life is lost amid\n    The desolation of the grave.\n  The world is withering in his thrall,\n    Exhausted by his iron sway;\n  Do thou ascend the throne, and all\n    Will cheerfully thy will obey.\n\nBut S\u00e1m said, \"No; I should then be ungrateful to Min\u00fachihr, a traitor,\nand deservedly offensive in the eyes of God. Nauder is the king, and I\nam bound to do him service, although he has deplorably departed from the\nadvice of his father.\" He then soothed the alarm and irritation of the\nchiefs, and engaging to be a mediator upon the unhappy occasion, brought\nthem to a more pacific tone of thinking. After this he immediately\nrepaired to Nauder, who received him with great favor and kindness. \"O\nking,\" said he, \"only keep Ferid\u00fan in remembrance, and govern the empire\nin such a manner that thy name may be honored by thy subjects; for, be\nwell assured, that he who has a just estimate of the world, will never\nlook upon it as his place of rest. It is but an inn, where all\ntravellers meet on their way to eternity, but must not remain. The wise\nconsider those who fix their affections on this life, as utterly devoid\nof reason and reflection:\n\n \"Pleasure, and pomp, and wealth may be obtained--\n  And every want luxuriously supplied:\n  But suddenly, without a moment's warning,\n  Death comes, and hurls the monarch from his throne,\n  His crown and sceptre scattering in the dust.\n  He who is satisfied with earthly joys,\n  Can never know the blessedness of Heaven;\n  His soul must still be dark. Why do the good\n  Suffer in this world, but to be prepared\n  For future rest and happiness? The name\n  Of Ferid\u00fan is honoured among men,\n  Whilst curses load the memory of Zoh\u00e1k.\"\n\nThis intercession of S\u00e1m produced an entire change in the government of\nNauder, who promised, in future, to rule his people according to the\nprinciples of H\u00fasheng, and Ferid\u00fan, and Min\u00fachihr. The chiefs and\ncaptains of the army were, in consequence, contented, and the kingdom\nreunited itself under his sway.\n\nIn the meantime, however, the news of the death of Min\u00fachihr, together\nwith Nauder's injustice and seventy, and the disaffection of his people,\nhad reached T\u00far\u00e1n, of which country Poshang, a descendant from T\u00far, was\nthen the sovereign. Poshang, who had been unable to make a single\nsuccessful hostile movement during the life of Min\u00fachihr, at once\nconceived this to be a fit opportunity of taking revenge for the blood\nof S\u00edlim and T\u00far, and every appearance seeming to be in his favor, he\ncalled before him his heroic son Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, and explained to him his\npurpose and views. It was not difficult to inspire the youthful mind of\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b with the sentiments he himself cherished, and a large army was\nimmediately collected to take the field against Nauder. Poshang was\nproud of the chivalrous spirit and promptitude displayed by his son, who\nis said to have been as strong as a lion, or an elephant, and whose\nshadow extended miles. His tongue was like a bright sword, and his heart\nas bounteous as the ocean, and his hands like the clouds when rain falls\nto gladden the thirsty earth. Aghr\u00edras, the brother of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b,\nhowever, was not so precipitate. He cautioned his father to be prudent,\nfor though Persia could no longer boast of the presence of Min\u00fachihr,\nstill the great warrior S\u00e1m, and K\u00e1run, and Garsh\u00e1sp, were living, and\nPoshang had only to look at the result of the wars in which S\u00edlim and\nT\u00far were involved, to be convinced that the existing conjuncture\nrequired mature deliberation. \"It would be better,\" said he, \"not to\nbegin the contest at all, than to bring ruin and desolation on our own\ncountry.\" Poshang, on the contrary, thought the time peculiarly fit and\ninviting, and contended that, as Min\u00fachihr took vengeance for the blood\nof his grandfather, so ought Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b to take vengeance for his. \"The\ngrandson,\" he said, \"who refuses to do this act of justice, is unworthy\nof his family. There is nothing to apprehend from the efforts of Nauder,\nwho is an inexperienced youth, nor from the valor of his warriors.\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b is brave and powerful in war, and thou must accompany him and\nshare the glory.\" After this no further observation was offered, and the\nmartial preparations were completed.\n\n\n\nAFR\u00c1SIY\u00c1B MARCHES AGAINST NAUDER\n\nThe brazen drums on the elephants were sounded as the signal of\ndeparture, and the army proceeded rapidly to its destination,\novershadowing the earth in its progress. Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b had penetrated as far\nas the Jih\u00fan before Nauder was aware of his approach. Upon receiving\nthis intelligence of the activity of the enemy, the warriors of the\nPersian army immediately moved in that direction, and on their arrival\nat Dehst\u00e1n, prepared for battle.\n\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b despatched thirty thousand of his troops under the command of\nShimas\u00e1s and Khazerv\u00e1n to Z\u00e1bulist\u00e1n, to act against Z\u00e1l, having heard\non his march of the death of the illustrious S\u00e1m, and advanced himself\nupon Dehst\u00e1n with four hundred thousand soldiers, covering the ground\nlike swarms of ants and locusts. He soon discovered that Nauder's forces\ndid not exceed one hundred and forty thousand men, and wrote to Poshang,\nhis father, in high spirits, especially on account of not having to\ncontend against S\u00e1m, the warrior, and informed him that he had detached\nShimas\u00e1s against Z\u00e1bulist\u00e1n. When the armies had approached to within\ntwo leagues of each other, B\u00e1rm\u00e1n, one of the T\u00far\u00e1nian chiefs, offered\nto challenge any one of the enemy to single combat: but Aghr\u00edras\nobjected to it, not wishing that so valuable a hero should run the\nhazard of discomfiture. At this Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b was very indignant and\ndirected B\u00e1rm\u00e1n to follow the bent of his own inclinations.\n\n  \"'Tis not for us to shrink from Persian foe,\n  Put on thy armour, and prepare thy bow.\"\n\nAccordingly the challenge was given. K\u00e1run looked round, and the only\nperson who answered the call was the aged Kob\u00e1d, his brother. K\u00e1run and\nKob\u00e1d were both sons of Kavah, the blacksmith, and both leaders in the\nPersian army. No persuasion could restrain Kob\u00e1d from the unequal\nconflict. He resisted all the entreaties of K\u00e1run, who said to him--\n\n  \"O, should thy hoary locks be stained with blood,\n  Thy legions will be overwhelmed with grief,\n  And, in despair, decline the coming battle.\"\n  But what was the reply of brave Kob\u00e1d?\n  \"Brother, this body, this frail tenement,\n  Belongs to death. No living man has ever\n  Gone up to Heaven--for all are doomed to die.--\n  Some by the sword, the dagger, or the spear,\n  And some, devoured by roaring beasts of prey;\n  Some peacefully upon their beds, and others\n  Snatched suddenly from life, endure the lot\n  Ordained by the Creator. If I perish,\n  Does not my brother live, my noble brother,\n  To bury me beneath a warrior's tomb,\n  And bless my memory?\"\n\nSaying this, he rushed forward, and the two warriors met in desperate\nconflict. The struggle lasted all day; at last B\u00e1rm\u00e1n threw a stone at\nhis antagonist with such force, that Kob\u00e1d in receiving the blow fell\nlifeless from his horse. When K\u00e1run saw that his brother was slain, he\nbrought forward his whole army to be revenged for the death of Kob\u00e1d.\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b himself advanced to the charge, and the encounter was\ndreadful. The soldiers who fell among the T\u00far\u00e1nians could not be\nnumbered, but the Persians lost fifty thousand men.\n\n  Loud neighed the steeds, and their resounding hoofs.\n  Shook the deep caverns of the earth; the dust\n  Rose up in clouds and hid the azure heavens--\n  Bright beamed the swords, and in that carnage wide,\n  Blood flowed like water. Night alone divided\n  The hostile armies.\n\nWhen the battle ceased K\u00e1run fell back upon Dehst\u00e1n, and communicated\nhis misfortune to Nauder, who lamented the loss of Kob\u00e1d, even more than\nthat of S\u00e1m. In the morning K\u00e1run again took the field against\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, and the conflict was again terrible. Nauder boldly opposed\nhimself to the enemy, and singling out Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, the two heroes fought\nwith great bravery till night again put an end to the engagement. The\nPersian army had suffered most, and Nauder retired to his tent\ndisappointed, fatigued, and sorrowful. He then called to mind the words\nof Min\u00fachihr, and called for his two sons, T\u00fas and Gustahem. With\nmelancholy forebodings he directed them to return to Ir\u00e1n, with his\nshubist\u00e1n, or domestic establishment, and take refuge on the mountain\nAlberz, in the hope that some one of the race of Ferid\u00fan might survive\nthe general ruin which seemed to be approaching.\n\nThe armies rested two days. On the third the reverberating noise of\ndrums and trumpets announced the recommencement of the battle. On the\nPersian side Shahp\u00far had been appointed in the room of Kob\u00e1d, and B\u00e1rm\u00e1n\nand Sh\u00edw\u00e1z led the right and left of the T\u00far\u00e1nians under Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b.\n\n  From dawn to sunset, mountain, plain, and stream,\n  Were hid from view; the earth, beneath the tread\n  Of myriads, groaned; and when the javelins cast\n  Long shadows on the plain at even-tide,\n  The Tartar host had won the victory;\n  And many a Persian chief fell on that day:--\n  Shahp\u00far himself was slain.\n\nWhen Nauder and K\u00e1run saw the unfortunate result of the battle, they\nagain fell back upon Dehst\u00e1n, and secured themselves in the fort.\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b in the meantime despatched Kar\u00fakh\u00e1n to Ir\u00e1n, through the\ndesert, with a body of horsemen, for the purpose of intercepting and\ncapturing the shubist\u00e1n of Nauder. As soon as K\u00e1run heard of this\nexpedition he was all on fire, and proposed to pursue the squadron under\nKar\u00fakh\u00e1n, and frustrate at once the object which the enemy had in view;\nand though Nauder was unfavorable to this movement, K\u00e1run, supported by\nseveral of the chiefs and a strong volunteer force, set off at midnight,\nwithout permission, on this important enterprise. It was not long before\nthey reached the Duz-i-Sup\u00ead, or white fort, of which Gustahem was the\ngovernor, and falling in with B\u00e1rm\u00e1n, who was also pushing forward to\nPersia, K\u00e1run, in revenge for his brother Kob\u00e1d, sought him out, and\ndared him to single combat. He threw his javelin with such might, that\nhis antagonist was driven furiously from his horse; and then,\ndismounting, he cut off his head, and hung it at his saddle-bow. After\nthis he attacked and defeated the Tartar troops, and continued his march\ntowards Ir\u00e1n.\n\nNauder having found that K\u00e1run had departed, immediately followed, and\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b was not long in pursuing him. The T\u00far\u00e1nians at length came up\nwith Nauder, and attacked him with great vigor. The unfortunate king,\nunable to parry the onset, fell into the hands of his enemies, together\nwith upwards of one thousand of his famous warriors.\n\n  Long fought they, Nauder and the Tartar-chief,\n  And the thick dust which rose from either host,\n  Darkened the rolling Heavens. Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b\n  Seized by the girdle-belt the Persian king,\n  And furious, dragged him from his foaming horse.\n  With him a thousand warriors, high in name,\n  Were taken on the field; and every legion,\n  Captured whilst flying from the victor's brand.\n\n  Such are the freaks of Fortune: friend and foe\n  Alternate wear the crown. The world itself\n  Is an ingenious juggler--every moment\n  Playing some novel trick; exalting one\n  In pomp and splendour, crushing down another,\n  As if in sport,--and death the end of all!\n\nAfter the achievement of this victory Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b directed that K\u00e1run\nshould be pursued and attacked wherever he might be found; but when he\nheard that he had hurried on for the protection of the shubist\u00e1n, and\nhad conquered and slain B\u00e1rm\u00e1n, he gnawed his hands with rage. The reign\nof Nauder lasted only seven years. After him Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b was the master of\nPersia.\n\n\n\nAFR\u00c1SIY\u00c1B\n\nIt has already been said that Shimas\u00e1s and Khazerv\u00e1n were sent by\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b with thirty thousand men against K\u00e1bul and Z\u00e1bul, and when Z\u00e1l\nheard of this movement he forthwith united with Mihr\u00e1b the chief of\nK\u00e1bul, and having first collected a large army in S\u00edst\u00e1n, had a conflict\nwith the two Tartar generals.\n\n  Z\u00e1l promptly donned himself in war attire,\n  And, mounted like a hero, to the field\n  Hastened, his soldiers frowning on their steeds.\n  Now Khazerv\u00e1n grasps his huge battle-axe,\n  And, his broad shield extending, at one blow\n  Shivers the mail of Z\u00e1l, who calls aloud\n  As, like a lion, to the fight he springs,\n  Armed with his father's mace. Sternly he looks\n  And with the fury of a dragon, drives\n  The weapon through his adversary's head,\n  Staining the ground with streaks of blood, resembling\n  The waving stripes upon a tiger's back.\n\nAt this time Rustem was confined at home with the smallpox. Upon the\ndeath of Khazerv\u00e1n, Shimas\u00e1s thirsted to be revenged; but when Z\u00e1l\nmeeting him raised his mace, and began to close, the chief became\nalarmed and turned back, and all his squadrons followed his example.\n\n  Fled Shimas\u00e1s, and all his fighting train,\n  Like herds by tempests scattered o'er the plain.\n\nZ\u00e1l set off in pursuit, and slew a great number of the enemy; but when\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b was made acquainted with this defeat, he immediately released\nNauder from his fetters, and in his rage instantly deprived him of life.\n\n  He struck him and so deadly was the blow,\n  Breath left the body in a moment's space.\n\nAfter this Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b turned his views towards T\u00fas and Gustahem in the\nhope of getting them into his hands; but as soon as they received\nintimation of his object, the two brothers retired from Ir\u00e1n, and went\nto S\u00edst\u00e1n to live under the protection of Z\u00e1l. The champion received\nthem with due respect and honor. K\u00e1run also went, with all the warriors\nand people who had been supported by Nauder, and co-operated with Z\u00e1l,\nwho encouraged them with the hopes of future success. Z\u00e1l, however,\nconsidered that both T\u00fas and Gustahem were still of a tender age--that a\nmonarch of extraordinary wisdom and energy was required to oppose\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b--that he himself was not of the blood of the Kais, nor fit for\nthe duties of sovereignty, and, therefore, he turned his thoughts\ntowards Aghr\u00edras, the younger brother of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, distinguished as he\nwas for his valor, prudence, and humanity, and to whom Poshang, his\nfather, had given the government of Ra\u00ed. To him Z\u00e1l sent an envoy,\nsaying, that if he would proceed to S\u00edst\u00e1n, he should be supplied with\nample resources to place him on the throne of Persia; that by the\nco-operation of Z\u00e1l and all his warriors the conquest would be easy, and\nthat there would be no difficulty in destroying the power of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b.\nAghr\u00edras accepted the offer, and immediately proceeded from his kingdom\nof Ra\u00ed towards S\u00edst\u00e1n. On his arrival at B\u00e1bel, Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b heard of his\nambitious plans, and lost no time in assembling his army and marching to\narrest the progress of his brother. Aghr\u00edras, unable to sustain a\nbattle, had recourse to negotiation and a conference, in which Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b\nsaid to him, \"What rebellious conduct is this, of which thou art guilty?\nIs not the country of Ra\u00ed sufficient for thee, that thou art thus\naspiring to be a great king?\" Aghr\u00edras replied: \"Why reproach and insult\nme thus? Art thou not ashamed to accuse another of rebellious conduct?\n\n \"Shame might have held thy tongue; reprove not me\n  In bitterness; God did not give thee power\n  To injure man, and surely not thy kin.\"\n  Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, enraged at this reproof,\n  Replied by a foul deed--he grasped his sword,\n  And with remorseless fury slew his brother!\n\nWhen intelligence of this cruel catastrophe came to Z\u00e1l's ears, he\nexclaimed: \"Now indeed has the empire of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b arrived at its\ncrisis:\n\n  \"Yes, yes, the tyrant's throne is tottering now,\n  And past is all his glory.\"\n\nThen Z\u00e1l bound his loins in hostility against Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, and gathering\ntogether all his warriors, resolved upon taking revenge for the death of\nNauder, and expelling the tyrant from Persia. Neither T\u00fas nor Gustahem\nbeing yet capable of sustaining the cares and duties of the throne, his\nanxiety was to obtain the assistance of some one of the race of Ferid\u00fan.\n\n  These youths were for imperial rule unfit:\n  A king of royal lineage and worth\n  The state required, and none could he remember\n  Save Tahmasp's son, descended from the blood\n  Of Ferid\u00fan.\n\n\n\nZAU\n\nAt the time when S\u00edlim and T\u00far were killed, Tahmasp, the son of S\u00edlim,\nfled from the country and took refuge in an island, where he died, and\nleft a son named Zau. Z\u00e1l sent K\u00e1run, the son of Kavah, attended by a\nproper escort, with overtures to Zau, who readily complied, and was\nunder favorable circumstances seated upon the throne:\n\n                           Speedily, in arms,\n  He led his troops to Persia, fought, and won\n  A kingdom, by his power and bravery--\n  And happy was the day when princely Zau\n  Was placed upon that throne of sovereignty;\n  All breathed their prayers upon his future reign,\n  And o'er his head (the customary rite)\n  Shower'd gold and jewels.\n\nWhen he had subdued the country, he turned his arms against Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b,\nwho in consequence of losing the co-operation of the Persians, and not\nbeing in a state to encounter a superior force, thought it prudent to\nretreat, and return to his father. The reign of Zau lasted five years,\nafter which he died, and was succeeded by his son Garsh\u00e1sp.\n\n\n\nGARSH\u00c1SP\n\nGarsh\u00e1sp, whilst in his minority, being unacquainted with the affairs of\ngovernment, abided in all things by the judgment and counsels of Z\u00e1l.\nWhen Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b arrived at T\u00far\u00e1n, his father was in great distress and\nanger on account of the inhuman murder of Aghr\u00edras; and so exceedingly\ndid he grieve, that he would not endure his presence.\n\n  And when Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b returned, his sire,\n  Poshang, in grief, refused to see his face.\n  To him the day of happiness and joy\n  Had been obscured by the dark clouds of night;\n  And thus he said: \"Why didst thou, why didst _thou_\n  In power supreme, without pretence of guilt,\n  With thy own hand his precious life destroy?\n  Why hast thou shed thy innocent brother's blood?\n  In this life thou art nothing now to me;\n  Away, I must not see thy face again.\"\n\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b continued offensive and despicable in the mind of his father\ntill he heard that Garsh\u00e1sp was unequal to rule over Persia, and then\nthinking he could turn the warlike spirit of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b to advantage, he\nforgave the crime of his son. He forthwith collected an immense army,\nand sent him again to effect the conquest of Ir\u00e1n, under the pretext of\navenging the death of S\u00edlim and T\u00far.\n\n  Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b a mighty army raised,\n  And passing plain and river, mountain high,\n  And desert wild, filled all the Persian realm\n  With consternation, universal dread.\n\nThe chief authorities of the country applied to Z\u00e1l as their only remedy\nagainst the invasion of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b.\n\n  They said to Z\u00e1l, \"How easy is the task\n  For thee to grasp the world--then, since thou canst\n  Afford us succour, yield the blessing now;\n  For, lo! the King Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b has come,\n  In all his power and overwhelming might.\"\n\nZ\u00e1l replied that he had on this occasion appointed Rustem to command the\narmy, and to oppose the invasion of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b.\n\n  And thus the warrior Z\u00e1l to Rustem spoke--\n  \"Strong as an elephant thou art, my son,\n  Surpassing thy companions, and I now\n  Forewarn thee that a difficult emprize,\n  Hostile to ease or sleep, demands thy care.\n  'Tis true, of battles thou canst nothing know,\n  But what am I to do? This is no time\n  For banquetting, and yet thy lips still breathe\n  The scent of milk, a proof of infancy;\n  Thy heart pants after gladness and the sweet\n  Endearments of domestic life; can I\n  Then send thee to the war to cope with heroes\n  Burning with wrath and vengeance?\" Rustem said--\n  \"Mistake me not, I have no wish, not I,\n  For soft endearments, nor domestic life,\n  Nor home-felt joys. This chest, these nervous limbs,\n  Denote far other objects of pursuit,\n  Than a luxurious life of ease and pleasure.\"\n\nZ\u00e1l having taken great pains in the instruction of Rustem in warlike\nexercises, and the rules of battle, found infinite aptitude in the boy,\nand his activity and skill seemed to be superior to his own. He thanked\nGod for the comfort it gave him, and was glad. Then Rustem asked his\nfather for a suitable mace; and seeing the huge weapon which was borne\nby the great S\u00e1m, he took it up, and it answered his purpose exactly.\n\n  When the young hero saw the mace of S\u00e1m\n  He smiled with pleasure, and his heart rejoiced;\n  And paying homage to his father Z\u00e1l,\n  The champion of the age, asked for a steed\n  Of corresponding power, that he might use\n  That famous club with added force and vigor.\n\nZ\u00e1l showed him all the horses in his possession, and Rustem tried many,\nbut found not one of sufficient strength to suit him. At last his eyes\nfell upon a mare followed by a foal of great promise, beauty, and\nstrength.\n\n  Seeing that foal, whose bright and glossy skin\n  Was dappled o'er, like blossoms of the rose\n  Upon a saffron lawn, Rustem prepared\n  His noose, and held it ready in his hand.\n\nThe groom recommended him to secure the foal, as it was the offspring of\nAbresh, born of a D\u00edw, or Demon, and called Rakush. The dam had killed\nseveral persons who attempted to seize her young one.\n\n  Now Rustem flings the noose, and suddenly\n  Rakush secures. Meanwhile the furious mare\n  Attacks him, eager with her pointed teeth\n  To crush his brain--but, stunned by his loud cry,\n  She stops in wonder. Then with clenched hand\n  He smites her on the head and neck, and down\n  She tumbles, struggling in the pangs of death.\n\nRakush, however, though with the noose round his neck, was not so easily\nsubdued; but kept dragging and pulling Rustem, as if by a tether, and it\nwas a considerable time before the animal could be reduced to\nsubjection. At last, Rustem thanked Heaven that he had obtained the very\nhorse he wanted.\n\n  \"Now am I with my horse prepared to join\n  The field of warriors!\" Thus the hero said,\n  And placed the saddle on his charger. Z\u00e1l\n  Beheld him with delight,--his withered heart\n  Glowing with summer freshness. Open then\n  He threw his treasury--thoughtless of the past\n  Or future--present joy absorbing all\n  His faculties, and thrilling every nerve.\n\nIn a short time Z\u00e1l sent Rustem with a prodigious army against\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, and two days afterwards set off himself and joined his son.\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b said, \"The son is but a boy, and the father is old; I shall\nhave no difficulty in recovering the empire of Persia.\" These\nobservations having reached Z\u00e1l, he pondered deeply, considering that\nGarsh\u00e1sp would not be able to contend against Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, and that no\nother prince of the race of Ferid\u00fan was known to be in existence.\nHowever, he despatched people in every quarter to gather information on\nthe subject, and at length Kai-kob\u00e1d was understood to be residing in\nobscurity on the mountain Alberz, distinguished for his wisdom and\nvalor, and his qualifications for the exercise of sovereign power. Z\u00e1l\ntherefore recommended Rustem to proceed to Alberz, and bring him from\nhis concealment.\n\n  Thus Z\u00e1l to Rustem spoke, \"Go forth, my son,\n  And speedily perform this pressing duty,\n  To linger would be dangerous. Say to him,\n  'The army is prepared--the throne is ready,\n  And thou alone, of the Kai\u00e1nian race,\n  Deemed fit for sovereign rule.'\"\n\nRustem accordingly mounted Rakush, and accompanied by a powerful force,\npursued his way towards the mountain Alberz; and though the road was\ninfested by the troops of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, he valiantly overcame every\ndifficulty that was opposed to his progress. On reaching the vicinity of\nAlberz, he observed a beautiful spot of ground studded with luxuriant\ntrees, and watered by glittering rills. There too, sitting upon a\nthrone, placed in the shade on the flowery margin of a stream, he saw a\nyoung man, surrounded by a company of friends and attendants, and\nengaged at a gorgeous entertainment. Rustem, when he came near, was\nhospitably invited to partake of the feast: but this he declined,\nsaying, that he was on an important mission to Alberz, which forbade the\nenjoyment of any pleasure till his task was accomplished; in short, that\nhe was in search of Kai-kob\u00e1d: but upon being told that he would there\nreceive intelligence of him, he alighted and approached the bank of the\nstream where the company was assembled. The young man who was seated\nupon the golden throne took hold of the hand of Rustem, and filling up a\ngoblet with wine, gave another to his guest, and asked him at whose\ncommand or suggestion he was in search of Kai-kob\u00e1d. Rustem replied,\nthat he was sent by his father Z\u00e1l, and frankly communicated to him the\nspecial object they had in view. The young man, delighted with the\ninformation, immediately discovered himself, acknowledged that he was\nKai-kob\u00e1d, and then Rustem respectfully hailed him as the sovereign of\nPersia.\n\n  The banquet was resumed again--\n  And, hark, the softly warbled strain,\n  As harp and flute, in union sweet,\n  The voices of the singers meet.\n  The black-eyed damsels now display\n  Their art in many an amorous lay;\n  And now the song is loud and clear,\n  And speaks of Rustem's welcome here.\n  \"This is a day, a glorious day,\n  That drives ungenial thoughts away;\n  This is a day to make us glad,\n  Since Rustem comes for Kai-kob\u00e1d;\n  O, let us pass our time in glee,\n  And talk of Jemsh\u00edd's majesty,\n  The pomp and glory of his reign,\n  And still the sparkling goblet drain.--\n  Come, Sak\u00ed, fill the wine-cup high,\n  And let not even its brim be dry;\n  For wine alone has power to part\n  The rust of sorrow from the heart.\n  Drink to the king, in merry mood,\n  Since fortune smiles, and wine is good;\n  Quaffing red wine is better far\n  Than shedding blood in strife, or war;\n  Man is but dust, and why should he\n  Become a fire of enmity?\n  Drink deep, all other cares resign.\n  For what can vie with ruby wine?\"\n\nIn this manner ran the song of the revellers. After which, and being\nrather merry with wine, Kai-kob\u00e1d told Rustem of the dream that had\ninduced him to descend from his place of refuge on Alberz, and to\nprepare a banquet on the occasion. He dreamt the night before that two\nwhite falcons from Persia placed a splendid crown upon his head, and\nthis vision was interpreted by Rustem as symbolical of his father and\nhimself, who at that moment were engaged in investing him with kingly\npower. The hero then solicited the young sovereign to hasten his\ndeparture for Persia, and preparations were made without delay. They\ntravelled night and day, and fell in with several detachments of the\nenemy, which were easily repulsed by the valor of Rustem. The fiercest\nattack proceeded from Kel\u00fan, one of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b's warriors, near the\nconfines of Persia, who in the encounter used his spear with great\ndexterity and address.\n\n  But Rustem with his javelin soon transfixed\n  The Tartar knight--who in the eyes of all\n  Looked like a spitted chicken--down he sunk,\n  And all his soldiers fled in wild dismay.\n  Then Rustem turned aside, and found a spot\n  Where verdant meadows smiled, and streamlets flowed,\n  Inviting weary travellers to rest.\n  There they awhile remained--and when the sun\n  Went down, and night had darkened all the sky,\n  The champion joyfully pursued his way,\n  And brought the monarch to his father's house.\n  --Seven days they sat in council--on the eighth\n  Young Kai-kob\u00e1d was crowned--and placed upon\n  The ivory throne in presence of his warriors,\n  Who all besought him to commence the war\n  Against the Tartar prince, Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b.\n\n\n\nKAI-KOB\u00c1D\n\nKai-kob\u00e1d having been raised to the throne at a council of the warriors,\nand advised to oppose the progress of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, immediately assembled\nhis army. Mihr\u00e1b, the ruler of K\u00e1bul, was appointed to one wing, and\nGustahem to the other--the centre was given to K\u00e1run and Kishw\u00e1d, and\nRustem was placed in front, Z\u00e1l with Kai-kob\u00e1d remaining in the rear.\nThe glorious standard of Kavah streamed upon the breeze.\n\nOn the other side, Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b prepared for battle, assisted by his heroes\nAkb\u00e1s, W\u00edsah, Shimas\u00e1s, and Gers\u00edwaz; and so great was the clamor and\nconfusion which proceeded from both armies, that earth and sky seemed\nblended together.[8] The clattering of hoofs, the shrill roar of\ntrumpets, the rattle of brazen drums, and the vivid glittering of spear\nand shield, produced indescribable tumult and splendor.\n\nK\u00e1run was the first in action, and he brought many a hero to the ground.\nHe singled out Shimas\u00e1s; and after a desperate struggle, laid him\nbreathless on the field. Rustem, stimulated by these exploits, requested\nhis father, Z\u00e1l, to point out Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, that he might encounter him;\nbut Z\u00e1l endeavored to dissuade him from so hopeless an effort, saying,\n\n  \"My son, be wise, and peril not thyself;\n  Black is his banner, and his cuirass black--\n  His limbs are cased in iron--on his head\n  He wears an iron helm--and high before him\n  Floats the black ensign; equal in his might\n  To ten strong men, he never in one place\n  Remains, but everywhere displays his power.\n  The crocodile has in the rolling stream\n  No safety; and a mountain, formed of steel,\n  Even at the mention of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b,\n  Melts into water. Then, beware of him.\"\n  Rustem replied:--\"Be not alarmed for me--\n  My heart, my arm, my dagger, are my castle,\n  And Heaven befriends me--let him but appear,\n  Dragon or Demon, and the field is mine.\"\n\nThen Rustem valiantly urged Rakush towards the T\u00far\u00e1nian army, and called\nout aloud. As soon as Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b beheld him, he inquired who he could be,\nand he was told, \"This is Rustem, the son of Z\u00e1l. Seest thou not in his\nhand the battle-axe of S\u00e1m? The youth has come in search of renown.\"\nWhen the combatants closed, they struggled for some time together, and\nat length Rustem seized the girdle-belt of his antagonist, and threw him\nfrom his saddle. He wished to drag the captive as a trophy to Kai-kob\u00e1d,\nthat his first great victory might be remembered, but unfortunately the\nbelt gave way, and Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b fell on the ground. Immediately the fallen\nchief was surrounded and rescued by his own warriors, but not before\nRustem had snatched off his crown, and carried it away with the broken\ngirdle which was left in his hand. And now a general engagement took\nplace. Rustem being reinforced by the advance of the king, with Z\u00e1l and\nMihr\u00e1b at his side--\n\n  Both armies seemed so closely waging war,\n  Thou wouldst have said, that they were mixed together.\n  The earth shook with the tramping of the steeds,\n  Rattled the drums; loud clamours from the troops\n  Echoed around, and from the iron grasp\n  Of warriors, many a life was spent in air.\n  With his huge mace, cow-headed, Rustem dyed\n  The ground with crimson--and wherever seen,\n  Urging impatiently his fiery horse,\n  Heads severed fell like withered leaves in autumn.\n  If, brandishing his sword, he struck the head,\n  Horseman and steed were downward cleft in twain--\n  And if his side-long blow was on the loins,\n  The sword passed through, as easily as the blade\n  Slices a cucumber. The blood of heroes\n  Deluged the plain. On that tremendous day,\n  With sword and dagger, battle-axe and noose,[9]\n  He cut, and tore, and broke, and bound the brave,\n  Slaying and making captive. At one swoop\n  More than a thousand fell by his own hand.\n\nZ\u00e1l beheld his son with amazement and delight. The T\u00far\u00e1nians left the\nfire-worshippers in possession of the field, and retreated towards the\nJih\u00fan with precipitation, not a sound of drum or trumpet denoting their\ntrack. After halting three days in a state of deep dejection and misery,\nthey continued their retreat along the banks of the Jih\u00fan. The Persian\narmy, upon the flight of the enemy, fell back with their prisoners of\nwar, and Rustem was received by the king with distinguished honor. When\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b returned to his father, he communicated to him, with a heavy\nheart, the misfortunes of the battle, and the power that had been\narrayed against him, dwelling with wonder and admiration on the\nstupendous valor of Rustem.\n\n                    Seeing my sable banner,\n  He to the fight came like a crocodile,\n  Thou wouldst have said his breath scorched up the plain;\n  He seized my girdle with such mighty force\n  As if he would have torn my joints asunder;\n  And raised me from my saddle--that I seemed\n  An insect in his grasp--but presently\n  The golden girdle broke, and down I fell\n  Ingloriously upon the dusty ground;\n  But I was rescued by my warrior train!\n  Thou knowest my valour, how my nerves are strung,\n  And may conceive the wondrous strength, which thus\n  Sunk me to nothing. Iron is his frame,\n  And marvellous his power; peace, peace, alone\n  Can save us and our country from destruction.\n\nPoshang, considering the luckless state of affairs, and the loss of so\nmany valiant warriors, thought it prudent to acquiesce in the wishes of\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, and sue for peace. To this end W\u00edsah was intrusted with\nmagnificent presents, and the overtures which in substance ran thus:\n\"Min\u00fachihr was revenged upon T\u00far and S\u00edlim for the death of Irij.\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b again has revenged their death upon Nauder, the son of\nMin\u00fachihr, and now Rustem has conquered Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b. But why should we any\nlonger keep the world in confusion--Why should we not be satisfied with\nwhat Ferid\u00fan, in his wisdom, decreed? Continue in the empire which he\nappropriated to Irij, and let the Jih\u00fan be the boundary between us, for\nare we not connected by blood, and of one family? Let our kingdoms be\ngladdened with the blessings of peace.\"\n\nWhen these proposals of peace reached Kai-kob\u00e1d, the following answer was\nreturned:\n\n  \"Well dost thou know that I was not the first\n  To wage this war. From T\u00far, thy ancestor,\n  The strife began. Bethink thee how he slew\n  The gentle Irij--his own brother;--how,\n  In these our days, thy son, Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b,\n  Crossing the Jih\u00fan, with a numerous force\n  Invaded Persia--think how Nauder died!\n  Not in the field of battle, like a hero,\n  But murdered by thy son--who, ever cruel,\n  Afterwards stabbed his brother, young Aghr\u00edras,\n  So deeply mourned by thee. Yet do I thirst not\n  For vengeance, or for strife. I yield the realm\n  Beyond the Jih\u00fan--let that river be\n  The boundary between us; but thy son,\n  Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, must take his solemn oath\n  Never to cross that limit, or disturb\n  The Persian throne again; thus pledged, I grant\n  The peace solicited.\"\n\nThe messenger without delay conveyed this welcome intelligence to\nPoshang, and the T\u00far\u00e1nian army was in consequence immediately withdrawn\nwithin the prescribed line of division, Rustem, however, expostulated\nwith the king against making peace at a time the most advantageous for\nwar, and especially when he had just commenced his victorious career;\nbut Kai-kob\u00e1d thought differently, and considered nothing equal to\njustice and tranquillity. Peace was accordingly concluded, and upon\nRustem and Z\u00e1l he conferred the highest honors, and his other warriors\nengaged in the late conflict also experienced the effects of his bounty\nand gratitude in an eminent degree.\n\nKai-kob\u00e1d then moved towards Persia, and establishing his throne at\nIstakhar,[10] he administered the affairs of his government with\nadmirable benevolence and clemency, and with unceasing solicitude for\nthe welfare of his subjects. In his eyes every one had an equal claim to\nconsideration and justice. The strong had no power to oppress the weak.\nAfter he had continued ten years at Istakhar, building towns and cities,\nand diffusing improvement and happiness over the land, he removed his\nthrone into Ir\u00e1n. His reign lasted one hundred years, which were passed\nin the continued exercise of the most princely virtues, and the most\nmunificent liberality. He had four sons: Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas, Arish, Posh\u00edn and\nAram\u00edn; and when the period of his dissolution drew nigh, he solemnly\nenjoined the eldest, whom he appointed his successor, to pursue steadily\nthe path of integrity and justice, and to be kind and merciful in the\nadministration of the empire left to his charge.\n\n\n\nKAI-K\u00c1\u00daS\n\nWhen Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas[11] ascended the throne of his father, the whole world was\nobedient to his will; but he soon began to deviate from the wise customs\nand rules which had been recommended as essential to his prosperity and\nhappiness. He feasted and drank wine continually with his warriors and\nchiefs, so that in the midst of his luxurious enjoyments he looked upon\nhimself as superior to every being upon the face of the earth, and thus\nastonished the people, high and low, by his extravagance and pride.\n\nOne day a Demon, disguised as a musician, waited upon the monarch, and\nplaying sweetly on his harp, sung a song in praise of M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n.\n\n  And thus he warbled to the king--\n  \"M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n is the bower of spring,\n  My native home; the balmy air\n  Diffuses health and fragrance there;\n  So tempered is the genial glow,\n  Nor heat nor cold we ever know;\n  Tulips and hyacinths abound\n  On every lawn; and all around\n  Blooms like a garden in its prime,\n  Fostered by that delicious clime.\n  The bulbul sits on every spray,\n  And pours his soft melodious lay;\n  Each rural spot its sweets discloses,\n  Each streamlet is the dew of roses;\n  And damsels, idols of the heart,\n  Sustain a more bewitching part.\n  And mark me, that untravelled man\n  Who never saw M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n,\n  And all the charms its bowers possess,\n  Has never tasted happiness!\"\n\nNo sooner had Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas heard this description of the country of\nM\u00e1zinder\u00e1n than he determined to lead an army thither, declaring to his\nwarriors that the splendor and glory of his reign should exceed that of\neither Jemsh\u00edd, Zoh\u00e1k, or Kai-kob\u00e1d. The warriors, however, were alarmed\nat this precipitate resolution, thinking it certain destruction to make\nwar against the Demons; but they had not courage or confidence enough to\ndisclose their real sentiments. They only ventured to suggest, that if\nhis majesty reflected a little on the subject, he might not ultimately\nconsider the enterprise so advisable as he had at first imagined. But\nthis produced no impression, and they then deemed it expedient to\ndespatch a messenger to Z\u00e1l, to inform him of the wild notions which the\nEvil One had put into the head of Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas to effect his ruin, imploring\nZ\u00e1l to allow of no delay, otherwise the eminent services so lately\nperformed by him and Rustem for the state would be rendered utterly\nuseless and vain. Upon this summons, Z\u00e1l immediately set off from S\u00edst\u00e1n\nto Ir\u00e1n; and having arrived at the royal court, and been received with\ncustomary respect and consideration, he endeavored to dissuade the king\nfrom the contemplated expedition into M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n.\n\n  \"O, could I wash the darkness from thy mind,\n  And show thee all the perils that surround\n  This undertaking! Jemsh\u00edd, high in power,\n  Whose diadem was brilliant as the sun,\n  Who ruled the demons--never in his pride\n  Dreamt of the conquest of M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n!\n  Remember Ferid\u00fan, he overthrew\n  Zoh\u00e1k--destroyed the tyrant, but he never\n  Thought of the conquest of M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n!\n  This strange ambition never fired the souls\n  Of by-gone monarchs--mighty Min\u00fachihr,\n  Always victorious, boundless in his wealth,\n  Nor Zau, nor Nauder, nor even Kai-kob\u00e1d,\n  With all their pomp, and all their grandeur, ever\n  Dreamt of the conquest of M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n!\n  It is the place of demon-sorcerers,\n  And all enchanted. Swords are useless there,\n  Nor bribery nor wisdom can obtain\n  Possession of that charm-defended land,\n  Then throw not men and treasure to the winds;\n  Waste not the precious blood of warriors brave,\n  In trying to subdue M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n!\"\n\nKai-k\u00e1\u00fas, however, was not to be diverted from his purpose; and with\nrespect to what his predecessors had not done, he considered himself\nsuperior in might and influence to either Ferid\u00fan, Jemsh\u00edd, Min\u00fachihr,\nor Kai-kob\u00e1d, who had never aspired to the conquest of M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n. He\nfurther observed, that he had a bolder heart, a larger army, and a\nfuller treasury than any of them, and the whole world was under his\nsway--\n\n  And what are all these Demon-charms,\n  That they excite such dread alarms?\n  What is a Demon-host to me,\n  Their magic spells and sorcery?\n  One effort, and the field is won;\n  Then why should I the battle shun?\n  Be thou and Rustem (whilst afar\n  I wage the soul-appalling war),\n  The guardians of the kingdom; Heaven\n  To me hath its protection given;\n  And, when I reach the Demon's fort,\n  Their severed heads shall be my sport!\n\nWhen Z\u00e1l became convinced of the unalterable resolution of Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas, he\nceased to oppose his views, and expressed his readiness to comply with\nwhatever commands he might receive for the safety of the state.\n\n  May all thy actions prosper--may'st thou never\n  Have cause to recollect my warning voice,\n  With sorrow or repentance. Heaven protect thee!\n\nZ\u00e1l then took leave of the king and his warrior friends, and returned to\nS\u00edst\u00e1n, not without melancholy forebodings respecting the issue of the\nwar against M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n.\n\nAs soon as morning dawned, the army was put in motion. The charge of the\nempire, and the keys of the treasury and jewel-chamber were left in the\nhands of M\u00edlad, with injunctions, however, not to draw a sword against\nany enemy that might spring up, without the consent and assistance of\nZ\u00e1l and Rustem. When the army had arrived within the limits of\nM\u00e1zinder\u00e1n, Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas ordered G\u00edw to select two thousand of the bravest\nmen, the boldest wielders of the battle-axe, and proceed rapidly towards\nthe city. In his progress, according to the king's instructions, he\nburnt and destroyed everything of value, mercilessly slaying man, woman,\nand child. For the king said:\n\n  Kill all before thee, whether young or old,\n  And turn their day to night; thus free the world\n  From the magician's art.\n\nProceeding in his career of desolation and ruin, G\u00edw came near to the\ncity, and found it arrayed in all the splendor of heaven; every street\nwas crowded with beautiful women, richly adorned, and young damsels with\nfaces as bright as the moon. The treasure-chamber was full of gold and\njewels, and the country abounded with cattle. Information of this\ndiscovery was immediately sent to Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas, who was delighted to find\nthat M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n was truly a blessed region, the very garden of beauty,\nwhere the cheeks of the women seemed to be tinted with the hue of the\npomegranate flower, by the gate-keeper of Paradise.\n\nThis invasion filled the heart of the king of M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n with grief and\nalarm, and his first care was to call the gigantic White Demon to his\naid. Meanwhile Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas, full of the wildest anticipations of victory,\nwas encamped on the plain near the city in splendid state, and preparing\nto commence the final overthrow of the enemy on the following day. In\nthe night, however, a cloud came, and deep darkness like pitch\noverspread the earth, and tremendous hail-stones poured down upon the\nPersian host, throwing them into the greatest confusion. Thousands were\ndestroyed, others fled, and were scattered abroad in the gloom. The\nmorning dawned, but it brought no light to the eyes of Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas; and\namidst the horrors he experienced, his treasury was captured, and the\nsoldiers of his army either killed or made prisoners of war. Then did he\nbitterly lament that he had not followed the wise counsel of Z\u00e1l. Seven\ndays he was involved in this dreadful affliction, and on the eighth day\nhe heard the roar of the White Demon, saying:\n\n  \"O king, thou art the willow-tree, all barren,\n  With neither fruit, nor flower. What could induce\n  The dream of conquering M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n?\n  Hadst thou no friend to warn thee of thy folly?\n  Hadst thou not heard of the White Demon's power--\n  Of him, who from the gorgeous vault of Heaven\n  Can charm the stars? From this mad enterprise\n  Others have wisely shrunk--and what hast thou\n  Accomplished by a more ambitious course?\n  Thy soldiers have slain many, dire destruction\n  And spoil have been their purpose--thy wild will\n  Has promptly been obeyed; but thou art now\n  Without an army, not one man remains\n  To lift a sword, or stand in thy defence;\n  Not one to hear thy groans and thy despair.\"\n\nThere were selected from the army twelve thousand of the demon-warriors,\nto take charge of and hold in custody the Ir\u00e1nian captives, all the\nchiefs, as well as the soldiers, being secured with bonds, and only\nallowed food enough to keep them alive. Arzang, one of the\ndemon-leaders, having got possession of the wealth, the crown and\njewels, belonging to Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas, was appointed to escort the captive king\nand his troops, all of whom were deprived of sight, to the city of\nM\u00e1zinder\u00e1n, where they were delivered into the hands of the monarch of\nthat country. The White Demon, after thus putting an end to hostilities,\nreturned to his own abode.\n\nKai-k\u00e1\u00fas, strictly guarded as he was, found an opportunity of sending an\naccount of his blind and helpless condition to Z\u00e1l, in which he lamented\nthat he had not followed his advice, and urgently requested him, if he\nwas not himself in confinement, to come to his assistance, and release\nhim from captivity. When Z\u00e1l heard the melancholy story, he gnawed the\nvery skin of his body with vexation, and turning to Rustem, conferred\nwith him in private.\n\n  \"The sword must be unsheathed, since Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas\n  Is bound a captive in the dragon's den,\n  And Rakush must be saddled for the field,\n  And thou must bear the weight of this emprize;\n  For I have lived two centuries, and old age\n  Unfits me for the heavy toils of war.\n  Should'st thou release the king, thy name will be\n  Exalted o'er the earth.--Then don thy mail,\n  And gain immortal honor.\"\n\nRustem replied that it was a long journey to M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n, and that the\nking had been six months on the road. Upon this Z\u00e1l observed that there\nwere two roads--the most tedious one was that which Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas had taken;\nbut by the other, which was full of dangers and difficulty, and lions,\nand demons, and sorcery, he might reach M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n in seven days, if he\nreached it at all.\n\nOn hearing these words Rustem assented, and chose the short road,\nobserving:\n\n  \"Although it is not wise, they say,\n  With willing feet to track the way\n  To hell; though only men who've lost,\n  All love of life, by misery crossed,\n  Would rush into the tiger's lair,\n  And die, poor reckless victims, there;\n  I gird my loins, whate'er may be,\n  And trust in God for victory.\"\n\nOn the following day, resigning himself to the protection of Heaven, he\nput on his war attire, and with his favorite horse, Rakush, properly\ncaparisoned, stood prepared for the journey. His mother, R\u00fad\u00e1beh, took\nleave of him with great sorrow; and the young hero departed from S\u00edst\u00e1n,\nconsoling himself and his friends, thus:\n\n  \"O'er him who seeks the battle-field,\n    Nobly his prisoned king to free,\n  Heaven will extend its saving shield,\n    And crown his arms with victory.\"\n\n\n\nTHE SEVEN LABORS OF RUSTEM\n\nFirst Stage.--He rapidly pursued his way, performing two days' journey\nin one, and soon came to a forest full of wild asses. Oppressed with\nhunger, he succeeded in securing one of them, which he roasted over a\nfire, lighted by sparks produced by striking the point of his spear, and\nkept in a blaze with dried grass and branches of trees. After regaling\nhimself, and satisfying his hunger, he loosened the bridle of Rakush,\nand allowed him to graze; and choosing a safe place for repose during\nthe night, and taking care to have his sword under his head, he went to\nsleep among the reeds of that wilderness. In a short space a fierce lion\nappeared, and attacked Rakush with great violence; but Rakush very\nspeedily with his teeth and heels put an end to his furious assailant.\nRustem, awakened by the confusion, and seeing the dead lion before him,\nsaid to his favorite companion:--\n\n  \"Ah! Rakush, why so thoughtless grown,\n  To fight a lion thus alone;\n  For had it been thy fate to bleed,\n  And not thy foe, my gallant steed!\n  How could thy master have conveyed\n  His helm, and battle-axe, and blade,\n  Kamund, and bow, and bubery\u00e1n,\n  Unaided, to M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n?\n  Why didst thou fail to give the alarm,\n  And save thyself from chance of harm,\n  By neighing loudly in my ear;\n  But though thy bold heart knows no fear,\n  From such unwise exploits refrain,\n  Nor try a lion's strength again.\"\n\nSaying this, Rustem laid down to sleep, and did not awake till the\nmorning dawned. As the sun rose, he remounted Rakush, and proceeded on\nhis journey towards M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n.\n\nSecond Stage.--After travelling rapidly for some time, he entered a\ndesert, in which no water was to be found, and the sand was so burning\nhot, that it seemed to be instinct with fire. Both horse and rider were\noppressed with the most maddening thirst. Rustem alighted, and vainly\nwandered about in search of relief, till almost exhausted, he put up a\nprayer to Heaven for protection against the evils which surrounded him,\nengaged as he was in an enterprise for the release of Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas and the\nPersian army, then in the power of the demons. With pious earnestness he\nbesought the Almighty to bless him in the great work; and whilst in a\ndespairing mood he was lamenting his deplorable condition, his tongue\nand throat being parched with thirst, his body prostrate on the sand,\nunder the influence of a raging sun, he saw a sheep pass by, which he\nhailed as the harbinger of good. Rising up and grasping his sword in his\nhand, he followed the animal, and came to a fountain of water, where he\ndevoutly returned thanks to God for the blessing which had preserved his\nexistence, and prevented the wolves from feeding on his lifeless limbs.\nRefreshed by the cool water, he then looked out for something to allay\nhis hunger, and killing a gor, he lighted a fire and roasted it, and\nregaled upon its savory flesh, which he eagerly tore from the bones.\n\nWhen the period of rest arrived, Rustem addressed Rakush, and said to\nhim angrily:--\n\n  \"Beware, my steed, of future strife.\n  Again thou must not risk thy life;\n  Encounter not with lion fell,\n  Nor demon still more terrible;\n  But should an enemy appear,\n  Ring loud the warning in my ear.\"\n\nAfter delivering these injunctions, Rustem laid down to sleep, leaving\nRakush unbridled, and at liberty to crop the herbage close by.\n\nThird Stage.--At midnight a monstrous dragon-serpent issued from the\nforest; it was eighty yards in length, and so fierce, that neither\nelephant, nor demon, nor lion, ever ventured to pass by its lair. It\ncame forth, and seeing the champion asleep, and a horse near him, the\nlatter was the first object of attack. But Rakush retired towards his\nmaster, and neighed and beat the ground so furiously, that Rustem soon\nawoke; looking around on every side, however, he saw nothing--the dragon\nhad vanished, and he went to sleep again. Again the dragon burst out of\nthe thick darkness, and again Rakush was at the pillow of his master,\nwho rose up at the alarm: but anxiously trying to penetrate the dreary\ngloom, he saw nothing--all was a blank; and annoyed at this apparently\nvexatious conduct of his horse, he spoke sharply:--\n\n  \"Why thus again disturb my rest,\n  When sleep had softly soothed my breast?\n  I told thee, if thou chanced to see\n  Another dangerous enemy,\n  To sound the alarm; but not to keep\n  Depriving me of needful sleep;\n  When nothing meets the eye nor ear,\n  Nothing to cause a moment's fear!\n  But if again my rest is broke,\n  On thee shall fall the fatal stroke,\n  And I myself will drag this load\n  Of ponderous arms along the road;\n  Yes, I will go, a lonely man,\n  Without thee, to M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n.\"\n\nRustem again went to sleep, and Rakush was resolved this time not to\nmove a step from his side, for his heart was grieved and afflicted by\nthe harsh words that had been addressed to him. The dragon again\nappeared, and the faithful horse almost tore up the earth with his\nheels, to rouse his sleeping master. Rustem again awoke, and sprang to\nhis feet, and was again angry; but fortunately at that moment sufficient\nlight was providentially given for him to see the prodigious cause of\nalarm.\n\n  Then swift he drew his sword, and closed in strife\n  With that huge monster.--Dreadful was the shock\n  And perilous to Rustem; but when Rakush\n  Perceived the contest doubtful, furiously,\n  With his keen teeth, he bit and tore away\n  The dragon's scaly hide; whilst quick as thought\n  The Champion severed off the ghastly head,\n  And deluged all the plain with horrid blood.\n  Amazed to see a form so hideous\n  Breathless stretched out before him, he returned\n  Thanks to the Omnipotent for his success,\n  Saying--\"Upheld by thy protecting arm,\n  What is a lion's strength, a demon's rage,\n  Or all the horrors of the burning desert,\n  With not one drop to quench devouring thirst?\n  Nothing, since power and might proceed from Thee.\"\n\nFourth Stage.--Rustem having resumed the saddle, continued his journey\nthrough an enchanted territory, and in the evening came to a beautifully\ngreen spot, refreshed by flowing rivulets, where he found, to his\nsurprise, a ready-roasted deer, and some bread and salt. He alighted,\nand sat down near the enchanted provisions, which vanished at the sound\nof his voice, and presently a tambourine met his eyes, and a flask of\nwine. Taking up the instrument he played upon it, and chanted a ditty\nabout his own wanderings, and the exploits which he most loved. He said\nthat he had no pleasure in banquets, but only in the field fighting with\nheroes and crocodiles in war. The song happened to reach the ears of a\nsorceress, who, arrayed in all the charms of beauty, suddenly approached\nhim, and sat down by his side. The champion put up a prayer of gratitude\nfor having been supplied with food and wine, and music, in the desert of\nM\u00e1zinder\u00e1n, and not knowing that the enchantress was a demon in\ndisguise, he placed in her hands a cup of wine in the name of God; but\nat the mention of the Creator, the enchanted form was converted into a\nblack fiend. Seeing this, Rustem threw his kamund, and secured the\ndemon; and, drawing his sword, at once cut the body in two!\n\nFifth Stage.--\n\n  From thence proceeding onward, he approached\n  A region destitute of light, a void\n  Of utter darkness. Neither moon nor star\n  Peep'd through the gloom; no choice of path remained,\n  And therefore, throwing loose the rein, he gave\n  Rakush the power to travel on, unguided.\n  At length the darkness was dispersed, the earth\n  Became a scene, joyous and light, and gay,\n  Covered with waving corn--there Rustem paused\n  And quitting his good steed among the grass,\n  Laid himself gently down, and, wearied, slept;\n  His shield beneath his head, his sword before him.\n\nWhen the keeper of the forest saw the stranger and his horse, he went to\nRustem, then asleep, and struck his staff violently on the ground, and\nhaving thus awakened the hero, he asked him, devil that he was, why he\nhad allowed his horse to feed upon the green corn-field. Angry at these\nwords, Rustem, without uttering a syllable, seized hold of the keeper by\nthe ears, and wrung them off. The mutilated wretch, gathering up his\nsevered ears, hurried away, covered with blood, to his master, A\u00fal\u00e1d,\nand told him of the injury he had sustained from a man like a black\ndemon, with a tiger-skin cuirass and an iron helmet; showing at the same\ntime the bleeding witnesses of his sufferings. Upon being informed of\nthis outrageous proceeding, A\u00fal\u00e1d, burning with wrath, summoned together\nhis fighting men, and hastened by the directions of the keeper to the\nplace where Rustem had been found asleep. The champion received the\nangry lord of the land, fully prepared, on horseback, and heard him\ndemand his name, that he might not slay a worthless antagonist, and why\nhe had torn off the ears of his forest-keeper! Rustem replied that the\nvery sound of his name would make him shudder with horror. A\u00fal\u00e1d then\nordered his troops to attack Rustem, and they rushed upon him with great\nfury; but their leader was presently killed by the master-hand, and\ngreat numbers were also scattered lifeless over the plain. The survivors\nrunning away, Rustem's next object was to follow and secure, by his\nkamund, the person of A\u00fal\u00e1d, and with admirable address and ingenuity,\nhe succeeded in dismounting him and taking him alive. He then bound his\nhands, and said to him:--\n\n  \"If thou wilt speak the truth unmixed with lies,\n  Unmixed with false prevaricating words,\n  And faithfully point out to me the caves\n  Of the White Demon and his warrior chiefs--\n  And where K\u00e1\u00fas is prisoned--thy reward\n  Shall be the kingdom of M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n;\n  For I, myself, will place thee on that throne.\n  But if thou play'st me false--thy worthless blood\n  Shall answer for the foul deception.\"\n\n                                         \"Stay,\n  Be not in wrath,\" A\u00fal\u00e1d at once replied--\n  \"Thy wish shall be fulfilled--and thou shalt know\n  Where king K\u00e1\u00fas is prisoned--and, beside,\n  Where the White Demon reigns. Between two dark\n  And lofty mountains, in two hundred caves\n  Immeasurably deep, his people dwell.\n  Twelve hundred Demons keep the watch by night\n  And Baid, and Sinja. Like a reed, the hills\n  Tremble whenever the White Demon moves.\n  But dangerous is the way. A stony desert\n  Lies full before thee, which the nimble deer\n  Has never passed. Then a prodigious stream\n  Two farsangs wide obstructs thy path, whose banks\n  Are covered with a host of warrior-Demons,\n  Guarding the passage to M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n;\n  And thou art but a single man--canst thou\n  O'ercome such fearful obstacles as these?\"\n\n  At this the Champion smiled. \"Show but the way,\n  And thou shalt see what one man can perform,\n  With power derived from God! Lead on, with speed,\n  To royal K\u00e1\u00fas.\" With obedient haste\n  A\u00fal\u00e1d proceeded, Rustem following fast,\n  Mounted on Rakush. Neither dismal night\n  Nor joyous day they rested--on they went\n  Until at length they reached the fatal field,\n  Where K\u00e1\u00fas was o'ercome. At midnight hour,\n  Whilst watching with attentive eye and ear,\n  A piercing clamor echoed all around,\n  And blazing fires were seen, and numerous lamps\n  Burnt bright on every side. Rustem inquired\n  What this might be. \"It is M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n,\"\n  A\u00fal\u00e1d rejoined, \"and the White Demon's chiefs\n  Are gathered there.\" Then Rustem to a tree\n  Bound his obedient guide--to keep him safe,\n  And to recruit his strength, laid down awhile\n  And soundly slept.\n\n                      When morning dawned, he rose,\n  And mounting Rakush, put his helmet on,\n  The tiger-skin defended his broad chest,\n  And sallying forth, he sought the Demon chief,\n  Arzang, and summoned him with such a roar\n  That stream and mountain shook. Arzang sprang up,\n  Hearing a human voice, and from his tent\n  Indignant issued--him the champion met,\n  And clutched his arms and ears, and from his body\n  Tore off the gory head, and cast it far\n  Amidst the shuddering Demons, who with fear\n  Shrunk back and fled, precipitate, lest they\n  Should likewise feel that dreadful punishment.\n\nSixth Stage.--After this achievement Rustem returned to the place where\nhe had left A\u00fal\u00e1d, and having released him, sat down under the tree and\nrelated what he had done. He then commanded his guide to show the way to\nthe place where Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas was confined; and when the champion entered the\ncity of M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n, the neighing of Rakush was so loud that the sound\ndistinctly reached the ears of the captive monarch. K\u00e1\u00fas rejoiced, and\nsaid to his people: \"I have heard the voice of Rakush, and my\nmisfortunes are at an end;\" but they thought he was either insane or\ntelling them a dream. The actual appearance of Rustem, however, soon\nsatisfied them. G\u00fadarz, and T\u00fas, and B\u00e1hr\u00e1m, and G\u00edw, and Gustahem, were\ndelighted to meet him, and the king embraced him with great warmth and\naffection, and heard from him with admiration the story of his wonderful\nprogress and exploits. But K\u00e1\u00fas and his warriors, under the influence\nand spells of the Demons, were still blind, and he cautioned Rustem\nparticularly to conceal Rakush from the sight of the sorcerers, for if\nthe White Demon should hear of the slaughter of Arzang, and the\nconqueror being at M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n, he would immediately assemble an\noverpowering army of Demons, and the consequences might be terrible.\n\n  \"But thou must storm the cavern of the Demons\n  And their gigantic chief--great need there is\n  For sword and battle-axe--and with the aid\n  Of Heaven, these miscreant sorcerers may fall\n  Victims to thy avenging might. The road\n  Is straight before thee--reach the Seven Mountains,\n  And there thou wilt discern the various groups,\n  Which guard the awful passage. Further on,\n  Within a deep and horrible recess,\n  Frowns the White Demon--conquer him--destroy\n  That fell magician, and restore to sight\n  Thy suffering king, and all his warrior train.\n  The wise in cures declare, that the warm blood\n  From the White Demon's heart, dropped in the eye,\n  Removes all blindness--it is, then, my hope,\n  Favored by God, that thou wilt slay the fiend,\n  And save us from the misery we endure,\n  The misery of darkness without end.\"\n\nRustem accordingly, after having warned his friends and companions in\narms to keep on the alert, prepared for the enterprise, and guided by\nA\u00fal\u00e1d, hurried on till he came to the Haft-koh, or Seven Mountains.\nThere he found numerous companies of Demons; and coming to one of the\ncaverns, saw it crowded with the same awful beings. And now consulting\nwith A\u00fal\u00e1d, he was informed that the most advantageous time for attack\nwould be when the sun became hot, for then all the Demons were\naccustomed to go to sleep, with the exception of a very small number who\nwere appointed to keep watch. He therefore waited till the sun rose high\nin the firmament; and as soon as he had bound A\u00fal\u00e1d to a tree hand and\nfoot, with the thongs of his kamund, drew his sword, and rushed among\nthe prostrate Demons, dismembering and slaying all that fell in his way.\nDreadful was the carnage, and those who survived fled in the wildest\nterror from the champion's fury.\n\nSeventh Stage.--Rustem now hastened forward to encounter the White\nDemon.\n\n  Advancing to the cavern, he looked down\n  And saw a gloomy place, dismal as hell;\n  But not one cursed, impious sorcerer\n  Was visible in that infernal depth.\n  Awhile he stood--his falchion in his grasp,\n  And rubbed his eyes to sharpen his dim sight,\n  And then a mountain-form, covered with hair,\n  Filling up all the space, rose into view.\n  The monster was asleep, but presently\n  The daring shouts of Rustem broke his rest,\n  And brought him suddenly upon his feet,\n  When seizing a huge mill-stone, forth he came,\n  And thus accosted the intruding chief:\n  \"Art thou so tired of life, that reckless thus\n  Thou dost invade the precincts of the Demons?\n  Tell me thy name, that I may not destroy\n  A nameless thing!\" The champion stern replied,\n  \"My name is Rustem--sent by Z\u00e1l, my father,\n  Descended from the champion S\u00e1m S\u00faw\u00e1r,\n  To be revenged on thee--the King of Persia\n  Being now a prisoner in M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n.\"\n  When the accursed Demon heard the name\n  Of S\u00e1m S\u00faw\u00e1r, he, like a serpent, writhed\n  In agony of spirit; terrified\n  At that announcement--then, recovering strength,\n  He forward sprang, and hurled the mill-stone huge\n  Against his adversary, who fell back\n  And disappointed the prodigious blow.\n  Black frowned the Demon, and through Rustem's heart\n  A wild sensation ran of dire alarm;\n  But, rousing up, his courage was revived,\n  And wielding furiously his beaming sword,\n  He pierced the Demon's thigh, and lopped the limb;\n  Then both together grappled, and the cavern\n  Shook with the contest--each, at times, prevailed;\n  The flesh of both was torn, and streaming blood\n  Crimsoned the earth. \"If I survive this day,\"\n  Said Rustem in his heart, in that dread strife,\n  \"My life must be immortal.\" The White Demon,\n  With equal terror, muttered to himself:\n  \"I now despair of life--sweet life; no more\n  Shall I be welcomed at M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n.\"\n  And still they struggled hard--still sweat and blood\n  Poured down at every strain. Rustem, at last,\n  Gathering fresh power, vouchsafed by favouring Heaven\n  And bringing all his mighty strength to bear,\n  Raised up the gasping Demon in his arms,\n  And with such fury dashed him to the ground,\n  That life no longer moved his monstrous frame.\n  Promptly he then tore out the reeking heart,\n  And crowds of demons simultaneous fell\n  As part of him, and stained the earth with gore;\n  Others who saw this signal overthrow,\n  Trembled, and hurried from the scene of blood.\n  Then the great victor, issuing from that cave\n  With pious haste--took off his helm, and mail,\n  And royal girdle--and with water washed\n  His face and body--choosing a pure place\n  For prayer--to praise his Maker--Him who gave\n  The victory, the eternal source of good;\n  Without whose grace and blessing, what is man!\n  With it his armor is impregnable.\n\nThe Champion having finished his prayer, resumed his war habiliments,\nand going to A\u00fal\u00e1d, released him from the tree, and gave into his charge\nthe heart of the White Demon. He then pursued his journey back to K\u00e1\u00fas\nat M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n. On the way A\u00fal\u00e1d solicited some reward for the services\nhe had performed, and Rustem again promised that he should be appointed\ngovernor of the country.\n\n  \"But first the monarch of M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n,\n  The Demon-king, must be subdued, and cast\n  Into the yawning cavern--and his legions\n  Of foul enchanters, utterly destroyed.\"\n\nUpon his arrival at M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n, Rustem related to his sovereign all that\nhe had accomplished, and especially that he had torn out and brought\naway the White Demon's heart, the blood of which was destined to restore\nKai-k\u00e1\u00fas and his warriors to sight. Rustem was not long in applying the\nmiraculous remedy, and the moment the blood touched their eyes, the\nfearful blindness was perfectly cured.\n\n  The champion brought the Demon's heart,\n  And squeezed the blood from every part,\n  Which, dropped upon the injured sight,\n  Made all things visible and bright;\n  One moment broke that magic gloom,\n  Which seemed more dreadful than the tomb.\n\nThe monarch immediately ascended his throne surrounded by all his\nwarriors, and seven days were spent in mutual congratulations and\nrejoicing. On the eighth day they all resumed the saddle, and proceeded\nto complete the destruction of the enemy. They set fire to the city, and\nburnt it to the ground, and committed such horrid carnage among the\nremaining magicians that streams of loathsome blood crimsoned all the\nplace.\n\nK\u00e1\u00fas afterwards sent Ferh\u00e1d as an ambassador to the king of M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n,\nsuggesting to him the expediency of submission, and representing to him\nthe terrible fall of Arzang, and of the White Demon with all his host,\nas a warning against resistance to the valor of Rustem. But when the\nking of M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n heard from Ferh\u00e1d the purpose of his embassy, he\nexpressed great astonishment, and replied that he himself was superior\nin all respects to K\u00e1\u00fas; that his empire was more extensive, and his\nwarriors more numerous and brave. \"Have I not,\" said he, \"a hundred\nwar-elephants, and K\u00e1\u00fas not one? Wherever I move, conquest marks my way;\nwhy then should I fear the sovereign of Persia? Why should I submit to\nhim?\"\n\nThis haughty tone made a deep impression upon Ferh\u00e1d, who returning\nquickly, told K\u00e1\u00fas of the proud bearing and fancied power of the ruler\nof M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n. Rustem was immediately sent for; and so indignant was he\non hearing the tidings, that \"every hair on his body started up like a\nspear,\" and he proposed to go himself with a second dispatch. The king\nwas too much pleased to refuse, and another letter was written more\nurgent than the first, threatening the enemy to hang up his severed head\non the walls of his own fort, if he persisted in his contumacy and scorn\nof the offer made.\n\nAs soon as Rustem had come within a short distance of the court of the\nking of M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n, accounts reached his majesty of the approach of\nanother ambassador, when a deputation of warriors was sent to receive\nhim. Rustem observing them, and being in sight of the hostile army, with\na view to show his strength, tore up a large tree on the road by the\nroots, and dexterously wielded it in his hand like a spear. Tilting\nonwards, he flung it down before the wondering enemy, and one of the\nchiefs then thought it incumbent upon him to display his own prowess. He\nadvanced, and offered to grasp hands with Rustem: they met; but the\ngripe of the champion was so excruciating that the sinews of his\nadversary cracked, and in agony he fell from his horse. Intelligence of\nthis discomfiture was instantly conveyed to the king, who then summoned\nhis most valiant and renowned chieftain, K\u00e1lah\u00far, and directed him to go\nand punish, signally, the warrior who had thus presumed to triumph over\none of his heroes. Accordingly K\u00e1lah\u00far appeared, and boastingly\nstretched out his hand, which Rustem wrung with such grinding force,\nthat the very nails dropped off, and blood started from his body. This\nwas enough, and K\u00e1lah\u00far hastily returned to the king, and anxiously\nrecommended him to submit to terms, as it would be in vain to oppose\nsuch invincible strength. The king was both grieved and angry at this\nsituation of affairs, and invited the ambassador to his presence. After\ninquiring respecting K\u00e1\u00fas and the Persian army, he said:\n\n  \"And thou art Rustem, clothed with mighty power,\n  Who slaughtered the White Demon, and now comest\n  To crush the monarch of M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n!\"\n  \"No!\" said the champion, \"I am but his servant,\n  And even unworthy of that noble station;\n  My master being a warrior, the most valiant\n  That ever graced the world since time began.\n  Nothing am I; but what doth he resemble!\n  What is a lion, elephant, or demon!\n  Engaged in fight, he is himself a host!\"\n\nThe ambassador then tried to convince the king of the folly of\nresistance, and of his certain defeat if he continued to defy the power\nof K\u00e1\u00fas and the bravery of Rustem; but the effort was fruitless, and\nboth states prepared for battle.\n\nThe engagement which ensued was obstinate and sanguinary, and after\nseven days of hard fighting, neither army was victorious, neither\ndefeated. Afflicted at this want of success, K\u00e1\u00fas grovelled in the dust,\nand prayed fervently to the Almighty to give him the triumph. He\naddressed all his warriors, one by one, and urged them to increased\nexertions; and on the eighth day, when the battle was renewed, prodigies\nof valor were performed. Rustem singled out, and encountered the king of\nM\u00e1zinder\u00e1n, and fiercely they fought together with sword and javelin;\nbut suddenly, just as he was rushing on with overwhelming force, his\nadversary, by his magic art, transformed himself into a stony rock.\nRustem and the Persian warriors were all amazement. The fight had been\nsuspended for some time, when K\u00e1\u00fas came forward to inquire the cause;\nand hearing with astonishment of the transformation, ordered his\nsoldiers to drag the enchanted mass towards his own tent; but all the\nstrength that could be applied was unequal to move so great a weight,\ntill Rustem set himself to the task, and amidst the wondering army,\nlifted up the rock and conveyed it to the appointed place. He then\naddressed the work of sorcery, and said: \"If thou dost not resume thy\noriginal shape, I will instantly break thee, flinty-rock as thou now\nart, into atoms, and scatter thee in the dust.\" The magician-king was\nalarmed by this threat, and reappeared in his own form, and then Rustem,\nseizing his hand, brought him to K\u00e1\u00fas, who, as a punishment for his\nwickedness and atrocity, ordered him to be slain, and his body to be cut\ninto a thousand pieces! The wealth of the country was immediately\nafterwards secured; and at the recommendation of Rustem, A\u00fal\u00e1d was\nappointed governor of M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n. After the usual thanksgivings and\nrejoicings on account of the victory, K\u00e1\u00fas and his warriors returned to\nPersia, where splendid honors and rewards were bestowed on every soldier\nfor his heroic services. Rustem having received the highest\nacknowledgments of his merit, took leave, and returned to his father Z\u00e1l\nat Z\u00e1bulist\u00e1n.\n\nSuddenly an ardent desire arose in the heart of K\u00e1\u00fas to survey all the\nprovinces and states of his empire. He wished to visit T\u00far\u00e1n, and Ch\u00edn,\nand Mikr\u00e1n, and Berber, and Zirra. Having commenced his royal tour of\ninspection, he found the King of Berberist\u00e1n in a state of rebellion,\nwith his army prepared to dispute his authority. A severe battle was the\nconsequence; but the refractory sovereign was soon compelled to retire,\nand the elders of the city came forward to sue for mercy and protection.\nAfter this triumph, K\u00e1\u00fas turned towards the mountain K\u00e1f, and visited\nvarious other countries, and in his progress became the guest of the son\nof Z\u00e1l in Z\u00e1bulist\u00e1n where he stayed a month, enjoying the pleasures of\nthe festive board and the sports of the field.\n\nThe disaffection of the King of H\u00e1m\u00e1ver\u00e1n, in league with the King of\nMisser and Sh\u00e1m, and the still hostile King of Berberist\u00e1n, soon,\nhowever, drew him from N\u00edm-r\u00faz, and quitting the principality of Rustem,\nhis arms were promptly directed against his new enemy, who in the\ncontest which ensued, made an obstinate resistance, but was at length\noverpowered, and obliged to ask for quarter. After the battle, K\u00e1\u00fas was\ninformed that the Sh\u00e1h had a daughter of great beauty, named S\u00fad\u00e1veh,\npossessing a form as graceful as the tall cypress, musky ringlets, and\nall the charms of Heaven. From the description of this damsel he became\nenamoured, and through the medium of a messenger, immediately offered\nhimself to be her husband. The father did not seem to be glad at this\nproposal, observing to the messenger, that he had but two things in life\nvaluable to him, and those were his daughter and his property; one was\nhis solace and delight, and the other his support; to be deprived of\nboth would be death to him; still he could not gainsay the wishes of a\nking of such power, and his conqueror. He then sorrowfully communicated\nthe overture to his child, who, however, readily consented; and in the\ncourse of a week, the bride was sent escorted by soldiers, and\naccompanied by a magnificent cavalcade, consisting of a thousand horses\nand mules, a thousand camels, and numerous female attendants. When\nS\u00fad\u00e1veh descended from her litter, glowing with beauty, with her rich\ndark tresses flowing to her feet, and cheeks like the rose, K\u00e1\u00fas\nregarded her with admiration and rapture; and so impatient was he to\npossess that lovely treasure, that the marriage rites were performed\naccording to the laws of the country without delay.\n\nThe Sh\u00e1h of H\u00e1m\u00e1ver\u00e1n, however, was not satisfied, and he continually\nplotted within himself how he might contrive to regain possession of\nS\u00fad\u00e1veh, as well as be revenged upon the king. With this view he invited\nK\u00e1\u00fas to be his guest for a while; but S\u00fad\u00e1veh cautioned the king not to\ntrust to the treachery which dictated the invitation, as she apprehended\nfrom it nothing but mischief and disaster. The warning, however, was of\nno avail, for K\u00e1\u00fas accepted the proffered hospitality of his new\nfather-in-law. He accordingly proceeded with his bride and his most\nfamous warriors to the city, where he was received and entertained in\nthe most sumptuous manner, seated on a gorgeous throne, and felt\ninfinitely exhilarated with the magnificence and the hilarity by which\nhe was surrounded. Seven days were passed in this glorious banqueting\nand delight; but on the succeeding night, the sound of trumpets and the\nwar-cry was heard. The intrusion of soldiers changed the face of the\nscene; and the king, who had just been waited on, and pampered with such\nrespect and devotion, was suddenly seized, together with his principal\nwarriors, and carried off to a remote fortress, situated on a high\nmountain, where they were imprisoned, and guarded by a thousand valiant\nmen. His tents were plundered, and all his treasure taken away. At this\nevent his wife was inconsolable and deaf to all entreaties from her\nfather, declaring that she preferred death to separation from her\nhusband; upon which she was conveyed to the same dungeon, to mingle\ngroans with the captive king.\n\n  Alas! how false and fickle is the world,\n  Friendship nor pleasure, nor the ties of blood,\n  Can check the headlong course of human passions;\n  Treachery still laughs at kindred;--who is safe\n  In this tumultuous sphere of strife and sorrow?\n\n\n\nINVASION OF IR\u00c1N BY AFR\u00c1SIY\u00c1B\n\nThe intelligence of K\u00e1\u00fas's imprisonment was very soon spread through the\nworld, and operated as a signal to all the inferior states to get\npossession of Ir\u00e1n. Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b was the most powerful aspirant to the\nthrone; and gathering an immense army, he hurried from T\u00far\u00e1n, and made a\nrapid incursion into the country, which after three months he succeeded\nin conquering, scattering ruin and desolation wherever he came.\n\nSome of those who escaped from the field bent their steps towards\nZ\u00e1bulist\u00e1n, by whom Rustem was informed of the misfortunes in which K\u00e1\u00fas\nwas involved; it therefore became necessary that he should again\nendeavor to effect the liberation of his sovereign; and accordingly,\nafter assembling his troops from different quarters, the first thing he\ndid was to despatch a messenger to H\u00e1m\u00e1ver\u00e1n, with a letter, demanding\nthe release of the prisoners; and in the event of a refusal, declaring\nthe king should suffer the same fate as the White Demon and the\nmagician-monarch of M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n. Although this threat produced\nconsiderable alarm in the breast of the king of H\u00e1m\u00e1ver\u00e1n, he arrogantly\nreplied, that if Rustem wished to be placed in the same situation as\nK\u00e1\u00fas, he was welcome to come as soon as he liked.\n\nUpon hearing this defiance, Rustem left Z\u00e1bulist\u00e1n, and after an arduous\njourney by land and water, arrived at the confines of H\u00e1m\u00e1ver\u00e1n. The\nking of that country, roused by the noise and uproar, and bold aspect of\nthe invading army, drew up his own forces, and a battle ensued, but he\nwas unequal to stand his ground before the overwhelming courage of\nRustem. His troops fled in confusion, and then almost in despair he\nanxiously solicited assistance from the chiefs of Berber and Misser,\nwhich was immediately given. Thus three kings and their armies were\nopposed to the power and resources of one man. Their formidable array\ncovered an immense space.\n\n  Each proud his strongest force to bring,\n  The eagle of valour flapped his wing.\n\nBut when the King of H\u00e1m\u00e1ver\u00e1n beheld the person of Rustem in all its\npride and strength, and commanding power, he paused with apprehension\nand fear, and intrenched himself well behind his own troops. Rustem, on\nthe contrary, was full of confidence.\n\n  \"What, though there be a hundred thousand men\n  Pitched against one, what use is there in numbers\n  When Heaven is on my side: with Heaven my friend,\n  The foe will soon be mingled with the dust.\"\n\nHaving ordered the trumpets to sound, he rushed on the enemy, mounted on\nRakush, and committed dreadful havoc among them.\n\n  It would be difficult to tell\n  How many heads, dissevered, fell,\n    Fighting his dreadful way;\n  On every side his falchion gleamed,\n  Hot blood in every quarter streamed\n    On that tremendous day.\n\nThe chief of H\u00e1m\u00e1ver\u00e1n and his legions were the first to shrink from the\nconflict; and then the King of Misser, ashamed of their cowardice,\nrapidly advanced towards the champion with the intention of punishing\nhim for his temerity, but he had no sooner received one of Rustem's hard\nblows on his head, than he turned to flight, and thus hoped to escape\nthe fury of his antagonist. That fortune, however, was denied him, for\nbeing instantly pursued, he was caught with the kamund, or noose, thrown\nround his loins, dragged from his horse, and safely delivered into the\nhands of B\u00e1hr\u00e1m, who bound him, and kept him by his side.\n\n  Ring within ring the lengthening kamund flew,\n  And from his steed the astonished monarch drew.\n\nHaving accomplished this signal capture, Rustem proceeded against the\ntroops under the Sh\u00e1h of Berberist\u00e1n, which, valorously aided as he was,\nby Z\u00fa\u00e1ra, he soon vanquished and dispatched; and impelling Rakush\nimpetuously forward upon the sh\u00e1h himself, made him and forty of his\nprincipal chiefs prisoners of war. The King of H\u00e1m\u00e1ver\u00e1n, seeing the\nhorrible carnage, and the defeat of all his expectations, speedily sent\na messenger to Rustem, to solicit a suspension of the fight, offering to\ndeliver up K\u00e1\u00fas and all his warriors, and all the regal property and\ntreasure which had been plundered from him. The troops of the three\nkingdoms also urgently prayed for quarter and protection, and Rustem\nreadily agreed to the proffered conditions.\n\n  \"K\u00e1\u00fas to liberty restore,\n  With all his chiefs, I ask no more;\n  For him alone I conquering came;\n  Than him no other prize I claim.\"\n\n\n\nTHE RETURN OF KAI-K\u00c1\u00daS\n\nIt was a joyous day when K\u00e1\u00fas and his illustrious heroes were released\nfrom their fetters, and removed from the mountain-fortress in which they\nwere confined. Rustem forthwith reseated him on his throne, and did not\nfail to collect for the public treasury all the valuables of the three\nstates which had submitted to his power. The troops of Misser,\nBerberist\u00e1n, and H\u00e1m\u00e1ver\u00e1n, having declared their allegiance to the\nPersian king, the accumulated numbers increased K\u00e1\u00fas's army to upwards\nof three hundred thousand men, horse and foot, and with this immense\nforce he moved towards Ir\u00e1n. Before marching, however, he sent a message\nto Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, commanding him to quit the country he had so unjustly\ninvaded, and recommending him to be contented with the territory of\nT\u00far\u00e1n.\n\n  \"Hast thou forgotten Rustem's power,\n  When thou wert in that perilous hour\n  By him overthrown? Thy girdle broke,\n  Or thou hadst felt the conqueror's yoke.\n  Thy crowding warriors proved thy shield,\n  They saved and dragged thee from the field;\n  By them unrescued then, wouldst thou\n  Have lived to vaunt thy prowess now?\"\n\nThis message was received with bitter feelings of resentment by\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, who prepared his army for battle without delay, and promised\nto bestow his daughter in marriage and a kingdom upon the man who should\nsucceed in taking Rustem alive.\n\nThis proclamation was a powerful excitement: and when the engagement\ntook place, mighty efforts were made for the reward; but those who\naspired to deserve it were only the first to fall. Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b beholding\nthe fall of so many of his chiefs, dashed forward to cope with the\nchampion: but his bravery was unavailing; for, suffering sharply under\nthe overwhelming attacks of Rustem, he was glad to effect his escape,\nand retire from the field. In short, he rapidly retraced his steps to\nT\u00far\u00e1n, leaving K\u00e1\u00fas in full possession of the kingdom.\n\n  With anguish stricken, he regained his home,\n  After a wild and ignominious flight;\n  The world presenting nothing to his lips\n  But poison-beverage; all was death to him.\n\nK\u00e1\u00fas being again seated on the throne of Persia, he resumed the\nadministration of affairs with admirable justice and liberality, and\ndespatched some of his most distinguished warriors to secure the welfare\nand prosperity of the states of Mervi, and Balkh, and N\u00edshap\u00far, and\nH\u00edr\u00e1t. At the same time he conferred on Rustem the title of Jah\u00e1ni\nPahlv\u00e1n, or, Champion of the World.\n\nIn safety now from foreign and domestic enemies, K\u00e1\u00fas turned his\nattention to pursuits very different from war and conquest. He directed\nthe Demons to construct two splendid palaces on the mountain Alberz, and\nseparate mansions for the accommodation of his household, which he\ndecorated in the most magnificent manner. All the buildings were\nbeautifully arranged both for convenience and pleasure; and gold and\nsilver and precious stones were used so lavishly, and the brilliancy\nproduced by their combined effect was so great, that night and day\nappeared to be the same.\n\nIbl\u00eds, ever active, observing the vanity and ambition of the king, was\nnot long in taking advantage of the circumstance, and he soon persuaded\nthe Demons to enter into his schemes. Accordingly one of them, disguised\nas a domestic servant, was instructed to present a nosegay to K\u00e1\u00fas; and\nafter respectfully kissing the ground, say to him:--\n\n  \"Thou art great as king can be,\n  Boundless in thy majesty;\n  What is all this earth to thee,\n       All beneath the sky?\n  Peris, mortals, demons, hear\n  Thy commanding voice with fear;\n  Thou art lord of all things here,\n    But, thou canst not fly!\n\n  \"That remains for thee; to know\n  Things above, as things below,\n    How the planets roll;\n  How the sun his light displays,\n  How the moon darts forth her rays;\n  How the nights succeed the days;\n  What the secret cause betrays,\n    And who directs the whole!\"\n\nThis artful address of the Demon satisfied K\u00e1\u00fas of the imperfection of\nhis nature, and the enviable power which he had yet to obtain. To him,\ntherefore, it became matter of deep concern, how he might be enabled to\nascend the Heavens without wings, and for that purpose he consulted his\nastrologers, who presently suggested a way in which his desires might be\nsuccessfully accomplished.\n\nThey contrived to rob an eagle's nest of its young, which they reared\nwith great care, supplying them well with invigorating food, till they\ngrew large and strong. A framework of aloes-wood was then prepared; and\nat each of the four corners was fixed perpendicularly, a javelin,\nsurmounted on the point with flesh of a goat. At each corner again one\nof the eagles was bound, and in the middle K\u00e1\u00fas was seated in great pomp\nwith a goblet of wine before him. As soon as the eagles became hungry,\nthey endeavored to get at the goat's flesh upon the javelins, and by\nflapping their wings and flying upwards, they quickly raised up the\nthrone from the ground. Hunger still pressing them, and still being\ndistant from their prey, they ascended higher and higher in the clouds,\nconveying the astonished king far beyond his own country; but after long\nand fruitless exertion their strength failed them, and unable to keep\ntheir way, the whole fabric came tumbling down from the sky, and fell\nupon a dreary solitude in the kingdom of Ch\u00edn. There K\u00e1\u00fas was left, a\nprey to hunger, alone, and in utter despair, until he was discovered by\na band of Demons, whom his anxious ministers had sent in search of him.\n\nRustem, and G\u00fadarz, and T\u00fas, at length heard of what had befallen the\nking, and with feelings of sorrow not unmixed with indignation, set off\nto his assistance. \"Since I was born,\" said G\u00fadarz, \"never did I see\nsuch a man as K\u00e1\u00fas. He seems to be entirely destitute of reason and\nunderstanding; always in distress and affliction. This is the third\ncalamity in which he has wantonly involved himself. First at M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n,\nthen at H\u00e1m\u00e1ver\u00e1n, and now he is being punished for attempting to\ndiscover the secrets of the Heavens!\" When they reached the wilderness\ninto which K\u00e1\u00fas had fallen, G\u00fadarz repeated to him the same\nobservations, candidly telling him that he was fitter for a mad-house\nthan a throne, and exhorting him to be satisfied with his lot and be\nobedient to God, the creator of all things. The miserable king was\nsoftened to tears, acknowledged his folly; and as soon as he was\nescorted back to his palace, he shut himself up, remaining forty days,\nunseen, prostrating himself in shame and repentance. After that he\nrecovered his spirits, and resumed the administration of affairs with\nhis former liberality, clemency, and justice, almost rivalling the glory\nof Ferid\u00fan and Jemsh\u00edd.\n\nOne day Rustem made a splendid feast; and whilst he and his brother\nwarriors, G\u00edw and G\u00fadarz, and T\u00fas, were quaffing their wine, it was\ndetermined upon to form a pretended hunting party, and repair to the\nsporting grounds of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b. The feast lasted seven days; and on the\neighth, preparations were made for the march, an advance party being\npushed on to reconnoitre the motions of the enemy. Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b was soon\ninformed of what was going on, and flattered himself with the hopes of\ngetting Rustem and his seven champions into his thrall, for which\npurpose he called together his wise men and warriors, and said to them:\n\"You have only to secure these invaders, and K\u00e1\u00fas will soon cease to be\nthe sovereign of Persia.\" To accomplish this object, a T\u00far\u00e1nian army of\nthirty thousand veterans was assembled, and ordered to occupy all the\npositions and avenues in the vicinity of the sporting grounds. An\nimmense clamor, and thick clouds of dust, which darkened the skies,\nannounced their approach; and when intelligence of their numbers was\nbrought to Rustem, the undaunted champion smiled, and said to Gar\u00e1z:\n\"Fortune favors me; what cause is there to fear the king of T\u00far\u00e1n? his\narmy does not exceed a hundred thousand men. Were I alone, with Rakush,\nwith my armor, and battle-axe, I would not shrink from his legions. Have\nI not seven companions in arms, and is not one of them equal to five\nhundred T\u00far\u00e1nian heroes? Let Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b dare to cross the boundary-river,\nand the contest will presently convince him that he has only sought his\nown defeat.\" Promptly at a signal the cup-bearer produced goblets of the\nred wine of Z\u00e1bul; and in one of them Rustem pledged his royal master\nwith loyalty, and T\u00fas and Z\u00fa\u00e1ra joined in the convivial and social\ndemonstration of attachment to the king.\n\nThe champion arrayed in his buburiy\u00e1n, mounted Rakush, and advanced\ntowards the T\u00far\u00e1nian army. Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, when he beheld him in all his\nterrible strength and vigor, was amazed and disheartened, accompanied,\nas he was, by T\u00fas, and G\u00fadarz, and Gurg\u00edn, and G\u00edw, and B\u00e1hr\u00e1m, and\nBerz\u00edn, and Ferh\u00e1d. The drums and trumpets of Rustem were now heard, and\nimmediately the hostile forces engaged with dagger, sword, and javelin.\nDreadful was the onset, and the fury with which the conflict was\ncontinued. In truth, so sanguinary and destructive was the battle that\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b exclaimed in grief and terror: \"If this carnage lasts till the\nclose of day, not a man of my army will remain alive. Have I not one\nwarrior endued with sufficient bravery to oppose and subdue this mighty\nRustem? What! not one fit to be rewarded with a diadem, with my own\nthrone and kingdom, which I will freely give to the victor!\" P\u00edlsum\nheard the promise, and was ambitious of earning the reward; but fate\ndecreed it otherwise. His prodigious efforts were of no avail. Alk\u00fas was\nequally unsuccessful, though the bravest of the brave among the T\u00far\u00e1nian\nwarriors. Encountering Rustem, his brain was pierced by a javelin\nwielded by the Persian hero, and he fell dead from his saddle. This\nsignal achievement astonished and terrified the T\u00far\u00e1nians, who, however,\nmade a further despairing effort against the champion and his seven\nconquering companions, but with no better result than before, and\nnothing remained to them excepting destruction or flight. Choosing the\nlatter they wheeled round, and endeavored to escape from the sanguinary\nfate that awaited them.\n\nSeeing this precipitate movement of the enemy, Rustem impelled Rakush\nforward in pursuit, addressing his favorite horse with fondness and\nenthusiasm:--\n\n  \"My valued friend--put forth thy speed,\n  This is a time of pressing need;\n  Bear me away amidst the strife,\n  That I may take that despot's life;\n  And with my mace and javelin, flood\n  This dusty plain with foe-man's blood.\"\n\n  Excited by his master's cry,\n    The war-horse bounded o'er the plain,\n  So swiftly that he seemed to fly,\n  Snorting with pride, and tossing high\n    His streaming mane.\n\n  And soon he reached that despot's side,\n  \"Now is the time!\" the Champion cried,\n    \"This is the hour to victory given,\"\n  And flung his noose--which bound the king\n  Fast for a moment in its ring;\n    But soon, alas! the bond was riven.\n\n  Haply the Tartar-monarch slipt away,\n  Not doomed to suffer on that bloody day;\n  And freed from thrall, he hurrying led\n    His legions cross the boundary-stream,\n  Leaving his countless heaps of dead\n    To rot beneath the solar beam.\n\n  Onward he rushed with heart opprest,\n    And broken fortunes; he had quaffed\n  Bright pleasure's cup--but now, unblest,\n    Poison was mingled with the draught!\n\nThe booty in horses, treasure, armor, pavilions, and tents, was immense;\nand when the whole was secured, Rustem and his companions fell back to\nthe sporting-grounds already mentioned, from whence he informed Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas\nby letter of the victory that had been gained. After remaining two weeks\nthere, resting from the toils of war and enjoying the pleasures of\nhunting, the party returned home to pay their respects to the Persian\nking:\n\n  And this is life! Thus conquest and defeat,\n  Vary the lights and shades of human scenes,\n  And human thought. Whilst some, immersed in pleasure,\n  Enjoy the sweets, others again endure\n  The miseries of the world. Hope is deceived\n  In this frail dwelling; certainty and safety\n  Are only dreams which mock the credulous mind;\n  Time sweeps o'er all things; why then should the wise\n  Mourn o'er events which roll resistless on,\n  And set at nought all mortal opposition?\n\n\n\nSTORY OF SOHR\u00c1B\n\n  O ye, who dwell in Youth's inviting bowers,\n  Waste not, in useless joy, your fleeting hours,\n  But rather let the tears of sorrow roll,\n  And sad reflection fill the conscious soul.\n  For many a jocund spring has passed away,\n  And many a flower has blossomed, to decay;\n  And human life, still hastening to a close,\n  Finds in the worthless dust its last repose.\n  Still the vain world abounds in strife and hate,\n  And sire and son provoke each other's fate;\n  And kindred blood by kindred hands is shed,\n  And vengeance sleeps not--dies not, with the dead.\n  All nature fades--the garden's treasures fall,\n  Young bud, and citron ripe--all perish, all.\n\n  And now a tale of sorrow must be told,\n  A tale of tears, derived from M\u00fabid old,\n  And thus remembered.--\n\n                         With the dawn of day,\n  Rustem arose, and wandering took his way,\n  Armed for the chase, where sloping to the sky,\n  T\u00far\u00e1n's lone wilds in sullen grandeur lie;\n  There, to dispel his melancholy mood,\n  He urged his matchless steed through glen and wood.\n  Flushed with the noble game which met his view,\n  He starts the wild-ass o'er the glistening dew;\n  And, oft exulting, sees his quivering dart,\n  Plunge through the glossy skin, and pierce the heart.\n  Tired of the sport, at length, he sought the shade,\n  Which near a stream embowering trees displayed,\n  And with his arrow's point, a fire he raised,\n  And thorns and grass before him quickly blazed.\n  The severed parts upon a bough he cast,\n  To catch the flames; and when the rich repast\n  Was drest; with flesh and marrow, savory food,\n  He quelled his hunger; and the sparkling flood\n  That murmured at his feet, his thirst represt;\n  Then gentle sleep composed his limbs to rest.\n\n  Meanwhile his horse, for speed and form renown'd,\n  Ranged o'er the plain with flowery herbage crown'd,\n  Encumbering arms no more his sides opprest,\n  No folding mail confined his ample chest,[12]\n  Gallant and free, he left the Champion's side,\n  And cropp'd the mead, or sought the cooling tide;\n  When lo! it chanced amid that woodland chase,\n  A band of horsemen, rambling near the place,\n  Saw, with surprise, superior game astray,\n  And rushed at once to seize the noble prey;\n  But, in the imminent struggle, two beneath\n  His steel-clad hoofs received the stroke of death;\n  One proved a sterner fate--for downward borne,\n  The mangled head was from the shoulders torn.\n  Still undismayed, again they nimbly sprung,\n  And round his neck the noose entangling flung:\n  Now, all in vain, he spurns the smoking ground,\n  In vain the tumult echoes all around;\n  They bear him off, and view, with ardent eyes,\n  His matchless beauty and majestic size;\n  Then soothe his fury, anxious to obtain,\n  A bounding steed of his immortal strain.\n\n  When Rustem woke, and miss'd his favourite horse,\n  The loved companion of his glorious course;\n  Sorrowing he rose, and, hastening thence, began\n  To shape his dubious way to Sameng\u00e1n;\n  \"Reduced to journey thus, alone!\" he said,\n  \"How pierce the gloom which thickens round my head;\n  Burthen'd, on foot, a dreary waste in view,\n  Where shall I bend my steps, what path pursue?\n  The scoffing Turks will cry, 'Behold our might!\n  We won the trophy from the Champion-knight!\n  From him who, reckless of his fame and pride,\n  Thus idly slept, and thus ignobly died,'\"\n  Girding his loins he gathered from the field,\n  His quivered stores, his beamy sword and shield,\n  Harness and saddle-gear were o'er him slung.\n  Bridle and mail across his shoulders hung.[13]\n  Then looking round, with anxious eye, to meet,\n  The broad impression of his charger's feet,\n  The track he hail'd, and following, onward prest.\n  While grief and hope alternate filled his breast.\n\n  O'er vale and wild-wood led, he soon descries.\n  The regal city's shining turrets rise.\n  And when the Champion's near approach is known,\n  The usual homage waits him to the throne.\n  The king, on foot, received his welcome guest\n  With preferred friendship, and his coming blest:\n  But Rustem frowned, and with resentment fired,\n  Spoke of his wrongs, the plundered steed required.\n  \"I've traced his footsteps to your royal town,\n  Here must he be, protected by your crown;\n  But if retained, if not from fetters freed,\n  My vengeance shall o'ertake the felon-deed.\"\n  \"My honored guest!\" the wondering King replied--\n  \"Shall Rustem's wants or wishes be denied?\n  But let not anger, headlong, fierce, and blind,\n  O'ercloud the virtues of a generous mind.\n  If still within the limits of my reign,\n  The well known courser shall be thine again:\n  For Rakush never can remain concealed,\n  No more than Rustem in the battle-field!\n  Then cease to nourish useless rage, and share\n  With joyous heart my hospitable fare.\"\n\n  The son of Z\u00e1l now felt his wrath subdued,\n  And glad sensations in his soul renewed.\n  The ready herald by the King's command,\n  Convened the Chiefs and Warriors of the land;\n  And soon the banquet social glee restored,\n  And China wine-cups glittered on the board;\n  And cheerful song, and music's magic power,\n  And sparkling wine, beguiled the festive hour.\n  The dulcet draughts o'er Rustem's senses stole,\n  And melting strains absorbed his softened soul.\n  But when approached the period of repose,\n  All, prompt and mindful, from the banquet rose;\n  A couch was spread well worthy such a guest,\n  Perfumed with rose and musk; and whilst at rest,\n  In deep sound sleep, the wearied Champion lay,\n  Forgot were all the sorrows of the way.\n\n  One watch had passed, and still sweet slumber shed\n  Its magic power around the hero's head--\n  When forth Tahm\u00edneh came--a damsel held\n  An amber taper, which the gloom dispelled,\n  And near his pillow stood; in beauty bright,\n  The monarch's daughter struck his wondering sight.\n  Clear as the moon, in glowing charms arrayed,\n  Her winning eyes the light of heaven displayed;\n  Her cypress form entranced the gazer's view,\n  Her waving curls, the heart, resistless, drew,\n  Her eye-brows like the Archer's bended bow;\n  Her ringlets, snares; her cheek, the rose's glow,\n  Mixed with the lily--from her ear-tips hung\n  Rings rich and glittering, star-like; and her tongue,\n  And lips, all sugared sweetness--pearls the while\n  Sparkled within a mouth formed to beguile.\n  Her presence dimmed the stars, and breathing round\n  Fragrance and joy, she scarcely touched the ground,\n  So light her step, so graceful--every part\n  Perfect, and suited to her spotless heart.\n\n  Rustem, surprised, the gentle maid addressed,\n  And asked what lovely stranger broke his rest.\n  \"What is thy name,\" he said--\"what dost thou seek\n  Amidst the gloom of night? Fair vision, speak!\"\n\n  \"O thou,\" she softly sigh'd, \"of matchless fame!\n  With pity hear, Tahm\u00edneh is my name!\n  The pangs of love my anxious heart employ,\n  And flattering promise long-expected joy;\n  No curious eye has yet these features seen,\n  My voice unheard, beyond the sacred screen.[14]\n  How often have I listened with amaze,\n  To thy great deeds, enamoured of thy praise;\n  How oft from every tongue I've heard the strain,\n  And thought of thee--and sighed, and sighed again.\n  The ravenous eagle, hovering o'er his prey,\n  Starts at thy gleaming sword and flies away:\n  Thou art the slayer of the Demon brood,\n  And the fierce monsters of the echoing wood.\n  Where'er thy mace is seen, shrink back the bold,\n  Thy javelin's flash all tremble to behold.\n  Enchanted with the stories of thy fame,\n  My fluttering heart responded to thy name;\n  And whilst their magic influence I felt,\n  In prayer for thee devotedly I knelt;\n  And fervent vowed, thus powerful glory charms,\n  No other spouse should bless my longing arms.\n  Indulgent heaven propitious to my prayer,\n  Now brings thee hither to reward my care.\n  T\u00far\u00e1n's dominions thou hast sought, alone,\n  By night, in darkness--thou, the mighty one!\n  O claim my hand, and grant my soul's desire;\n  Ask me in marriage of my royal sire;\n  Perhaps a boy our wedded love may crown,\n  Whose strength like thine may gain the world's renown.\n  Nay more--for Sameng\u00e1n will keep my word--\n  Rakush to thee again shall be restored.\"\n\n  The damsel thus her ardent thought expressed,\n  And Rustem's heart beat joyous in his breast,\n  Hearing her passion--not a word was lost,\n  And Rakush safe, by him still valued most;\n  He called her near; with graceful step she came,\n  And marked with throbbing pulse his kindled flame.\n\n  And now a M\u00fabid, from the Champion-knight,\n  Requests the royal sanction to the rite;\n  O'erjoyed, the King the honoured suit approves,\n  O'erjoyed to bless the doting child he loves,\n  And happier still, in showering smiles around,\n  To be allied to warrior so renowned.\n  When the delighted father, doubly blest,\n  Resigned his daughter to his glorious guest,\n  The people shared the gladness which it gave,\n  The union of the beauteous and the brave.\n  To grace their nuptial day--both old and young,\n  The hymeneal gratulations sung:\n  \"May this young moon bring happiness and joy,\n  And every source of enmity destroy.\"\n  The marriage-bower received the happy pair,\n  And love and transport shower'd their blessings there.\n\n  Ere from his lofty sphere the morn had thrown\n  His glittering radiance, and in splendour shone,\n  The mindful Champion, from his sinewy arm,\n  His bracelet drew, the soul-ennobling charm;\n  And, as he held the wondrous gift with pride,\n  He thus address'd his love-devoted bride!\n  \"Take this,\" he said, \"and if, by gracious heaven,\n  A daughter for thy solace should be given,\n  Let it among her ringlets be displayed,\n  And joy and honour will await the maid;\n  But should kind fate increase the nuptial-joy,\n  And make thee mother of a blooming boy,\n  Around his arm this magic bracelet bind,\n  To fire with virtuous deeds his ripening mind;\n  The strength of S\u00e1m will nerve his manly form,\n  In temper mild, in valour like the storm;\n  His not the dastard fate to shrink, or turn\n  From where the lions of the battle burn;\n  To him the soaring eagle from the sky\n  Will stoop, the bravest yield to him, or fly;\n  Thus shall his bright career imperious claim\n  The well-won honours of immortal fame!\"\n  Ardent he said, and kissed her eyes and face,\n  And lingering held her in a fond embrace.\n\n  When the bright sun his radiant brow displayed,\n  And earth in all its loveliest hues arrayed,\n  The Champion rose to leave his spouse's side,\n  The warm affections of his weeping bride.\n  For her, too soon the winged moments flew,\n  Too soon, alas! the parting hour she knew;\n  Clasped in his arms, with many a streaming tear,\n  She tried, in vain, to win his deafen'd ear;\n  Still tried, ah fruitless struggle! to impart,\n  The swelling anguish of her bursting heart.\n\n  The father now with gratulations due\n  Rustem approaches, and displays to view\n  The fiery war-horse--welcome as the light\n  Of heaven, to one immersed in deepest night;\n  The Champion, wild with joy, fits on the rein,\n  And girds the saddle on his back again;\n  Then mounts, and leaving sire and wife behind,\n  Onward to S\u00edst\u00e1n rushes like the wind.\n\n  But when returned to Z\u00e1bul's friendly shade,\n  None knew what joys the Warrior had delayed;\n  Still, fond remembrance, with endearing thought,\n  Oft to his mind the scene of rapture brought.\n\n  When nine slow-circling months had roll'd away,\n  Sweet-smiling pleasure hailed the brightening day--\n  A wondrous boy Tahm\u00edneh's tears supprest,\n  And lull'd the sorrows of her heart to rest;\n  To him, predestined to be great and brave,\n  The name Sohr\u00e1b his tender mother gave;\n  And as he grew, amazed, the gathering throng,\n  View'd his large limbs, his sinews firm and strong;\n  His infant years no soft endearment claimed:\n  Athletic sports his eager soul inflamed;\n  Broad at the chest and taper round the loins,\n  Where to the rising hip the body joins;\n  Hunter and wrestler; and so great his speed,\n  He could overtake, and hold the swiftest steed.\n  His noble aspect, and majestic grace,\n  Betrayed the offspring of a glorious race.\n  How, with a mother's ever anxious love,\n  Still to retain him near her heart she strove!\n  For when the father's fond inquiry came,\n  Cautious, she still concealed his birth and name,\n  And feign'd a daughter born, the evil fraught\n  With misery to avert--but vain the thought;\n  Not many years had passed, with downy flight,\n  Ere he, Tahm\u00edneh's wonder and delight,\n  With glistening eye, and youthful ardour warm,\n  Filled her foreboding bosom with alarm.\n  \"O now relieve my heart!\" he said, \"declare,\n  From whom I sprang and breathe the vital air.\n  Since, from my childhood I have ever been,\n  Amidst my play-mates of superior mien;\n  Should friend or foe demand my father's name,\n  Let not my silence testify my shame!\n  If still concealed, you falter, still delay,\n  A mother's blood shall wash the crime away.\"\n\n  \"This wrath forego,\" the mother answering cried,\n  \"And joyful hear to whom thou art allied.\n  A glorious line precedes thy destined birth,\n  The mightiest heroes of the sons of earth.\n  The deeds of S\u00e1m remotest realms admire,\n  And Z\u00e1l, and Rustem thy illustrious sire!\"\n\n  In private, then, she Rustem's letter placed\n  Before his view, and brought with eager haste\n  Three sparkling rubies, wedges three of gold,\n  From Persia sent--\"Behold,\" she said, \"behold\n  Thy father's gifts, will these thy doubts remove\n  The costly pledges of paternal love!\n  Behold this bracelet charm, of sovereign power\n  To baffle fate in danger's awful hour;\n  But thou must still the perilous secret keep,\n  Nor ask the harvest of renown to reap;\n  For when, by this peculiar signet known,\n  Thy glorious father shall demand his son,\n  Doomed from her only joy in life to part,\n  O think what pangs will rend thy mother's heart!--\n  Seek not the fame which only teems with woe;\n  Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b is Rustem's deadliest foe!\n  And if by him discovered, him I dread,\n  Revenge will fail upon thy guiltless head.\"\n\n  The youth replied: \"In vain thy sighs and tears,\n  The secret breathes and mocks thy idle fears.\n  No human power can fate's decrees control,\n  Or check the kindled ardour of my soul.\n  Then why from me the bursting truth conceal?\n  My father's foes even now my vengeance feel;\n  Even now in wrath my native legions rise,\n  And sounds of desolation strike the skies;\n  K\u00e1\u00fas himself, hurled from his ivory throne,\n  Shall yield to Rustem the imperial crown,\n  And thou, my mother, still in triumph seen,\n  Of lovely Persia hailed the honoured queen!\n  Then shall T\u00far\u00e1n unite beneath my hand,\n  And drive this proud oppressor from the land!\n  Father and Son, in virtuous league combined,\n  No savage despot shall enslave mankind;\n  When Sun and Moon o'er heaven refulgent blaze,\n  Shall little stars obtrude their feeble rays?\"[15]\n\n  He paused, and then: \"O mother, I must now\n  My father seek, and see his lofty brow;\n  Be mine a horse, such as a prince demands,\n  Fit for the dusty field, a warrior's hands;\n  Strong as an elephant his form should be,\n  And chested like the stag, in motion free,\n  And swift as bird, or fish; it would disgrace\n  A warrior bold on foot to show his face.\"\n\n  The mother, seeing how his heart was bent,\n  His day-star rising in the firmament,\n  Commands the stables to be searched to find\n  Among the steeds one suited to his mind;\n  Pressing their backs he tries their strength and nerve,\n  Bent double to the ground their bellies curve;\n  Not one, from neighbouring plain and mountain brought,\n  Equals the wish with which his soul is fraught;\n  Fruitless on every side he anxious turns,\n  Fruitless, his brain with wild impatience burns,\n  But when at length they bring the destined steed,\n  From Rakush bred, of lightning's winged speed,\n  Fleet, as the arrow from the bow-string flies,\n  Fleet, as the eagle darting through the skies,\n  Rejoiced he springs, and, with a nimble bound,\n  Vaults in his seat, and wheels the courser round;\n  \"With such a horse--thus mounted, what remains?\n  K\u00e1\u00fas, the Persian King, no longer reigns!\"\n  High flushed he speaks--with youthful pride elate,\n  Eager to crush the Monarch's glittering state;\n  He grasps his javelin with a hero's might,\n  And pants with ardour for the field of fight.\n\n  Soon o'er the realm his fame expanding spread,\n  And gathering thousands hasten'd to his aid.\n  His Grand-sire, pleased, beheld the warrior-train\n  Successive throng and darken all the plain;\n  And bounteously his treasures he supplied,\n  Camels, and steeds, and gold.--In martial pride,\n  Sohr\u00e1b was seen--a Grecian helmet graced\n  His brow--and costliest mail his limbs embraced.\n\n  Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b now hears with ardent joy,\n  The bold ambition of the warrior-boy,\n  Of him who, perfumed with the milky breath\n  Of infancy, was threatening war and death,\n  And bursting sudden from his mother's side,\n  Had launched his bark upon the perilous tide.\n\n  The insidious King sees well the tempting hour,\n  Favouring his arms against the Persian power,\n  And thence, in haste, the enterprise to share,\n  Twelve thousand veterans selects with care;\n  To H\u00fam\u00e1n and B\u00e1rm\u00e1n the charge consigns,\n  And thus his force with Sameng\u00e1n combines;\n  But treacherous first his martial chiefs he prest,\n  To keep the secret fast within their breast:--\n  \"For this bold youth must not his father know,\n  Each must confront the other as his foe--\n  Such is my vengeance! With unhallowed rage,\n  Father and Son shall dreadful battle wage!\n  Unknown the youth shall Rustem's force withstand,\n  And soon o'erwhelm the bulwark of the land.\n  Rustem removed, the Persian throne is ours,\n  An easy conquest to confederate powers;\n  And then, secured by some propitious snare,\n  Sohr\u00e1b himself our galling bonds shall wear.\n  Or should the Son by Rustem's falchion bleed,\n  The father's horror at that fatal deed,\n  Will rend his soul, and 'midst his sacred grief,\n  K\u00e1\u00fas in vain will supplicate relief.\"\n\n  The tutored chiefs advance with speed, and bring\n  Imperial presents to the future king;\n  In stately pomp the embassy proceeds;\n  Ten loaded camels, ten unrivalled steeds,\n  A golden crown, and throne, whose jewels bright\n  Gleam in the sun, and shed a sparkling light,\n  A letter too the crafty tyrant sends,\n  And fraudful thus the glorious aim commends.--\n  \"If Persia's spoils invite thee to the field,\n  Accept the aid my conquering legions yield;\n  Led by two Chiefs of valour and renown,\n  Upon thy head to place the kingly crown.\"\n\n  Elate with promised fame, the youth surveys\n  The regal vest, the throne's irradiant blaze,\n  The golden crown, the steeds, the sumptuous load\n  Of ten strong camels, craftily bestowed;\n  Salutes the Chiefs, and views on every side,\n  The lengthening ranks with various arms supplied.\n  The march begins--the brazen drums resound,[16]\n  His moving thousands hide the trembling ground;\n  For Persia's verdant land he wields the spear,\n  And blood and havoc mark his groaning rear.[17]\n\n  To check the Invader's horror-spreading course,\n  The barrier-fort opposed unequal force;\n  That fort whose walls, extending wide, contained\n  The stay of Persia, men to battle trained.\n  Soon as Huj\u00edr the dusky crowd descried,\n  He on his own presumptuous arm relied,\n  And left the fort; in mail with shield and spear,\n  Vaunting he spoke--\"What hostile force is here?\n  What Chieftain dares our war-like realms invade?\"\n  \"And who art thou?\" Sohr\u00e1b indignant said,\n  Rushing towards him with undaunted look--\n  \"Hast thou, audacious! nerve and soul to brook\n  The crocodile in fight, that to the strife\n  Singly thou comest, reckless of thy life?\"\n\n  To this the foe replied--\"A Turk and I\n  Have never yet been bound in friendly tie;\n  And soon thy head shall, severed by my sword,\n  Gladden the sight of Persia's mighty lord,\n  While thy torn limbs to vultures shall be given,\n  Or bleach beneath the parching blast of heaven.\"\n\n  The youthful hero laughing hears the boast,\n  And now by each continual spears are tost,\n  Mingling together; like a flood of fire\n  The boaster meets his adversary's ire;\n  The horse on which he rides, with thundering pace,\n  Seems like a mountain moving from its base;\n  Sternly he seeks the stripling's loins to wound,\n  But the lance hurtless drops upon the ground;\n  Sohr\u00e1b, advancing, hurls his steady spear\n  Full on the middle of the vain Huj\u00edr,\n  Who staggers in his seat. With proud disdain\n  The youth now flings him headlong on the plain,\n  And quick dismounting, on his heaving breast\n  Triumphant stands, his Khunjer firmly prest,\n  To strike the head off--but the blow was stayed--Trembling,\n  for life, the craven boaster prayed.\n  That mercy granted eased his coward mind,\n  Though, dire disgrace, in captive bonds confined,\n  And sent to H\u00fam\u00e1n, who amazed beheld\n  How soon Sohr\u00e1b his daring soul had quelled.\n\n  When G\u00fard-afr\u00edd, a peerless warrior-dame,\n  Heard of the conflict, and the hero's shame,\n  Groans heaved her breast, and tears of anger flowed,\n  Her tulip cheek with deeper crimson glowed;\n  Speedful, in arms magnificent arrayed,\n  A foaming palfrey bore the martial maid;\n  The burnished mail her tender limbs embraced,\n  Beneath her helm her clustering locks she placed;\n  Poised in her hand an iron javelin gleamed,\n  And o'er the ground its sparkling lustre streamed;\n  Accoutred thus in manly guise, no eye\n  However piercing could her sex descry;\n  Now, like a lion, from the fort she bends,\n  And 'midst the foe impetuously descends;\n  Fearless of soul, demands with haughty tone,\n  The bravest chief, for war-like valour known,\n  To try the chance of fight. In shining arms,\n  Again Sohr\u00e1b the glow of battle warms;\n  With scornful smiles, \"Another deer!\" he cries,\n  \"Come to my victor-toils, another prize!\"\n  The damsel saw his noose insidious spread,\n  And soon her arrows whizzed around his head;\n  With steady skill the twanging bow she drew,\n  And still her pointed darts unerring flew;\n  For when in forest sports she touched the string,\n  Never escaped even bird upon the wing;\n  Furious he burned, and high his buckler held,\n  To ward the storm, by growing force impell'd;\n  And tilted forward with augmented wrath,\n  But G\u00fard-\u00e1fr\u00edd aspires to cross his path;\n  Now o'er her back the slacken'd bow resounds;\n  She grasps her lance, her goaded courser bounds,\n  Driven on the youth with persevering might--\n  Unconquer'd courage still prolongs the fight;\n  The stripling Chief shields off the threaten'd blow,\n  Reins in his steed, then rushes on the foe;\n  With outstretch'd arm, he bending backwards hung,\n  And, gathering strength, his pointed javelin flung;\n  Firm through her girdle belt the weapon went,\n  And glancing down the polish'd armour rent.\n  Staggering, and stunned by his superior force,\n  She almost tumbled from her foaming horse,\n  Yet unsubdued, she cut the spear in two,\n  And from her side the quivering fragment drew,\n  Then gain'd her seat, and onward urged her steed,\n  But strong and fleet Sohr\u00e1b arrests her speed:\n  Strikes off her helm, and sees--a woman's face,\n  Radiant with blushes and commanding grace!\n  Thus undeceived, in admiration lost,\n  He cries, \"A woman, from the Persian host!\n  If Persian damsels thus in arms engage,\n  Who shall repel their warrior's fiercer rage?\"\n  Then from his saddle thong--his noose he drew,\n  And round her waist the twisted loop he threw--\n  \"Now seek not to escape,\" he sharply said,\n  \"Such is the fate of war, unthinking maid!\n  And, as such beauty seldom swells our pride,\n  Vain thy attempt to cast my toils aside.\"\n\n  In this extreme, but one resource remained,\n  Only one remedy her hope sustained--\n  Expert in wiles each siren-art she knew,\n  And thence exposed her blooming face to view;\n  Raising her full black orbs, serenely bright,\n  In all her charms she blazed before his sight;\n  And thus addressed Sohr\u00e1b--\"O warrior brave,\n  Hear me, and thy imperilled honour save,\n  These curling tresses seen by either host,\n  A woman conquered, whence the glorious boast?\n  Thy startled troops will know, with inward grief,\n  A woman's arm resists their towering chief,\n  Better preserve a warrior's fair renown,\n  And let our struggle still remain unknown,\n  For who with wanton folly would expose\n  A helpless maid, to aggravate her woes;\n  The fort, the treasure, shall thy toils repay,\n  The chief, and garrison, thy will obey,\n  And thine the honours of this dreadful day.\"\n\n  Raptured he gazed, her smiles resistless move\n  The wildest transports of ungoverned love.\n  Her face disclosed a paradise to view,\n  Eyes like the fawn, and cheeks of rosy hue--\n  Thus vanquished, lost, unconscious of her aim,\n  And only struggling with his amorous flame,\n  He rode behind, as if compelled by fate,\n  And heedless saw her gain the castle-gate.\n\n  Safe with her friends, escaped from brand and spear,\n  Smiling she stands, as if unknown to fear.\n  --The father now, with tearful pleasure wild,\n  Clasps to his heart his fondly-foster'd child;\n  The crowding warriors round her eager bend,\n  And grateful prayers to favouring heaven ascend.\n\n  Now from the walls, she, with majestic air,\n  Exclaims: \"Thou warrior of T\u00far\u00e1n! forbear,\n  Why vex thy soul, and useless strife demand!\n  Go, and in peace enjoy thy native land.\"\n  Stern he rejoins: \"Thou beauteous tyrant! say,\n  Though crown'd with charms, devoted to betray,\n  When these proud walls, in dust and ruins laid,\n  Yield no defence, and thou a captive maid,\n  Will not repentance through thy bosom dart,\n  And sorrow soften that disdainful heart?\"\n\n  Quick she replied: \"O'er Persia's fertile fields\n  The savage Turk in vain his falchion wields;\n  When King K\u00e1\u00fas this bold invasion hears,\n  And mighty Rustem clad in arms appears!\n  Destruction wide will glut the slippery plain,\n  And not one man of all thy host remain.\n  Alas! that bravery, high as thine, should meet\n  Amidst such promise, with a sure defeat,\n  But not a gleam of hope remains for thee,\n  Thy wondrous valour cannot keep thee free.\n  Avert the fate which o'er thy head impends,\n  Return, return, and save thy martial friends!\"\n\n  Thus to be scorned, defrauded of his prey,\n  With victory in his grasp--to lose the day!\n  Shame and revenge alternate filled his mind;\n  The suburb-town to pillage he consigned,\n  And devastation--not a dwelling spared;\n  The very owl was from her covert scared;\n  Then thus: \"Though luckless in my aim to-day,\n  To-morrow shall behold a sterner fray;\n  This fort, in ashes, scattered o'er the plain.\"\n  He ceased--and turned towards his troops again;\n  There, at a distance from the hostile power,\n  He brooding waits the slaughter-breathing hour.\n\n  Meanwhile the sire of G\u00fard-afr\u00edd, who now\n  Governed the fort, and feared the warrior's vow;\n  Mournful and pale, with gathering woes opprest,\n  His distant Monarch trembling thus addrest.\n  But first invoked the heavenly power to shed\n  Its choicest blessings o'er his royal head.\n  \"Against our realm with numerous foot and horse,\n  A stripling warrior holds his ruthless course.\n  His lion-breast unequalled strength betrays,\n  And o'er his mien the sun's effulgence plays:\n  Sohr\u00e1b his name; like S\u00e1m Suw\u00e1r he shows,\n  Or Rustem terrible amidst his foes.\n  The bold Huj\u00edr lies vanquished on the plain,\n  And drags a captive's ignominious chain;\n  Myriads of troops besiege our tottering wall,\n  And vain the effort to suspend its fall.\n  Haste, arm for fight, this Tartar-power withstand,\n  Let sweeping Vengeance lift her flickering brand;\n  Rustem alone may stem the roaring wave,\n  And, prompt as bold, his groaning country save.\n  Meanwhile in flight we place our only trust,\n  Ere the proud ramparts crumble in the dust.\"\n\n  Swift flies the messenger through secret ways,\n  And to the King the dreadful tale conveys,\n  Then passed, unseen, in night's concealing shade,\n  The mournful heroes and the warrior maid.\n\n  Soon as the sun with vivifying ray,\n  Gleams o'er the landscape, and renews the day;\n  The flaming troops the lofty walls surround,\n  With thundering crash the bursting gates resound.\n  Already are the captives bound, in thought,\n  And like a herd before the conqueror brought;\n  Sohr\u00e1b, terrific o'er the ruin, views\n  His hopes deceived, but restless still pursues.\n  An empty fortress mocks his searching eye,\n  No steel-clad chiefs his burning wrath defy;\n  No warrior-maid reviving passion warms,\n  And soothes his soul with fondly-valued charms.\n  Deep in his breast he feels the amorous smart,\n  And hugs her image closer to his heart.\n  \"Alas! that Fate should thus invidious shroud\n  The moon's soft radiance in a gloomy cloud;\n  Should to my eyes such winning grace display,\n  Then snatch the enchanter of my soul away!\n  A beauteous roe my toils enclosed in vain,\n  Now I, her victim, drag the captive's chain;\n  Strange the effects that from her charms proceed,\n  I gave the wound, and I afflicted bleed!\n  Vanquished by her, I mourn the luckless strife;\n  Dark, dark, and bitter, frowns my morn of life.\n  A fair unknown my tortured bosom rends,\n  Withers each joy, and every hope suspends.\"\n\n  Impassioned thus Sohr\u00e1b in secret sighed,\n  And sought, in vain, o'er-mastering grief to hide.\n  Can the heart bleed and throb from day to day,\n  And yet no trace its inmost pangs betray?\n  Love scorns control, and prompts the labouring sigh,\n  Pales the red lip, and dims the lucid eye;\n  His look alarmed the stern T\u00far\u00e1nian Chief,\n  Closely he mark'd his heart-corroding grief;--\n  And though he knew not that the martial dame,\n  Had in his bosom lit the tender flame[18];\n  Full well he knew such deep repinings prove,\n  The hapless thraldom of disastrous love.\n  Full well he knew some idol's musky hair,\n  Had to his youthful heart become a snare,\n  But still unnoted was the gushing tear,\n  Till haply he had gained his private ear:--\n  \"In ancient times, no hero known to fame,\n  Not dead to glory e'er indulged the flame;\n  Though beauty's smiles might charm a fleeting hour,\n  The heart, unsway'd, repelled their lasting power.\n  A warrior Chief to trembling love a prey?\n  What! weep for woman one inglorious day?\n  Canst thou for love's effeminate control,\n  Barter the glory of a warrior's soul?\n  Although a hundred damsels might be gained,\n  The hero's heart shall still be free, unchained.\n  Thou art our leader, and thy place the field\n  Where soldiers love to fight with spear and shield;\n  And what hast thou to do with tears and smiles,\n  The silly victim to a woman's wiles?\n  Our progress, mark! from far T\u00far\u00e1n we came,\n  Through seas of blood to gain immortal fame;\n  And wilt thou now the tempting conquest shun,\n  When our brave arms this Barrier-fort have won?\n  Why linger here, and trickling sorrows shed,\n  Till mighty K\u00e1\u00fas thunders o'er thy head!\n  Till T\u00fas, and G\u00edw, and G\u00fadarz, and B\u00e1hr\u00e1m,\n  And Rustem brave, Fer\u00e1murz, and Reh\u00e1m,\n  Shall aid the war! A great emprise is thine,\n  At once, then, every other thought resign;\n  For know the task which first inspired thy zeal,\n  Transcends in glory all that love can feel.\n  Rise, lead the war, prodigious toils require\n  Unyielding strength, and unextinguished fire;\n  Pursue the triumph with tempestuous rage,\n  Against the world in glorious strife engage,\n  And when an empire sinks beneath thy sway\n  (O quickly may we hail the prosperous day),\n  The fickle sex will then with blooming charms,\n  Adoring throng to bless thy circling arms!\"\n\n  H\u00fam\u00e1n's warm speech, the spirit-stirring theme,\n  Awoke Sohr\u00e1b from his inglorious dream.\n  No more the tear his faded cheek bedewed,\n  Again ambition all his hopes renewed:\n  Swell'd his bold heart with unforgotten zeal,\n  The noble wrath which heroes only feel;\n  Fiercely he vowed at one tremendous stroke,\n  To bow the world beneath the tyrant's yoke!\n  \"Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b,\" he cried, \"shall reign alone,\n  The mighty lord of Persia's gorgeous throne!\"\n\n  Burning, himself, to rule this nether sphere,\n  These welcome tidings charmed the despot's ear.\n  Meantime K\u00e1\u00fas, this dire invasion known,\n  Had called his chiefs around his ivory throne:\n  There stood Gurg\u00edn, and B\u00e1hr\u00e1m, and Gushw\u00e1d,\n  And T\u00fas, and G\u00edw, and G\u00fad\u00e1rz, and Ferh\u00e1d;\n  To them he read the melancholy tale,\n  Gust'hem had written of the rising bale;\n  Besought their aid and prudent choice, to form\n  Some sure defence against the threatening storm.\n  With one consent they urge the strong request,\n  To summon Rustem from his rural rest.--\n  Instant a warrior-delegate they send,\n  And thus the King invites his patriot-friend,\n\n  \"To thee all praise, whose mighty arm alone,\n  Preserves the glory of the Persian throne!\n  Lo! Tartar hordes our happy realms invade;\n  The tottering state requires thy powerful aid;\n  A youthful Champion leads the ruthless host,\n  His savage country's widely-rumoured boast.\n  The Barrier-fortress sinks beneath his sway,\n  Huj\u00edr is vanquished, ruin tracks his way;\n  Strong as a raging elephant in fight,\n  No arm but thine can match his furious might.\n  M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n thy conquering prowess knew;\n  The Demon-king thy trenchant falchion slew,\n  The rolling heavens, abash'd with fear, behold\n  Thy biting sword, thy mace adorned with gold!\n  Fly to the succour of a King distress'd,\n  Proud of thy love, with thy protection blest.\n  When o'er the nation dread misfortunes lower,\n  Thou art the refuge, thou the saving power.\n  The chiefs assembled claim thy patriot vows,\n  Give to thy glory all that life allows;\n  And while no whisper breathes the direful tale,\n  O, let thy Monarch's anxious prayers prevail.\"\n\n  Closing the fragrant page[19] o'ercome with dread,\n  The afflicted King to G\u00edw, the warrior, said:--\n  \"Go, bind the saddle on thy fleetest horse,\n  Outstrip the tempest in thy rapid course,\n  To Rustem swift his country's woes convey,\n  Too true art thou to linger on the way;\n  Speed, day and night--and not one instant wait,\n  Whatever hour may bring thee to his gate.\"\n\n  Followed no pause--to G\u00edw enough was said,\n  Nor rest, nor taste of food, his speed delayed.\n  And when arrived, where Z\u00e1bul's bowers exhale\n  Ambrosial sweets and scent the balmy gale,\n  The sentinel's loud voice in Rustem's ear,\n  Announced a messenger from Persia, near;\n  The Chief himself amidst his warriors stood,\n  Dispensing honours to the brave and good,\n  And soon as G\u00edw had joined the martial ring,\n  (The sacred envoy of the Persian King),\n  He, with becoming loyalty inspired,\n  Asked what the monarch, what the state required;\n  But G\u00edw, apart, his secret mission told--\n  The written page was speedily unrolled.\n\n  Struck with amazement, Rustem--\"Now on earth\n  A warrior-knight of S\u00e1m's excelling worth?\n  Whence comes this hero of the prosperous star?\n  I know no Turk renowned, like him, in war;\n  He bears the port of Rustem too, 'tis said,\n  Like S\u00e1m, like Nar\u00edm\u00e1n, a warrior bred!\n  He cannot be my son, unknown to me;\n  Reason forbids the thought--it cannot be!\n  At Sameng\u00e1n, where once affection smiled,\n  To me Tahm\u00edneh bore her only child,\n  That was a daughter?\" Pondering thus he spoke,\n  And then aloud--\"Why fear the invader's yoke?\n  Why trembling shrink, by coward thoughts dismayed,\n  Must we not all in dust, at length, be laid?\n  But come, to N\u00edrum's palace, haste with me,\n  And there partake the feast--from sorrow free;\n  Breathe, but awhile--ere we our toils renew,\n  And moisten the parched lip with needful dew.\n  Let plans of war another day decide,\n  We soon shall quell this youthful hero's pride.\n  The force of fire soon flutters and decays\n  When ocean, swelled by storms, its wrath displays.\n  What danger threatens! whence the dastard fear!\n  Rest, and at leisure share a warrior's cheer.\"\n\n  In vain the Envoy prest the Monarch's grief;\n  The matchless prowess of the stripling chief;\n  How brave Huj\u00edr had felt his furious hand;\n  What thickening woes beset the shuddering land.\n  But Rustem, still, delayed the parting day,\n  And mirth and feasting rolled the hours away;\n  Morn following morn beheld the banquet bright,\n  Music and wine prolonged the genial rite;\n  Rapt by the witchery of the melting strain,\n  No thought of K\u00e1\u00fas touch'd his swimming brain.[20]\n\n  The trumpet's clang, on fragrant breezes borne,\n  Now loud salutes the fifth revolving morn;\n  The softer tones which charm'd the jocund feast,\n  And all the noise of revelry, had ceased,\n  The generous horse, with rich embroidery deckt,\n  Whose gilded trappings sparkling light reflect,\n  Bears with majestic port the Champion brave,\n  And high in air the victor-banners wave.\n  Prompt at the martial call, Z\u00fa\u00e1ra leads\n  His veteran troops from Z\u00e1bul's verdant meads.[21]\n\n  Ere Rustem had approached his journey's end,\n  T\u00fas, G\u00fadarz, Gushw\u00e1d, met their champion-friend\n  With customary honours; pleased to bring\n  The shield of Persia to the anxious King.\n  But foaming wrath the senseless monarch swayed;\n  His friendship scorned, his mandate disobeyed,\n  Beneath dark brows o'er-shadowing deep, his eye\n  Red gleaming shone, like lightning through the sky\n  And when the warriors met his sullen view,\n  Frowning revenge, still more enraged he grew:--\n  Loud to the Envoy thus he fiercely cried:--\n  \"Since Rustem has my royal power defied,\n  Had I a sword, this instant should his head\n  Roll on the ground; but let him now be led\n  Hence, and impaled alive.\"[22] Astounded G\u00edw\n  Shrunk from such treatment of a knight so true;\n  But this resistance added to the flame,\n  And both were branded with revolt and shame;\n  Both were condemned, and T\u00fas, the stern decree\n  Received, to break them on the felon-tree.\n  Could daring insult, thus deliberate given,\n  Escape the rage of one to frenzy driven?\n  No, from his side the nerveless Chief was flung,\n  Bent to the ground. Away the Champion sprung;\n  Mounted his foaming horse, and looking round--\n  His boiling wrath thus rapid utterance found:--\n  \"Ungrateful King, thy tyrant acts disgrace\n  The sacred throne, and more, the human race;\n  Midst clashing swords thy recreant life I saved,\n  And am I now by T\u00fas contemptuous braved?[23]\n  On me shall T\u00fas, shall K\u00e1\u00fas dare to frown?\n  On me, the bulwark of the regal crown?\n  Wherefore should fear in Rustem's breast have birth,\n  K\u00e1\u00fas, to me, a worthless clod of earth!\n  Go, and thyself Sohr\u00e1b's invasion stay,\n  Go, seize the plunderers growling o'er their prey!\n  Wherefore to others give the base command?\n  Go, break him on the tree with thine own hand.\n  Know, thou hast roused a warrior, great and free,\n  Who never bends to tyrant Kings like thee!\n  Was not this untired arm triumphant seen,\n  In Misser, R\u00fam, M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n, and Ch\u00edn!\n  And must I shrink at thy imperious nod!\n  Slave to no Prince, I only bow to God.\n  Whatever wrath from thee, proud King! may fall,\n  For thee I fought, and I deserve it all.\n  The regal sceptre might have graced my hand,\n  I kept the laws, and scorned supreme command.\n  When Kai-kob\u00e1d and Alberz mountain strayed,\n  I drew him thence, and gave a warrior's aid;\n  Placed on his brows the long-contested crown,\n  Worn by his sires, by sacred right his own;\n  Strong in the cause, my conquering arms prevailed,\n  Wouldst thou have reign'd had Rustem's valour failed\n  When the White Demon raged in battle-fray,\n  Wouldst thou have lived had Rustem lost the day?\"\n  Then to his friends: \"Be wise, and shun your fate,\n  Fly the wide ruin which o'erwhelms the state;\n  The conqueror comes--the scourge of great and small,\n  And vultures, following fast, will gorge on all.\n  Persia no more its injured Chief shall view\"--\n  He said, and sternly from the court withdrew.\n\n  The warriors now, with sad forebodings wrung,\n  Torn from that hope to which they proudly clung,\n  On G\u00fadarz rest, to soothe with gentle sway,\n  The frantic King, and Rustem's wrath allay.\n  With bitter grief they wail misfortune's shock,\n  No shepherd now to guard the timorous flock.\n  G\u00fadarz at length, with boding cares imprest,\n  Thus soothed the anger in the royal breast.\n  \"Say, what has Rustem done, that he should be\n  Impaled upon the ignominious tree?\n  Degrading thought, unworthy to be bred\n  Within a royal heart, a royal head.\n  Hast thou forgot when near the Caspian-wave,\n  Defeat and ruin had appalled the brave,\n  When mighty Rustem struck the dreadful blow,\n  And nobly freed thee from the savage foe?\n  Did Demons huge escape his flaming brand?\n  Their reeking limbs bestrew'd the slippery strand.\n  Shall he for this resign his vital breath?\n  What! shall the hero's recompense be death?\n  But who will dare a threatening step advance,\n  What earthly power can bear his withering glance?\n  Should he to Z\u00e1bul fired with wrongs return,\n  The plunder'd land will long in sorrow mourn!\n  This direful presage all our warriors feel,\n  For who can now oppose the invader's steel;\n  Thus is it wise thy champion to offend,\n  To urge to this extreme thy warrior-friend?\n  Remember, passion ever scorns control,\n  And wisdom's mild decrees should rule a Monarch's soul.\"[24]\n  K\u00e1\u00fas, relenting, heard with anxious ear,\n  And groundless wrath gave place to shame and fear;\n  \"Go then,\" he cried, \"his generous aid implore,\n  And to your King the mighty Chief restore!\"\n\n  When G\u00fadarz rose, and seized his courser's rein,\n  A crowd of heroes followed in his train.\n  To Rustem, now (respectful homage paid),\n  The royal prayer he anxious thus conveyed.\n  \"The King, repentant, seeks thy aid again,\n  Grieved to the heart that he has given thee pain;\n  But though his anger was unjust and strong,\n  Thy country still is guiltless of the wrong,\n  And, therefore, why abandoned thus by thee?\n  Thy help the King himself implores through me.\"\n  Rustem rejoined: \"Unworthy the pretence,\n  And scorn and insult all my recompense?\n  Must I be galled by his capricious mood?\n  I, who have still his firmest champion stood?\n  But all is past, to heaven alone resigned,\n  No human cares shall more disturb my mind!\"\n  Then G\u00fadarz thus (consummate art inspired\n  His prudent tongue, with all that zeal required);\n  \"When Rustem dreads Sohr\u00e1b's resistless power,\n  Well may inferiors fly the trying hour!\n  The dire suspicion now pervades us all,\n  Thus, unavenged, shall beauteous Persia fall!\n  Yet, generous still, avert the lasting shame,\n  O, still preserve thy country's glorious fame!\n  Or wilt thou, deaf to all our fears excite,\n  Forsake thy friends, and shun the pending fight?\n  And worse, O grief! in thy declining days,\n  Forfeit the honours of thy country's praise?\"\n  This artful censure set his soul on fire,\n  But patriot firmness calm'd his burning ire;\n  And thus he said--\"Inured to war's alarms,\n  Did ever Rustem shun the din of arms?\n  Though frowns from K\u00e1\u00fas I disdain to bear,\n  My threatened country claims a warrior's care.\"\n  He ceased, and prudent joined the circling throng,\n  And in the public good forgot the private wrong.\n\n  From far the King the generous Champion viewed,\n  And rising, mildly thus his speech pursued:--\n  \"Since various tempers govern all mankind,\n  Me, nature fashioned of a froward mind;[25]\n  And what the heavens spontaneously bestow,\n  Sown by their bounty must for ever grow.\n  The fit of wrath which burst within me, soon\n  Shrunk up my heart as thin as the new moon;[26]\n  Else had I deemed thee still my army's boast,\n  Source of my regal power, beloved the most,\n  Unequalled. Every day, remembering thee,\n  I drain the wine cup, thou art all to me;\n  I wished thee to perform that lofty part,\n  Claimed by thy valour, sanctioned by my heart;\n  Hence thy delay my better thoughts supprest,\n  And boisterous passions revelled in my breast;\n  But when I saw thee from my Court retire\n  In wrath, repentance quenched my burning ire.\n  O, let me now my keen contrition prove,\n  Again enjoy thy fellowship and love:\n  And while to thee my gratitude is known,\n  Still be the pride and glory of my throne.\"\n\n  Rustem, thus answering said:--\"Thou art the King,\n  Source of command, pure honour's sacred spring;\n  And here I stand to follow thy behest,\n  Obedient ever--be thy will expressed,\n  And services required--Old age shall see\n  My loins still bound in fealty to thee.\"\n\n  To this the King:--\"Rejoice we then to-day,\n  And on the morrow marshal our array.\"\n  The monarch quick commands the feast of joy,\n  And social cares his buoyant mind employ,\n  Within a bower, beside a crystal spring,[27]\n  Where opening flowers, refreshing odours fling,\n  Cheerful he sits, and forms the banquet scene,\n  In regal splendour on the crowded green;\n  And as around he greets his valiant bands,\n  Showers golden presents from his bounteous hands;[28]\n  Voluptuous damsels trill the sportive lay,\n  Whose sparkling glances beam celestial day;\n  Fill'd with delight the heroes closer join,\n  And quaff till midnight cups of generous wine.\n\n  Soon as the Sun had pierced the veil of night,\n  And o'er the prospect shed his earliest light,\n  K\u00e1\u00fas, impatient, bids the clarions sound,\n  The sprightly notes from hills and rocks rebound;\n  His treasure gates are opened:--and to all\n  A largess given; obedient to the call,\n  His subjects gathering crowd the mountain's brow,\n  And following thousands shade the vales below;\n  With shields, in armor, numerous legions bend;\n  And troops of horse the threatening lines extend.\n  Beneath the tread of heroes fierce and strong,\n  By war's tumultuous fury borne along,\n  The firm earth shook: the dust, in eddies driven,\n  Whirled high in air, obscured the face of heaven;\n  Nor earth, nor sky appeared--all, seeming lost,\n  And swallowed up by that wide-spreading host.\n  The steely armour glitter'd o'er the fields,[29]\n  And lightnings flash'd from gold emblazoned shields;\n  Thou wouldst have said, the clouds had burst in showers,\n  Of sparkling amber o'er the martial powers.[30]\n  Thus, close embodied, they pursued their way,\n  And reached the Barrier-fort in terrible array.\n\n  The legions of T\u00far\u00e1n, with dread surprise,\n  Saw o'er the plain successive myriads rise;\n  And showed them to Sohr\u00e1b; he, mounting high\n  The fort, surveyed them with a fearless eye;\n  To H\u00fam\u00e1n, who, with withering terror pale,\n  Had marked their progress through the distant vale,\n  He pointed out the sight, and ardent said:--\n  \"Dispel these woe-fraught broodings from thy head,\n  I wage the war, Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b! for thee,\n  And make this desert seem a rolling sea.\"\n  Thus, while amazement every bosom quell'd,\n  Sohr\u00e1b, unmoved, the coming storm beheld,\n  And boldly gazing on the camp around,\n  Raised high the cup with wine nectareous crowned:\n  O'er him no dreams of woe insidious stole,\n  No thought but joy engaged his ardent soul.\n\n  The Persian legions had restrained their course,\n  Tents and pavilions, countless foot and horse,\n  Clothed all the spacious plain, and gleaming threw\n  Terrific splendours on the gazer's view.\n  But when the Sun had faded in the west,\n  And night assumed her ebon-coloured vest,\n  The mighty Chief approached the sacred throne,\n  And generous thus made danger all his own:\n  \"The rules of war demand a previous task,\n  To watch this dreadful foe I boldly ask;\n  With wary step the wondrous youth to view,\n  And mark the heroes who his path pursue.\"\n  The King assents: \"The task is justly thine,\n  Favourite of heaven, inspired by power divine.\"\n  In Turkish habit, secretly arrayed,\n  The lurking Champion wandered through the shade\n  And, cautious, standing near the palace gate,\n  Saw how the chiefs were ranged in princely state.\n\n  What time Sohr\u00e1b his thoughts to battle turned,\n  And for the first proud fruits of conquest burned,\n  His mother called a warrior to his aid,\n  And Zinda-ruzm his sister's call obeyed.\n  To him Tahmineh gave her only joy,\n  And bade him shield the bold adventurous boy:\n  \"But, in the dreadful strife, should danger rise,\n  Present my child before his father's eyes!\n  By him protected, war may rage in vain,\n  Though he may never bless these arms again!\"\n  This guardian prince sat on the stripling's right,\n  Viewing the imperial banquet with delight.\n  H\u00fam\u00e1n and B\u00e1rm\u00e1n, near the hero placed,\n  In joyous pomp the full assembly graced;\n  A hundred valiant Chiefs begirt the throne,\n  And, all elate, were chaunting his renown.\n  Closely concealed, the gay and splendid scene,\n  Rustem contemplates with astonished mien;\n  When Zind, retiring, marks the listener nigh,\n  Watching the festal train with curious eye;\n  And well he knew, amongst his Tartar host,\n  Such towering stature not a Chief could boast--\n  \"What spy is here, close shrouded by the night?\n  Art thou afraid to face the beams of light?\"\n  But scarcely from his lips these words had past,\n  Ere, fell'd to earth, he groaning breathed his last;\n  Unseen he perish'd, fate decreed the blow,\n  To add fresh keenness to a parent's woe.\n\n  Meantime Sohr\u00e1b, perceiving the delay\n  In Zind's return, looked round him with dismay;\n  The seat still vacant--but the bitter truth,\n  Full soon was known to the distracted youth;\n  Full soon he found that Zinda-ruzm was gone,\n  His day of feasting and of glory done;\n  Speedful towards the fatal spot he ran,\n  Where slept in bloody vest the slaughtered man.\n\n  The lighted torches now displayed the dead,\n  Stiff on the ground his graceful limbs were spread;\n  Sad sight to him who knew his guardian care,\n  Now doom'd a kinsman's early loss to bear;\n  Anguish and rage devour his breast by turns,\n  He vows revenge, then o'er the warrior mourns:\n  And thus exclaims to each afflicted Chief:--\n  \"No time, to-night, my friends, for useless grief;\n  The ravenous wolf has watched his helpless prey,\n  Sprung o'er the fold, and borne its flower away;\n  But if the heavens my lifted arm befriend,\n  Upon the guilty shall my wrath descend--\n  Unsheathed, this sword shall dire revenge pursue,\n  And Persian blood the thirsty land bedew.\"\n  Frowning he paused, and check'd the spreading woe,\n  Resumed the feast, and bid the wine-cup flow!\n\n  The valiant G\u00edw was sentinel that night,\n  And marking dimly by the dubious light,\n  A warrior form approach, he claps his hands,\n  With naked sword and lifted shield he stands,\n  To front the foe; but Rustem now appears,\n  And G\u00edw the secret tale astonished hears;\n  From thence the Champion on the Monarch waits.\n  The power and splendour of Sohr\u00e1b relates:\n  \"Circled by Chiefs this glorious youth was seen,\n  Of lofty stature and majestic mien;\n  No Tartar region gave the hero birth:\n  Some happier portion of the spacious earth;\n  Tall, as the graceful cypress he appears;\n  Like S\u00e1m, the brave, his warrior-front he rears!\"\n  Then having told how, while the banquet shone,\n  Unhappy Zind had sunk, without a groan;\n  He forms his conquering bands in close array,\n  And, cheer'd by wine, awaits the coming day.\n\n  When now the Sun his golden buckler raised,\n  And genial light through heaven diffusive blazed,\n  Sohr\u00e1b in mail his nervous limbs attired,\n  For dreadful wrath his soul to vengeance fired;\n  With anxious haste he bent the yielding cord,\n  Ring within ring, more fateful than the sword;\n  Around his brows a regal helm he bound;\n  His dappled steed impatient stampt the ground.\n  Thus armed, ascending where the eye could trace\n  The hostile force, and mark each leader's place,\n  He called Huj\u00edr, the captive Chief addressed,\n  And anxious thus, his soul's desire expressed:\n  \"A prisoner thou, if freedom's voice can charm,\n  And dungeon darkness fill thee with alarm,\n  That freedom merit, shun severest woe,\n  And truly answer what I ask to know!\n  If rigid truth thy ready speech attend,\n  Honours and wealth shall dignify my friend.\"\n\n  \"Obedient to thy wish,\" Huj\u00edr replied,\n  \"Truth thou shalt hear, whatever chance betide;\n  For what on earth to praise has better claim?\n  Falsehood but leads to sorrow and to shame!\"\n\n  \"Then say, what heroes lead the adverse host,\n  Where they command, what dignities they boast;\n  Say, where does K\u00e1\u00fas hold his kingly state,\n  Where T\u00fas, and G\u00fadarz, on his bidding wait;\n  G\u00edw, Gust'hem, and B\u00e1hr\u00e1m--all known to thee,\n  And where is mighty Rustem, where is he?\n  Look round with care, their names and power display\n  Or instant death shall end thy vital day.\"\n\n  \"Where yonder splendid tapestries extend,\n  And o'er pavilions bright infolding bend,\n  A throne triumphal shines with sapphire rays,\n  And golden suns upon the banners blaze;\n  Full in the centre of the hosts--and round\n  The tent a hundred elephants are bound,\n  As if, in pomp, he mocked the power of fate;\n  There royal K\u00e1\u00fas holds his kingly state.\n\n  \"In yonder tent which numerous guards protect,\n  Where front and rear illustrious Chiefs collect;\n  Where horsemen wheeling seem prepared for fight,\n  Their golden armour glittering in the light;\n  T\u00fas lifts his banners, deck'd with royal pride,\n  Feared by the brave, the soldier's friend and guide.[31]\n\n  \"That crimson tent where spear-men frowning stand,\n  And steel-clad veterans form a threatening band,\n  Holds mighty G\u00fadarz, famed for martial fire,\n  Of eighty valiant sons the valiant sire;\n  Yet strong in arms, he shuns inglorious ease,\n  His lion-banners floating in the breeze.\n\n  \"But mark, that green pavilion; girt around\n  By Persian nobles, speaks the Chief renowned;\n  Fierce on the standard, worked with curious art,\n  A hideous dragon writhing seems to start;\n  Throned in his tent the warrior's form is seen,\n  Towering above the assembled host between!\n  A generous horse before him snorts and neighs,\n  The trembling earth the echoing sound conveys.\n  Like him no Champion ever met my eyes,\n  No horse like that for majesty and size;\n  What Chief illustrious bears a port so high?\n  Mark, how his standard flickers through the sky!\"\n\n  Thus ardent spoke Sohr\u00e1b. Huj\u00edr dismayed,\n  Paused ere reply the dangerous truth betrayed.\n  Trembling for Rustem's life the captive groaned;\n  Basely his country's glorious boast disowned,\n  And said the Chief from distant China came--\n  Sohr\u00e1b abrupt demands the hero's name;\n  The name unknown, grief wrings his aching heart,\n  And yearning anguish speeds her venom'd dart;\n  To him his mother gave the tokens true,\n  He sees them all, and all but mock his view.\n  When gloomy fate descends in evil hour,\n  Can human wisdom bribe her favouring power?\n  Yet, gathering hope, again with restless mien\n  He marks the Chiefs who crowd the warlike scene.\n\n  \"Where numerous heroes, horse and foot, appear,\n  And brazen trumpets thrill the listening ear,\n  Behold the proud pavilion of the brave!\n  With wolves emboss'd the silken banners wave.\n  The throne's bright gems with radiant lustre glow,\n  Slaves rank'd around with duteous homage bow.\n  What mighty Chieftain rules his cohorts there?\n  His name and lineage, free from guile, declare!\"\n\n  \"G\u00edw, son of G\u00fadarz, long a glorious name,\n  Whose prowess even transcends his father's fame.\"[32]\n\n  \"Mark yonder tent of pure and dazzling white,\n  Whose rich brocade reflects a quivering light;\n  An ebon seat surmounts the ivory throne;\n  There frowns in state a warrior of renown.\n  The crowding slaves his awful nod obey,\n  And silver moons around his banners play;\n  What Chief, or Prince, has grasped the hostile sword?\n  Fr\u00edburz, the son of Persia's mighty lord.\"\n  Again: \"These standards show one champion more,\n  Upon their centre flames the savage boar;[33]\n  The saffron-hued pavilion bright ascends,\n  Whence many a fold of tasselled fringe depends;\n  Who there presides?\"\n\n                       \"Gur\u00e1z, from heroes sprung,\n  Whose praise exceeds the power of mortal tongue.\"\n\n  Thus, anxious, he explored the crowded field,\n  Nor once the secret of his birth revealed;[34]\n  Heaven will'd it so. Pressed down by silent grief,\n  Surrounding objects promised no relief.\n  This world to mortals still denies repose,\n  And life is still the scene of many woes.\n  Again his eye, instinctive turned, descried\n  The green pavilion, and the warrior's pride.\n  Again he cries: \"O tell his glorious name;\n  Yon gallant horse declares the hero's fame!\"\n  But false Huj\u00edr the aspiring hope repelled,\n  Crushed the fond wish, the soothing balm withheld,\n  \"And why should I conceal his name from thee?\n  His name and title are unknown to me.\"\n\n  Then thus Sohr\u00e1b--\"In all that thou hast said,\n  No sign of Rustem have thy words conveyed;\n  Thou sayest he leads the Persian host to arms,\n  With him has battle lost its boisterous charms?\n  Of him no trace thy guiding hand has shown;\n  Can power supreme remain unmark'd, unknown?\"\n\n  \"Perhaps returned to Z\u00e1bul's verdant bowers,\n  He undisturbed enjoys his peaceful hours,\n  The vernal banquets may constrain his stay,\n  And rural sports invite prolonged delay.\"\n\n  \"Ah! say not thus; the Champion of the world,\n  Shrink from the kindling war with banners furled!\n  It cannot be! Say where his lightnings dart,\n  Show me the warrior, all thou know'st impart;\n  Treasures uncounted shall be thy reward,\n  Death changed to life, my friendship more than shared.\n  Dost thou not know what, in the royal ear,\n  The M\u00fabid said--befitting Kings to hear?\n  'Untold, a secret is a jewel bright,\n  Yet profitless whilst hidden from the light;\n  But when revealed, in words distinctly given,\n  It shines refulgent as the sun through heaven.'\"[35]\n\n  To him, Huj\u00edr evasive thus replies:\n  \"Through all the extended earth his glory flies!\n  Whenever dangers round the nation close,\n  Rustem approaches, and repels its foes;\n  And shouldst thou see him mix in mortal strife,\n  Thou'dst think 'twere easier to escape with life\n  From tiger fell, or demon--or the fold\n  Of the chafed dragon, than his dreadful hold--\n  When fiercest battle clothes the fields with fire,\n  Before his rage embodied hosts retire!\"\n\n  \"And where didst thou encountering armies see?\n  Why Rustem's praise so proudly urge to me?\n  Let us but meet and thou shalt trembling know,\n  How fierce that wrath which bids my bosom glow:\n  If living flames express his boundless ire,\n  O'erwhelming waters quench consuming fire!\n  And deepest darkness, glooms of ten-fold night,\n  Fly from the piercing beams of radiant light.\"\n\n  Huj\u00edr shrunk back with undissembled dread,\n  And thus communing with himself, he said--\n  \"Shall I, regardless of my country, guide\n  To Rustem's tent this furious homicide?\n  And witness there destruction to our host?\n  The bulwark of the land for ever lost!\n  What Chief can then the Tartar power restrain!\n  K\u00e1\u00fas dethroned, the mighty Rustem slain!\n  Better a thousand deaths should lay me low,\n  Than, living, yield such triumph to the foe.\n  For in this struggle should my blood be shed,\n  No foul dishonour can pursue me, dead;\n  No lasting shame my father's age oppress,\n  Whom eighty sons of martial courage bless![36]\n  They for their brother slain, incensed will rise,\n  And pour their vengeance on my enemies.\"\n  Then thus aloud--\"Can idle words avail?\n  Why still of Rustem urge the frequent tale?\n  Why for the elephant-bodied hero ask?\n  Thee, he will find--no uncongenial task.\n  Why seek pretences to destroy my life?\n  Strike, for no Rustem views th' unequal strife!\"\n\n  Sohr\u00e1b confused, with hopeless anguish mourned,\n  Back from the lofty walls he quick returned,\n  And stood amazed.\n\n                    Now war and vengeance claim,\n  Collected thought and deeds of mighty name;\n  The jointed mail his vigorous body clasps,\n  His sinewy hand the shining javelin grasps;\n  Like a mad elephant he meets the foe,\n  His steed a moving mountain--deeply glow\n  His cheeks with passionate ardour, as he flies\n  Resistless onwards, and with sparkling eyes,\n  Full on the centre drives his daring horse--[37]\n  The yielding Persians fly his furious course;\n  As the wild ass impetuous springs away,\n  When the fierce lion thunders on his prey.\n  By every sign of strength and martial power,\n  They think him Rustem in his direst hour;\n  On K\u00e1\u00fas now his proud defiance falls,\n  Scornful to him the stripling warrior calls:\n  \"And why art thou misnamed of royal strain?\n  What work of thine befits the tented plain?\n  This thirsty javelin seeks thy coward breast;\n  Thou and thy thousands doomed to endless rest.\n  True to my oath, which time can never change,\n  On thee, proud King! I hurl my just revenge.\n  The blood of Zind inspires my burning hate,\n  And dire resentment hurries on thy fate;\n  Whom canst thou send to try the desperate strife?\n  What valiant Chief, regardless of his life?\n  Where now can Fr\u00edburz, T\u00fas, G\u00edw, G\u00fadarz, be,\n  And the world-conquering Rustem, where is he?\"\n\n  No prompt reply from Persian lip ensued--\n  Then rushing on, with demon-strength endued,\n  Sohr\u00e1b elate his javelin waved around,\n  And hurled the bright pavilion to the ground;\n  With horror K\u00e1\u00fas feels destruction nigh,\n  And cries: \"For Rustem's needful succour fly!\n    This frantic Turk, triumphant on the plain,\n    Withers the souls of all my warrior train.\"\n  That instant T\u00fas the mighty Champion sought,\n  And told the deeds the Tartar Chief had wrought;\n  \"'Tis ever thus, the brainless Monarch's due!\n  Shame and disaster still his steps pursue!\"\n  This saying, from his tent he soon descried,\n  The wild confusion spreading far and wide;\n  And saddled Rakush--whilst, in deep dismay,\n  Girg\u00edn incessant cried--\"Speed, speed, away.\"\n  Reh\u00e1m bound on the mace, T\u00fas promptly ran,\n  And buckled on the broad Burgustuw\u00e1n.\n  Rustem, meanwhile, the thickening tumult hears\n  And in his heart, untouched by human fears,\n  Says: \"What is this, that feeling seems to stun!\n  This battle must be led by Ahirmun,[38]\n  The awful day of doom must have begun.\"\n  In haste he arms, and mounts his bounding steed,\n  The growing rage demands redoubled speed;\n  The leopard's skin he o'er his shoulders throws,\n  The regal girdle round his middle glows.[39]\n  High wave his glorious banners; broad revealed,\n  The pictured dragons glare along the field\n  Borne by Z\u00fa\u00e1ra. When, surprised, he views\n  Sohr\u00e1b, endued with ample breast and thews,\n  Like S\u00e1m Suw\u00e1r, he beckons him apart;\n  The youth advances with a gallant heart,\n  Willing to prove his adversary's might,\n  By single combat to decide the fight;\n  And eagerly, \"Together brought,\" he cries,\n  \"Remote from us be foemen, and allies,\n  And though at once by either host surveyed,\n  Ours be the strife which asks no mortal aid.\"\n\n  Rustem, considerate, view'd him o'er and o'er,\n  So wondrous graceful was the form he bore,\n  And frankly said: \"Experience flows with age,\n  And many a foe has felt my conquering rage;\n  Much have I seen, superior strength and art\n  Have borne my spear thro' many a demon's heart;\n  Only behold me on the battle plain,\n  Wait till thou see'st this hand the war sustain,\n  And if on thee should changeful fortune smile,\n  Thou needst not fear the monster of the Nile![40]\n  But soft compassion melts my soul to save,\n  A youth so blooming with a mind so brave!\"\n\n  The generous speech Sohr\u00e1b attentive heard,\n  His heart expanding glowed at every word:\n  \"One question answer, and in answering show,\n  That truth should ever from a warrior flow;\n  Art thou not Rustem, whose exploits sublime,\n  Endear his name thro' every distant clime?\"\n\n  \"I boast no station of exalted birth,\n  No proud pretensions to distinguished worth;\n  To him inferior, no such powers are mine,\n  No offspring I of N\u00edrum's glorious line!\"[41]\n\n  The prompt denial dampt his filial joy,\n  All hope at once forsook the Warrior-boy,\n  His opening day of pleasure, and the bloom\n  Of cherished life, immersed in shadowy gloom.\n  Perplexed with what his mother's words implied;--\n  A narrow space is now prepared, aside,\n  For single combat. With disdainful glance\n  Each boldly shakes his death-devoting lance,\n  And rushes forward to the dubious fight;\n  Thoughts high and brave their burning souls excite;\n  Now sword to sword; continuous strokes resound,\n  Till glittering fragments strew the dusty ground.\n  Each grasps his massive club with added force,[42]\n  The folding mail is rent from either horse;\n  It seemed as if the fearful day of doom\n  Had, clothed in all its withering terrors, come.\n  Their shattered corslets yield defence no more--\n  At length they breathe, defiled with dust and gore;\n  Their gasping throats with parching thirst are dry,\n  Gloomy and fierce they roll the lowering eye,\n  And frown defiance. Son and Father driven\n  To mortal strife! are these the ways of Heaven?\n  The various swarms which boundless ocean breeds,\n  The countless tribes which crop the flowery meads,\n  All know their kind, but hapless man alone\n  Has no instinctive feeling for his own!\n  Compell'd to pause, by every eye surveyed,\n  Rustem, with shame, his wearied strength betrayed;\n  Foil'd by a youth in battle's mid career,\n  His groaning spirit almost sunk with fear;\n  Recovering strength, again they fiercely meet;\n  Again they struggle with redoubled heat;\n  With bended bows they furious now contend;\n  And feather'd shafts in rattling showers descend;\n  Thick as autumnal leaves they strew the plain,\n  Harmless their points, and all their fury vain.\n  And now they seize each other's girdle-band;\n  Rustem, who, if he moved his iron hand,\n  Could shake a mountain, and to whom a rock\n  Seemed soft as wax, tried, with one mighty stroke,\n  To hurl him thundering from his fiery steed,\n  But Fate forbids the gallant youth should bleed;\n  Finding his wonted nerves relaxed, amazed\n  That hand he drops which never had been raised\n  Uncrowned with victory, even when demons fought,\n  And pauses, wildered with despairing thought.\n  Sohr\u00e1b again springs with terrific grace,\n  And lifts, from saddle-bow, his ponderous mace;\n  With gather'd strength the quick-descending blow\n  Wounds in its fall, and stuns the unwary foe;\n  Then thus contemptuous: \"All thy power is gone;\n  Thy charger's strength exhausted as thy own;\n  Thy bleeding wounds with pity I behold;\n  O seek no more the combat of the bold!\"\n\n  Rustem to this reproach made no reply,\n  But stood confused--meanwhile, tumultuously\n  The legions closed; with soul-appalling force,\n  Troop rushed on troop, o'erwhelming man and horse;\n  Sohr\u00e1b, incensed, the Persian host engaged,\n  Furious along the scattered lines he raged;\n  Fierce as a wolf he rode on every side,\n  The thirsty earth with streaming gore was dyed.\n  Midst the T\u00far\u00e1nians, then, the Champion sped,\n  And like a tiger heaped the fields with dead.\n  But when the Monarch's danger struck his thought,\n  Returning swift, the stripling youth he sought;\n  Grieved to the soul, the mighty Champion view'd\n  His hands and mail with Persian blood imbrued;\n  And thus exclaimed with lion-voice--\"O say,\n  Why with the Persians dost thou war to-day?\n  Why not with me alone decide the fight,\n  Thou'rt like a wolf that seek'st the fold by night.\"\n\n  To this Sohr\u00e1b his proud assent expressed--\n  And Rustem, answering, thus the youth addressed.\n  \"Night-shadows now are thickening o'er the plain,\n  The morrow's sun must see our strife again;\n  In wrestling let us then exert our might!\"\n  He said, and eve's last glimmer sunk in night\n\n  Thus as the skies a deeper gloom displayed,\n  The stripling's life was hastening into shade!\n\n  The gallant heroes to their tents retired,\n  The sweets of rest their wearied limbs required:\n  Sohr\u00e1b, delighted with his brave career,\n  Describes the fight in H\u00fam\u00e1n's anxious ear:\n  Tells how he forced unnumbered Chiefs to yield,\n  And stood himself the victor of the field!\n  \"But let the morrow's dawn,\" he cried, \"arrive,\n  And not one Persian shall the day survive;\n  Meanwhile let wine its strengthening balm impart,\n  And add new zeal to every drooping heart.\"\n  The valiant G\u00edw with Rustem pondering stood,\n  And, sad, recalled the scene of death and blood;\n  Grief and amazement heaved the frequent sigh,\n  And almost froze the crimson current dry.\n  Rustem, oppressed by G\u00edw's desponding thought,\n  Amidst his Chiefs the mournful Monarch sought;\n  To him he told Sohr\u00e1b's tremendous sway,\n  The dire misfortunes of this luckless day;\n  Told with what grasping force he tried, in vain,\n  To hurl the wondrous stripling to the plain:\n  \"The whispering zephyr might as well aspire\n  To shake a mountain--such his strength and fire.\n  But night came on--and, by agreement, we\n  Must meet again to-morrow--who shall be\n  Victorious, Heaven knows only:--for by Heaven,\n  Victory or death to man is ever given.\"\n  This said, the King, o'erwhelmed in deep despair,\n  Passed the dread night in agony and prayer.\n\n  The Champion, silent, joined his bands at rest,\n  And spurned at length despondence from his breast;\n  Removed from all, he cheered Z\u00fa\u00e1ra's heart,\n  And nerved his soul to bear a trying part:--\n  \"Ere early morning gilds the ethereal plain,\n  In martial order range my warrior-train;\n  And when I meet in all his glorious pride,\n  This valiant Turk whom late my rage defied,\n  Should fortune's smiles my arduous task requite,\n  Bring them to share the triumph of my might;\n  But should success the stripling's arm attend,\n  And dire defeat and death my glories end,\n  To their loved homes my brave associates guide;\n  Let bowery Z\u00e1bul all their sorrows hide--\n  Comfort my venerable father's heart;\n  In gentlest words my heavy fate impart.\n  The dreadful tidings to my mother bear,\n  And soothe her anguish with the tenderest care;\n  Say, that the will of righteous Heaven decreed,\n  That thus in arms her mighty son should bleed.\n  Enough of fame my various toils acquired,\n  When warring demons, bathed in blood, expired.\n  Were life prolonged a thousand lingering years,\n  Death comes at last and ends our mortal fears;\n  Kirsh\u00e1sp, and S\u00e1m, and Nar\u00edm\u00e1n, the best\n  And bravest heroes, who have ever blest\n  This fleeting world, were not endued with power,\n  To stay the march of fate one single hour;\n  The world for them possessed no fixed abode,\n  The path to death's cold regions must be trod;\n  Then, why lament the doom ordained for all?\n  Thus Jemsh\u00edd fell, and thus must Rustem fall.\"\n\n  When the bright dawn proclaimed the rising day,\n  The warriors armed, impatient of delay;\n  But first Sohr\u00e1b, his proud confederate nigh,\n  Thus wistful spoke, as swelled the boding sigh--\n  \"Now, mark my great antagonist in arms!\n  His noble form my filial bosom warms;\n  My mother's tokens shine conspicuous here,\n  And all the proofs my heart demands, appear;\n  Sure this is Rustem, whom my eyes engage!\n  Shall I, O grief! provoke my Father's rage?\n  Offended Nature then would curse my name,\n  And shuddering nations echo with my shame.\"\n  He ceased, then H\u00fam\u00e1n: \"Vain, fantastic thought,\n  Oft have I been where Persia's Champion fought;\n  And thou hast heard, what wonders he performed,\n  When, in his prime, M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n was stormed;\n  That horse resembles Rustem's, it is true,\n  But not so strong, nor beautiful to view.\"\n\n  Sohr\u00e1b now buckles on his war attire,\n  His heart all softness, and his brain all fire;\n  Around his lips such smiles benignant played,\n  He seemed to greet a friend, as thus he said:--\n  \"Here let us sit together on the plain,\n  Here, social sit, and from the fight refrain;\n  Ask we from heaven forgiveness of the past,\n  And bind our souls in friendship that may last;\n  Ours be the feast--let us be warm and free,\n  For powerful instinct draws me still to thee;\n  Fain would my heart in bland affection join,\n  Then let thy generous ardour equal mine;\n  And kindly say, with whom I now contend--\n  What name distinguished boasts my warrior-friend!\n  Thy name unfit for champion brave to hide,\n  Thy name so long, long sought, and still denied;\n  Say, art thou Rustem, whom I burn to know?\n  Ingenuous say, and cease to be my foe!\"\n\n  Sternly the mighty Champion cried, \"Away--\n  Hence with thy wiles--now practised to delay;\n  The promised struggle, resolute, I claim,\n  Then cease to move me to an act of shame.\"\n  Sohr\u00e1b rejoined--\"Old man! thou wilt not hear\n  The words of prudence uttered in thine ear;\n  Then, Heaven! look on.\"\n\n                           Preparing for the shock,\n  Each binds his charger to a neighbouring rock;\n  And girds his loins, and rubs his wrists, and tries\n  Their suppleness and force, with angry eyes;\n  And now they meet--now rise, and now descend,\n  And strong and fierce their sinewy arms extend;\n  Wrestling with all their strength they grasp and strain,\n  And blood and sweat flow copious on the plain;\n  Like raging elephants they furious close;\n  Commutual wounds are given, and wrenching blows.\n  Sohr\u00e1b now clasps his hands, and forward springs\n  Impatiently, and round the Champion clings;\n  Seizes his girdle belt, with power to tear\n  The very earth asunder; in despair\n  Rustem, defeated, feels his nerves give way,\n  And thundering falls. Sohr\u00e1b bestrides his prey:\n  Grim as the lion, prowling through the wood,\n  Upon a wild ass springs, and pants for blood.\n  His lifted sword had lopt the gory head,\n  But Rustem, quick, with crafty ardour said:--\n  \"One moment, hold! what, are our laws unknown?\n  A Chief may fight till he is twice o'erthrown;\n  The second fall, his recreant blood is spilt,\n  These are our laws, avoid the menaced guilt.\"\n\n  Proud of his strength, and easily deceived,\n  The wondering youth the artful tale believed;\n  Released his prey, and, wild as wind or wave,\n  Neglecting all the prudence of the brave,\n  Turned from the place, nor once the strife renewed,\n  But bounded o'er the plain and other cares pursued,\n  As if all memory of the war had died,\n  All thoughts of him with whom his strength was tried.\n\n  H\u00fam\u00e1n, confounded at the stripling's stay,\n  Went forth, and heard the fortune of the day;\n  Amazed to find the mighty Rustem freed,\n  With deepest grief he wailed the luckless deed.\n  \"What! loose a raging lion from the snare,\n  And let him growling hasten to his lair?\n  Bethink thee well; in war, from this unwise,\n  This thoughtless act what countless woes may rise;\n  Never again suspend the final blow,\n  Nor trust the seeming weakness of a foe!\"[43]\n  \"Hence with complaint,\" the dauntless youth replied,\n  \"To-morrow's contest shall his fate decide.\"\n\n  When Rustem was released, in altered mood\n  He sought the coolness of the murmuring flood;\n  There quenched his thirst; and bathed his limbs, and prayed,\n  Beseeching Heaven to yield its strengthening aid.\n  His pious prayer indulgent Heaven approved,\n  And growing strength through all his sinews moved;[44]\n  Such as erewhile his towering structure knew,\n  When his bold arm unconquered demons slew.\n  Yet in his mien no confidence appeared,\n  No ardent hope his wounded spirits cheered.\n\n  Again they met. A glow of youthful grace,\n  Diffused its radiance o'er the stripling's face,\n  And when he saw in renovated guise,\n  The foe so lately mastered; with surprise,\n  He cried--\"What! rescued from my power, again\n  Dost thou confront me on the battle plain?\n  Or, dost thou, wearied, draw thy vital breath,\n  And seek, from warrior bold, the shaft of death?\n  Truth has no charms for thee, old man; even now,\n  Some further cheat may lurk upon thy brow;\n  Twice have I shown thee mercy, twice thy age\n  Hath been thy safety--twice it soothed my rage.\"\n  Then mild the Champion: \"Youth is proud and vain!\n  The idle boast a warrior would disdain;\n  This aged arm perhaps may yet control,\n  The wanton fury that inflames thy soul!\"\n\n  Again, dismounting, each the other viewed\n  With sullen glance, and swift the fight renewed;\n  Clenched front to front, again they tug and bend,\n  Twist their broad limbs as every nerve would rend;\n  With rage convulsive Rustem grasps him round;\n  Bends his strong back, and hurls him to the ground;\n  Him, who had deemed the triumph all his own;\n  But dubious of his power to keep him down,\n  Like lightning quick he gives the deadly thrust,\n  And spurns the Stripling weltering in the dust.\n  --Thus as his blood that shining steel imbrues,\n  Thine too shall flow, when Destiny pursues;[45]\n  For when she marks the victim of her power,\n  A thousand daggers speed the dying hour.\n  Writhing with pain Sohr\u00e1b in murmurs sighed--\n  And thus to Rustem--\"Vaunt not, in thy pride;\n  Upon myself this sorrow have I brought,\n  Thou but the instrument of fate--which wrought\n  My downfall; thou are guiltless--guiltless quite;\n  O! had I seen my father in the fight,\n  My glorious father! Life will soon be o'er,\n  And his great deeds enchant my soul no more!\n  Of him my mother gave the mark and sign,\n  For him I sought, and what an end is mine!\n  My only wish on earth, my constant sigh,\n  Him to behold, and with that wish I die.\n  But hope not to elude his piercing sight,\n  In vain for thee the deepest glooms of night;\n  Couldst thou through Ocean's depths for refuge fly,\n  Or midst the star-beams track the upper sky!\n  Rustem, with vengeance armed, will reach thee there,\n  His soul the prey of anguish and despair.\"\n\n  An icy horror chills the Champion's heart,\n  His brain whirls round with agonizing smart;\n  O'er his wan cheek no gushing sorrows flow,\n  Senseless he sinks beneath the weight of woe;\n  Relieved at length, with frenzied look, he cries:\n  \"Prove thou art mine, confirm my doubting eyes!\n  For I am Rustem!\" Piercing was the groan,\n  Which burst from his torn heart--as wild and lone,\n  He gazed upon him. Dire amazement shook\n  The dying youth, and mournful thus he spoke:\n  \"If thou art Rustem, cruel is thy part,\n  No warmth paternal seems to fill thy heart;\n  Else hadst thou known me when, with strong desire,\n  I fondly claimed thee for my valiant sire;\n  Now from my body strip the shining mail,\n  Untie these bands, ere life and feeling fail;\n  And on my arm the direful proof behold!\n  Thy sacred bracelet of refulgent gold!\n  When the loud brazen drums were heard afar,\n  And, echoing round, proclaimed the pending war,\n  Whilst parting tears my mother's eyes o'erflowed,\n  This mystic gift her bursting heart bestowed:\n  'Take this,' she said, 'thy father's token wear,\n  And promised glory will reward thy care.'\n  The hour is come, but fraught with bitterest woe,\n  We meet in blood to wail the fatal blow.\"\n\n  The loosened mail unfolds the bracelet bright,\n  Unhappy gift! to Rustem's wildered sight,\n  Prostrate he falls--\"By my unnatural hand,\n  My son, my son is slain--and from the land\n  Uprooted.\"--Frantic, in the dust his hair\n  He rends in agony and deep despair;\n  The western sun had disappeared in gloom,\n  And still, the Champion wept his cruel doom;\n  His wondering legions marked the long delay,\n  And, seeing Rakush riderless astray,\n  The rumour quick to Persia's Monarch spread,\n  And there described the mighty Rustem dead.\n  K\u00e1\u00fas, alarmed, the fatal tidings hears;\n  His bosom quivers with increasing fears.\n  \"Speed, speed, and see what has befallen to-day\n  To cause these groans and tears--what fatal fray!\n  If he be lost, if breathless on the ground,\n  And this young warrior, with the conquest crowned--\n  Then must I, humbled, from my kingdom torn,\n  Wander like Jemsh\u00edd, through the world forlorn.\"[46]\n\n  The army roused, rushed o'er the dusty plain,\n  Urged by the Monarch to revenge the slain;\n  Wild consternation saddened every face,\n  T\u00fas winged with horror sought the fatal place,\n  And there beheld the agonizing sight--\n  The murderous end of that unnatural fight.\n  Sohr\u00e1b, still breathing, hears the shrill alarms,\n  His gentle speech suspends the clang of arms:\n  \"My light of life now fluttering sinks in shade,\n  Let vengeance sleep, and peaceful vows be made.\n  Beseech the King to spare this Tartar host,\n  For they are guiltless, all to them is lost;\n  I led them on, their souls with glory fired,\n  While mad ambition all my thoughts inspired.\n  In search of thee, the world before my eyes,\n  War was my choice, and thou the sacred prize;\n  With thee, my sire! in virtuous league combined,\n  No tyrant King should persecute mankind.\n  That hope is past--the storm has ceased to rave--\n  My ripening honours wither in the grave;\n  Then let no vengeance on my comrades fall,\n  Mine was the guilt, and mine the sorrow, all;\n  How often have I sought thee--oft my mind\n  Figured thee to my sight--o'erjoyed to find\n  My mother's token; disappointment came,\n  When thou denied thy lineage and thy name;\n  Oh! still o'er thee my soul impassioned hung,\n  Still to my father fond affection clung!\n  But fate, remorseless, all my hopes withstood,\n  And stained thy reeking hands in kindred blood.\"\n\n  His faltering breath protracted speech denied:\n  Still from his eye-lids flowed a gushing tide;\n  Through Rustem's soul redoubled horror ran,\n  Heart-rending thoughts subdued the mighty man,\n  And now, at last, with joy-illumined eye,\n  The Z\u00e1bul bands their glorious Chief descry;\n  But when they saw his pale and haggard look,\n  Knew from what mournful cause he gazed and shook,\n  With downcast mien they moaned and wept aloud;\n  While Rustem thus addressed the weeping crowd\n  \"Here ends the war! let gentle peace succeed,\n  Enough of death, I--I have done the deed!\"\n  Then to his brother, groaning deep, he said--\n  \"O what a curse upon a parent's head!\n  But go--and to the Tartar say--no more,\n  Let war between us steep the earth with gore.\"\n  Z\u00fa\u00e1ra flew and wildly spoke his grief,\n  To crafty H\u00fam\u00e1n, the T\u00far\u00e1nian Chief,\n  Who, with dissembled sorrow, heard him tell\n  The dismal tidings which he knew too well;\n  \"And who,\" he said, \"has caused these tears to flow?\n  Who, but Huj\u00edr? He might have stayed the blow,\n  But when Sohr\u00e1b his Father's banners sought;\n  He still denied that here the Champion fought;\n  He spread the ruin, he the secret knew,\n  Hence should his crime receive the vengeance due!\"\n  Z\u00fa\u00e1ra, frantic, breathed in Rustem's ear,\n  The treachery of the captive Chief, Huj\u00edr;\n  Whose headless trunk had weltered on the strand,\n  But prayers and force withheld the lifted hand.\n  Then to his dying son the Champion turned,\n  Remorse more deep within his bosom burned;\n  A burst of frenzy fired his throbbing brain;\n  He clenched his sword, but found his fury vain;\n  The Persian Chiefs the desperate act represt,\n  And tried to calm the tumult in his breast:\n  Thus G\u00fadarz spoke--\"Alas! wert thou to give\n  Thyself a thousand wounds, and cease to live;\n  What would it be to him thou sorrowest o'er?\n  It would not save one pang--then weep no more;\n  For if removed by death, O say, to whom\n  Has ever been vouchsafed a different doom?\n  All are the prey of death--the crowned, the low,\n  And man, through life, the victim still of woe.\"\n  Then Rustem: \"Fly! and to the King relate,\n  The pressing horrors which involve my fate;\n  And if the memory of my deeds e'er swayed\n  His mind, O supplicate his generous aid;\n  A sovereign balm he has whose wondrous power,\n  All wounds can heal, and fleeting life restore;[47]\n  Swift from his tent the potent medicine bring.\"\n  --But mark the malice of the brainless King!\n  Hard as the flinty rock, he stern denies\n  The healthful draught, and gloomy thus replies:\n  \"Can I forgive his foul and slanderous tongue?\n  The sharp disdain on me contemptuous flung?\n  Scorned 'midst my army by a shameless boy,\n  Who sought my throne, my sceptre to destroy!\n  Nothing but mischief from his heart can flow,\n  Is it, then, wise to cherish such a foe?\n  The fool who warms his enemy to life,\n  Only prepares for scenes of future strife.\"\n\n  G\u00fadarz, returning, told the hopeless tale--\n  And thinking Rustem's presence might prevail;\n  The Champion rose, but ere he reached the throne,\n  Sohr\u00e1b had breathed the last expiring groan.\n\n  Now keener anguish rack'd the father's mind,\n  Reft of his son, a murderer of his kind;\n  His guilty sword distained with filial gore,\n  He beat his burning breast, his hair he tore;\n  The breathless corse before his shuddering view,\n  A shower of ashes o'er his head he threw;\n  \"In my old age,\" he cried, \"what have I done?\n  Why have I slain my son, my innocent son!\n  Why o'er his splendid dawning did I roll\n  The clouds of death--and plunge my burthened soul\n  In agony? My son! from heroes sprung;\n  Better these hands were from my body wrung;\n  And solitude and darkness, deep and drear,\n  Fold me from sight than hated linger here.\n  But when his mother hears, with horror wild,\n  That I have shed the life-blood of her child,\n  So nobly brave, so dearly loved, in vain,\n  How can her heart that rending shock sustain?\"\n\n  Now on a bier the Persian warriors place\n  The breathless Youth, and shade his pallid face;\n  And turning from that fatal field away,\n  Move towards the Champion's home in long array.\n  Then Rustem, sick of martial pomp and show,\n  Himself the spring of all this scene of woe,\n  Doomed to the flames the pageantry he loved,\n  Shield, spear, and mace, so oft in battle proved;\n  Now lost to all, encompassed by despair;\n  His bright pavilion crackling blazed in air;\n  The sparkling throne the ascending column fed;\n  In smoking fragments fell the golden bed;\n  The raging fire red glimmering died away,\n  And all the Warrior's pride in dust and ashes lay.\n\n  K\u00e1\u00fas, the King, now joins the mournful Chief,\n  And tries to soothe his deep and settled grief;\n  For soon or late we yield our vital breath,\n  And all our worldly troubles end in death!\n  \"When first I saw him, graceful in his might,\n  He looked far other than a Tartar knight;\n  Wondering I gazed--now Destiny has thrown\n  Him on thy sword--he fought, and he is gone;\n  And should even Heaven against the earth be hurled,\n  Or fire inwrap in crackling flames the world,\n  That which is past--we never can restore,\n  His soul has travelled to some happier shore.\n  Alas! no good from sorrow canst thou reap,\n  Then wherefore thus in gloom and misery weep?\"\n\n  But Rustem's mighty woes disdained his aid,\n  His heart was drowned in grief, and thus he said:\n  \"Yes, he is gone! to me for ever lost!\n  O then protect his brave unguided host;\n  From war removed and this detested place,\n  Let them, unharmed, their mountain-wilds retrace;\n  Bid them secure my brother's will obey,\n  The careful guardian of their weary way,[48]\n  To where the Jih\u00fan's distant waters stray.\"\n  To this the King: \"My soul is sad to see\n  Thy hopeless grief--but, since approved by thee,\n  The war shall cease--though the T\u00far\u00e1nian brand\n  Has spread dismay and terror through the land.\"\n\n  The King, appeased, no more with vengeance burned,\n  The Tartar legions to their homes returned;\n  The Persian warriors, gathering round the dead,\n  Grovelled in dust, and tears of sorrow shed;\n  Then back to loved Ir\u00e1n their steps the monarch led.\n\n  But Rustem, midst his native bands, remained,\n  And further rites of sacrifice maintained;\n  A thousand horses bled at his command,\n  And the torn drums were scattered o'er the sand;\n  And now through Z\u00e1bul's deep and bowery groves,\n  In mournful pomp the sad procession moves.\n  The mighty Chief on foot precedes the bier;\n  His Warrior-friends, in grief assembled near:\n  The dismal cadence rose upon the gale,\n  And Z\u00e1l astonished heard the piercing wail;\n  He and his kindred joined the solemn train;\n  Hung round the bier and wondering viewed the slain.\n  \"There gaze, and weep!\" the sorrowing Father said,\n  \"For there, behold my glorious offspring dead!\"\n  The hoary Sire shrunk backward with surprise,\n  And tears of blood o'erflowed his aged eyes;\n  And now the Champion's rural palace gate\n  Receives the funeral group in gloomy state;\n  R\u00fad\u00e1beh loud bemoaned the Stripling's doom;\n  Sweet flower, all drooping in the hour of bloom,\n  His tender youth in distant bowers had past,\n  Sheltered at home he felt no withering blast;\n  In the soft prison of his mother's arms,\n  Secure from danger and the world's alarms.\n  O ruthless Fortune! flushed with generous pride,\n  He sought his sire, and thus unhappy, died.\n\n  Rustem again the sacred bier unclosed;\n  Again Sohr\u00e1b to public view exposed;\n  Husbands, and wives, and warriors, old and young,\n  Struck with amaze, around the body hung,\n  With garments rent and loosely flowing hair;\n  Their shrieks and clamours filled the echoing air;\n  Frequent they cried: \"Thus S\u00e1m the Champion slept!\n  Thus sleeps Sohr\u00e1b!\" Again they groaned, and wept.\n\n  Now o'er the corpse a yellow robe is spread,\n  The aloes bier is closed upon the dead;\n  And, to preserve the hapless hero's name,\n  Fragrant and fresh, that his unblemished fame\n  Might live and bloom through all succeeding days,\n  A mound sepulchral on the spot they raise,\n  Formed like a charger's hoof.\n\n                                 In every ear\n  The story has been told--and many a tear,\n  Shed at the sad recital. Through T\u00far\u00e1n,\n  Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b's wide realm, and Sameng\u00e1n,\n  Deep sunk the tidings--nuptial bower, and bed,\n  And all that promised happiness, had fled!\n\n  But when Tahm\u00edneh heard this tale of woe,\n  Think how a mother bore the mortal blow!\n  Distracted, wild, she sprang from place to place;\n  With frenzied hands deformed her beauteous face;\n  The musky locks her polished temples crowned.\n  Furious she tore, and flung upon the ground;\n  Starting, in agony of grief, she gazed--\n  Her swimming eyes to Heaven imploring raised;\n  And groaning cried: \"Sole comfort of my life!\n  Doomed the sad victim of unnatural strife,\n  Where art thou now with dust and blood defiled?\n  Thou darling boy, my lost, my murdered child!\n  When thou wert gone--how, night and lingering day,\n  Did thy fond mother watch the time away;\n  For hope still pictured all I wished to see,\n  Thy father found, and thou returned to me,\n  Yes--thou, exulting in thy father's fame!\n  And yet, nor sire nor son, nor tidings, came:\n  How could I dream of this? ye met--but how?\n  That noble aspect--that ingenuous brow,\n  Moved not a nerve in him--ye met--to part,\n  Alas! the life-blood issuing from the heart\n  Short was the day which gave to me delight,\n  Soon, soon, succeeds a long and dismal night;\n  On whom shall now devolve my tender care?\n  Who, loved like thee, my bosom-sorrows share?\n  Whom shall I take to fill thy vacant place,\n  To whom extend a mother's soft embrace?\n  Sad fate! for one so young, so fair, so brave,\n  Seeking thy father thus to find a grave.\n  These arms no more shall fold thee to my breast,\n  No more with thee my soul be doubly blest;\n  No, drowned in blood thy lifeless body lies,\n  For ever torn from these desiring eyes;\n  Friendless, alone, beneath a foreign sky,\n  Thy mail thy death-clothes--and thy father, by;\n  Why did not I conduct thee on the way,\n  And point where Rustem's bright pavilion lay?\n  Thou hadst the tokens--why didst thou withhold\n  Those dear remembrances--that pledge of gold?\n  Hadst thou the bracelet to his view restored,\n  Thy precious blood had never stained his sword.\"\n\n  The strong emotion choked her panting breath,\n  Her veins seemed withered by the cold of death:\n  The trembling matrons hastening round her mourned,\n  With piercing cries, till fluttering life returned;\n  Then gazing up, distraught, she wept again,\n  And frantic, seeing 'midst her pitying train,\n  The favourite steed--now more than ever dear,\n  The hoofs she kissed, and bathed with many a tear;\n  Clasping the mail Sohr\u00e1b in battle wore,\n  With burning lips she kissed it o'er and o'er;\n  His martial robes she in her arms comprest,\n  And like an infant strained them to her breast;\n  The reins, and trappings, club, and spear, were brought,\n  The sword, and shield, with which the Stripling fought,\n  These she embraced with melancholy joy,\n  In sad remembrance of her darling boy.\n  And still she beat her face, and o'er them hung,\n  As in a trance--or to them wildly clung--\n  Day after day she thus indulged her grief,\n  Night after night, disdaining all relief;\n  At length worn out--from earthly anguish riven,\n  The mother's spirit joined her child in Heaven.\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF SAI\u00c1WUSH\n\nEarly one morning as the cock crew, T\u00fas arose, and accompanied by G\u00edw\nand G\u00fadarz and a company of horsemen, proceeded on a hunting excursion,\nnot far from the banks of the Jih\u00fan, where, after ranging about the\nforest for some time, they happened to fall in with a damsel of extreme\nbeauty, with smiling lips, blooming cheeks, and fascinating mien. They\nsaid to her:\n\n  \"Never was seen so sweet a flower,\n  In garden, vale, or fairy bower;\n  The moon is on thy lovely face,\n  Thy cypress-form is full of grace;\n  But why, with charms so soft and meek,\n  Dost thou the lonely forest seek?\"\n\nShe replied that her father was a violent man, and that she had left her\nhome to escape his anger. She had crossed the river Jih\u00fan, and had\ntravelled several leagues on foot, in consequence of her horse being too\nmuch fatigued to bear her farther. She had at that time been three days\nin the forest. On being questioned respecting her parentage, she said\nher father's name was Sh\u00edwer, of the race of Ferid\u00fan. Many sovereigns\nhad been suitors for her hand, but she did not approve of one of them.\nAt last he wanted to marry her to Poshang, the ruler of T\u00far\u00e1n, but she\nrefused him on account of his ugliness and bad temper! This she said was\nthe cause of her father's violence, and of her flight from home.\n\n  \"But when his angry mood is o'er,\n  He'll love his daughter as before;\n  And send his horsemen far and near,\n  To take me to my mother dear;\n  Therefore, I would not further stray,\n  But here, without a murmur, stay.\"\n\nThe hearts of both T\u00fas and G\u00edw were equally inflamed with love for the\ndamsel, and each was equally determined to support his own pretensions,\nin consequence of which a quarrel arose between them. At length it was\nagreed to refer the matter to the king, and to abide by his decision.\nWhen, however, the king beheld the lovely object of contention, he was\nnot disposed to give her to either claimant, but without hesitation took\nher to himself, after having first ascertained that she was of\ndistinguished family and connection. In due time a son was born to him,\nwho was, according to the calculations of the astrologers, of wonderful\npromise, and named Sai\u00e1wush. The prophecies about his surprising\nvirtues, and his future renown, made K\u00e1\u00fas anxious that justice should be\ndone to his opening talents, and he was highly gratified when Rustem\nagreed to take him to Z\u00e1bulist\u00e1n, and there instruct him in all the\naccomplishments which were suitable to his illustrious rank. He was\naccordingly taught horsemanship and archery, how to conduct himself at\nbanquets, how to hunt with the falcon and the leopard, and made familiar\nwith the manners and duty of kings, and the hardy chivalry of the age.\nHis progress in the attainment of every species of knowledge and science\nwas surprising, and in hunting he never stooped to the pursuit of\nanimals inferior to the lion or the tiger. It was not long before the\nyouth felt anxious to pay a visit to his father, and Rustem willingly\ncomplying with his wishes, accompanied his accomplished pupil to the\nroyal court, where they were both received with becoming distinction,\nSai\u00e1wush having fulfilled K\u00e1\u00fas's expectations in the highest degree, and\nthe king's gratitude to the champion being in proportion to the eminent\nmerit of his services on the interesting occasion. After this, however,\npreceptors were continued to enlighten his mind seven years longer, and\nthen he was emancipated from further application and study.\n\nOne day S\u00fad\u00e1veh, the daughter of the Sh\u00e1h of H\u00e1m\u00e1ver\u00e1n, happening to see\nSai\u00e1wush sitting with his father, the beauty of his person made an\ninstantaneous impression on her heart,\n\n  The fire of love consumed her breast,\n  The thoughts of him denied her rest.\n  For him alone she pined in grief,\n  From him alone she sought relief,\n  And called him to her secret bower,\n  To while away the passing hour:\n  But Sai\u00e1wush refused the call,\n  He would not shame his father's hall.\n\nThe enamoured S\u00fad\u00e1veh, however, was not to be disappointed without\nfurther effort, and on a subsequent day she boldly went to the king, and\npraising the character and attainments of his son, proposed that he\nshould be united in marriage to one of the damsels of royal lineage\nunder her care. For the pretended purpose therefore of making his\nchoice, she requested he might be sent to the harem, to see all the\nladies and fix on one the most suited to his taste. The king approved of\nthe proposal, and intimated it to Sai\u00e1wush; but Sai\u00e1wush was modest,\ntimid, and bashful, and mentally suspected in this overture some\nartifice of S\u00fad\u00e1veh. He accordingly hesitated, but the king overcame his\nscruples, and the youth at length repaired to the shubist\u00e1n, as the\nretired apartments of the women are called, with fear and trembling.\nWhen he entered within the precincts of the sacred place, he was\nsurprised by the richness and magnificence of everything that struck his\nsight. He was delighted with the company of beautiful women, and he\nobserved S\u00fad\u00e1veh sitting on a splendid throne in an interior chamber,\nlike Heaven in beauty and loveliness, with a coronet on her head, and\nher hair floating round her in musky ringlets. Seeing him she descended\ngracefully, and clasping him in her arms, kissed his eyes and face with\nsuch ardor and enthusiasm that he thought proper to retire from her\nendearments and mix among the other damsels, who placed him on a golden\nchair and kept him in agreeable conversation for some time. After this\npleasing interview he returned to the king, and gave him a very\nfavorable account of his reception, and the heavenly splendor of the\nretirement, worthy of Jemsh\u00edd, Ferid\u00fan, or H\u00fasheng, which gladdened his\nfather's heart. K\u00e1\u00fas repeated to him his wish that he would at once\nchoose one of the lights of the harem for his wife, as the astrologers\nhad prophesied on his marriage the birth of a prince. But Sai\u00e1wush\nendeavored to excuse himself from going again to S\u00fad\u00e1veh's apartments.\nThe king smiled at his weakness, and assured him that S\u00fad\u00e1veh was alone\nanxious for his happiness, upon which the youth found himself again in\nher power. She was surrounded by the damsels as before, but, whilst his\neyes were cast down, they shortly disappeared, leaving him and the\nenamoured S\u00fad\u00e1veh together. She soon approached him, and lovingly\nsaid:--\n\n  \"O why the secret keep from one,\n  Whose heart is fixed on thee alone!\n  Say who thou art, from whom descended,\n  Some Peri with a mortal blended.\n  For every maid who sees that face,\n  That cypress-form replete with grace,\n  Becomes a victim to the wiles\n  Which nestle in those dimpled smiles;\n  Becomes thy own adoring slave,\n  Whom nothing but thy love can save.\"\n\nTo this Sai\u00e1wush made no reply. The history of the adventure of K\u00e1\u00fas at\nH\u00e1m\u00e1ver\u00e1n, and what the king and his warriors endured in consequence of\nthe treachery of the father of S\u00fad\u00e1veh, flashed upon his mind. He\ntherefore was full of apprehension, and breathed not a word in answer to\nher fondness. S\u00fad\u00e1veh observing his silence and reluctance, threw away\nfrom herself the veil of modesty,\n\n  And said: \"O be my own, for I am thine,\n  And clasp me in thy arms!\" And then she sprang\n  To the astonished boy, and eagerly\n  Kissed his deep crimsoned cheek, which filled his soul\n  With strange confusion. \"When the king is dead,\n  O take me to thyself; see how I stand,\n  Body and soul devoted unto thee.\"\n  In his heart he said: \"This never can be:\n  This is a demon's work--shall I be treacherous?\n  What! to my own dear father? Never, never;\n  I will not thus be tempted by the devil;\n  Yet must I not be cold to this wild woman,\n  For fear of further folly.\"\n\nSai\u00e1wush then expressed his readiness to be united in marriage to her\ndaughter, and to no other; and when this intelligence was conveyed to\nK\u00e1\u00fas by S\u00fad\u00e1veh herself, His Majesty was extremely pleased, and\nmunificently opened his treasury on the happy occasion. But S\u00fad\u00e1veh\nstill kept in view her own design, and still laboring for its success,\nsedulously read her own incantations to prevent disappointment, at any\nrate to punish the uncomplying youth if she failed. On another day she\nsent for him, and exclaimed:--\n\n  \"I cannot now dissemble; since I saw thee\n  I seem to be as dead--my heart all withered.\n  Seven years have passed in unrequited love--\n  Seven long, long years. O! be not still obdurate,\n  But with the generous impulse of affection,\n  Oh, bless my anxious spirit, or, refusing,\n  Thy life will be in peril; thou shalt die!\"\n  \"Never,\" replied the youth; \"O, never, never;\n  Oh, ask me not, for this can never be.\"\n\nSai\u00e1wush then rose to depart precipitately, but S\u00fad\u00e1veh observing him,\nendeavored to cling round him and arrest his flight. The endeavor,\nhowever, was fruitless; and finding at length her situation desperate,\nshe determined to turn the adventure into her own favor, by accusing\nSai\u00e1wush of an atrocious outrage on her own person and virtue. She\naccordingly tore her dress, screamed aloud, and rushed out of her\napartment to inform K\u00e1\u00fas of the indignity she had suffered. Among her\nwomen the most clamorous lamentations arose, and echoed on every side.\nThe king, on hearing that Sai\u00e1wush had preferred S\u00fad\u00e1veh to her\ndaughter, and that he had meditated so abominable an offence, thought\nthat death alone could expiate his crime. He therefore summoned him to\nhis presence; but satisfied that it would be difficult, if not\nimpossible, to ascertain the truth of the case from either party\nconcerned, he had recourse to a test which he thought would be\ninfallible and conclusive. He first smelt the hands of Sai\u00e1wush, and\nthen his garments, which had the scent of rose-water; and then he took\nthe garments of S\u00fad\u00e1veh, which, on the contrary, had a strong flavor of\nwine and musk. Upon this discovery, the king resolved on the death of\nS\u00fad\u00e1veh, being convinced of the falsehood of the accusation she had made\nagainst his son. But when his indignation subsided, he was induced on\nvarious accounts to forego that resolution. Yet he said to her, \"I am\nsure that Sai\u00e1wush is innocent, but let that remain concealed.\"--S\u00fad\u00e1veh,\nhowever, persisted in asserting his guilt, and continually urged him to\npunish the reputed offender, but without being attended to.\n\nAt length he resolved to ascertain the innocence of Sai\u00e1wush by the\nordeal of fire; and the fearless youth prepared to undergo the terrible\ntrial to which he was sentenced, telling his father to be under no\nalarm.\n\n  \"The truth (and its reward I claim),\n  Will bear me safe through fiercest flame.\"\n\nA tremendous fire was accordingly lighted on the adjacent plain, which\nblazed to an immense distance. The youth was attired in his golden\nhelmet and a white robe, and mounted on a black horse. He put up a\nprayer to the Almighty for protection, and then rushed amidst the\nconflagration, as collectedly as if the act had been entirely free from\nperil. When S\u00fad\u00e1veh heard the confused exclamations that were uttered at\nthat moment, she hurried upon the terrace of the palace and witnessed\nthe appalling sight, and in the fondness of her heart, wished even that\nshe could share his fate, the fate of him of whom she was so deeply\nenamoured. The king himself fell from his throne in horror on seeing him\nsurrounded and enveloped in the flames, from which there seemed no\nchance of extrication; but the gallant youth soon rose up, like the moon\nfrom the bursting element, and went through the ordeal unharmed and\nuntouched by the fire. K\u00e1\u00fas, on coming to his senses, rejoiced\nexceedingly on the happy occasion, and his severest anger was directed\nagainst S\u00fad\u00e1veh, whom he now determined to put to death, not only for\nher own guilt, but for exposing his son to such imminent danger. The\nnoble youth, however, interceded for her. S\u00fad\u00e1veh, notwithstanding,\nstill continued to practise her charms and incantations in secret, to\nthe end that Sai\u00e1wush might be put out of the way; and in this pursuit\nshe was indeed indefatigable.\n\nSuddenly intelligence was received that Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b had assembled another\narmy, for the purpose of making an irruption into Ir\u00e1n; and K\u00e1\u00fas, seeing\nthat a Tartar could neither be bound by promise nor oath, resolved that\nhe would on this occasion take the field himself, penetrate as far as\nBalkh, and seizing the country, make an example of the inhabitants. But\nSai\u00e1wush perceiving in this prospect of affairs an opportunity of\nbecoming free from the machinations and witchery of S\u00fad\u00e1veh, earnestly\nrequested to be employed, adding that, with the advice and bravery of\nRustem, he would be sure of success. The king referred the matter to\nRustem, who candidly declared that there was no necessity whatever for\nHis Majesty proceeding personally to the war; and upon this assurance he\nthrew open his treasury, and supplied all the resources of the empire to\nequip the troops appointed to accompany them. After one month the army\nmarched toward Balkh, the point of attack.\n\nOn the other side Gers\u00edwaz, the ruler of Balghar, joined the Tartar\nlegions at Balkh, commanded by B\u00e1rm\u00e1n, who both sallied forth to oppose\nthe Persian host, and after a conflict of three days were defeated, and\nobliged to abandon the fort. When the accounts of this calamity reached\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, he was seized with the utmost terror, which was increased by\na dreadful dream. He thought he was in a forest abounding with serpents,\nand that the air was darkened by the appearance of countless eagles. The\nground was parched up with heat, and a whirlwind hurled down his tent\nand overthrew his banners. On every side flowed a river of blood, and\nthe whole of his army had been defeated and butchered in his sight. He\nwas afterwards taken prisoner, and ignominiously conducted to K\u00e1\u00fas, in\nwhose company he beheld a gallant youth, not more than fourteen years of\nage, who, the moment he saw him, plunged a dagger in his loins, and with\nthe scream of agony produced by the wound, he awoke. Gers\u00edwaz had in the\nmeantime returned with the remnant of his force; and being informed of\nthese particulars, endeavored to console Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, by assuring him that\nthe true interpretation of dreams was the reverse of appearances. But\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b was not to be consoled in this manner. He referred to his\nastrologers, who, however, hesitated, and were unwilling to afford an\nexplanation of the mysterious vision. At length one of them, upon the\nsolicited promise that the king would not punish him for divulging the\ntruth, described the nature of the warning implied in what had been\nwitnessed.\n\n  \"And now I throw aside the veil,\n  Which hides the darkly shadowed tale.\n  Led by a prince of prosperous star,\n  The Persian legions speed to war,\n  And in his horoscope we scan\n  The lordly victor of T\u00far\u00e1n.\n  If thou shouldst to the conflict rush,\n  Opposed to conquering Sai\u00e1wush,\n  Thy Turkish cohorts will be slain,\n  And all thy saving efforts vain.\n  For if he, in the threatened strife,\n  Should haply chance to lose his life;\n  Thy country's fate will be the same,\n  Stripped of its throne and diadem.\"\n\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b was satisfied with this interpretation, and felt the prudence\nof avoiding a war so pregnant with evil consequences to himself and his\nkingdom. He therefore deputed Gers\u00edwaz to the headquarters of Sai\u00e1wush,\nwith splendid presents, consisting of horses richly caparisoned, armor,\nswords, and other costly articles, and a written dispatch, proposing a\ntermination to hostilities.\n\nIn the meantime Sai\u00e1wush was anxious to pursue the enemy across the\nJih\u00fan, but was dissuaded by his friends. When Gers\u00edwaz arrived on his\nembassy he was received with distinction, and the object of his mission\nbeing understood, a secret council was held upon what answer should be\ngiven. It was then deemed proper to demand: first, one hundred\ndistinguished heroes as hostages; and secondly, the restoration of all\nthe provinces which the T\u00far\u00e1nians had taken from Ir\u00e1n. Gers\u00edwaz sent\nimmediately to Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b to inform him of the conditions required, and\nwithout the least delay they were approved. A hundred warriors were soon\non their way; and Bokh\u00e1ra, and Samerk\u00e1nd, and Haj, and the Punj\u00e1b, were\nfaithfully delivered over to Sai\u00e1wush. Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b himself retired towards\nGungduz, saying, \"I have had a terrible dream, and I will surrender\nwhatever may be required from me, rather than go to war.\"\n\nThe negotiations being concluded, Sai\u00e1wush sent a letter to his father\nby the hands of Rustem. Rumor, however, had already told K\u00e1\u00fas of\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b's dream, and the terror he had been thrown into in\nconsequence. The astrologers in his service having prognosticated from\nit the certain ruin of the T\u00far\u00e1nian king, the object of Rustem's mission\nwas directly contrary to the wishes of K\u00e1\u00fas; but Rustem contended that\nthe policy was good, and the terms were good, and he thereby incurred\nHis Majesty's displeasure. On this account K\u00e1\u00fas appointed T\u00fas the leader\nof the Persian army, and commanded him to march against Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b,\nordering Sai\u00e1wush at the same time to return, and bring with him his\nhundred hostages. At this command Sai\u00e1wush was grievously offended, and\nconsulted with his chieftains, B\u00e1hr\u00e1m, and Zinga, and Sh\u00e1wer\u00e1n, on the\nfittest course to be pursued, saying, \"I have pledged my word to the\nfulfilment of the terms, and what will the world say if I do not keep my\nfaith?\" The chiefs tried to quiet his mind, and recommended him to write\nagain to K\u00e1\u00fas, expressing his readiness to renew the war, and return the\nhundred hostages. But Sai\u00e1wush was in a different humor, and thought as\nT\u00fas had been actually appointed to the command of the Persian army, it\nwould be most advisable for him to abandon his country and join\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b. The chiefs, upon hearing this singular resolution,\nunanimously attempted to dissuade him from pursuing so wild a course as\nthrowing himself into the power of his enemy; but he was deaf to their\nentreaties, and in the stubbornness of his spirit, wrote to Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b,\ninforming him that K\u00e1\u00fas had refused to ratify the treaty of peace, that\nhe was compelled to return the hostages, and even himself to seek\nprotection in T\u00far\u00e1n from the resentment of his father, the warrior T\u00fas\nhaving been already entrusted with the charge of the army. This\nunexpected intelligence excited considerable surprise in the mind of\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, but he had no hesitation in selecting the course to be\nfollowed. The ambassadors, Zinga and Sh\u00e1wer\u00e1n, were soon furnished with\na reply, which was to this effect:--\"I settled the terms of peace with\nthee, not with thy father. With him I have nothing to do. If thy choice\nbe retirement and tranquillity, thou shalt have a peaceful and\nindependent province allotted to thee; but if war be thy object, I will\nfurnish thee with a large army: thy father is old and infirm, and with\nthe aid of Rustem, Persia will be an easy conquest.\" Having thus\nobtained the promised favor and support of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, Sai\u00e1wush gave in\ncharge to B\u00e1hr\u00e1m the city of Balkh, the army and treasure, in order that\nthey might be delivered over to T\u00fas on his arrival; and taking with him\nthree hundred chosen horsemen, passed the Jih\u00fan, in progress to the\ncourt of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b. On taking this decisive step, he again wrote to\nK\u00e1\u00fas, saying:--\n\n  \"From my youth upward I have suffered wrong.\n  At first S\u00fad\u00e1veh, false and treacherous,\n  Sought to destroy my happiness and fame;\n  And thou hadst nearly sacrificed my life\n  To glut her vengeance. The astrologers\n  Were all unheeded, who pronounced me innocent,\n  And I was doomed to brave devouring fire,\n  To testify that I was free from guilt;\n  But God was my deliverer! Victory now\n  Has marked my progress. Balkh, and all its spoils,\n  Are mine, and so reduced the enemy,\n  That I have gained a hundred hostages,\n  To guarantee the peace which I have made;\n  And what my recompense! a father's anger,\n  Which takes me from my glory. Thus deprived\n  Of thy affection, whither can I fly?\n  Be it to friend or foe, the will of fate\n  Must be my only guide--condemned by thee.\"\n\nThe reception of Sai\u00e1wush by Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b was warm and flattering. From the\ngates of the city to the palace, gold and incense were scattered over\nhis head in the customary manner, and exclamations of welcome uttered on\nevery side.\n\n  \"Thy presence gives joy to the land,\n  Which awaits thy command;\n    It is thine! it is thine!\n  All the chiefs of the state have assembled to meet thee,\n  All the flowers of the land are in blossom to greet thee!\"\n\nThe youth was placed on a golden throne next to Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, and a\nmagnificent banquet prepared in honor of the stranger, and music and the\nsongs of beautiful women enlivened the festive scene. They chanted the\npraises of Sai\u00e1wush, distinguished, as they said, among men for three\nthings: first, for being of the line of Kai-kob\u00e1d; secondly, for his\nfaith and honor; and, thirdly, for the wonderful beauty of his person,\nwhich had gained universal love and admiration. The favorable sentiments\nwhich characterized the first introduction of Sai\u00e1wush to Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b\ncontinued to prevail, and indeed the king of T\u00far\u00e1n seemed to regard him\nwith increased attachment and friendship, as the time passed away, and\nshowed him all the respect and honor to which his royal birth would have\nentitled him in his own country. After the lapse of a year, P\u00edr\u00e1n-w\u00edsah,\none of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b's generals, said to him: \"Young prince, thou art now\nhigh in the favor of the king, and at a great distance from Persia, and\nthy father is old; would it not therefore be better for thee to marry\nand take up thy residence among us for life?\" The suggestion was a\nrational one, and Sai\u00e1wush readily expressed his acquiescence;\naccordingly, the lovely G\u00falshaher, who was also named Jar\u00edra, having\nbeen introduced to him, he was delighted with her person, and both\nconsenting to a union, the marriage ceremony was immediately performed.\n\n  And many a warm delicious kiss,\n  Told how he loved the wedded bliss.\n\nSome time after this union, P\u00edr\u00e1n suggested another alliance, for the\npurpose of strengthening his political interest and power, and this was\nwith Ferang\u00eds, the daughter of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b. But Sai\u00e1wush was so devoted to\nG\u00falshaher that he first consulted with her on the subject, although the\nhospitality and affection of the king constituted such strong claims on\nhis gratitude that refusal was impossible. G\u00falshaher, however, was a\nheroine, and willingly sacrificed her own feelings for the good of\nSai\u00e1wush, saying she would rather condescend to be the very handmaid of\nFerang\u00eds than that the happiness and prosperity of her lord should be\ncompromised. The second marriage accordingly took place, and Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b\nwas so pleased with the match that he bestowed on the bride and her\nhusband the sovereignty of Khoten, together with countless treasure in\ngold, and a great number of horses, camels, and elephants. In a short\ntime they proceeded to the seat of the new government.\n\nMeanwhile K\u00e1\u00fas suffered the keenest distress and sorrow when he heard of\nthe flight of Sai\u00e1wush into T\u00far\u00e1n, and Rustem felt such strong\nindignation at the conduct of the king that he abruptly quitted the\ncourt, without permission, and retired to S\u00edst\u00e1n. K\u00e1\u00fas thus found\nhimself in an embarrassed condition, and deemed it prudent to recall\nboth T\u00fas and the army from Balkh, and relinquish further hostile\nmeasures against Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b.\n\nThe first thing that Sai\u00e1wush undertook after his arrival at Khoten, was\nto order the selection of a beautiful site for his residence, and P\u00edr\u00e1n\ndevoted his services to fulfil that object, exploring all the provinces,\nhills, and dales, on every side. At last he discovered a beautiful spot,\nat the distance of about a month's journey, which combined all the\nqualities and advantages required by the anxious prince. It was situated\non a mountain, and surrounded by scenery of exquisite richness and\nvariety. The trees were fresh and green, birds warbled on every spray,\ntransparent rivulets murmured through the meadows, the air was neither\noppressively hot in summer, nor cold in winter, so that the temperature,\nand the attractive objects which presented themselves at every glance,\nseemed to realize the imagined charms and fascinations of Paradise. The\ninhabitants enjoyed perpetual health, and every breeze was laden with\nmusic and perfume. So lovely a place could not fail to yield pleasure to\nSai\u00e1wush, who immediately set about building a palace there, and\ngarden-temples, in which he had pictures painted of the most remarkable\npersons of his time, and also the portraits of ancient kings. The walls\nwere decorated with the likenesses of Kai-kob\u00e1d, of Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas, Poshang,\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, and S\u00e1m, and Z\u00e1l, and Rustem, and other champions of Persia\nand T\u00far\u00e1n. When completed, it was a gorgeous retreat, and the sight of\nit sufficient to give youthful vigor to the withered faculties of age.\nAnd yet Sai\u00e1wush was not happy! Tears started into his eyes and sorrow\nweighed upon his heart, whenever he thought upon his own estrangement\nfrom home!\n\nIt happened that the lovely G\u00falshaher, who had been left in the house of\nher father, was delivered of a son in due time, and he was named Fer\u00fad.\n\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, on being informed of the proceedings of Sai\u00e1wush, and of the\nheart-expanding residence he had chosen, was highly gratified; and to\nshow his affectionate regard, despatched to him with the intelligence of\nthe birth of a son, presents of great value and variety. Gers\u00edwaz, the\nbrother of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, and who had from the first looked upon Sai\u00e1wush\nwith a jealous and malignant eye, being afraid of his interfering with\nhis own prospects in T\u00far\u00e1n, was the person sent on this occasion. But he\nhid his secret thoughts under the veil of outward praise and\napprobation. Sai\u00e1wush was pleased with the intelligence and the\npresents, but failed to pay the customary respect to Gers\u00edwaz on his\narrival, and, in consequence, the lurking indignation and hatred\nformerly felt by the latter were considerably augmented. The attention\nof Sai\u00e1wush respecting his army and the concerns of the state, was\nunremitting, and noted by the visitor with a jealous and scrutinizing\neye, so that Gers\u00edwaz, on his return to the court of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, artfully\ntalked much of the pomp and splendor of the prince, and added: \"Sai\u00e1wush\nis far from being the amiable character thou hast supposed; he is artful\nand ambitious, and he has collected an immense army; he is in fact\ndissatisfied. As a proof of his haughtiness, he paid me but little\nattention, and doubtless very heavy calamity will soon befall T\u00far\u00e1n,\nshould he break out, as I apprehend he will, into open rebellion:--\n\n \"For he is proud, and thou has yet to learn\n  The temper of thy daughter Ferang\u00eds,\n  Now bound to him in duty and affection;\n  Their purpose is the same, to overthrow\n  The kingdom of T\u00far\u00e1n, and thy dominion;\n  To merge the glory of this happy realm\n  Into the Persian empire!\"\n\nBut plausible and persuasive as were the observations and positive\ndeclarations of Gers\u00edwaz, Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b would not believe the imputed\ningratitude and hostility of Sai\u00e1wush. \"He has sought my protection,\"\nsaid he; \"he has thrown himself upon my generosity, and I cannot think\nhim treacherous. But if he has meditated anything unmerited by me, and\nunworthy of himself, it will be better to send him back to Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas, his\nfather.\" The artful Gers\u00edwaz, however, was not to be diverted from his\nobject: he said that Sai\u00e1wush had become personally acquainted with\nT\u00far\u00e1n, its position, its weakness, its strength, and resources, and\naided by Rustem, would soon be able to overrun the country if he was\nsuffered to return, and therefore he recommended Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b to bring him\nfrom Khoten by some artifice, and secure him. In conformity with this\nsuggestion, Gers\u00edwaz was again deputed to the young prince, and a letter\nof a friendly nature written for the purpose of blinding him to the real\nintentions of his father-in-law. The letter was no sooner read than\nSai\u00e1wush expressed his desire to comply with the request contained in\nit, saying that Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b had been a father to him, and that he would\nlose no time in fulfilling in all respects the wishes he had received.\n\nThis compliance and promptitude, however, was not in harmony with the\nsinister views of Gers\u00edwaz, for he foresaw that the very fact of\nanswering the call immediately would show that some misrepresentation\nhad been practised, and consequently it was his business now to promote\nprocrastination, and an appearance of evasive delay. He therefore said\nto him privately that it would be advisable for him to wait a little,\nand not manifest such implicit obedience to the will of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b; but\nSai\u00e1wush replied, that both his duty and affection urged him to a ready\ncompliance. Then Gers\u00edwaz pressed him more warmly, and represented how\ninconsistent, how unworthy of his illustrious lineage it would be to\nbetray so meek a spirit, especially as he had a considerable army at his\ncommand, and could vindicate his dignity and his rights. And he\naddressed to him these specious arguments so incessantly and with such\nearnestness, that the deluded prince was at last induced to put off his\ndeparture, on account of his wife Ferang\u00eds pretending that she was ill,\nand saying that the moment she was better he would return to T\u00far\u00e1n. This\nwas quite enough for treachery to work upon; and as soon as the dispatch\nwas sealed, Gers\u00edwaz conveyed it with the utmost expedition to\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b. Appearances, at least, were thus made strong against\nSai\u00e1wush, and the tyrant of T\u00far\u00e1n, now easily convinced of his\nfalsehood, and feeling in consequence his former enmity renewed,\nforthwith assembled an army to punish his refractory son-in-law.\nGers\u00edwaz was appointed the leader of that army, which was put in motion\nwithout delay against the unoffending youth. The news of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b's\nwarlike preparations satisfied the mind of Sai\u00e1wush that Gers\u00edwaz had\ngiven him good advice, and that he had been a faithful monitor, for\nimmediate compliance, he now concluded, would have been his utter ruin.\nWhen he communicated this unwelcome intelligence to Ferang\u00eds, she was\nthrown into the greatest alarm and agitation; but ever fruitful in\nexpedients, suggested the course that it seemed necessary he should\ninstantly adopt, which was to fly by a circuitous route back to Ir\u00e1n. To\nthis he expressed no dissent, provided she would accompany him; but she\nsaid it was impossible to do so on account of the condition she was in.\n\"Leave me,\" she added, \"and save thy own life!\" He therefore called\ntogether his three hundred Ir\u00e1nians, and requesting Ferang\u00eds, if she\nhappened to be delivered of a son, to call him Kai-khosr\u00e1u, set off on\nhis journey.\n\n  \"I go, surrounded by my enemies;\n  The hand of merciless Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b\n  Lifted against me.\"\n\nIt was not the fortune of Sai\u00e1wush, however, to escape so easily as had\nbeen anticipated by Ferang\u00eds. Gers\u00edwaz was soon at his heels, and in the\nbattle that ensued, all the Ir\u00e1nians were killed, and also the horse\nupon which the unfortunate prince rode, so that on foot he could make\nbut little progress. In the meantime Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b came up, and surrounding\nhim, wanted to shoot him with an arrow, but he was restrained from the\nviolent act by the intercession of his people, who recommended his being\ntaken alive, and only kept in prison. Accordingly he was again attacked\nand secured, and still Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b wished to put him to death; but P\u00edlsam,\none of his warriors, and the brother of P\u00edr\u00e1n, induced him to relinquish\nthat diabolical intention, and to convey him back to his own palace.\nSai\u00e1wush was then ignominiously fettered and conducted to the royal\nresidence, which he had himself erected and ornamented with such\nrichness and magnificence. The sight of the city and its splendid\nbuildings filled every one with wonder and admiration. Upon the arrival\nof Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, Ferang\u00eds hastened to him in a state of the deepest\ndistress, and implored his clemency and compassion in favor of Sai\u00e1wush.\n\n  \"O father, he is not to blame,\n  Still pure and spotless is his name;\n  Faithful and generous still to me,\n  And never--never false to thee.\n  This hate to Gers\u00edwaz he owes,\n  The worst, the bitterest of his foes;\n  Did he not thy protection seek,\n  And wilt thou overpower the weak?\n  Spill royal blood thou shouldest bless,\n  In cruel sport and wantonness?\n  And earn the curses of mankind,\n    Living, in this precarious state,\n  And dead, the torments of the mind,\n    Which hell inflicts upon the great\n  Who revel in a murderous course,\n  And rule by cruelty and force.\n\n  \"It scarce becomes me now to tell,\n  What the accursed Zoh\u00e1k befel,\n  Or what the punishment which hurled\n  S\u00edlim and T\u00far from out the world.\n  And is not K\u00e1\u00fas living now,\n  With rightful vengeance on his brow?\n  And Rustem, who alone can make\n  Thy kingdom to its centre quake?\n  G\u00fadarz, Z\u00fa\u00e1ra, and Fr\u00edburz,\n  And T\u00fas, and Girg\u00edn, and Fr\u00e1murz;\n  And others too of fearless might,\n  To challenge thee to mortal fight?\n  O, from this peril turn away,\n  Close not in gloom so bright a day;\n  Some heed to thy poor daughter give,\n  And let thy guiltless captive live.\"\n\nThe effect of this appeal, solemnly and urgently delivered, was only\ntransitory. Afrasiy\u00e1b felt a little compunction at the moment, but soon\nresumed his ferocious spirit, and to ensure, without interruption, the\naccomplishment of his purpose, confined Ferang\u00eds in one of the remotest\nparts of the palace:--\n\n  And thus to Gers\u00edwaz unfeeling spoke:\n  \"Off with his head, down with the enemy;\n  But take especial notice that his blood\n  Stains not the earth, lest it should cry aloud\n  For vengeance on us. Take good care of that!\"\n\nGers\u00edwaz, who was but too ready an instrument, immediately directed\nKar\u00fa-z\u00edra, a kinsman of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, who had been also one of the most\nzealous in promoting the ruin of the Persian prince, to inflict the\ndeadly blow; and Sai\u00e1wush, whilst under the grasp of the executioner,\nhad but time to put up a prayer to Heaven, in which he hoped that a son\nmight be born to him to vindicate his good name, and be revenged on his\nmurderer. The executioner then seized him by the hair, and throwing him\non the ground, severed the head from the body. A golden vessel was ready\nto receive the blood, as commanded by Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b; but a few drops\nhappened to be spilt on the soil, and upon that spot a tree grew up,\nwhich was afterwards called Sai\u00e1wush, and believed to possess many\nwonderful virtues! The blood was carefully conveyed to Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, the\nhead fixed on the point of a javelin, and the body was buried with\nrespect and affection by his friend P\u00edlsam, who had witnessed the\nmelancholy catastrophe. It is also related that a tremendous tempest\noccurred at the time this amiable prince was murdered, and that a total\ndarkness covered the face of the earth, so that the people could not\ndistinguish each other's faces. Then was the name of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b truly\nexecrated and abhorred for the cruel act he had committed, and all the\ninhabitants of Khoten long cherished the memory of Sai\u00e1wush.\n\nFerang\u00eds was frantic with grief when she was told of the sad fate of her\nhusband, and all her household uttered the loudest lamentations. P\u00edlsam\ngave the intelligence to P\u00edr\u00e1n and the proverb was then remembered: \"It\nis better to be in hell, than under the rule of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b!\" When the\ndeep sorrow of Ferang\u00eds reached the ears of her father, he determined on\na summary procedure, and ordered Gers\u00edwaz to have her privately made\naway with, so that there might be no issue of her marriage with\nSai\u00e1wush.\n\n  P\u00edr\u00e1n with horror heard this stern command,\n  And hasten'd to the king, and thus addressed him:\n  \"What! wouldst thou hurl thy vengeance on a woman,\n  That woman, too, thy daughter? Is it wise,\n  Or natural, thus to sport with human life?\n  Already hast thou taken from her arms\n  Her unoffending husband--that was cruel;\n  But thus to shed an innocent woman's blood,\n  And kill her unborn infant--that would be\n  Too dreadful to imagine! Is she not\n  Thy own fair daughter, given in happier time\n  To him who won thy favour and affection?\n  Think but of that, and from thy heart root out\n  This demon wish, which leads thee to a crime,\n  Mocking concealment; vain were the endeavour\n  To keep the murder secret, and when known,\n  The world's opprobrium would pursue thy name.\n  And after death, what would thy portion be!\n  No more of this--honour me with the charge,\n  And I will keep her with a father's care,\n  In my own mansion.\" Then Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b\n  Readily answered: \"Take her to thy home,\n  But when the child is born, let it be brought\n  Promptly to me--my will must be obeyed.\"\n\nP\u00edr\u00e1n rejoiced at his success; and assenting to the command of\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, took Ferang\u00eds with him to Khoten, where in due time a child\nwas born, and being a son, was called Kai-khosr\u00e1u. As soon as he was\nborn, P\u00edr\u00e1n took measures to prevent his being carried off to Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b,\nand committed him to the care of some peasants on the mountain Kal\u00fan. On\nthe same night Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b had a dream, in which he received intimation of\nthe birth of Kai-khosr\u00e1u; and upon this intimation he sent for P\u00edr\u00e1n to\nknow why his commands had not been complied with. P\u00edr\u00e1n replied, that he\nhad cast away the child in the wilderness. \"And why was he not sent to\nme?\" inquired the despot. \"Because,\" said P\u00edr\u00e1n, \"I considered thy own\nfuture happiness; thou hast unjustly killed the father, and God forbid\nthat thou shouldst also kill the son!\" Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b was abashed, and it is\nsaid that ever after the atrocious murder of Sai\u00e1wush, he had been\ntormented with the most terrible and harrowing dreams. Gers\u00edwaz now\nbecame hateful to his sight, and he began at last deeply to repent of\nhis violence and inhumanity.\n\nKai-khosr\u00e1u grew up under the fostering protection of the peasants, and\nshowed early marks of surprising talent and activity. He excelled in\nmanly exercises; and hunting ferocious animals was his peculiar delight.\nInstructors had been provided to initiate him in all the arts and\npursuits cultivated by the warriors of those days, and even in his\ntwelfth year accounts were forwarded to P\u00edr\u00e1n of several wonderful feats\nwhich he had performed.\n\n  Then smiled the good old man, and joyful said:\n  \"'Tis ever thus--the youth of royal blood\n  Will not disgrace his lineage, but betray\n  By his superior mien and gallant deeds\n  From whence he sprung. 'Tis by the luscious fruit\n  We know the tree, and glory in its ripeness!\"\n\nP\u00edr\u00e1n could not resist paying a visit to the youth in his mountainous\nretreat, and, happy to find him, beyond all expectation, distinguished\nfor the elegance of his external appearance, and the superior qualities\nof his mind, related to him the circumstances under which he had been\nexposed, and the rank and misfortunes of his father. An artifice then\noccurred to him which promised to be of ultimate advantage. He\nafterwards told Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b that the offspring of Ferang\u00eds, thrown by him\ninto the wilderness to perish, had been found by a peasant and brought\nup, but that he understood the boy was little better than an idiot.\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, upon this information, desired that he might be sent for, and\nin the meantime P\u00edr\u00e1n took especial care to instruct Kai-khosr\u00e1u how he\nshould act; which was to seem in all respects insane, and he accordingly\nappeared before the king in the dress of a prince with a golden crown on\nhis head, and the royal girdle round his loins. Kai-khosr\u00e1u proceeded on\nhorseback to the court of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, and having performed the usual\nsalutations, was suitably received, though with strong feelings of shame\nand remorse on the part of the tyrant. Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b put several questions\nto him, which were answered in a wild and incoherent manner, entirely at\nvariance with the subject proposed. The king could not help smiling, and\nsupposing him to be totally deranged, allowed him to be sent with\npresents to his mother, for no harm, he thought, could possibly be\napprehended from one so forlorn in mind. P\u00edr\u00e1n triumphed in the success\nof his scheme, and lost no time in taking Kai-khosr\u00e1u to his mother. All\nthe people of Khoten poured blessings on the head of the youth, and\nimprecations on the merciless spirit of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b. The city built by\nSai\u00e1wush had been razed to the ground by the exterminating fury of his\nenemies, and wild animals and reptiles occupied the place on which it\nstood. The mother and son visited the spot where Sai\u00e1wush was\nbarbarously killed, and the tree, which grew up from the soil enriched\nby his blood, was found verdant and flourishing, and continued to\npossess in perfection its marvellous virtues.\n\n  The tale of Sai\u00e1wush is told;\n  And now the pages bright unfold,\n  Rustem's revenge--S\u00fad\u00e1veh's fate--\n  Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b's degraded state,\n  And that terrific curse and ban\n  Which fell at last upon T\u00far\u00e1n!\n\nWhen Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas heard of the fate of his son, and all its horrible details\nwere pictured to his mind, he was thrown into the deepest affliction.\nHis warriors, T\u00fas, and G\u00fadarz, and B\u00e1hr\u00e1m, and Fr\u00edburz, and Ferh\u00e1d, felt\nwith equal keenness the loss of the amiable prince, and Rustem, as soon\nas the dreadful intelligence reached S\u00edst\u00e1n, set off with his troops to\nthe court of the king, still full of indignation at the conduct of K\u00e1\u00fas,\nand oppressed with sorrow respecting the calamity which had occurred. On\nhis arrival he thus addressed the weeping and disconsolate father of\nSai\u00e1wush, himself at the same time drowned in tears:--\n\n  \"How has thy temper turned to nought, the seed\n  Which might have grown, and cast a glorious shadow;\n  How is it scattered to the barren winds!\n  Thy love for false S\u00fad\u00e1veh was the cause\n  Of all this misery; she, the Sorceress,\n  O'er whom thou hast so oft in rapture hung,\n  Enchanted by her charms; she was the cause\n  Of this destruction. Thou art woman's slave!\n  Woman, the bane of man's felicity!\n  Who ever trusted woman? Death were better\n  Than being under woman's influence;\n  She places man upon the foamy ridge\n  Of the tempestuous wave, which rolls to ruin,\n  Who ever trusted woman?--Woman! woman!\"\n  K\u00e1\u00fas looked down with melancholy mien,\n  And, half consenting, thus to Rustem said:--\n  \"S\u00fad\u00e1veh's blandishments absorbed my soul,\n  And she has brought this wretchedness upon me.\"\n  Rustem rejoined--\"The world must be revenged\n  Upon this false S\u00fad\u00e1veh;--she must die.\"\n  K\u00e1\u00fas was silent; but his tears flowed fast,\n  And shame withheld resistance. Rustem rushed\n  Without a pause towards the shubist\u00e1n;\n  Impatient, nothing could obstruct his speed\n  To slay S\u00fad\u00e1veh;--her he quickly found,\n  And rapidly his sanguinary sword\n  Performed its office. Thus the Sorceress died.\n  Such was the punishment her crimes received.\n\nHaving thus accomplished the first part of his vengeance, he proceeded\nwith the Persian army against Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, and all the Ir\u00e1nian warriors\nfollowed his example. When he had penetrated as far as T\u00far\u00e1n, the enemy\nsent forward thirty thousand men to oppose his progress; and in the\nconflict which ensued, Fer\u00e1murz took Sarkh\u00e1, the son of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b,\nprisoner. Rustem delivered him over to T\u00fas to be put to death precisely\nin the same manner as Sai\u00e1wush; but the captive represented himself as\nthe particular friend of Sai\u00e1wush, and begged to be pardoned on that\naccount. Rustem, however, had sworn that he would take his revenge,\nwithout pity or remorse, and accordingly death was inflicted upon the\nunhappy prisoner, whose blood was received in a dish, and sent to K\u00e1\u00fas,\nand the severed head suspended over the gates of the king's palace.\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b hearing of this catastrophe, which sealed the fate of his\nfavorite son, immediately collected together the whole of the T\u00far\u00e1nian\narmy, and hastened himself to resist the conquering career of the enemy.\n\n  As on they moved; with loud and dissonant clang;\n  His numerous troops shut out the prospect round;\n  No sun was visible by day; no moon,\n  Nor stars by night. The tramp of men and steeds,\n  And rattling drums, and shouts, were only heard,\n  And the bright gleams of armour only seen.\n\nEre long the two armies met, when P\u00edlsam, the brother of P\u00edr\u00e1n, was\nambitious of opposing his single arm against Rustem, upon which\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b said:--\"Subdue Rustem, and thy reward shall be my daughter,\nand half my kingdom.\" P\u00edr\u00e1n, however, observed that he was too young to\nbe a fit match for the experience and valor of the Persian champion, and\nwould have dissuaded him from the unequal contest, but the choice was\nhis own, and he was consequently permitted by Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b to put his\nbravery to the test. P\u00edlsam accordingly went forth and summoned Rustem\nto the fight; but G\u00edw, hearing the call, accepted the challenge himself,\nand had nearly been thrown from his horse by the superior activity of\nhis opponent. Fer\u00e1murz luckily saw him at the perilous moment, and\ndarting forward, with one stroke of his sword shattered P\u00edlsam's javelin\nto pieces, and then a new strife began. P\u00edlsam and Fer\u00e1murz fought\ntogether with desperation, till both were almost exhausted, and Rustem\nhimself was surprised to see the display of so much valor. Perceiving\nthe wearied state of the two warriors he pushed forward Rakush, and\ncalled aloud to P\u00edlsam:--\"Am I not the person challenged?\" and\nimmediately the T\u00far\u00e1nian chief proceeded to encounter him, striking with\nall his might at the head of the champion; but though the sword was\nbroken by the blow, not a hair of his head was disordered.\n\n  Then Rustem urging on his gallant steed,\n  Fixed his long javelin in the girdle band\n  Of his ambitious foe, and quick unhorsed him;\n  Then dragged him on towards Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b,\n  And, scoffing, cast him at the despot's feet.\n  \"Here comes the glorious conqueror,\" he said;\n  \"Now give to him thy daughter and thy treasure,\n  Thy kingdom and thy soldiers; has he not\n  Done honour to thy country?--Is he not\n  A jewel in thy crown of sovereignty?\n  What arrogance inspired the fruitless hope!\n  Think of thy treachery to Sai\u00e1wush;\n  Thy savage cruelty, and never look\n  For aught but deadly hatred from mankind;\n  And in the field of fight defeat and ruin.\"\n  Thus scornfully he spoke, and not a man,\n  Though in the presence of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b,\n  Had soul to meet him; fear o'ercame them all\n  Monarch and warriors, for a time. At length\n  Shame was awakened, and the king appeared\n  In arms against the champion. Fiercely they\n  Hurled their sharp javelins--Rustem's struck the head\n  Of his opponent's horse, which floundering fell,\n  And overturned his rider. Anxious then\n  The champion sprang to seize the royal prize;\n  But H\u00fam\u00e1n rushed between, and saved his master,\n  Who vaulted on another horse and fled.\n\nHaving thus rescued Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, the wary chief exercised all his cunning\nand adroitness to escape himself, and at last succeeded. Rustem pursued\nhim, and the T\u00far\u00e1nian troops, who had followed the example of the king;\nbut though thousands were slain in the chase which continued for many\nfarsangs, no further advantage was obtained on that day. Next morning,\nhowever, Rustem resumed his pursuit; and the enemy hearing of his\napproach, retreated into Chinese Tartary, to secure, among other\nadvantages, the person of Kai-khosr\u00e1u; leaving the kingdom of T\u00far\u00e1n at\nthe mercy of the invader, who mounted the throne, and ruled there, it is\nsaid, about seven years, with memorable severity, proscribing and\nputting to death every person who mentioned the name of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b. In\nthe meantime he made splendid presents to T\u00fas and G\u00fadarz, suitable to\ntheir rank and services; and Z\u00fa\u00e1ra, in revenge for the monstrous outrage\ncommitted upon Sai\u00e1wush, burnt and destroyed everything that came in his\nway; his wrath being exasperated by the sight of the places in which the\nyoung prince had resided, and recreated himself with hunting and other\nsports of the field. The whole realm, in fact, was delivered over to\nplunder and devastation; and every individual of the army was enriched\nby the appropriation of public and private wealth. The companions of\nRustem, however, grew weary of residing in T\u00far\u00e1n, and they strongly\nrepresented to him the neglect which Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas had suffered for so many\nyears, recommending his return to Persia, as being more honorable than\nthe exile they endured in an ungenial climate. Rustem's abandonment of\nthe kingdom was at length carried into effect; and he and his warriors\ndid not fail to take away with them all the immense property that\nremained in jewels and gold; part of which was conveyed by the champion\nto Z\u00e1bul and S\u00edst\u00e1n, and a goodly proportion to the king of kings in\nPersia.\n\n  When to Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b was known\n  The plunder of his realm and throne,\n  That the destroyer's reckless hand\n  With fire and sword had scathed the land,\n  Sorrow and anguish filled his soul,\n  And passion raged beyond control;\n  And thus he to his warriors said:--\n  \"At such a time, is valour dead?\n  The man who hears the mournful tale,\n  And is not by his country's bale\n  Urged on to vengeance, cannot be\n  Of woman born; accursed is he!\n  The time will come when I shall reap\n  The harvest of resentment deep;\n  And till arrives that fated hour,\n  Farewell to joy in hall or bower.\"\n\nRustem, in taking revenge for the murder of Sai\u00e1wush, had not been\nunmindful of Kai-khosr\u00e1u, and had actually sent to the remote parts of\nTartary in quest of him.\n\nIt is said that G\u00fadarz beheld in a dream the young prince, who pointed\nout to him his actual residence, and intimated that of all the warriors\nof K\u00e1\u00fas, G\u00edw was the only one destined to restore him to the world and\nhis birth-right. The old man immediately requested his son G\u00edw to go to\nthe place where the stranger would be found. G\u00edw readily complied, and\nin his progress provided himself at every stage successively with a\nguide, whom he afterwards slew to prevent discovery, and in this manner\nhe proceeded till he reached the boundary of Ch\u00edn, enjoying no comfort\nby day, or sleep by night. His only food was the flesh of the wild ass,\nand his only covering the skin of the same animal. He went on traversing\nmountain and forest, enduring every privation, and often did he\nhesitate, often did he think of returning, but honor urged him forward\nin spite of the trouble and impediments with which he was continually\nassailed. Arriving in a desert one day, he happened to meet with several\npersons, who upon being interrogated, said that they were sent by\nP\u00edr\u00e1n-w\u00edsah in search of Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas. G\u00edw kept his own secret, saying that\nhe was amusing himself with hunting the wild ass, but took care to\nascertain from them the direction in which they were going. During the\nnight the parties separated, and in the morning G\u00edw proceeded rapidly on\nhis route, and after some time discovered a youth sitting by the side of\na fountain, with a cup in his hand, whom he supposed to be Kai-khosr\u00e1u.\nThe youth also spontaneously thought \"This must be G\u00edw\"; and when the\ntraveller approached him, and said, \"I am sure thou art the son of\nSai\u00e1wush\"; the youth observed, \"I am equally sure that thou art G\u00edw the\nson of G\u00fadarz.\" At this G\u00edw was amazed, and falling to his feet, asked\nhow, and from what circumstance, he recognized him. The youth replied\nthat he knew all the warriors of K\u00e1\u00fas; Rustem, and Kishw\u00e1d, and T\u00fas, and\nG\u00fadarz, and the rest, from their portraits in his father's gallery, they\nbeing deeply impressed on his mind. He then asked in what way G\u00edw had\ndiscovered him to be Kai-khosr\u00e1u, and G\u00edw answered, \"Because I perceived\nsomething kingly in thy countenance. But let me again examine thee!\" The\nyouth, at this request, removed his garments, and G\u00edw beheld that mark\non his body which was the heritage of the race of Kai-kob\u00e1d. Upon this\ndiscovery he rejoiced, and congratulating himself and the young prince\non the success of his mission, related to him the purpose for which he\nhad come. Kai-khosr\u00e1u was soon mounted on horseback, and G\u00edw accompanied\nhim respectfully on foot. They, in the first instance, pursued their way\ntowards the abode of Ferang\u00eds, his mother. The persons sent by\nP\u00edr\u00e1n-w\u00edsah did not arrive at the place where Kai-khosr\u00e1u had been kept\ntill long after G\u00edw and the prince departed; and then they were told\nthat a Persian horseman had come and carried off the youth, upon which\nthey immediately returned, and communicated to P\u00edr\u00e1n what had occurred.\nFerang\u00eds, in recovering her son, mentioned to G\u00edw, with the fondness of\na mother, the absolute necessity of going on without delay, and pointed\nout to him the meadow in which some of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b's horses were to be met\nwith, particularly one called Behz\u00e1d, which once belonged to Sai\u00e1wush,\nand which her father had kept in good condition for his own riding. G\u00edw,\ntherefore, went to the meadow, and throwing his kamund, secured Behz\u00e1d\nand another horse; and all three being thus accommodated, hastily\nproceeded on their journey towards Ir\u00e1n.\n\nTidings of the escape of Kai-khosr\u00e1u having reached Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, he\ndespatched Kulb\u00e1d with three hundred horsemen after him; and so rapid\nwere his movements that he overtook the fugitives in the vicinity of\nBulgharia. Khosr\u00e1u and his mother were asleep, but G\u00edw being awake, and\nseeing an armed force evidently in pursuit of his party, boldly put on\nhis armor, mounted Behz\u00e1d, and before the enemy came up, advanced to the\ncharge. He attacked the horsemen furiously with sword, and mace, for he\nhad heard the prophecy, which declared that Kai-khosr\u00e1u was destined to\nbe the king of kings, and therefore he braved the direst peril with\nconfidence, and the certainty of success. It was this feeling which\nenabled him to perform such a prodigy of valor, in putting Kulb\u00e1d and\nhis three hundred horsemen to the rout. They all fled defeated, and\ndispersed precipitately before him. After this surprising victory, he\nreturned to the halting place, and told Kai-khosr\u00e1u what he had done.\nThe prince was disappointed at not having been awakened to participate\nin the exploit, but G\u00edw said, \"I did not wish to disturb thy sweet\nslumbers unnecessarily. It was thy good fortune and prosperous star,\nhowever, which made me triumph over the enemy.\" The three travellers\nthen resuming their journey:\n\n  Through dreary track, and pathless waste,\n  And wood and wild, their way they traced.\n\nThe return of the defeated Kulb\u00e1d excited the greatest indignation in\nthe breast of P\u00edr\u00e1n. \"What! three hundred soldiers to fly from the valor\nof one man! Had G\u00edw possessed even the activity and might of Rustem and\nS\u00e1m, such a shameful discomfiture could scarcely have happened.\" Saying\nthis, he ordered the whole force under his command to be got ready, and\nset off himself to overtake and intercept the fugitives, who, fatigued\nwith the toilsome march, were only able to proceed one stage in the day.\nP\u00edr\u00e1n, therefore, who travelled at the rate of one hundred leagues a\nday, overtook them before they had passed through Bulgharia. Ferang\u00eds,\nwho saw the enemy's banner floating in the air, knew that it belonged to\nP\u00edr\u00e1n, and instantly awoke the two young men from sleep. Upon this\noccasion, Khosr\u00e1u insisted on acting his part, instead of being left\nignominiously idle; but G\u00edw was still resolute and determined to\npreserve him from all risk, at the peril of his own life. \"Thou art\ndestined to be the king of the world; thou art yet young, and a novice,\nand hast never known the toils of war; Heaven forbid that any misfortune\nshould befall thee: indeed, whilst I live, I will never suffer thee to\ngo into battle!\" Khosr\u00e1u then proposed to give him assistance; but G\u00edw\nsaid he wanted no assistance, not even from Rustem; \"for,\" he added, \"in\nart and strength we are equal, having frequently tried our skill\ntogether.\" Rustem had given his daughter in marriage to G\u00edw, he himself\nbeing married to G\u00edw's sister. \"Be of good cheer,\" resumed he, \"get upon\nsome high place, and witness the battle between us.\n\n \"Fortune will still from Heaven descend,\n  The god of victory is my friend.\"\n\nAs soon as he took the field, P\u00edr\u00e1n thus addressed him: \"Thou hast once,\nsingly, defeated three hundred of my soldiers; thou shalt now see what\npunishment awaits thee at my hands.\n\n \"For should a warrior be a rock of steel,\n  A thousand ants, gathered on every side,\n  In time will make him but a heap of dust.\"\n\nIn reply, G\u00edw said to P\u00edr\u00e1n, \"I am the man who bound thy two women, and\nsent them from China to Persia--Rustem and I are the same in battle.\nThou knowest, when he encountered a thousand horsemen, what was the\nresult, and what he accomplished! Thou wilt find me the same: is not a\nlion enough to overthrow a thousand kids?\n\n \"If but a man survive of thy proud host,\n  Brand me with coward--say I'm not a warrior.\n  Already have I triumphed o'er Kulb\u00e1d,\n  And now I'll take thee prisoner, yea, alive!\n  And send thee to K\u00e1\u00fas--there thou wilt be\n  Slain to avenge the death of Sai\u00e1wush;\n  T\u00far\u00e1n shall perish, and Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b,\n  And every earthly hope extinguished quite.\"\n  Hearing this awful threat, P\u00edr\u00e1n turned pale\n  And shook with terror--trembling like a reed;\n  And saying: \"Go, I will not fight with thee!\"\n  But G\u00edw asked fiercely: \"Why?\" And on he rushed\n  Against the foe, who fled--but 'twas in vain.\n  The kamund round the old man's neck was thrown,\n  And he was taken captive. Then his troops\n  Showered their sharp arrows on triumphant G\u00edw,\n  To free their master, who was quickly brought\n  Before Kai-khosr\u00e1u, and the kamund placed\n  Within his royal hands. This service done,\n  G\u00edw sped against the Tartars, and full soon\n  Defeated and dispersed them.\n\nOn his return, G\u00edw expressed his astonishment that P\u00edr\u00e1n was still\nalive; when Ferang\u00eds interposed, and weeping, said how much she had been\nindebted to his interposition and the most active humanity on various\noccasions, and particularly in saving herself and Kai-khosr\u00e1u from the\nwrath of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b after the death of Sai\u00e1wush. \"If,\" said she, \"after\nso much generosity he has committed one fault, let it be forgiven.\n\n \"Let not the man of many virtues die,\n  For being guilty of one trifling error.\n  Let not the friend who nobly saved my life,\n  And more, the dearer life of Kai-khosr\u00e1u,\n  Suffer from us. O, he must never, never,\n  Feel the sharp pang of foul ingratitude,\n  From a true prince of the Kai\u00e1nian race.\"\n\nBut G\u00edw paused, and said, \"I have sworn to crimson the earth with his\nblood, and I must not pass from my oath.\" Khosr\u00e1u then suggested to him\nto pierce the lobes of P\u00edr\u00e1n's ears, and drop the blood on the ground to\nstain it, in order that he might not depart from his word; and this\nhumane fraud was accordingly committed. Khosr\u00e1u further interceded; and\ninstead of being sent a captive to K\u00e1\u00fas, the good old man was set at\nliberty.\n\nWhen the particulars of this event were described to Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b by\nP\u00edr\u00e1n-w\u00edsah, he was exceedingly sorrowful, and lamented deeply that\nKai-khosr\u00e1u had so successfully effected his escape. But he had recourse\nto a further expedient, and sent instructions to all the ferrymen of the\nJih\u00fan, with a minute description of the three travellers, to prevent\ntheir passing that river, announcing at the same time that he himself\nwas in pursuit of them. Not a moment was lost in preparing his army for\nthe march, and he moved forward with the utmost expedition, night and\nday. At the period when G\u00edw arrived on the banks of the Jih\u00fan, the\nstream was very rapid and formidable, and he requested the ferrymen to\nproduce their certificates to show themselves equal to their duty. They\npretended that their certificates were lost, but demanded for their fare\nthe black horse upon which G\u00edw rode. G\u00edw replied, that he could not part\nwith his favorite horse; and they rejoined, \"Then give us the damsel who\naccompanies you.\" G\u00edw answered, and said, \"This is not a damsel, but the\nmother of that youth!\"--\"Then,\" observed they, \"give us the youth's\ncrown.\" But G\u00edw told them that he could not comply with their demand;\nyet he was ready to reward them with money to any extent. The\npertinacious ferrymen, who were not anxious for money, then demanded his\narmor, and this was also refused; and such was their independence or\ntheir effrontery, that they replied, \"If not one of these four things\nyou are disposed to grant, cross the river as best you may.\" G\u00edw\nwhispered to Kai-khosr\u00e1u, and told him that there was no time for delay.\n\"When Kavah, the blacksmith,\" said he, \"rescued thy great ancestor,\nFerid\u00fan, he passed the stream in his armor without impediment; and why\nshould we, in a cause of equal glory, hesitate for a moment?\" Under the\ninspiring influence of an auspicious omen, and confiding in the\nprotection of the Almighty, Kai-khosr\u00e1u at once impelled his foaming\nhorse into the river; his mother, Ferang\u00eds, followed with equal\nintrepidity, and then G\u00edw; and notwithstanding the perilous passage,\nthey all successfully overcame the boiling surge, and landed in safety,\nto the utter amazement of the ferrymen, who of course had expected they\nwould be drowned,\n\nIt so happened that at the moment they touched the shore, Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b with\nhis army arrived, and had the mortification to see the fugitives on the\nother bank, beyond his reach. His wonder was equal to his\ndisappointment.\n\n  \"What spirits must they have to brave\n  The terrors of that boiling wave--\n  With steed and harness, riding o'er\n  The billows to the further shore.\"\n\n  It was a cheering sight, they say,\n  To see how well they kept their way,\n  How Ferang\u00eds impelled her horse\n  Across that awful torrent's course,\n  Guiding him with heroic hand,\n  To reach unhurt the friendly strand.\n\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b continued for some time mute with astonishment and vexation,\nand when he recovered, ordered the ferrymen to get ready their boats to\npass him over the river; but H\u00fam\u00e1n dissuaded him from that measure,\nsaying that they could only convey a few troops, and they would\ndoubtless be received by a large force of the enemy on the other side.\nAt these words, Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b seemed to devour his own blood with grief and\nindignation, and immediately retracing his steps, returned to T\u00far\u00e1n.\n\nAs soon as G\u00edw entered within the boundary of the Persian empire, he\npoured out thanksgivings to God for his protection, and sent\nintelligence to K\u00e1\u00fas of the safe arrival of the party in his dominions.\nThe king rejoiced exceedingly, and appointed an honorary deputation\nunder the direction of G\u00fadarz, to meet the young prince on the road. On\nfirst seeing him, the king moved forward to receive him; and weeping\naffectionately, kissed his eyes and face, and had a throne prepared for\nhim exactly like his own, upon which he seated him; and calling the\nnobles and warriors of the land together, commanded them to obey him.\nAll readily promised their allegiance, excepting T\u00fas, who left the court\nin disgust, and repairing forthwith to the house of Fr\u00edburz, one of the\nsons of K\u00e1\u00fas, told him that he would only pay homage and obedience to\nhim, and not to the infant whom G\u00edw had just brought out of a desert.\nNext day the great men and leaders were again assembled to declare\npublicly by an official act their fealty to Kai-khosr\u00e1u, and T\u00fas was\nalso invited to the banquet, which was held on the occasion, but he\nrefused to go. G\u00edw was deputed to repeat the invitation; and he then\nsaid, \"I shall pay homage to Fr\u00edburz, as the heir to the throne, and to\nno other.\n\n  \"For is he not the son of Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas,\n  And worthy of the regal crown and throne?\n  I want not any of the race of Poshang--\n  None of the proud T\u00far\u00e1nian dynasty--\n  Fruitless has been thy peril, G\u00edw, to bring\n  A silly child among us, to defraud\n  The rightful prince of his inheritance!\"\n\nG\u00edw, in reply, vindicated the character and attainments of Khosr\u00e1u, but\nT\u00fas was not to be appeased. He therefore returned to his father and\ncommunicated to him what had occurred. G\u00fadarz was roused to great wrath\nby this resistance to the will of the king, and at once took twelve\nthousand men and his seventy-eight kinsmen, together with G\u00edw, and\nproceeded to support his cause by force of arms. T\u00fas, apprised of his\nintentions, prepared to meet him, but was reluctant to commit himself by\nengaging in a civil war, and said, internally:--\n\n  \"If I unsheath the sword of strife,\n    Numbers on either side will fall,\n  I would not sacrifice the life\n    Of one who owns my sovereign's thrall.\n\n  \"My country would abhor the deed,\n    And may I never see the hour\n  When Persia's sons are doomed to bleed,\n    But when opposed to foreign power.\n\n  \"The cause must be both good and true,\n    And if their blood in war must flow,\n  Will it not seem of brighter hue,\n    When shed to crush the Tartar foe?\"\n\nPossessing these sentiments, T\u00fas sent an envoy to G\u00fadarz, suggesting the\nsuspension of any hostile proceedings until information on the subject\nhad been first communicated to the king. K\u00e1\u00fas was extremely displeased\nwith G\u00fadarz for his precipitancy and folly, and directed both him and\nT\u00fas to repair immediately to court. T\u00fas there said frankly, \"I now owe\nhonor and allegiance to king K\u00e1\u00fas; but should he happen to lay aside the\nthrone and the diadem, my obedience and loyalty will be due to Fr\u00edburz\nhis heir, and not to a stranger.\" To this, G\u00fadarz replied, \"Sai\u00e1wush was\nthe eldest son of the king, and unjustly murdered, and therefore it\nbecomes his majesty to appease and rejoice the soul of the deceased, by\nputting Kai-khosr\u00e1u in his place. Kai-khosr\u00e1u, like Ferid\u00fan, is worthy\nof empire; all the nobles of the land are of this opinion, excepting\nthyself, which must arise from ignorance and vanity.\n\n \"From Nauder certainly thou are descended,\n  Not from a stranger, not from foreign loins;\n  But though thy ancestor was wise and mighty\n  Art thou of equal merit? No, not thou!\n  Regarding Khosr\u00e1u, thou hast neither shown\n  Reason nor sense--but most surprising folly!\"\n  To this contemptuous speech, T\u00fas thus replied:\n  \"Ungenerous warrior! wherefore thus employ\n  Such scornful words to me? Who art thou, pray!\n  Who, but the low descendant of a blacksmith?\n  No Khosr\u00e1u claims thee for his son, no chief\n  Of noble blood; whilst I can truly boast\n  Kindred to princes of the highest worth,\n  And merit not to be obscured by thee!\"\n  To him then G\u00fadarz: \"Hear me for this once,\n  Then shut thy ears for ever. Need I blush\n  To be the kinsman of the glorious Kavah?\n  It is my humour to be proud of him.\n  Although he was a blacksmith--that same man,\n  Who, when the world could still boast of valour,\n  Tore up the name-roll of the fiend Zoh\u00e1k,\n  And gave the Persians freedom from the fangs\n  Of the devouring serpents. He it was,\n  Who raised the banner, and proclaimed aloud,\n  Freedom for Persia! Need I blush for him?\n  To him the empire owes its greatest blessing,\n  The prosperous rule of virtuous Ferid\u00fan.\"\n  T\u00fas wrathfully rejoined: \"Old man! thy arrow\n  May pierce an anvil--mine can pierce the heart\n  Of the K\u00e1f mountain! If thy mace can break\n  A rock asunder--mine can strike the sun!\"\n\nThe anger of the two heroes beginning to exceed all proper bounds, K\u00e1\u00fas\ncommanded silence; when G\u00fadarz came forward, and asked permission to say\none word more: \"Call Khosr\u00e1u and Fr\u00edburz before thee, and decide\nimpartially between them which is the most worthy of sovereignty--let\nthe wisest and the bravest only be thy successor to the throne of\nPersia.\" K\u00e1\u00fas replied:\n\n  \"The father has no choice among his children,\n  He loves them all alike--his only care\n  Is to prevent disunion; to preserve\n  Brotherly kindness and respect among them.\"\n\nAfter a pause, he requested the attendance of Fr\u00edburz and Khosr\u00e1u, and\ntold them that there was a demon-fortress in the vicinity of his\ndominions called Bahmen, from which fire was continually issuing. \"Go,\neach of you,\" said he, \"against this fortress, supported by an army with\nwhich you shall each be equally provided, and the conqueror shall be the\nsovereign of Persia.\" Fr\u00edburz was not sorry to hear of this probationary\nscheme, and only solicited to be sent first on the expedition. He and\nT\u00fas looked upon the task as perfectly easy, and promised to be back\ntriumphant in a short time.\n\n  But when the army reached that awful fort,\n  The ground seemed all in flames on every side;\n  One universal fire raged round and round,\n  And the hot wind was like the scorching breath\n  Which issues from red furnaces, where spirits\n  Infernal dwell. Full many a warrior brave,\n  And many a soldier perished in that heat,\n  Consumed to ashes. Nearer to the fort\n  Advancing, they beheld it in mid-air,\n  But not a living thing--nor gate, nor door;\n  Yet they remained one week, hoping to find\n  Some hidden inlet, suffering cruel loss\n  Hour after hour--but none could they descry.\n  At length, despairing, they returned, worn out,\n  Scorched, and half-dead with watching, care, and toil.\n  And thus Fr\u00edburz and T\u00fas, discomfited\n  And sad, appeared before the Persian king.\n\n  Then was it Khosr\u00e1u's turn, and him K\u00e1\u00fas\n  Despatched with G\u00edw, and G\u00fadarz, and the troops\n  Appointed for that enterprise, and blessed them.\n  When the young prince approached the destined scene\n  Of his exploit, he saw the blazing fort\n  Reddening the sky and earth, and well he knew\n  This was the work of sorcery, the spell\n  Of demon-spirits. In a heavenly dream,\n  He had been taught how to destroy the charms\n  Of fell magicians, and defy their power,\n  Though by the devil, the devil himself, sustained,\n  He wrote the name of God, and piously\n  Bound it upon his javelin's point, and pressed\n  Fearlessly forward, showing it on high;\n  And G\u00edw displayed it on the magic walls\n  Of that proud fortress--breathing forth a prayer\n  Craving the aid of the Almighty arm;\n  When suddenly the red fires died away,\n  And all the world was darkness, Khosr\u00e1u's troops\n  Following the orders of their prince, then shot\n  Thick clouds of arrows from ten thousand bows,\n  In the direction of the enchanted tower.\n  The arrows fell like rain, and quickly slew\n  A host of demons--presently bright light\n  Dispelled the gloom, and as the mist rolled off\n  In sulphury circles, the surviving fiends\n  Were seen in rapid flight; the fortress, too,\n  Distinctly shone, and its prodigious gate,\n  Through which the conquerors passed. Great wealth they found,\n  And having sacked the place, Khosr\u00e1u erected\n  A lofty temple, to commemorate\n  His name and victory there, then back returned\n  Triumphantly to gladden king K\u00e1\u00fas,\n  Whose heart expanded at the joyous news.\n\nThe result of Kai-khosr\u00e1u's expedition against the enchanted castle,\ncompared with that of Fr\u00edburz, was sufficient of itself to establish the\nformer in the king's estimation, and accordingly it was announced to the\nprinces and nobles and warriors of the land, that he should succeed to\nthe throne, and be crowned on a fortunate day. A short time afterwards\nthe coronation took place with great pomp and splendor; and Khosr\u00e1u\nconducted himself towards men of every rank and station with such\nperfect kindness and benevolence, that he gained the affections of all\nand never failed daily to pay a visit to his grandfather K\u00e1\u00fas, and to\nfamiliarize himself with the affairs of the kingdom which he was\ndestined to govern.\n\n  Justice he spread with equal hand,\n  Rooting oppression from the land;\n  And every desert, wood, and wild,\n  With early cultivation smiled;\n  And every plain, with verdure clad,\n  And every Persian heart was glad.\n\n\n\nKAI-KHOSR\u00c1U\n\nThe tidings of Khosr\u00e1u's accession to the throne were received at S\u00edst\u00e1n\nby Z\u00e1l and Rustem with heartfelt pleasure, and they forthwith hastened\nto court with rich presents, to pay him their homage, and congratulate\nhim on the occasion of his elevation. The heroes were met on the road\nwith suitable honors, and Khosr\u00e1u embracing Rustem affectionately, lost\nno time in asking for his assistance in taking vengeance for the death\nof Sai\u00e1wush. The request was no sooner made than granted, and the\nchampion having delivered his presents, then proceeded with his father\nZ\u00e1l to wait upon K\u00e1\u00fas, who prepared a royal banquet, and entertained\nKhosr\u00e1u and them in the most sumptuous manner. It was there agreed to\nmarch a large army against Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b; and all the warriors zealously\ncame forward with their best services, except Z\u00e1l, who on account of his\nage requested to remain tranquilly in his own province. Khosr\u00e1u said to\nK\u00e1\u00fas:\n\n  \"The throne can yield no happiness for me,\n  Nor can I sleep the sleep of health and joy\n  Till I have been revenged on that destroyer.\n  The tyrant of T\u00far\u00e1n; to please the spirit\n  Of my poor butchered father.\"\n\nK\u00e1\u00fas, on delivering over to him the imperial army, made him acquainted\nwith the character and merits of every individual of importance. He\nappointed Fr\u00edburz, and a hundred warriors, who were the prince's friends\nand relatives, to situations of trust and command, and T\u00fas was among\nthem. G\u00fadarz and his seventy-eight sons and grandsons were placed on the\nright, and Gustahem, the brother of T\u00fas, with an immense levy on the\nleft. There were also close to Khosr\u00e1u's person, in the centre of the\nhosts, thirty-three warriors of the race of Poshang, and a separate\nguard under Byzun.\n\nIn their progress Khosr\u00e1u said to Fr\u00edburz and T\u00fas, \"Fer\u00fad, who is my\nbrother, has built a strong fort in Bokh\u00e1ra, called Kull\u00e1b, which stands\non the way to the enemy, and there he resides with his mother,\nG\u00falshaher. Let him not be molested, for he is also the son of Sai\u00e1wush,\nbut pass on one side of his possessions.\" Fr\u00edburz did pass on one side\nas requested; but T\u00fas, not liking to proceed by the way of the desert,\nand preferring a cultivated and pleasant country, went directly on\nthrough the places which led to the very fort in question. When Fer\u00fad\nwas informed of the approach of T\u00fas with an armed force, he naturally\nconcluded that he was coming to fight him, and consequently determined\nto oppose his progress. T\u00fas, however, sent R\u00ed\u00fa, his son-in-law, to\nexplain to Fer\u00fad that he had no quarrel or business with him, and only\nwished to pass peaceably through his province; but Fer\u00fad thought this\nwas merely an idle pretext, and proceeding to hostilities, R\u00ed\u00fa was\nkilled by him in the conflict that ensued. T\u00fas, upon being informed of\nthis result, drew up his army, and besieged the fort into which Fer\u00fad\nhad precipitately retired. When Fer\u00fad, however, found that T\u00fas himself\nwas in the field, he sallied forth from his fastness, and assailed him\nwith his bow and arrows. One of the darts struck and killed the horse of\nT\u00fas, and tumbled his rider to the ground. Upon this occurrence G\u00edw\nrushed forward in the hopes of capturing the prince; but it so happened\nthat he was unhorsed in the same way. Byzun, the son of G\u00edw, seeing with\ngreat indignation this signal overthrow, wished to be revenged on the\nvictor; and though his father endeavored to restrain him, nothing could\ncontrol his wrath. He sprung speedily forward to fulfil his menace, but\nby the bravery and expertness of Fer\u00fad, his horse was killed, and he too\nwas thrown headlong from his saddle. Unsubdued, however, he rose upon\nhis feet, and invited his antagonist to single combat. In consequence of\nthis challenge, they fought a short time with spears till Fer\u00fad deemed\nit advisable to retire into his fort, from the lofty walls of which he\ncast down so many stones, that Byzun was desperately wounded, and\ncompelled to leave the place. When he informed T\u00fas of the misfortune\nwhich had befallen him, that warrior vowed that on the following day not\na man should remain alive in the fort. The mother of Fer\u00fad, who was the\ndaughter of W\u00edsah, had at this period a dream which informed her that\nthe fortress had taken fire, and that the whole of the inhabitants had\nbeen consumed to death. This dream she communicated to Fer\u00fad, who said\nin reply:--\n\n  \"Mother! I have no dread of death;\n  What is there in this vital breath?\n  My sire was wounded, and he died;\n  And fate may lay me by his side!\n  Was ever man immortal?--never!\n  We cannot, mother, live for ever.\n  Mine be the task in life to claim\n  In war a bright and spotless name.\n  What boots it to be pale with fear,\n  And dread each grief that waits us here?\n  Protected by the power divine,\n  Our lot is written--why repine?\"\n\nT\u00fas, according to his threat, attacked the fort, and burst open the\ngates. Fer\u00fad defended himself with great valor against Byzun; and whilst\nthey were engaged in deadly battle, B\u00e1hr\u00e1m, the hero, sprang up from his\nambuscade, and striking furiously upon the head of Fer\u00fad, killed that\nunfortunate youth on the spot. The mother, the beautiful G\u00falshaher,\nseeing what had befallen her son, rushed out of the fort in a state of\nfrenzy, and flying to him, clasped him in her arms in an agony of grief.\nUnable to survive his loss, she plunged a dagger in her own breast, and\ndied at his feet. The Persians then burst open the gates, and plundered\nthe city. B\u00e1hr\u00e1m, when he saw what had been done, reproached T\u00fas with\nbeing the cause of this melancholy tragedy, and asked him what account\nhe would give of his conduct to Kai-khosr\u00e1u. T\u00fas was extremely\nconcerned, and remaining three days at that place, erected a lofty\nmonument to the memory of the unfortunate youth, and scented it with\nmusk and camphor. He then pushed forward his army to attack another\nfort. That fort gave way, the commandant being killed in the attack; and\nhe then hastened on toward Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, who had ordered Niz\u00e1d with thirty\nthousand horsemen to meet him. Byzun distinguished himself in the\ncontest which followed, but would have fallen into the hands of the\nenemy if he had not been rescued by his men, and conveyed from the field\nof battle. Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b pushed forward another force of forty thousand\nhorsemen under P\u00edr\u00e1n-w\u00edsah, who suffered considerable loss in an\nengagement with G\u00edw; and in consequence fell back for the purpose of\nretrieving himself by a shubkh\u00fan, or night attack. The resolution proved\nto be a good one; for when night came on, the Persians were found off\ntheir guard, many of them being intoxicated, and the havoc and\ndestruction committed among them by the Tartars was dreadful. The\nsurvivors were in a miserable state of despondency, but it was not till\nmorning dawned that T\u00fas beheld the full extent of his defeat and the\nruin that surrounded him. When Kai-khosr\u00e1u heard of this heavy reverse,\nhe wrote to Fr\u00edburz, saying, \"I warned T\u00fas not to proceed by the way of\nKull\u00e1b, because my brother and his mother dwelt in that place, and their\nresidence ought to have been kept sacred. He has not only despised my\norders, but he has cruelly occasioned the untimely death of both. Let\nhim be bound, and sent to me a prisoner, and do thou assume the command\nof the army.\" Fr\u00edburz accordingly placed T\u00fas in confinement, and sent\nhim to Khosr\u00e1u, who received and treated him with reproaches and wrath,\nand consigned him to a dungeon. He then wrote to P\u00edr\u00e1n, reproaching him\nfor resorting to a night attack so unworthy of a brave man, and\nchallenging him to resume the battle with him. P\u00edr\u00e1n said that he would\nmeet him after the lapse of a month, and at the expiration of that\nperiod both armies were opposed to each other. The contest commenced\nwith arrows, then swords, and then with javelins; and G\u00edw and Byzun were\nthe foremost in bearing down the warriors of the enemy, who suffered so\nseverely that they turned aside to attack Fr\u00edburz, against whom they\nhoped to be more successful. The assault which they made was\noverwhelming, and vast numbers were slain, so that Fr\u00edburz, finding\nhimself driven to extremity, was obliged to shelter himself and his\nremaining troops on the skirts of a mountain. In the meantime G\u00fadarz and\nG\u00edw determined to keep their ground or perish, and sent Byzun to Fr\u00edburz\nto desire him to join them, or if that was impracticable, to save the\nimperial banner by despatching it to their care. To this message,\nFr\u00edburz replied: \"The traitors are triumphant over me on every side, and\nI cannot go, nor will I give up the imperial banner, but tell G\u00fadarz to\ncome to my aid.\" Upon receiving this answer, Byzun struck the\nstandard-bearer dead, and snatching up the Derafsh G\u00e1vahn\u00ed, conveyed it\nto G\u00fadarz, who, raising it on high, directed his troops against the\nenemy; and so impetuous was the charge, that the carnage on both sides\nwas prodigious. Only eight of the sons of G\u00fadarz remained alive, seventy\nof his kindred having been slain on that day, and many of the family of\nK\u00e1\u00fas were also killed. Nor did the relations of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b and P\u00edr\u00e1n\nsuffer in a less degree, nine hundred of them, warriors and cavaliers,\nwere sent out of the world; yet victory remained with the T\u00far\u00e1nians.\n\nWhen Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b was informed of the result of this battle, he sent\npresents and honorary dresses to his officers, saying, \"We must not be\ncontented with this triumph; you have yet to obscure the martial glory\nof Rustem and Khosr\u00e1u.\" P\u00edr\u00e1n replied, \"No doubt that object will be\naccomplished with equal facility.\"\n\nAfter the defeat of the Persian army, Fr\u00edburz retired under the cover of\nnight, and at length arrived at the court of Khosr\u00e1u, who was afflicted\nwith the deepest sorrow, both on account of his loss in battle and the\ndeath of his brother Fer\u00fad. Rustem was now as usual applied to for the\npurpose of consoling the king, and extricating the empire from its\npresent misfortunes. Khosr\u00e1u was induced to liberate T\u00fas from his\nconfinement, and requested Rustem to head the army against P\u00edr\u00e1n, but\nT\u00fas offered his services, and the champion observed, \"He is fully\ncompetent to oppose the arms of P\u00edr\u00e1n; but if Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b takes the field,\nI will myself instantly follow to the war.\" Khosr\u00e1u accordingly deputed\nT\u00fas and G\u00fadarz with a large army, and the two hostile powers were soon\nplaced in opposition to each other. It is said that they were engaged\nseven days and nights, and that on the eighth H\u00fam\u00e1n came forward, and\nchallenged several warriors to fight singly, all of whom he successively\nslew. He then called upon T\u00fas, but G\u00fadarz not permitting him to accept\nthe challenge, sent G\u00edw in his stead. The combatants met; and after\nbeing wounded and exhausted by their struggles for mastery, each\nreturned to his own post. The armies again engaged with arrows, and\nagain the carnage was great, but the battle remained undecided.\n\nP\u00edr\u00e1n had now recourse to supernatural agency, and sent Bar\u00fa, a renowned\nmagician, perfect in his art, upon the neighboring mountains, to involve\nthem in darkness, and produce by his conjuration tempestuous showers of\nsnow and hail. He ordered him to direct all their intense severity\nagainst the enemy, and to avoid giving any annoyance to the T\u00far\u00e1nian\narmy. Accordingly when H\u00fam\u00e1n and P\u00edr\u00e1n-w\u00edsah made their attack, they had\nthe co-operation of the elements, and the consequence was a desperate\noverthrow of the Persian army.\n\n  So dreadful was the carnage, that the plain\n  Was crimsoned with the blood of warriors slain.\n\nIn this extremity, T\u00fas and G\u00fadarz piously put up a prayer to God,\nearnestly soliciting protection from the horrors with which they were\nsurrounded.\n\n  O Thou! the clement, the compassionate,\n  We are thy servants, succor our distress,\n  And save us from the sorcery that now\n  Yields triumph to the foe. In thee alone\n  We place our trust; graciously hear our prayer!\n\nScarcely had this petition been uttered, when a mysterious person\nappeared to Reh\u00e1m from the invisible world, and pointed to the mountain\nfrom whence the tempest descended. Reh\u00e1m immediately attended to the\nsign, and galloped forward to the mountain, where he discovered the\nmagician upon its summit, deeply engaged in incantations and witchcraft.\nForthwith he drew his sword and cut off this wizard's arms. Suddenly a\nwhirlwind arose, which dissipated the utter darkness that prevailed; and\nthen nothing remained of the preternatural gloom, not a particle of the\nhail or snow was to be seen: Reh\u00e1m, however, brought him down from the\nmountain and after presenting him before T\u00fas, put an end to his wicked\nexistence. The armies were now on a more equal footing: they beheld more\nclearly the ravages that had been committed by each, and each had great\nneed of rest. They accordingly retired till the following day, and then\nagain opposed each other with renewed vigor and animosity. But fortune\nwould not smile on the exertions of the Persian hosts, they being\nobliged to fall back upon the mountain Ham\u00e1wun, and in the fortress\nsituated there T\u00fas deposited all his sick and wounded, continuing\nhimself in advance to ensure their protection. P\u00edr\u00e1n seeing this,\nordered his troops to besiege the place where T\u00fas had posted himself.\nThis was objected to by H\u00fam\u00e1n, but P\u00edr\u00e1n was resolved upon the measure,\nand had several conflicts with the enemy without obtaining any advantage\nover them. In the mountain-fortress there happened to be wells of water\nand abundance of grain and provisions, so that the Persians were in no\ndanger of being reduced by starvation. Khosr\u00e1u, however, being informed\nof their situation, sent Rustem, accompanied by Fr\u00edburz, to their\nassistance, and they were both welcomed, and received with rejoicing,\nand cordial satisfaction. The fortress gates were thrown open, and\nRustem was presently seen seated upon a throne in the public hall,\ndeliberating on the state of affairs, surrounded by the most\ndistinguished leaders of the army.\n\nIn the meanwhile P\u00edr\u00e1n-w\u00edsah had written to Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, informing him\nthat he had reduced the Persian army to great distress, had forced them\nto take refuge in a mountain fort, and requested a further reinforcement\nto complete the victory, and make them all prisoners. Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b in\nconsequence despatched three illustrious confederates from different\nregions. There was Shinkul of Sugsar, the Khak\u00e1n of Ch\u00edn, whose crown\nwas the starry heavens, and K\u00e1m\u00fas of Kush\u00e1n, a hero of high renown and\nwondrous in every deed.\n\n  For when he frowned, the air grew freezing cold;\n  And when he smiled, the genial spring showered down\n  Roses and hyacinths, and all was brightness!\n\nP\u00edr\u00e1n went first to pay a visit to K\u00e1m\u00fas, to whom he, almost trembling,\ndescribed the amazing strength and courage of Rustem: but K\u00e1m\u00fas was too\npowerful to express alarm; on the contrary, he said:\n\n  \"Is praise like this to Rustem due?\n  And what, if all thou say'st be true?\n  Are his large limbs of iron made?\n  Will they resist my trenchant blade?\n  His head may now his shoulders grace,\n  But will it long retain its place?\n  Let me but meet him in the fight,\n  And thou shalt see Kamus's might!\"\n\nP\u00edr\u00e1n's spirits rose at this bold speech, and encouraged by its effects,\nhe repaired to the Khak\u00e1n of Ch\u00edn, with whom he settled the necessary\narrangements for commencing battle on the following day. Early in the\nmorning the different armies under K\u00e1m\u00fas, the Khak\u00e1n, and P\u00edr\u00e1n-w\u00edsah,\nwere drawn out, and Rustem was also prepared with the troops under his\ncommand for the impending conflict. He saw that the force arrayed\nagainst him was prodigious, and most tremendous in aspect; and offering\na prayer to the Creator, he plunged into the battle.\n\n  'Twas at mid-day the strife began,\n  With steed to steed and man to man;\n  The clouds of dust which rolled on high,\n  Threw darkness o'er the earth and sky.\n  Each soldier on the other rushed,\n  And every blade with crimson blushed;\n  And valiant hearts were trod upon,\n    Like sand beneath the horse's feet,\n  And when the warrior's life was gone,\n    His mail became his winding sheet.\n\nThe first leader who advanced conspicuously from among the Tartar army\nwas Ushkab\u00fas, against whom Reh\u00e1m boldly opposed himself; but after a\nshort conflict, in which he had some difficulty in defending his life\nfrom the assaults of his antagonist, he thought it prudent to retire.\nWhen Ushkab\u00fas saw this he turned round with the intention of rejoining\nhis own troops; but Rustem having witnessed the triumph over his friend,\nsallied forth on foot, taking up his bow, and placing a few arrows in\nhis girdle, and asked him whither he was going.\n\n  Astonished, Ushkab\u00fas cried, \"Who art thou?\n  What kindred hast thou to lament thy fall?\"\n  Rustem replied:--\"Why madly seek to know\n  That which can never yield thee benefit?\n  My name is death to thee, thy hour is come!\"\n  \"Indeed! and thou on foot, mid mounted warriors,\n  To talk so bravely!\"--\"Yes,\" the champion said;\n  \"And hast thou never heard of men on foot,\n  Who conquered horsemen? I am sent by T\u00fas,\n  To take for him the horse of Ushkab\u00fas.\"\n  \"What! and unarmed?\" inquired the Tartar chief;\n  \"No!\" cried the champion, \"Mark, my bow and arrow!\n  Mark, too, with what effect they may be used!\"\n  So saying, Rustem drew the string, and straight\n  The arrow flew, and faithful to its aim,\n  Struck dead the foeman's horse. This done, he laughed,\n  But Ushkab\u00fas was wroth, and showered upon\n  His bold antagonist his quivered store--\n  Then Rustem raised his bow, with eager eye\n  Choosing a dart, and placed it on the string,\n  A thong of elk-skin; to his ear he drew\n  The feathered notch, and when the point had touched\n  The other hand, the bended horn recoiled,\n  And twang the arrow sped, piercing the breast\n  Of Ushkab\u00fas, who fell a lifeless corse,\n  As if he never had been born! Erect,\n  And firm, the champion stood upon the plain,\n  Towering like mount Alberz, immovable,\n  The gaze and wonder of the adverse host!\n\nWhen Rustem, still unknown to the T\u00far\u00e1nian forces, returned to his own\narmy, the Tartars carried away the body of Ushkab\u00fas, and took it to the\nKhak\u00e1n of Chin, who ordered the arrow to be drawn out before him; and\nwhen he and K\u00e1m\u00fas saw how deeply it had penetrated, and that the\nfeathered end was wet with blood, they were amazed at the immense power\nwhich had driven it from the bow; they had never witnessed or heard of\nanything so astonishing. The fight was, in consequence, suspended till\nthe following day. The Khak\u00e1n of Chin then inquired who was disposed or\nready to be revenged on the enemy for the death of Ushkab\u00fas, when K\u00e1m\u00fas\nadvanced, and, soliciting permission, urged forward his horse to the\nmiddle of the plain. He then called aloud for Rustem, but a K\u00e1bul hero,\nnamed Alwund, a pupil of Rustem's, asked his master's permission to\noppose the challenger, which being granted, he rushed headlong to the\ncombat. Luckless however were his efforts, for he was soon overthrown\nand slain, and then Rustem appeared in arms before the conqueror, who\nhearing his voice, cried: \"Why this arrogance and clamor! I am not like\nUshkab\u00fas, a trembler in thy presence.\" Rustem replied:\n\n  \"When the lion sees his prey,\n  Sees the elk-deer cross his way,\n  Roars he not? The very ground\n  Trembles at the dreadful sound.\n  And art thou from terror free,\n  When opposed in fight to me?\"\n\nK\u00e1m\u00fas now examined him with a stern eye, and was satisfied that he had\nto contend against a powerful warrior: he therefore with the utmost\nalacrity threw his kamund, which Rustem avoided, but it fell over the\nhead of his horse Rakush. Anxious to extricate himself from this\ndilemma, Rustem dexterously caught hold of one end of the kamund, whilst\nK\u00e1m\u00fas dragged and strained at the other; and so much strength was\napplied that the line broke in the middle, and K\u00e1m\u00fas in consequence\ntumbled backwards to the ground. The boaster had almost succeeded in\nremounting his horse, when he was secured round the neck by Rustem's own\nkamund, and conveyed a prisoner to the Persian army, where he was put to\ndeath!\n\nThe fate of K\u00e1m\u00fas produced a deep sensation among the T\u00far\u00e1nians, and\nP\u00edr\u00e1n-w\u00edsah, partaking of the general alarm, and thinking it impossible\nto resist the power of Rustem, proposed to retire from the contest, but\nthe Khak\u00e1n of Ch\u00edn was of a different opinion, and offered himself to\nremedy the evil which threatened them all. Moreover the warrior,\nChingush, volunteered to fight with Rustem; and having obtained the\nKhak\u00e1n's permission, he took the field, and boldly challenged the\nchampion. Rustem received the foe with a smiling countenance, and the\nstruggle began with arrows. After a smart attack on both sides, Chingush\nthought it prudent to fly from the overwhelming force of Rustem, who,\nhowever, steadily pursued him, and adroitly seizing the horse by the\ntail, hurled him from his saddle.\n\n  He grasped the charger's flowing tail,\n  And all were struck with terror pale,\n  To see a sight so strange; the foe,\n  Dismounted by one desperate blow;\n  The captive asked for life in vain,\n  His recreant blood bedewed the plain.\n  His head was from his shoulders wrung,\n  His body to the vultures flung.\n\nRustem, after this exploit, invited some other hero to single combat;\nbut at the moment not one replied to his challenge. At last H\u00fam\u00e1n came\nforward, not however to fight, but to remonstrate, and make an effort to\nput an end to the war which threatened total destruction to his country.\n\"Why such bitter enmity? why such a whirlwind of resentment?\" said he;\n\"to this I ascribe the calamities under which we suffer; but is there no\nway by which this sanguinary career of vengeance can be checked or\nmoderated?\" Rustem, in answer, enumerated the aggressions and the crimes\nof Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, and especially dwelt on the atrocious murder of Sai\u00e1wush,\nwhich he declared could never be pardoned. H\u00fam\u00e1n wished to know his\nname; but Rustem refused to tell him, and requested P\u00edr\u00e1n-w\u00edsah might be\nsent to him, to whom he would communicate his thoughts, and the secrets\nof his heart freely. H\u00fam\u00e1n accordingly returned, and informed P\u00edr\u00e1n of\nthe champion's wishes.\n\n  \"This must be Rustem, stronger than the pard,\n  The lion, or the Egyptian crocodile,\n  Or fell Ibl\u00eds; dreams never painted hero\n  Half so tremendous on the battle plain.\"\n\nThe old man said to him:\n\n  \"If this be Rustem, then the time has come,\n  Dreaded so long--for what but fire and sword,\n  Can now await us? Every town laid waste,\n  Soldier and peasant, husband, wife, and child,\n  Sharing the miseries of a ravaged land!\"\n\nWith tears in his eyes and a heavy heart, P\u00edr\u00e1n repaired to the Khak\u00e1n,\nwho, after some discussion, permitted him in these terms to go and\nconfer with Rustem.\n\n  \"Depart then speedful on thy embassy,\n  And if he seeks for peace, adjust the terms,\n  And presents to be sent us. If he talks\n  Of war and vengeance, and is clothed in mail,\n  No sign of peace, why we must trust in Heaven\n  For strength to crush his hopes of victory.\n  He is not formed of iron, nor of brass,\n  But flesh and blood, with human nerves and hair,\n  He does not in the battle tread the clouds,\n  Nor can he vanish, like the demon race--\n  Then why this sorrow, why these marks of grief?\n  He is not stronger than an elephant;\n  Not he, but I will show him what it is\n  To fight or gambol with an elephant!\n  Besides, for every man his army boasts,\n  We have three hundred--wherefore then be sad?\"\n\nNotwithstanding these expressions of confidence, P\u00edr\u00e1n's heart was full\nof alarm and terror; but he hastened to the Persian camp, and made\nhimself known to the champion of the host, who frankly said, after he\nhad heard P\u00edr\u00e1n's name, \"I am Rustem of Z\u00e1bul, armed as thou seest for\nbattle!\" Upon which P\u00edr\u00e1n respectfully dismounted, and paid the usual\nhomage to his illustrious rank and distinction. Rustem said to him, \"I\nbring thee the blessings of Kai-khosr\u00e1u and Ferang\u00eds, his mother, who\nnightly see thy face in their dreams.\"\n\n  \"Blessings from me, upon that royal youth!\"\n  Exclaimed the good old man. \"Blessings on her,\n  The daughter of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, his mother,\n  Who saved my life--and blessings upon thee,\n  Thou matchless hero! Thou hast come for vengeance,\n  In the dear name of gallant Sai\u00e1wush,\n  Of Sai\u00e1wush, the husband of my child,\n  (The beautiful G\u00falshaher), of him who loved me\n  As I had been his father. His brave son,\n  Fer\u00fad, was slaughtered, and his mother too,\n  And Khosr\u00e1u was his brother, now the king,\n  By whom he fell, or if not by his sword,\n  Whose was the guilty hand? Has punishment\n  Been meted to the offender? I protected,\n  In mine own house, the princess Ferang\u00eds;\n  And when her son was born, Kai-khosr\u00e1u, still\n  I, at the risk of my existence, kept them\n  Safe from the fury of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b,\n  Who would have sacrificed the child, or both!\n  And night and day I watched them, till the hour\n  When they escaped and crossed the boundary-stream.\n  Enough of this! Now let us speak of peace,\n  Since the confederates in this mighty war\n  Are guiltless of the blood of Sai\u00e1wush!\"\n\nRustem, in answer to P\u00edr\u00e1n, observed, that in negotiating the terms of\npacification, several important points were to be considered, and\nseveral indispensable matters to be attended to. No peace could be made\nunless the principal actors in the bloody tragedy of Sai\u00e1wush's death\nwere first given up, particularly Gers\u00edwaz; vast sums of money were also\nrequired to be presented to the king of kings; and, moreover, Rustem\nsaid he would disdain making peace at all, but that it enabled P\u00edr\u00e1n to\ndo service to Kai-khosr\u00e1u. P\u00edr\u00e1n saw the difficulty of acceding to these\ndemands, but he speedily laid them before the Khak\u00e1n, who consulted his\nconfederates on the subject, and after due consideration, their pride\nand shame resisted the overtures, which they thought ignominious.\nShinkul, a king of Ind, was a violent opposer of the terms, and declared\nagainst peace on any such conditions. Several other warriors expressed\ntheir readiness to contend against Rustem, and they flattered themselves\nthat by a rapid succession of attacks, one after the other, they would\neasily overpower him. The Khak\u00e1n was pleased with this conceit and\npermitted Shinkul to begin the struggle. Accordingly he entered the\nplain, and summoned Rustem to renew the fight. The champion came and\nstruck him with a spear, which, penetrating his breast, threw him off\nhis horse to the ground. The dagger was already raised to finish his\ncareer, but he sprang on his feet, and quickly ran away to tell his\nmisfortune to the Khak\u00e1n of Ch\u00edn.\n\n  And thus he cried, in look forlorn,\n  \"This foe is not of mortal born;\n  A furious elephant in fight,\n  A very mountain to the sight;\n  No warrior of the human race,\n  That ever wielded spear or mace,\n  Alone this dragon could withstand,\n  Or live beneath his conquering brand!\"\n\nThe Khak\u00e1n reminded him how different were his feelings and sentiments\nin the morning, and having asked him what he now proposed to do, he said\nthat without a considerable force it would be useless to return to the\nfield; five thousand men were therefore assigned to him, and with them\nhe proceeded to engage the champion. Rustem had also been joined by his\nvaliant companions, and a general battle ensued. The heavens were\nobscured by the dust which ascended from the tramp of the horses, and\nthe plain was crimsoned with the blood of the slain. In the midst of the\ncontest, S\u00e1wa, a relation of K\u00e1m\u00fas, burst forward and sought to be\nrevenged on Rustem for the fate of his friend. The champion raised his\nbattle-axe, and giving Rakush the rein, with one blow of his mace\nremoved him to the other world. No sooner had he killed this assailant\nthan he was attacked by another of the kindred of K\u00e1m\u00fas, named Kah\u00e1r,\nwhom he also slew, and thus humbled the pride of the Kushanians. Elated\nwith his success, and having further displayed his valor among the\nenemy's troops, he vowed that he would now encounter the Khak\u00e1n himself,\nand despoil him of all his pomp and treasure. For this purpose he\nselected a thousand horsemen, and thus supported, approached the\nkulub-gah, or headquarters of the monarch of Ch\u00edn. The clamor of the\ncavalry, and the clash of spears and swords, resounded afar. The air\nbecame as dark as the visage of an Ethiopian, and the field was covered\nwith several heads, broken armor, and the bodies of the slain. Amidst\nthe conflict Rustem called aloud to the Khak\u00e1n:--\n\n  \"Surrender to my arms those elephants,\n  That ivory throne, that crown, and chain of gold;\n  Fit trophies for Kai-khosr\u00e1u, Persia's king;\n  For what hast thou to do with diadem\n  And sovereign power! My noose shall soon secure thee,\n  And I will send thee living to his presence;\n  Since, looking on my valour and my strength,\n  Life is enough to grant thee. If thou wilt not\n  Resign thy crown and throne--thy doom is sealed.\"\n\nThe Khak\u00e1n, filled with indignation at these haughty words, cautioned\nRustem to parry off his own danger, and then commanded his troops to\nassail the enemy with a shower of arrows. The attack was so tremendous\nand terrifying, even beyond the picturings of a dream, that G\u00fadarz was\nalarmed for the safety of Rustem, and sent Reh\u00e1m and G\u00edw to his aid.\nRustem said to Reh\u00e1m:--\"I fear that my horse Rakush is becoming weary of\nexertion, in which case what shall I do in this conflict with the enemy?\nI must attack on foot the Khak\u00e1n of Ch\u00edn, though he has an army here as\ncountless as legions of ants or locusts; but if Heaven continues my\nfriend, I shall stretch many of them in the dust, and take many\nprisoners. The captives I will send to Khosr\u00e1u, and all the spoils of\nCh\u00edn.\" Saying this he pushed forward, roaring like a tiger, towards the\nKhak\u00e1n, and exclaiming with a stern voice:--\"The Turks are allied to the\ndevil, and the wicked are always unprosperous. Thou hast not yet fallen\nin with Rustem, or thy brain would have been bewildered. He is a\nnever-dying dragon, always seeking the strongest in battle. But thou\nhast not yet had enough of even me!\" He then drew his kamund from the\nsaddle-strap, and praying to God to grant him victory over his foes,\nurged on Rakush, and wherever he threw the noose, his aim was\nsuccessful. Great was the slaughter, and the Khak\u00e1n, seeing from the\nback of his white elephant the extent of his loss, and beginning to be\napprehensive about his own safety, ordered one of his warriors, well\nacquainted with the language of Ir\u00e1n, to solicit from the enemy a\ncessation of hostilities.\n\n  \"Say whence this wrath on us, this keen revenge?\n  We never injured Sai\u00e1wush; the kings\n  Of Ind and Ch\u00edn are guiltless of his blood;\n  Then why this wrath on strangers? Spells and charms,\n  Used by Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b--the cause of all--\n  Have brought us hither to contend against\n  The champion Rustem; and since peace is better\n  Than war and bloodshed, let us part in peace.\"\n\nThe messenger having delivered his message, Rustem replied:--\n\n  \"My words are few. Let him give up his crown,\n  His golden collar, throne, and elephants;\n  These are the terms I grant. He came for plunder,\n  And now he asks for peace. Tell him again,\n  Till all his treasure and his crown are mine,\n  His throne and elephants, he seeks in vain\n  For peace with Rustem, or the Persian king!\"\n\nWhen the Khak\u00e1n was informed of these reiterated conditions, he burst\nout into bitter reproaches and abuse; and with so loud a voice, that the\nwind conveyed them distinctly to Rustem's ear. The champion immediately\nprepared for the attack; and approaching the enemy, flung his kamund, by\nwhich he at once dragged the Khak\u00e1n from his white elephant. The hands\nof the captured monarch were straightway bound behind his back. Degraded\nand helpless he stood, and a single stroke deprived him of his crown,\nand throne, and life.\n\n  Such are, since time began, the ways of Heaven;\n  Such the decrees of fate! Sometimes raised up,\n  And sometimes hunted down by enemies,\n  Men, struggling, pass through this precarious life,\n  Exalted now to sovereign power; and now\n  Steeped in the gulf of poverty and sorrow.\n  To one is given the affluence of K\u00e1run;\n  Another dies in want. How little know we\n  What form our future fortune may assume!\n  The world is all deceit, deception all!\n\nP\u00edr\u00e1n-w\u00edsah beheld the disasters of the day, he saw the Khak\u00e1n of Ch\u00edn\ndelivered over to T\u00fas, his death, and the banners of the confederates\noverthrown; and sorrowing said:--\"This day is the day of flight, not of\nvictory to us! This is no time for son to protect father, nor father\nson--we must fly!\" In the meanwhile Rustem, animated by feelings of a\nvery different kind, gave a banquet to his warrior friends, in\ncelebration of the triumph.\n\nWhen the intelligence of the overthrow and death of K\u00e1m\u00fas and the Khak\u00e1n\nof Ch\u00edn, and the dispersion of their armies, reached Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, he was\noverwhelmed with distress and consternation, and expressed his\ndetermination to be revenged on the conquerors. Not an Ir\u00e1nian, he said,\nshould remain alive; and the doors of his treasury were thrown open to\nequip and reward the new army, which was to consist of a hundred\nthousand men.\n\nRustem having communicated to Kai-khosr\u00e1u, through Fr\u00edburz, the account\nof his success, received the most satisfactory marks of his sovereign's\napplause; but still anxious to promote the glory of his country, he\nengaged in new exploits. He went against Kaf\u00far, the king of the city of\nBid\u00e1d, a cannibal, who feasted on human flesh, especially on the young\nwomen of his country, and those of the greatest beauty, being the\nrichest morsels, were first destroyed. He soon overpowered and slew the\nmonster, and having given his body to be devoured by dogs, plundered and\nrazed his castle to the ground. After this he invaded and ravaged the\nprovince of Khoten, one of the dependencies of T\u00far\u00e1n, and recently the\npossession of Sai\u00e1wush, which was a new affliction to Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, who,\nalarmed about his own empire, dispatched a trusty person secretly to\nRustem's camp, to obtain private intelligence of his hostile movements.\nThe answer of the spy added considerably to his distress, and in the\ndilemma he consulted with P\u00edr\u00e1n-w\u00edsah, that he might have the benefit of\nthe old man's experience and wisdom. P\u00edr\u00e1n told him that he had failed\nto make an impression upon the Persians, even assisted by K\u00e1m\u00fas the\nKash\u00e1nian, and the Khak\u00e1n of Chin; both had been slain in battle, and\ntherefore it would be in vain to attempt further offensive measures\nwithout the most powerful aid. There was, he added, a neighboring king,\nnamed P\u00faladwund, who alone seemed equal to contend with Rustem. He was\nof immense stature, and of prodigious strength, and might by the favor\nof heaven, be able to subdue him. Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b was pleased with this\ninformation, and immediately invited P\u00faladwund, by letter, to assist him\nin exterminating the champion of Persia. P\u00faladwund was proud of the\nhonor conferred upon him, and readily complied; hastening the\npreparation of his own army to cooperate with that of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b. He\npresently joined him, and the whole of the combined forces rapidly\nmarched against the enemy. The first warrior he encountered was G\u00edw,\nwhom he caught with his kamund. Reh\u00e1m and Byzun seeing this, instantly\nrushed forward to extricate their brother and champion in arms; but they\ntoo were also secured in the same manner! In the struggle, however, the\nkamunds gave way, and then P\u00faladwund drew his sword, and by several\nstrokes wounded them all. The father, G\u00fadarz, apprised of this disaster,\nwhich had unfortunately happened to three of his sons, applied to Rustem\nfor succor. The champion, the refuge, the protector of all, was, as\nusual, ready to repel the enemy. He forthwith advanced, liberated his\nfriends, and dreadful was the conflict which followed. The club was used\nwith great dexterity on both sides; but at length P\u00faladwund struck his\nantagonist such a blow that the sound of it was heard by the troops at a\ndistance, and Rustem, stunned by its severity, thought himself opposed\nwith so much vigor, that he prayed to the Almighty for a prosperous\nissue to the engagement.\n\n  \"Should I be in this struggle slain,\n    What stay for Persia will be left?\n  None to defend Kai-khosr\u00e1u's reign,\n    Of me, his warrior-chief, bereft.\n  Then village, town, and city gay,\n  Will feel the cruel Tartar's sway!\"\n\nP\u00faladwund wishing to follow up the blow by a final stroke of his sword,\nfound to his amazement that it recoiled from the armor of Rustem, and\nthence he proposed another mode of fighting, which he hoped would be\nmore successful. He wished to try his power in wrestling. The challenge\nwas accepted. By agreement both armies retired, and left the space of a\nfarsang between them, and no one was allowed to afford assistance to\neither combatant. Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b was present, and sent word to P\u00faladwund, the\nmoment he got Rustem under him, to plunge a sword in his heart. The\ncontest began, but P\u00faladwund had no opportunity of fulfilling the wishes\nof Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b. Rustem grasped him with such vigor, lifted him up in his\narms, and dashed him so furiously on the plain, that the boaster seemed\nto be killed on the spot. Rustem indeed thought he had put a period to\nhis life; and with that impression left him, and remounted Rakush: but\nthe crafty P\u00faladwund only pretended to be dead: and as soon as he found\nhimself released, sprang up and escaped, flying like an arrow to his own\nside. He then told Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b how he had saved his life by counterfeiting\ndeath, and assured him that it was useless to contend against Rustem.\nThe champion having witnessed this subterfuge, turned round in pursuit,\nand the Tartars received him with a shower of arrows; but the attack was\nwell answered, P\u00faladwund being so alarmed that, without saying a word to\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, he fled from the field. P\u00edr\u00e1n now counselled Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b to\nescape also to the remotest part of Tartary. As the flight of P\u00faladwund\nhad disheartened the T\u00far\u00e1nian troops, and there was no chance of\nprofiting by further resistance, Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b took his advice, and so\nprecipitate was his retreat, that he entirely abandoned his standards,\ntents, horses, arms, and treasure to an immense amount. The most\nvaluable booty was sent by Rustem to the king of Ir\u00e1n, and a\nconsiderable portion of it was divided among the chiefs and the soldiers\nof the army. He then mounted Rakush, and proceeded to the court of\nKai-khosr\u00e1u, where he was received with the highest honors and with\nunbounded rejoicings. The king opened his jewel chamber, and gave him\nthe richest rubies, and vessels of gold filled with musk and aloes, and\nalso splendid garments; a hundred beautiful damsels wearing crowns and\near-rings, a hundred horses, and a hundred camels. Having thus\nterminated triumphantly the campaign, Rustem carried with him to Z\u00e1bul\nthe blessings and admiration of his country.\n\n\n\nAKW\u00c1N D\u00cdW\n\n  And now we come to Akw\u00e1n D\u00edw,\n  Whom Rustem next in combat slew.\n\nOne day as Kai-khosr\u00e1u was sitting in his beautiful garden, abounding in\nroses and the balmy luxuriance of spring, surrounded by his warriors,\nand enjoying the pleasures of the banquet with music and singing, a\npeasant approached, and informed him of a most mysterious apparition. A\nwild ass, he said, had come in from the neighboring forest; it had at\nleast the external appearance of a wild ass, but possessed such\nsupernatural strength, that it had rushed among the horses in the royal\nstables with the ferocity of a lion or a demon, doing extensive injury,\nand in fact appeared to be an evil spirit! Kai-khosr\u00e1u felt assured that\nit was something more than it seemed to be, and looked round among his\nwarriors to know what should be done. It was soon found that Rustem was\nthe only person capable of giving effectual assistance in this\nemergency, and accordingly a message was forwarded to request his\nservices. The champion instantly complied, and it was not long before he\noccupied himself upon the important enterprise. Guided by the peasant,\nhe proceeded in the first place towards the spot where the mysterious\nanimal had been seen; but it was not till the fourth day of his search\nthat he fell in with him, and then, being anxious to secure him alive,\nand send him as a trophy to Kai-khosr\u00e1u, he threw his kamund; but it was\nin vain: the wild ass in a moment vanished out of sight! From this\ncircumstance Rustem observed, \"This can be no other than Akw\u00e1n D\u00edw, and\nmy weapon must now be either dagger or sword.\" The next time the wild\nass appeared he pursued him with his drawn sword: but on lifting it up\nto strike, nothing was to be seen. He tried again, when he came near\nhim, both spear and arrow: still the animal vanished, disappointing his\nblow; and thus three days and nights he continued fighting, as it were\nagainst a shadow. Wearied at length with his exertions, he dismounted,\nand leading Rakush to a green spot near a limpid fountain or rivulet of\nspring water, allowed him to graze, and then went to sleep. Akw\u00e1n D\u00edw\nseeing from a distance that Rustem had fallen asleep, rushed towards him\nlike a whirlwind, and rapidly digging up the ground on every side of\nhim, took up the plot of ground and the champion together, placed them\nupon his head, and walked away with them. Rustem being awakened with the\nmotion, he was thus addressed by the giant-demon:--\n\n  \"Warrior! now no longer free!\n  Tell me what thy wish may be;\n  Shall I plunge thee in the sea,\n    Or leave thee on the mountain drear,\n    None to give thee succour, near?\n  Tell thy wish to me!\"\n\nRustem, thus deplorably in the power of the demon, began to consider\nwhat was best to be done, and recollecting that it was customary with\nthat supernatural race to act by the rule of contraries, in opposition\nto an expressed desire, said in reply, for he knew that if he was thrown\ninto the sea there would be a good chance of escape:--\n\n  \"O, plunge me not in the roaring sea,\n  The maw of a fish is no home for me;\n  But cast me forth on the mountain; there\n  Is the lion's haunt and the tiger's lair;\n  And for them I shall be a morsel of food,\n  They will eat my flesh and drink my blood;\n  But my bones will be left, to show the place\n  Where this form was devoured by the feline race;\n  Yes, something will then remain of me,\n  Whilst nothing escapes from the roaring sea!\"\n\nAkw\u00e1n D\u00edw having heard this particular desire of Rustem, determined at\nonce to thwart him, and for this purpose he raised him up with his\nhands, and flung him from his lofty position headlong into the deep and\nroaring ocean. Down he fell, and a crocodile speedily darted upon him\nwith the eager intention of devouring him alive; but Rustem drew his\nsword with alacrity, and severed the monster's head from his body.\nAnother came, and was put to death in the same manner, and the water was\ncrimsoned with blood. At last he succeeded in swimming safely on shore,\nand instantly returned thanks to Heaven for the signal protection he had\nexperienced.\n\n  Breasting the wave, with fearless skill\n    He used his glittering brand;\n  And glorious and triumphant still,\n    He quickly reached the strand.\n\nHe then moved towards the fountain where he had left Rakush; but, to his\ngreat alarm and vexation his matchless horse was not there. He wandered\nabout for some time, and in the end found him among a herd of horses\nbelonging to Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b. Having first caught him, and resumed his seat in\nthe saddle, he resolved upon capturing and driving away the whole herd,\nand conveying them to Kai-khosr\u00e1u. He was carrying into effect this\nresolution when the noise awoke the keepers specially employed by\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, and they, indignant at this outrageous proceeding, called\ntogether a strong party to pursue the aggressor. When they had nearly\nreached him, he turned boldly round, and said aloud:--\"I am Rustem, the\ndescendant of S\u00e1m. I have conquered Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b in battle, and after that\ndost thou presume to oppose me?\" Hearing this, the keepers of the Tartar\nstud instantly turned their backs, and ran away.\n\nIt so happened that at this period Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b paid his annual visit to\nhis nursery of horses, and on his coming to the meadows in which they\nwere kept, neither horses nor keepers were to be seen. In a short time,\nhowever, he was informed by those who had returned from the pursuit,\nthat Rustem was the person who had carried off the herd, and upon\nhearing of this outrage, he proceeded with his troops at once to attack\nhim. Impatient at the indignity, he approached Rustem with great fury,\nbut was presently compelled to fly to save his life, and thus allow his\nherd of favorite steeds, together with four elephants, to be placed in\nthe possession of Kai-khosr\u00e1u. Rustem then returned to the meadows and\nthe fountain near the habitation of Akw\u00e1n D\u00edw; and there he again met\nthe demon, who thus accosted him:--\n\n  \"What! art thou then aroused from death's dark sleep?\n  Hast thou escaped the monsters of the deep?\n  And dost thou seek upon the dusty plain\n  To struggle with a demon's power again?\n  Of flint, or brass, or iron is thy form?\n  Or canst thou, like the demons, raise the dreadful battle storm?\"\n\nRustem, hearing this taunt from the tongue of Akw\u00e1n D\u00edw, prepared for\nfight, and threw his kamund with such precision and force, that the\ndemon was entangled in it, and then he struck him such a mighty blow\nwith his sword, that it severed the head from the body. The severed head\nof the unclean monster he transmitted as a trophy to Kai-khosr\u00e1u, by\nwhom it was regarded with amazement, on account of its hideous\nexpression and its vast size. After this extraordinary feat, Rustem paid\nhis respects to the king, and was received as usual with distinguished\nhonor and affection; and having enjoyed the magnificent hospitality of\nthe court for some time, he returned to Z\u00e1bulist\u00e1n, accompanied part of\nthe way by Kai-khosr\u00e1u himself and a crowd of valiant warriors, ever\nanxious to acknowledge his superior worth and prodigious strength.\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF BYZUN AND MAN\u00cdJEH[49]\n\nOne day the people of Arm\u00e1n petitioned Kai-khosr\u00e1u to remove from them a\ngrievous calamity. The country they inhabited was overrun with herds of\nwild boars, which not only destroyed the produce of their fields, but\nthe fruit and flowers in their orchards and gardens, and so extreme was\nthe ferocity of the animals that it was dangerous to go abroad; they\ntherefore solicited protection from this disastrous visitation, and\nhoped for relief. The king was at the time enjoying himself amidst his\nwarriors at a banquet, drinking wine, and listening to music and the\nsongs of bewitching damsels.\n\n  The glance of beauty, and the charm\n    Of heavenly sounds, so soft and thrilling,\n  And ruby wine, must ever warm\n    The heart, with love and rapture filling.\n  Can aught more sweet, more genial prove,\n  Than melting music, wine, and love?\n\nThe moment he was made acquainted with the grievances endured by the\nArm\u00e1nians, he referred the matter to the consideration of his\ncounsellors and nobles, in order that a remedy might be immediately\napplied. Byzun, when he heard what was required, and had learned the\ndisposition of the king, rose up at once with all the enthusiasm of\nyouth, and offered to undertake the extermination of the wild boars\nhimself. But G\u00edw objected to so great a hazard, for he was too young, he\nsaid; a hero of greater experience being necessary for such an arduous\nenterprise. Byzun, however, was not to be rejected on this account, and\nobserved, that though young, he was mature in judgment and discretion,\nand he relied on the liberal decision of the king, who at length\npermitted him to go, but he was to be accompanied by the veteran warrior\nGirg\u00edn. Accordingly Byzun and Girg\u00edn set off on the perilous expedition;\nand after a journey of several days arrived at the place situated\nbetween Ir\u00e1n and T\u00far\u00e1n, where the wild boars were the most destructive.\nIn a short time a great number were hunted down and killed, and Byzun,\nutterly to destroy the sustenance of the depredators, set fire to the\nforest, and reduced the whole of the cultivation to ashes. His exertions\nwere, in short, entirely successful, and the country was thus freed from\nthe visitation which had occasioned so much distress and ruin. To give\nincontestable proof of this exploit, he cut off the heads of all the\nwild boars, and took out the tusks, to send to Kai-khosr\u00e1u. When Girg\u00edn\nhad witnessed the intrepidity and boldness of Byzun, and found him\ndetermined to send the evidence of his bravery to Kai-khosr\u00e1u, he became\nenvious of the youth's success, and anticipated by comparison the ruin\nof his own name and the gratification of his foes. He therefore\nattempted to dissuade him from sending the trophies to the king, and\nhaving failed, he resolved upon getting him out of the way. To effect\nthis purpose he worked upon the feelings and the passions of Byzun with\nconsummate art, and whilst his victim was warm with wine, praised him\nbeyond all the warriors of the age. He then told him he had heard that\nat no great distance from them there was a beautiful place, a garden of\nperpetual spring, which was visited every vernal season by Man\u00edjeh, the\nlovely daughter of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b.\n\n  \"It is a spot beyond imagination\n  Delightful to the heart, where roses bloom,\n  And sparkling fountains murmur--where the earth\n  Is rich with many-colored flowers; and musk\n  Floats on the gentle breezes, hyacinths\n  And lilies add their perfume--golden fruits\n  Weigh down the branches of the lofty trees,\n  The glittering pheasant moves in stately pomp,\n  The bulbul warbles from the cypress bough,\n  And love-inspiring damsels may be seen\n  O'er hill and dale, their lips all winning smiles,\n  Their cheeks like roses--in their sleepy eyes\n  Delicious languor dwelling. Over them\n  Presides the daughter of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b,\n  The beautiful Man\u00edjeh; should we go,\n  ('Tis but a little distance), and encamp\n  Among the lovely groups--in that retreat\n  Which blooms like Paradise--we may secure\n  A bevy of fair virgins for the king!\"\n\nByzun was excited by this description; and impatient to realize what it\npromised, repaired without delay, accompanied by Girg\u00edn, to the romantic\nretirement of the princess. They approached so close to the summer-tent\nin which she dwelt that she had a full view of Byzun, and immediately\nbecoming deeply enamoured of his person despatched a confidential\ndomestic, her nurse, to inquire who he was, and from whence he came.\n\n  \"Go, and beneath that cypress tree,\n  Where now he sits so gracefully,\n  Ask him his name, that radiant moon,\n  And he may grant another boon!\n  Perchance he may to me impart\n  The secret wishes of his heart!\n  Tell him he must, and further say,\n  That I have lived here many a day;\n  That every year, whilst spring discloses\n  The fragrant breath of budding roses,\n  I pass my time in rural pleasure;\n  But never--never such a treasure,\n  A mortal of such perfect mould,\n  Did these admiring eyes behold!\n  Never, since it has been my lot\n  To dwell in this sequestered spot,\n  A youth by nature so designed\n  To soothe a love-lorn damsel's mind!\n  His wondrous looks my bosom thrill\n  Can Sai\u00e1wush be living still?\"\n\nThe nurse communicated faithfully the message of Man\u00edjeh, and Byzun's\ncountenance glowed with delight when he heard it. \"Tell thy fair\nmistress,\" he said in reply, \"that I am not Sai\u00e1wush, but the son of\nG\u00edw. I came from Ir\u00e1n, with the express permission of the king, to\nexterminate a terrible and destructive herd of wild boars in this\nneighborhood; and I have cut off their heads, and torn out their tusks\nto be sent to Kai-khosr\u00e1u, that the king and his warriors may fully\nappreciate the exploit I have performed. But having heard afterwards of\nthy mistress's beauty and attractions, home and my father were\nforgotten, and I have preferred following my own desires by coming\nhither. If thou wilt therefore forward my views; if thou wilt become my\nfriend by introducing me to thy mistress, who is possessed of such\nmatchless charms, these precious gems are thine and this coronet of\ngold. Perhaps the daughter of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b may be induced to listen to my\nsuit.\" The nurse was not long in making known the sentiments of the\nstranger, and Man\u00edjeh was equally prompt in expressing her consent. The\nmessage was full of ardor and affection.\n\n  \"O gallant youth, no farther roam,\n  This summer-tent shall be thy home;\n  Then will the clouds of grief depart\n  From this enamoured, anxious heart.\n  For thee I live--thou art the light\n  Which makes my future fortune bright.\n  Should arrows pour like showers of rain\n  Upon my head--'twould be in vain;\n  Nothing can ever injure me,\n  Blessed with thy love--possessed of thee!\"\n\nByzun therefore proceeded unobserved to the tent of the princess, who on\nmeeting and receiving him, pressed him to her bosom; and taking off his\nKai\u00e1ni girdle, that he might be more at his ease, asked him to sit down\nand relate the particulars of his enterprise among the wild boars of the\nforest. Having done so, he added that he had left Girg\u00edn behind him.\n\n  \"Enraptured, and impatient to survey\n  Thy charms, I brook'd no pause upon the way.\"\n\nHe was immediately perfumed with musk and rose-water, and refreshments\nof every kind were set before him; musicians played their sweetest airs,\nand dark-eyed damsels waited upon him. The walls of the tent were\ngorgeously adorned with amber, and gold, and rubies; and the sparkling\nold wine was drunk out of crystal goblets. The feast of joy lasted three\nnights and three days, Byzun and Man\u00edjeh enjoying the precious moments\nwith unspeakable rapture. Overcome with wine and the felicity of the\nscene, he at length sunk into repose, and on the fourth day came the\ntime of departure; but the princess, unable to relinquish the society of\nher lover, ordered a narcotic draught to be administered to him, and\nwhilst he continued in a state of slumber and insensibility, he was\nconveyed secretly and in disguise into T\u00far\u00e1n. He was taken even to the\npalace of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, unknown to all but to the emissaries and domestics\nof the princess, and there he awoke from the trance into which he had\nbeen thrown, and found himself clasped in the arms of his idol.\nConsidering, on coming to his senses, that he had been betrayed by some\nwitchery, he made an attempt to get out of the seclusion: above all, he\nwas apprehensive of a fatal termination to the adventure; but Man\u00edjeh's\nblandishments induced him to remain, and for some time he was contented\nto be immersed in continual enjoyment--such pleasure as arises from the\nsocial banquet and the attractions of a fascinating woman.\n\n  \"Grieve not my love--be not so sad,\n  'Tis now the season to be glad;\n  There is a time for war and strife,\n  A time to soothe the ills of life.\n  Drink of the cup which yields delight,\n  The ruby glitters in thy sight;\n  Steep not thy heart in fruitless care,\n  But in the wine-flask sparkling there.\"\n\nAt length, however, the love of the princess for a Persian youth was\ndiscovered, and the keepers and guards of the palace were in the\ngreatest terror, expecting the most signal punishment for their neglect\nor treachery. Dreadful indeed was the rage of the king when he was first\ntold the tidings; he trembled like a reed in the wind, and the color\nfled from his cheeks. Groaning, he exclaimed:--\n\n  \"A daughter, even from a royal stock,\n  Is ever a misfortune--hast thou one?\n  The grave will be thy fittest son-in-law!\n  Rejoice not in the wisdom of a daughter;\n  Who ever finds a daughter good and virtuous?\n  Who ever looks on woman-kind for aught\n  Save wickedness and folly? Hence how few\n  Ever enjoy the bliss of Paradise:\n  Such the sad destiny of erring woman!\"\n\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b consulted the nobles of his household upon the measures to be\npursued on this occasion, and Gers\u00edwaz was in consequence deputed to\nsecure Byzun, and put him to death. The guilty retreat was first\nsurrounded by troops, and then Gers\u00edwaz entered the private apartments,\nand with surprise and indignation saw Byzun in all his glory, Man\u00edjeh at\nhis side, his lips stained with wine, his face full of mirth and\ngladness, and encircled by the damsels of the shubist\u00e1n. He accosted him\nin severe terms, and was promptly answered by Byzun, who, drawing his\nsword, gave his name and family, and declared that if any violence or\ninsult was offered, he would slay every man that came before him with\nhostile intentions. Gers\u00edwaz, on hearing this, thought it prudent to\nchange his plan, and conduct him to Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, and he was permitted to\ndo so on the promise of pardon for the alleged offence. When brought\nbefore Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, he was assailed with further opprobrium, and called a\ndog and a wicked remorseless demon.\n\n  \"Thou caitiff wretch, of monstrous birth,\n  Allied to hell, and not of earth!\"\n\nBut he thus answered the king:--\n\n  \"Listen awhile, if justice be thy aim,\n  And thou wilt find me guiltless. I was sent\n  From Persia to destroy herds of wild boars,\n  Which laid the country waste. That labour done,\n  I lost my way, and weary with the toil,\n  Weary with wandering in a wildering maze,\n  Haply reposed beneath a shady cypress;\n  Thither a Peri came, and whilst I slept,\n  Lifted me from the ground, and quick as thought\n  Conveyed me to a summer-tent, where dwelt\n  A princess of incomparable beauty.\n  From thence, by hands unknown, I was removed,\n  Still slumbering in a litter--still unconscious;\n  And when I woke, I found myself reclining\n  In a retired pavilion of thy palace,\n  Attended by that soul-entrancing beauty!\n  My heart was filled with sorrow, and I shed\n  Showers of vain tears, and desolate I sate,\n  Thinking of Persia, with no power to fly\n  From my imprisonment, though soft and kind,\n  Being the victim of a sorcerer's art.\n  Yes, I am guiltless, and Man\u00edjeh too,\n  Both by some magic influence pursued,\n  And led away against our will or choice!\"\n\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b listened to this speech with distrust, and hesitated not to\ncharge him with falsehood and cowardice. Byzun's indignation was roused\nby this insulting accusation; and he said to him aloud, \"Cowardice,\nwhat! cowardice! I have encountered the tusks of the formidable wild\nboar and the claws of the raging lion. I have met the bravest in battle\nwith sword and arrow; and if it be thy desire to witness the strength of\nmy arm, give me but a horse and a battle-axe, and marshal twice five\nhundred T\u00far\u00e1nians against me, and not a man of them shall survive the\ncontest. If this be not thy pleasure, do thy worst, but remember my\nblood will be avenged. Thou knowest the power of Rustem!\" The mention of\nRustem's name renewed all the deep feelings of resentment and animosity\nin the mind of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, who, resolved upon the immediate execution of\nhis purpose, commanded Gers\u00edwaz to bind the youth, and put an end to his\nlife on the gallows tree. The good old man P\u00edr\u00e1n-w\u00edsah happened to be\npassing by the place to which Byzun had just been conveyed to suffer\ndeath; and seeing a great concourse of people, and a lofty dar erected,\nfrom which hung a noose, he inquired for whom it was intended. Gers\u00edwaz\nheard the question, and replied that it was for a Persian, an enemy of\nT\u00far\u00e1n, a son of G\u00edw, and related to Rustem. P\u00edr\u00e1n straightway rode up to\nthe youth, who was standing in deep affliction, almost naked, and with\nhis hands bound behind his back, and he said to him:--\n\n  \"Why didst thou quit thy country, why come hither,\n  Why choose the road to an untimely grave?\"\n\nUpon this Byzun told him his whole story, and the treachery of Girg\u00edn.\nP\u00edr\u00e1n wept at the recital, and remembering the circumstances under which\nhe had encountered G\u00edw, and how he had been himself delivered from death\nby the interposition of Ferang\u00eds, he requested the execution to be\nstayed until he had seen the king, which was accordingly done. The king\nreceived him with honor, praised his wisdom and prudence, and\nconjecturing from his manner that something was heavy at his heart,\nexpressed his readiness to grant any favor which he might have come to\nsolicit. P\u00edr\u00e1n said: \"Then, my only desire is this: do not put Byzun to\ndeath; do not repeat the tragedy of Sai\u00e1wush, and again consign T\u00far\u00e1n\nand Ir\u00e1n to all the horrors of war and desolation. Remember how I warned\nthee against taking the life of that young prince; but malignant and\nevil advisers exerted their influence, were triumphant, and brought upon\nthee and thy kingdom the vengeance of K\u00e1\u00fas, of Rustem, and all the\nwarriors of the Persian empire. The swords now sleeping in their\nscabbards are ready to flash forth again, for assuredly if the blood of\nByzun be spilt the land will be depopulated by fire and sword. The honor\nof a king is sacred; when that is lost, all is lost.\" But Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b\nreplied: \"I fear not the thousands that can be brought against me. Byzun\nhas committed an offence which can never be pardoned; it covers me with\nshame, and I shall be universally despised if I suffer him to live.\nDeath were better for me than life in disgrace. He must die.\"--\"That is\nnot necessary,\" rejoined P\u00edr\u00e1n, \"let him be imprisoned in a deep cavern;\nhe will never be heard of more, and then thou canst not be accused of\nhaving shed his blood.\" After some deliberation, Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b altered his\ndetermination, and commanded Gers\u00edwaz to bind the youth with chains from\nhead to foot, and hang him within a deep pit with his head downwards,\nthat he might never see sun or moon again; and he sentenced Man\u00edjeh to\nshare the same fate: and to make their death more sure, he ordered the\nenormous fragment of rock which Akw\u00e1n D\u00edw had dragged out of the ocean\nand flung upon the plain of Tartary, to be placed over the mouth of the\npit. In respect to Byzun, Gers\u00edwaz did as he was commanded; but the\nlamentations in the shubist\u00e1n were so loud and distressing upon Man\u00edjeh\nbeing sentenced to the same punishment, that the tyrant was induced to\nchange her doom, allowing her to dwell near the pit, but forbidding, by\nproclamation, anyone going to her or supplying her with food. Gers\u00edwaz\nconducted her to the place; and stripping her of her rich garments and\njewels, left her bareheaded and barefooted, weeping torrents of tears.\n\n  He left her--the unhappy maid;\n  Her head upon the earth was laid,\n  In bitterness of grief, and lone,\n  Beside that dreadful demon-stone.\n\nThere happened, however, to be a fissure in the huge rock that covered\nthe mouth of the pit, which allowed of Byzun's voice being heard, and\nbread and water was let down to him, so that they had the melancholy\nsatisfaction of hearing each other's woes.\n\nThe story now relates to Girg\u00edn, who finding after several days that\nByzun had not returned, began to repent of his treachery; but what is\nthe advantage of such repentance? it is like the smoke that rises from a\nconflagration.\n\n  When flames have done their worst, thick clouds arise\n  Of lurid smoke, which useless mount the skies.\n\nHe sought everywhere for him; went to the romantic retreat where the\ndaughter of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b resided; but the place was deserted, nothing was\nto be seen, and nothing to be heard. At length he saw Byzun's horse\nastray, and securing him with his kamund, thought it useless to remain\nin T\u00far\u00e1n, and therefore proceeded in sorrow back to Ir\u00e1n. G\u00edw, finding\nthat his son had not returned with him from Arm\u00e1n, was frantic with\ngrief; he tore his garments and his hair, and threw ashes over his head;\nand seeing the horse his son had ridden, caressed it in the fondest\nmanner, demanding from Girg\u00edn a full account of what he knew of his\nfate. \"O Heaven forbid,\" said he, \"that my son should have fallen into\nthe power of the merciless demons!\" Girg\u00edn could not safely confess the\ntruth, and therefore told a falsehood, in the hope of escaping from the\nconsequences of his own guilt. \"When we arrived at Arm\u00e1n,\" said he, \"we\nentered a large forest, and cutting down the trees, set them on fire. We\nthen attacked the wild boars, which were found in vast numbers; and as\nsoon as they were all destroyed, left the place on our return. Sporting\nall the way, we fell in with an elk, of a most beautiful and wonderful\nform. It was like the S\u00edm\u00fargh; it had hoofs of steel, and the head and\nears and tail of a horse. It was strong as a lion and fleet as the wind,\nand came fiercely before us, yet seemed to be a thing of air. Byzun\nthrew his kamund over him; and when entangled in the noose, the animal\nbecame furious and sprung away, dragging Byzun after him. Presently the\nprospect was enveloped in smoke, the earth looked like the ocean, and\nByzun and the phantom-elk disappeared. I wandered about in search of my\ncompanion, but found him not: his horse only remained. My heart was rent\nwith anguish, for it seemed to me that the furious elk must have been\nthe White Demon.\" But G\u00edw was not to be deceived by this fabricated\ntale; on the contrary, he felt convinced that treachery had been at\nwork, and in his rage seized Girg\u00edn by the beard, dragged him to and\nfro, and inflicted on him two hundred strokes with a scourge. The\nunhappy wretch, from the wounds he had received, fell senseless on the\nground. G\u00edw then hastened to Kai-khosr\u00e1u to inform him of his\nmisfortune; and though the first resolve was to put the traitor to\ndeath, the king was contented to load him with chains and cast him into\nprison. The astrologers being now consulted, pronounced that Byzun was\nstill living, and G\u00edw was consoled and cheered by the promptitude with\nwhich the king despatched troops in every quarter in search of his son.\n\n  \"Weep no longer, warrior bold,\n  Thou shalt soon thy son behold.\n  In this Cup, this mirror bright,\n  All that's dark is brought to light;\n  All above and under ground,\n  All that's lost is quickly found.\"\n  Thus spake the monarch, and held up\n  Before his view that wondrous Cup\n  Which first to Jemsh\u00edd's eye revealed\n  All that was in the world concealed.\n  And first before him lay exposed\n  All that the seven climes enclosed,\n  Whether in ocean or amid\n  The stars the secret things were hid,\n  Whether in rock or cavern placed,\n  In that bright Cup were clearly traced.\n  And now his eye Karugs\u00e1r surveys,\n  The Cup the province wide displays.\n  He sees within that dismal cave\n  Byzun the good, the bold, the brave;\n  And sitting on that demon-stone\n  Lovely Man\u00edjeh sad and lone.\n  And now he smiles and looks on G\u00edw,\n  And cries: \"My prophecy was true.\n  Thy Byzun lives; no longer grieve,\n  I see him there, my words believe;\n  And though bound fast in fetters, he\n  Shall soon regain his liberty.\"\n\nKai-khosr\u00e1u, thinking the services of Rustem requisite on this occasion,\ndispatched G\u00edw with an invitation to him, explaining the circumstance of\nByzun's capture. Rustem had made up his mind to continue in peace and\ntranquillity at his Z\u00e1bul principality, and not to be withdrawn again\nfrom its comforts by any emergency; but the reported situation of his\nnear relative altered his purpose, and he hesitated not to give his best\naid to restore him to freedom. G\u00edw rejoiced at this, and both repaired\nwithout delay to the royal residence, where Khosr\u00e1u gratified the\nchampion with the most cordial welcome, placing him on a throne before\nhim. The king asked him what force he would require, and he replied that\nhe did not require any army; he preferred going in disguise as a\nmerchant. Accordingly the necessary materials were prepared; a thousand\ncamels were laden with jewels and brocades, and other merchandise, and a\nthousand warriors were habited like camel-drivers. Girg\u00edn had prayed to\nbe released from his bonds, and by the intercession of Rustem was\nallowed to be of the party; but his children were kept in prison as\nhostages and security for his honorable conduct. When the champion, with\nhis kafila, arrived within the territory of the enemy, and approached\nthe spot where Byzun was imprisoned, a loud clamor arose that a caravan\nof merchandise had come from Ir\u00e1n, such as was never seen before. The\ntidings having reached the ear of Man\u00edjeh, she went immediately to\nRustem, and inquired whether the imprisonment of Byzun was yet known at\nthe Persian court? Rustem replied in anger: \"I am a merchant employed in\ntraffic, what can I know of such things? Go away, I have no acquaintance\nwith either the king or his warriors.\" This answer overwhelmed Man\u00edjeh\nwith disappointment and grief, and she wept bitterly. Her tears began to\nsoften the heart of Rustem, and he said to her in a soothing voice:--\"I\nam not an inhabitant of the city in which the court is held, and on that\naccount I know nothing of these matters; but tell me the cause of thy\ngrief.\" Man\u00edjeh sighed deeply, and endeavored to avoid giving him any\nreply, which increased the curiosity of the champion; but she at length\ncomplied. She told him who she was, the daughter of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, the story\nof her love, and the misfortunes of Byzun, and pointed out to him the\npit in which he was imprisoned and bound down with heavy chains.\n\n  \"For the sake of him has been my fall\n  From royal state, and bower, and hall,\n  And hence this pale and haggard face,\n  This saffron hue thy eye may trace,\n  Where bud of rose was wont to bloom,\n    But withered now and gone;\n  And I must sit in sorrow's gloom\n    Unsuccoured and alone.\"\n\nRustem asked with deep interest if any food could be conveyed to him,\nand she said that she had been accustomed to supply him with bread and\nwater through a fissure in the huge stone which covered the mouth of the\npit. Upon receiving this welcome information, Rustem brought a roasted\nfowl, and inclosing in it his own seal-ring, gave it to Man\u00edjeh to take\nto Byzun. The poor captive, on receiving it, inquired by whom such a\nblessing could have been sent, and when she informed him that it had\nbeen given to her by the chief of a caravan from Ir\u00e1n, who had\nmanifested great anxiety about him, his smiles spoke the joyous feelings\nof his heart, for the name of Rustem was engraved on the ring. Man\u00edjeh\nwas surprised to see him smile, considering his melancholy situation,\nand could not imagine the cause. \"If thou wilt keep my secret,\" said he,\n\"I will tell thee the cause.\" \"What!\" she replied, \"have I not devoted\nmy heart and soul to thee?--have I not sacrificed everything for thy\nlove, and is my fidelity now to be suspected?\n\n \"Can I be faithless, then, to thee,\n    The choice of this fond heart of mine;\n  Why sought I bonds, when I was free,\n    But to be thine--forever thine?\"\n\n\"True, true! then hear me:--the chief of the caravan is Rustem, who has\nundoubtedly come to release me from this dreadful pit. Go to him, and\nconcert with him the manner in which my deliverance may be soonest\neffected.\" Man\u00edjeh accordingly went and communicated with the champion;\nand it was agreed between them that she should light a large fire to\nguide him on his way. He was prompt as well as valiant, and repaired in\nthe middle of the following night, accompanied by seven of his warriors,\ndirected by the blaze, to the place where Byzun was confined. The\nneighborhood was infested by demons with long nails, and long hair on\ntheir bodies like the hair of a goat, and horny feet, and with heads\nlike dogs, and the chief of them was the son of Akw\u00e1n D\u00edw. The father\nhaving been slain by Rustem, the son nourished the hope of revenge, and\nperpetually longed for an opportunity of meeting him in battle. Well\nknowing that the champion was engaged in the enterprise to liberate\nByzun, he commanded his demons to give him intelligence of his approach.\nHis height was tremendous, his face was black, his mouth yawned like a\ncavern, his eyes were fountains of blood, his teeth like those of a wild\nboar, and the hair on his body like needles. The monster advanced, and\nreproaching Rustem disdainfully for having slain Akw\u00e1n D\u00edw, and many\nother warriors in the T\u00far\u00e1nian interest, pulled up a tree by the roots\nand challenged him to combat. The struggle began, but the Demon\nfrequently escaped the fury of the champion by vanishing into air. At\nlength Rustem struck a fortunate blow, which cut the body of his\ntowering adversary in two. His path being now free from interruption, he\nsped onward, and presently beheld the prodigious demon-stone which\ncovered the mouth of the pit, in which Byzun was imprisoned.\n\n  And praying to the Almighty to infuse\n  Strength through his limbs, he raised it up, and flung\n  The ponderous mass of rock upon the plain,\n  Which shuddered to receive that magic load!\n\nThe mouth of the cavern being thus exposed, Rustem applied himself to\nthe extrication of Byzun from his miserable condition, and letting down\nhis kamund, he had soon the pleasure of drawing up the unfortunate\ncaptive, whom he embraced with great affection; and instantly stripped\noff the chains with which he was bound. After mutual congratulations had\nbeen exchanged, Rustem proposed that Byzun and Man\u00edjeh should go\nimmediately to Ir\u00e1n, whilst he and his companions in arms attacked the\npalace of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b; but though wasted as he was by long suffering,\nByzun could not on any consideration consent to avoid the perils of the\nintended assault, and determined, at all hazards, to accompany his\ndeliverer.\n\n  \"Full well I know thy superhuman power\n  Needs no assistance from an arm like mine;\n  But grateful as I am for this great service,\n  I cannot leave thee now, and shrink from peril,\n  That would be baseness which I could not bear.\"\n\nIt was on the same night that Rustem and Byzun, and seven of his\nwarriors, proceeded against that part of the palace in which the tyrant\nslept. He first put to death the watchman, and also killed a great\nnumber of the guard, and a loud voice presently resounded in the chamber\nof the king:--\"Awake from thy slumbers, Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, Byzun has been freed\nfrom his chains.\" Rustem now entered the royal palace, and openly\ndeclaring his name, exclaimed:--\"I am come, Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, to destroy thee,\nand Byzun is also here to do thee service for thy cruelty to him.\" The\ndeath-note awoke the trembling Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, and he rose up, and fled in\ndismay. Rustem and his companions rushed into the inner apartments, and\ncaptured all the blooming damsels of the shubist\u00e1n, and all the jewels\nand golden ornaments which fell in their way. The moon-faced beauties\nwere sent to Z\u00e1bul; but the jewels and other valuable property were\nreserved for the king.\n\nIn the morning Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b hastily collected together his troops and\nmarched against Rustem, who, with Byzun and his thousand warriors, met\nhim on the plain prepared for battle. The champion challenged any one\nwho would come forward to single combat; but though frequently repeated,\nno attention was paid to the call. At length Rustem said to\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b:--\"Art thou not ashamed to avoid a contest with so inferior\na force, a hundred thousand against one thousand? We two, and our\narmies, have often met, and dost thou now shrink from the fight?\" The\nreproach had its effect,\n\n  For the tyrant at once, and his heroes, began\n  Their attack like the demons of M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n.\n\nBut the valor and the bravery of Rustem were so eminently shown, that he\noverthrew thousands of the enemy.\n\n  In the tempest of battle, disdaining all fear,\n  With his kamund, and khanjer, his garz, and shamsh\u00edr,\n  How he bound, stabbed, and crushed, and dissevered the foe,\n  So mighty his arm, and so fatal his blow.\n\nAnd so dreadful was the carnage, that Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, unable to resist his\nvictorious career, was compelled to seek safety in flight.\n\n  The field was red with blood, the Tartar banners\n  Cast on the ground, and when, with grief, he saw\n  The face of Fortune turned, his cohorts slain,\n  He hurried back, and sought T\u00far\u00e1n again.\n\nRustem having obtained another triumph, returned to Ir\u00e1n with the spoils\nof his conquest, and was again honored with the smiles and rewards of\nhis sovereign. Man\u00edjeh was not forgotten; she, too, received a present\nworthy of the virtue and fidelity she had displayed, and of the\nmagnanimity of her spirit; and the happy conclusion of the enterprise\nwas celebrated with festivity and rejoicing.\n\n\n\nBARZ\u00da, AND HIS CONFLICT WITH RUSTEM\n\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b after his defeat pursued his way in despair towards Ch\u00edn and\nM\u00e1-ch\u00edn, and on the road happened to fall in with a man of huge and\nterrific stature. Amazed at the sight of so extraordinary a being, he\nasked him who and what he was. \"I am a villager,\" replied the stranger.\n\"And thy father?\"--\"I do not know my father. My mother has never\nmentioned his name, and my birth is wrapped in mystery.\" Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b then\naddressed him as follows:--\"It is my misfortune to have a bitter and\ninvincible enemy, who has plunged me into the greatest distress. If he\ncould be subdued, there would be no impediment to my conquest of Ir\u00e1n;\nand I feel assured that thou, apparently endued with such prodigious\nstrength, hast the power to master him. His name is Rustem.\" \"What!\"\nrejoined Barz\u00fa, \"is all this concern and affliction about one man--about\none man only?\" \"Yes,\" answered Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b; \"but that one man is equal to\na hundred strong men. Upon him neither sword, nor mace, nor javelin has\nany effect. In battle he is like a mountain of steel.\" At this Barz\u00fa\nexclaimed in gamesome mood:--\"A mountain of steel!--I can reduce to dust\na hundred mountains of steel!--What is a mountain of steel to me!\"\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b rejoiced to find such confidence in the stranger, and\ninstantly promised him his own daughter in marriage, and the monarchy of\nCh\u00edn and M\u00e1-ch\u00edn, if he succeeded in destroying Rustem. Barz\u00fa replied:--\n\n  \"Thou art but a coward slave,\n  Thus a stranger's aid to crave.\n  And thy soldiers, what are they?\n  Heartless on the battle-day.\n  Thou, the prince of such a host!\n  What, alas! hast thou to boast?\n  Art thou not ashamed to wear\n  The regal crown that glitters there?\n  And dost thou not disgrace the throne\n  Thus to be awed, and crushed by one;\n  By one, whate'er his name or might,\n  Thus to be put to shameful flight!\"\n\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b felt keenly the reproaches which he heard; but, nevertheless,\nsolicited the assistance of Barz\u00fa, who declared that he would soon\noverpower Rustem, and place the empire of Ir\u00e1n under the dominion of the\nTartar king. He would, he said, overflow the land of Persia with blood,\nand take possession of the throne! The despot was intoxicated with\ndelight, and expecting his most sanguine wishes would be realized, made\nhim the costliest presents, consisting of gold and jewels, and horses,\nand elephants, so that the besotted stranger thought himself the\ngreatest personage in all the world. But his mother, when she heard\nthese things, implored him to be cautious:--\n\n  \"My son, these presents, though so rich and rare,\n  Will be thy winding-sheet; beware, beware!\n  They'll drive to madness thy poor giddy brain,\n  And thou wilt never be restored again.\n  Never; for wert thou bravest of the brave,\n  They only lead to an untimely grave.\n  Then give them back, nor such a doom provoke,\n  Beware of Rustem's host-destroying stroke.\n  Has he not conquered demons!--and, alone,\n  Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b's best warriors overthrown!\n  And canst thou equal them?--Alas! the day\n  That thy sweet life should thus be thrown away.\"\n\nBarz\u00fa, however, was too much dazzled by the presents he had received,\nand too vain of his own personal strength to attend to his mother's\nadvice. \"Certainly,\" said he, \"the disposal of our lives is in the hands\nof the Almighty, and as certain it is that my strength is superior to\nthat of Rustem. Would it not then be cowardly to decline the contest\nwith him?\" The mother still continued to dissuade him from the\nenterprise, and assured him that Rustem was above all mankind\ndistinguished for the art, and skill, and dexterity, with which he\nattacked his enemy, and defended himself; and that there was no chance\nof his being overcome by a man entirely ignorant of the science of\nfighting; but Barz\u00fa remained unmoved: yet he told the king what his\nmother had said; and Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, in consequence, deemed it proper to\nappoint two celebrated masters to instruct him in the use of the bow,\nthe sword, and the javelin, and also in wrestling and throwing the\nnoose. Every day, clothed in armor, he tried his skill and strength with\nthe warriors, and after ten days he was sufficiently accomplished to\noverthrow eighteen of them at one time. Proud of the progress he had\nmade, he told the king that he would seize and bind eighteen of his\nstoutest and most experienced teachers, and bring them before him, if he\nwished, when all the assembly exclaimed:--\"No doubt he is fully equal\nto the task;\n\n \"He does not seem of human birth, but wears\n  The aspect of the Evil One; and looks\n  Like Alberz mountain, clad in folds of mail;\n  Unwearied in the fight he conquers all.\"\n\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b's satisfaction was increased by this testimony to the merit of\nBarz\u00fa, and he heaped upon him further tokens of his good-will and\nmunificence. The vain, newly-made warrior was all exultation and\ndelight, and said impatiently:--\n\n  \"Delays are ever dangerous--let us meet\n  The foe betimes, this Rustem and the king,\n  Kai-khosr\u00e1u. If we linger in a cause\n  Demanding instant action, prompt appliance,\n  And rapid execution, we are lost.\n  Advance, and I will soon lop off the heads\n  Of this belauded champion and his king,\n  And cast them, with the Persian crown and throne\n  Trophies of glory, at thy royal feet;\n  So that T\u00far\u00e1n alone shall rule the world.\"\n\nSpeedily ten thousand experienced horsemen were selected and placed\nunder the command of Barz\u00fa; and H\u00fam\u00e1n and B\u00e1rm\u00e1n were appointed to\naccompany him; Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b himself intending to follow with the reserve.\n\nWhen the intelligence of this new expedition reached the court of\nKai-khosr\u00e1u, he was astonished, and could not conceive how, after so\nsignal a defeat and overthrow, Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b had the means of collecting\nanother army, and boldly invading his kingdom. To oppose this invasion,\nhowever, he ordered T\u00fas and Fr\u00edburz, with twelve thousand horsemen, and\nmarched after them himself with a large army. As soon as T\u00fas fell in\nwith the enemy the battle commenced, and lasted, with great carnage, a\nwhole day and night, and in the end Barz\u00fa was victorious. The warriors\nof the Persian force fled, and left T\u00fas and Fr\u00edburz alone on the field,\nwhere they were encountered by the conqueror, taken prisoners, and\nbound, and placed in the charge of H\u00fam\u00e1n. The tidings of the result of\nthis conflict were received with as much rejoicing by Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, as with\nsorrow and consternation by Kai-khosr\u00e1u. And now the emergency, on the\nPersian side, demanded the assistance of Rustem, whose indignation was\nroused, and who determined on revenge for the insult that had been\ngiven. He took with him Gustahem, the brother of T\u00fas, and at midnight\nthought he had come to the tent of Barz\u00fa, but it proved to be the\npavilion of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, who was seen seated on his throne, with Barz\u00fa on\nhis right hand, and P\u00edr\u00e1n-w\u00edsah on his left, and T\u00fas and Fr\u00edburz\nstanding in chains before them. The king said to the captive warriors:\n\"To-morrow you shall both be put to death in the manner I slew\nSai\u00e1wush.\" He then retired. Meanwhile Rustem returned thanks to Heaven\nthat his friends were still alive, and requesting Gustahem to follow\ncautiously, he waited awhile for a fit opportunity, till the watchman\nwas off his guard, and then killing him, he and Gustahem took up and\nconveyed the two prisoners to a short distance, where they knocked off\ntheir chains, and then conducted them back to Kai-khosr\u00e1u.\n\nWhen Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b arose from sleep, he found his warriors in close and\nearnest conversation, and was told that a champion from Persia had come\nand killed the watchman, and carried off the prisoners. P\u00edr\u00e1n exclaimed:\n\"Then assuredly that champion is Rustem, and no other.\" Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b\nwrithed with anger and mortification at this intelligence, and sending\nfor Barz\u00fa, despatched his army to attack the enemy, and challenge Rustem\nto single combat. Rustem was with the Persian troops, and, answering the\nsummons, said: \"Young man, if thou art calling for Rustem, behold I come\nin his place to lay thee prostrate on the earth.\" \"Ah!\" rejoined Barz\u00fa,\n\"and why this threat? It is true I am but of tender years, whilst thou\nart aged and experienced. But if thou art fire, I am water, and able to\nquench thy flames.\" Saying this he wielded his bow, and fixed the arrow\nin its notch, and commenced the strife. Rustem also engaged with bow and\narrows; and then they each had recourse to their maces, which from\nrepeated strokes were soon bent as crooked as their bows, and they were\nthemselves nearly exhausted. Their next encounter was by wrestling, and\ndreadful were the wrenches and grasps they received from each other.\nBarz\u00fa finding no advantage from this struggle, raised his mace, and\nstruck Rustem such a prodigious blow on the head, that the champion\nthought a whole mountain had fallen upon him. One arm was disabled, but\nthough the wound was desperate, Rustem had the address to conceal its\neffects, and Barz\u00fa wondered that he had made apparently so little\nimpression on his antagonist. \"Thou art,\" said he, \"a surprising\nwarrior, and seemingly invulnerable. Had I struck such a blow on a\nmountain, it would have been broken into a thousand fragments, and yet\nit makes no impression upon thee. Heaven forbid!\" he continued to\nhimself, \"that I should ever receive so bewildering a stroke upon my own\nhead!\" Rustem having successfully concealed the anguish of his wound,\nartfully observed that it would be better to finish the combat on the\nfollowing day, to which Barz\u00fa readily agreed, and then they both parted.\n\nBarz\u00fa declared to Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b that his extraordinary vigor and strength\nhad been of no account, for both his antagonist and his horse appeared\nto be composed of materials as hard as flint. Every blow was without\neffect; and \"Heaven only knows,\" added he, \"what may be the result of\nto-morrow's conflict.\" On the other hand Rustem showed his lacerated arm\nto Khosr\u00e1u, and said: \"I have escaped from him; but who else is there\nnow to meet him, and finish the struggle? Fer\u00e1murz, my son, cannot\nfulfil my promise with Barz\u00fa, as he, alas! is fighting in Hind\u00fast\u00e1n. Let\nme, however, call him hither, and in the meanwhile, on some pretext or\nother, delay the engagement.\" The king, in great sorrow and affliction,\nsanctioned his departure, and then said to his warriors: \"I will fight\nthis Barz\u00fa myself to-morrow;\" but G\u00fadarz would not consent to it,\nsaying: \"As long as we live, the king must not be exposed to such\nhazard. G\u00edw and Byzun, and the other chiefs, must first successively\nencounter the enemy.\"\n\nWhen Rustem reached his tent, he told his brother Z\u00fa\u00e1ra to get ready a\nlitter, that he might proceed to S\u00edst\u00e1n for the purpose of obtaining a\nremedy for his wound from the S\u00edm\u00fargh. Pain and grief kept him awake all\nnight, and he prayed incessantly to the Supreme Being. In the morning\nearly, Z\u00fa\u00e1ra brought him intelligence of the welcome arrival of\nFer\u00e1murz, which gladdened his heart; and as the youth had undergone\ngreat fatigue on his long journey, Rustem requested him to repose\nawhile, and he himself, freed from anxiety, also sought relief in a\nsound sleep.\n\nA few hours afterwards both armies were again drawn up, and Barz\u00fa, like\na mad elephant, full of confidence and pride, rode forward to resume the\ncombat; whilst Rustem gave instructions to Fer\u00e1murz how he was to act.\nHe attired him in his own armor, supplied him with his own weapons, and\nmounted him on Rakush, and told him to represent himself to Barz\u00fa as the\nwarrior who had engaged him the day before. Accordingly Fer\u00e1murz entered\nthe middle space, clothed in his father's mail, raised his bow, ready\nbent, and shot an arrow at Barz\u00fa, crying: \"Behold thy adversary! I am\nthe man come to try thy strength again. Advance!\" To this Barz\u00fa replied:\n\"Why this hilarity, and great flow of spirits? Art thou reckless of thy\nlife?\" \"In the eyes of warriors,\" said Fer\u00e1murz, \"the field of fight is\nthe mansion of pleasure. After I yesterday parted from thee I drank wine\nwith my companions, and the impression of delight still remains on my\nheart.\n\n  \"Wine exhilarates the soul,\n  Makes the eye with pleasure roll;\n  Lightens up the darkest mien,\n  Fills with joy the dullest scene;\n  Hence it is I meet thee now\n  With a smile upon my brow,\"\n\nBarz\u00fa, however, thought that the voice and action of his adversary were\nnot the same as he had heard and seen the preceding day, although there\nwas no difference in the armor or the horse, and therefore he said:\n\"Perhaps the cavalier whom I encountered yesterday is wounded or dead,\nthat thou hast mounted his charger, and attired thyself in his mail.\"\n\"Indeed,\" rejoined Fer\u00e1murz, \"perhaps thou hast lost thy wits; I am\ncertainly the person who engaged thee yesterday, and almost extinguished\nthee; and with God's favor thou shalt be a dead man to-day.\" \"What is\nthy name?\" \"My name is Rustem, descended from a race of warriors, and my\npleasure consists in contending with the lions of battle, and shedding\nthe blood of heroes.\" Thus saying, Fer\u00e1murz rushed on his adversary,\nstruck him several blows with his battle-axe, and drawing his noose from\nthe saddle-strap with the quickness of lightning, secured his prize. He\nmight have put an end to his existence in a moment, but preferred taking\nhim alive, and showing him as a captive. Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b seeing the perilous\ncondition of Barz\u00fa, came up with his whole army to his rescue; but\nKai-khosr\u00e1u was equally on the alert, accompanied by Rustem, who,\nadvancing to the support of Fer\u00e1murz, threw another noose round the neck\nof the already-captured Barz\u00fa, to prevent the possibility of his escape.\nBoth armies now engaged, and the T\u00far\u00e1nians made many desperate efforts\nto recover their gigantic leader, but all their manoeuvres were\nfruitless. The struggle continued fiercely, and with great slaughter,\ntill it was dark, and then ceased; the two kings returned back to the\nrespective positions they had taken up before the conflict took place.\nThe T\u00far\u00e1nians were in the deepest grief for the loss of Barz\u00fa; and\nP\u00edr\u00e1n-w\u00edsah having recommended an immediate retreat across the Jih\u00fan,\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b followed his counsel, and precipitately quitted Persia with\nall his troops.\n\nKai-khosr\u00e1u ordered a grand banquet on the occasion of the victory; and\nwhen Barz\u00fa was brought before him, he commanded his immediate execution;\nbut Rustem, seeing that he was very young, and thinking that he had not\nyet been corrupted and debased by the savage example of the T\u00far\u00e1nians,\nrequested that he might be spared, and given to him to send into S\u00edst\u00e1n;\nand his request was promptly complied with.\n\nWhen the mother of Barz\u00fa, whose name was Sh\u00e1h-r\u00fa, heard that her son was\na prisoner, she wept bitterly, and hastened to Ir\u00e1n, and from thence to\nS\u00edst\u00e1n. There happened to be in Rustem's employ a singing-girl,[50] an\nold acquaintance of hers, to whom she was much attached, and to whom she\nmade large presents, calling her by the most endearing epithets, in\norder that she might be brought to serve her in the important matter she\nhad in contemplation. Her object was soon explained, and the\npreliminaries at once adjusted, and by the hands of this singing-girl\nshe secretly sent some food to Barz\u00fa, in which she concealed a ring, to\napprise him of her being near him. On finding the ring, he asked who had\nsupplied him with the food, and her answer was: \"A woman recently\narrived from M\u00e1-ch\u00edn.\" This was to him delightful intelligence, and he\ncould not help exclaiming, \"That woman is my mother, I am grateful for\nthy services, but another time bring me, if thou canst, a large file,\nthat I may be able to free myself from these chains.\" The singing-girl\npromised her assistance; and having told Sh\u00e1h-r\u00fa what her son required,\nconveyed to him a file, and resolved to accompany him in his flight.\nBarz\u00fa then requested that three fleet horses might be provided and kept\nready under the walls, at a short distance; and this being also done, in\nthe night, he and his mother, and the singing-girl, effected their\nescape, and pursued their course towards T\u00far\u00e1n.\n\nIt so happened that Rustem was at this time in progress between Ir\u00e1n and\nS\u00edst\u00e1n, hunting for his own pleasure the elk or wild ass, and he\naccidentally fell in with the refugees, who made an attempt to avoid\nhim, but, unable to effect their purpose, thought proper to oppose him\nwith all their might, and a sharp contest ensued. Both parties becoming\nfatigued, they rested awhile, when Rustem asked Barz\u00fa how he had\nobtained his liberty. \"The Almighty freed me from the bondage I\nendured.\" \"And who are these two women?\" \"One of them,\" replied Barz\u00fa,\n\"is my mother, and that is a singing-girl of thy own house.\" Rustem went\naside, and called for breakfast, and thinking in his own mind that it\nwould be expedient to poison Barz\u00fa, mixed up a deleterious substance in\nsome food, and sent it to him to eat. He was just going to take it, when\nhis mother cried, \"My son, beware!\" and he drew his hand from the dish.\nBut the singing-girl did eat part of it, and died on the spot. Upon\nwitnessing this appalling scene, Barz\u00fa sprang forward with indignation,\nand reproached Rustem for his treachery in the severest terms.\n\n  \"Old man! hast thou mid warrior-chiefs a place,\n  And dost thou practice that which brings disgrace?\n  Hast thou no fear of a degraded name,\n  No fear of lasting obloquy and shame?\n  O, thou canst have no hope in God, when thou\n  Stand'st thus defiled--dishonoured, false, as now;\n  Unfair, perfidious, art thou too, in strife,\n  By any pretext thou wouldst take my life!\"\n\nHe then in a menacing attitude exclaimed: \"If thou art a man, rise and\nfight!\" Rustem felt ashamed on being thus detected, and rose up frowning\nin scorn. They met, brandishing their battle-axes, and looking as black\nas the clouds of night. They then dismounted to wrestle, and fastening\nthe bridles, each to his own girdle, furiously grasped each other's\nloins and limbs, straining and struggling for the mastery. Whilst they\nwere thus engaged, their horses betrayed equal animosity, and attacked\neach other with great violence. Rakush bit and kicked Barz\u00fa's steed so\nseverely that he strove to gallop away, dragging his master, who was at\nthe same time under the excruciating grip of Rustem. \"O, release me for\na moment till I am disentangled from my horse,\" exclaimed Barz\u00fa; but\nRustem heeding him not, now pressed him down beneath him, and was\npreparing to give him the finishing blow by cutting off his head, when\nthe mother seeing the fatal moment approach, shrieked, and cried out,\n\"Forbear, Rustem! this youth is the son of Sohr\u00e1b, and thy own\ngrandchild! Forbear, and bring not on thyself the devouring anguish\nwhich followed the death of his unhappy father.\n\n  \"Think of Sohr\u00e1b! take not the precious life\n  Of sire and son--unnatural is the strife;\n  Restrain, for mercy's sake, that furious mood,\n  And pause before thou shedd'st a kinsman's blood.\"\n\n\"Ah!\" rejoined Rustem, \"can that be true?\" upon which Sh\u00e1h-r\u00fa showed him\nSohr\u00e1b's brilliant finger-ring and he was satisfied. He then pressed\nBarz\u00fa warmly and affectionately to his breast, and kissed his head and\neyes, and took him along with him to S\u00edst\u00e1n, where he placed him in a\nstation of honor, and introduced him to his great-grandfather Z\u00e1l, who\nreceived and caressed him with becoming tenderness and regard.\n\n\n\nS\u00daSEN AND AFR\u00c1SIY\u00c1B\n\nSoon after Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b had returned defeated into T\u00far\u00e1n, grievously\nlamenting the misfortune which had deprived him of the assistance of\nBarz\u00fa, a woman named S\u00fasen, deeply versed in magic and sorcery, came to\nhim, and promised by her potent art to put him in the way of destroying\nRustem and his whole family.\n\n  \"Fighting disappointment brings,\n  Sword and mace are useless things;\n  If thou wouldst a conqueror be,\n  Monarch! put thy trust in me;\n  Soon the mighty chief shall bleed--\n  Spells and charms will do the deed!\"\n\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b at first refused to avail himself of her power, but was\npresently induced, by a manifestation of her skill, to consent to what\nshe proposed. She required that a distinguished warrior should be sent\nalong with her, furnished with abundance of treasure, honorary tokens\nand presents, so that none might be aware that she was employed on the\noccasion. Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b appointed P\u00edlsam, duly supplied with the requisites,\nand the warrior and the sorceress set off on their journey, people being\nstationed conveniently on the road to hasten the first tidings of their\nsuccess to the king. Their course was towards S\u00edst\u00e1n, and arriving at a\nfort, they took possession of a commodious residence, in which they\nplaced the wealth and property they had brought, and, establishing a\nhouse of entertainment, all travellers who passed that way were\nhospitably and sumptuously regaled by them.\n\n  For sparkling wine, and viands rare,\n  And mellow fruit, abounded there.\n\nIt is recorded that Rustem had invited to a magnificent feast at his\npalace in S\u00edst\u00e1n a large company of the most celebrated heroes of the\nkingdom, and amongst them happened to be T\u00fas, whom the king had deputed\nto the champion on some important state affairs. G\u00fadarz was also\npresent; and between him and T\u00fas ever hostile to each other, a dispute\nas usual took place. The latter, always boasting of his ancestry,\nreviled the old warrior and said, \"I am the son of Nauder, and the\ngrandson of Ferid\u00fan, whilst thou art but the son of Kavah, the\nblacksmith;--why then dost thou put thyself on a footing with me?\"\nG\u00fadarz, in reply, poured upon him reproaches equally irritating, accused\nhim of ignorance and folly, and roused the anger of the prince to such a\ndegree that he drew his dagger to punish the offender, when Reh\u00e1m\nstarted up and prevented the intended bloodshed. This interposition\nincreased his rage, and in serious dudgeon he retired from the banquet,\nand set off on his return to Ir\u00e1n.\n\nRustem was not present at the time, but when he heard of the altercation\nand the result of it, he was very angry, saying that G\u00fadarz was a\nrelation of the family, and T\u00fas his guest, and therefore wrong had been\ndone, since a guest ought always to be protected. \"A guest,\" he said,\n\"ought to be held as sacred as the king, and it is the custom of heroes\nto treat a guest with the most scrupulous respect and consideration--\n\n  \"For a guest is the king of the feast.\"\n\nHe then requested G\u00fadarz to go after T\u00fas, and by fair words and proper\nexcuses bring him back to his festive board. Accordingly G\u00fadarz\ndeparted. No sooner had he gone than G\u00edw rose up, and said, \"T\u00fas is\nlittle better than a madman, and my father of a hasty temper; I should\ntherefore wish to follow, to prevent the possibility of further\ndisagreement.\" To this Rustem consented. Byzun was now also anxious to\ngo, and he too got permission. When all the three had departed, Rustem\nbegan to be apprehensive that something unpleasant would occur, and\nthought it prudent to send Fer\u00e1murz to preserve the peace. Z\u00e1l then came\nforward, and thinking that T\u00fas, the descendant of the Kais and his\nrevered guest, might not be easily prevailed upon to return either by\nG\u00fadarz, G\u00edw, Byzun, or Fer\u00e1murz, resolved to go himself and soothe the\ntemper which had been so injudiciously and rudely ruffled at the\nbanquet.\n\nWhen T\u00fas, on his journey from Rustem's palace, approached the residence\nof S\u00fasen the sorceress, he beheld numerous cooks and confectioners on\nevery side, preparing all kinds of rich and rare dishes of food, and\nevery species of sweetmeat; and enquiring to whom they belonged, he was\ntold that the place was occupied by the wife of a merchant from T\u00far\u00e1n,\nwho was extremely wealthy, and who entertained in the most sumptuous\nmanner every traveller who passed that way. Hungry, and curious to see\nwhat was going on, T\u00fas dismounted, and leaving his horse with the\nattendants, entered the principal apartment, where he saw a fascinating\nfemale, and was transported with joy.--She was\n\n  Tall as the graceful cypress, and as bright,\n  As ever struck a lover's ravished sight;\n  Why of her musky locks or ringlets tell?\n  Each silky hair itself contained a spell.\n  Why of her face so beautifully fair?\n  Wondering he saw the moon's refulgence there.\n\nAs soon as his transports had subsided he sat down before her, and asked\nher who she was, and upon what adventure she was engaged; and she\nanswered that she was a singing-girl, that a wealthy merchant some time\nago had fallen in love with and married her, and soon afterwards died;\nthat Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, the king, had since wished to take her into his harem,\nwhich alarmed her, and she had in consequence fled from his country; she\nwas willing, however, she said, to become the handmaid of Kai-khosr\u00e1u,\nhe being a true king, and of a sweet and gentle temper.\n\n  \"A persecuted damsel I,\n  Thus the detested tyrant fly,\n  And hastening from impending woes,\n  In happy Persia seek repose;\n  For long as cherished life remains,\n  Pleasure must smile where Khosr\u00e1u reigns.\n  Thence did I from my home depart,\n  To please and bless a Persian heart.\"\n\nThe deception worked effectually on the mind of T\u00fas, and he at once\nentered into the notion of escorting her to Kai-khosr\u00e1u. But he was\nimmediately supplied with charmed viands and goblets of rich wine, which\nhe had not the power to resist, till his senses forsook him, and then\nP\u00edlsam appeared, and, binding him with cords, conveyed him safely and\nsecretly into the interior of the fort. In a short time G\u00fadarz arrived,\nand he too was received and treated in the same manner. Then G\u00edw and\nByzun were seized and secured; and after them came Z\u00e1l: but\nnotwithstanding the enticements that were used, and the attractions that\npresented themselves, he would neither enter the enchanted apartment,\nnor taste the enchanted food or wine.\n\n  The bewitching cup was filled to the brim,\n  But the magic draught had no charms for him.\n\nA person whispered in his ear that the woman had already wickedly got\ninto her power several warriors, and he felt assured that they were his\nown friends. To be revenged for this treachery he rushed forward, and\nwould have seized hold of the sorceress, but she fled into the fort and\nfastened the gate. He instantly sent a messenger to Rustem, explaining\nthe perplexity in which he was involved, and exerting all his strength,\nbroke down the gate that had just been closed against him as soon as the\npassage was opened, out rushed P\u00edlsam, who with his mace commenced a\nfurious battle with Z\u00e1l, in which he nearly overpowered him, when\nFer\u00e1murz reached the spot, and telling the venerable old warrior to\nstand aside, took his place, and fought with P\u00edlsam without intermission\nall day, and till they were parted by the darkness of night.\n\nEarly in the morning Rustem, accompanied by Barz\u00fa, arrived from S\u00edst\u00e1n,\nand entering the fort, called aloud for P\u00edlsam. He also sent Fer\u00e1murz to\nKai-khosr\u00e1u to inform him of what had occurred. P\u00edlsam at length issued\nforth, and attacked the champion. They first fought with bows and\narrows, with javelins next, and then successively with maces, and\nswords, and daggers. The contest lasted the whole day; and when at night\nthey parted, neither had gained the victory. The next morning immense\nclouds of dust were seen, and they were found to be occasioned by\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b and his army marching to the spot. Rustem appointed Barz\u00fa to\nproceed with his Z\u00e1bul troops against him, whilst he himself encountered\nP\u00edlsam. The strife between the two was dreadful. Rustem struck him\nseveral times furiously upon the head, and at length stretched him\nlifeless on the sand. He then impelled Rakush towards the T\u00far\u00e1nian army,\nand aided by Z\u00e1l and Barz\u00fa, committed tremendous havoc among them.\n\n  So thick the arrows fell, helmet, and mail,\n  And shield, pierced through, looked like a field of reeds.\n\nIn the meantime S\u00fasen, the sorceress, escaped from the fort, and fled to\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b.\n\nAnother cloud of dust spreading from earth to heaven, was observed in\nthe direction of Persia, and the waving banners becoming more distinct,\npresently showed the approach of the king, Kai-khosr\u00e1u.\n\n  The steely javelins sparkled in the sun,\n  Helmet and shield, and joyous seemed the sight.\n  Banners, all gorgeous, floating on the breeze,\n  And horns shrill echoing, and the tramp of steeds,\n  Proclaimed to dazzled eye and half-stunned ear,\n  The mighty preparation.\n\nThe hostile armies soon met, and there was a sanguinary conflict, but\nthe T\u00far\u00e1nians were obliged to give way. Upon this common result,\nP\u00edr\u00e1n-w\u00edsah declared to Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b that perseverance was as ridiculous as\nunprofitable. \"Our army has no heart, nor confidence, when opposed to\nRustem; how often have we been defeated by him--how often have we been\nscattered like sheep before that lion in battle! We have just lost the\naid of Barz\u00fa, and now is it not deplorable to put any trust in the\ndreams of a singing-girl, to accelerate on her account the ruin of the\ncountry, and to hazard thy own personal safety.\n\n  \"What! risk an empire on a woman's word!\"\n\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b replied, \"So it is;\" and instantly urged his horse into the\nmiddle of the plain, where he loudly challenged Kai-khosr\u00e1u to single\ncombat, saying, \"Why should we uselessly shed the blood of our warriors\nand people. Let us ourselves decide the day. God will give the triumph\nto him who merits it.\" Kai-khosr\u00e1u was ashamed to refuse this challenge,\nand descending from his elephant, mounted his horse and prepared for the\nonset. But his warriors seized the bridle, and would not allow him to\nfight. He declared, however, that he would himself take revenge for the\nblood of Sai\u00e1wush, and struggled to overcome the friends who were\nopposing his progress. \"Forbear awhile,\" said Rustem, \"Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b is\nexpert in all the arts of the warrior, fighting with the sword, the\ndagger, in archery, and wrestling. When I wrestled with him, and held\nhim down, he could not have escaped, excepting by the exercise of the\nmost consummate dexterity. Allow thy warriors to fight for thee.\" But\nthe king was angry, and said, \"The monarch who does not fight for\nhimself, is unworthy of the crown.\" Upon hearing this, Rustem wept tears\nof blood. Barz\u00fa now took hold of the king's stirrup, and knocked his\nforehead against it, and drawing his dagger, threatened to put an end to\nhimself, saying, \"My blood will be upon thy neck, if thou goest;\" and he\ncontinued in a strain so eloquent and persuasive that Khosr\u00e1u relaxed in\nhis determination, and observed to Rustem: \"There can be no doubt that\nBarz\u00fa is descended from thee.\" Barz\u00fa now respectfully kissed the ground\nbefore the king, and vaulting on his saddle with admirable agility,\nrushed onwards to the middle space where Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b was waiting, and\nroared aloud. Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b burned with indignation at the sight, and said\nin his heart: \"It seems that I have nurtured and instructed this\ningrate, to shed my own blood. Thou wretch of demon-birth, thou knowest\nnot thy father's name! and yet thou comest to wage war against me! Art\nthou not ashamed to look upon the king of T\u00far\u00e1n after what he has done\nfor thee?\" Barz\u00fa replied: \"Although thou didst protect me, thou spilt\nthe blood of Sai\u00e1wush and Aghr\u00edras unjustly. When I ate thy salt, I\nserved thee faithfully, and fought for thee. I now eat the salt of\nKai-khosr\u00e1u, and my allegiance is due to him.\"\n\n  He spoke, and raised his battle-axe, and rushed,\n  Swift as a demon of M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n,\n  Against Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, who, frowning, cried:--\n  \"Approach not like a furious elephant,\n  Heedless what may befall thee--nor provoke\n  The wrath of him whose certain aim is death.\"\n  Then placed he on the string a pointed dart,\n  And shot it from the bow; whizzing it flew,\n  And pierced the armor of the wondering youth,\n  Inflicting on his side a painful wound,\n  Which made his heart with trepidation throb;\n  High exultation marked the despot's brow,\n  Seeing the gush of blood his loins distain.\n\nBarz\u00fa was now anxious to assail Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b with his mace, instead of\narrows; but whenever he tried to get near enough, he was disappointed by\nthe adroitness of his adversary, whom he could not reach. He was at last\ncompelled to lay aside the battle-axe, and have recourse to his bow, but\nevery arrow was dexterously received by Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b on his shield; and\nBarz\u00fa, on his part, became equally active and successful. Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b soon\nemptied his quiver, and then he grasped his mace with the intention of\nextinguishing his antagonist at once, but at the moment H\u00fam\u00e1n came up,\nand said: \"O, king! do not bring thyself into jeopardy by contending\nagainst a person of no account; thy proper adversary is Kai-khosr\u00e1u, and\nnot him, for if thou gainest the victory, it can only be a victory over\na fatherless soldier, and if thou art killed, the whole of T\u00far\u00e1n will be\nat the feet of Persia.\" Both P\u00edr\u00e1n and H\u00fam\u00e1n dissuaded the king from\ncontinuing the engagement singly, and directed the T\u00far\u00e1nians to commence\na general attack. Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b told them that if Barz\u00fa was not slain, it\nwould be a great misfortune to their country; in consequence, they\nsurrounded him, and inflicted on him many severe wounds. But Rustem and\nFer\u00e1murz, beholding the dilemma into which Barz\u00fa was thrown, hastened to\nhis support, and many of the enemy were killed by them, and great\ncarnage followed the advance of the Persian army.\n\n  The noise of clashing swords, and ponderous maces\n  Ringing upon the iron mail, seemed like\n  The busy work-shop of an armorer;\n  Tumultuous as the sea the field appeared,\n  All crimsoned with the blood of heroes slain.\n\nKai-khosr\u00e1u himself hurried to the assistance of Barz\u00fa, and the powerful\nforce which he brought along with him soon put the T\u00far\u00e1nians to flight.\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b too made his escape in the confusion that prevailed. The king\nwished to pursue the enemy, but Rustem observed that their defeat and\ndispersion was enough. The battle having ceased, and the army being in\nthe neighborhood of S\u00edst\u00e1n, the champion solicited permission to return\nto his home; \"for I am now,\" said he, \"four hundred years old, and\nrequire a little rest. In the meantime Fer\u00e1murz and Barz\u00fa may take my\nplace.\" The king consented, and distributing his favors to each of his\ndistinguished warriors for their prodigious exertions, left Z\u00e1l and\nRustem to proceed to S\u00edst\u00e1n, and returned to the capital of his kingdom.\n\n\n\nTHE EXPEDITION OF G\u00daDARZ\n\nThe overthrow of the sovereign of T\u00far\u00e1n had only a temporary effect, as\nit was not long before he was enabled to collect further supplies, and\nanother army for the defence of his kingdom; and Kai-khosr\u00e1u's ambition\nto reduce the power of his rival being animated by new hopes of success,\nanother expedition was entrusted to the command of G\u00fadarz. Rustem, he\nsaid, had done his duty in repeated campaigns against Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, and the\nextraordinary gallantry and wisdom with which they were conducted,\nentitled him to the highest applause. \"It is now, G\u00fadarz, thy turn to\nvanquish the enemy.\" Accordingly G\u00fadarz, accompanied by G\u00edw, and T\u00fas,\nand Byzun, and an immense army, proceeded towards T\u00far\u00e1n. Fer\u00e1murz was\ndirected previously to invade and conquer Hind\u00fast\u00e1n, and from thence to\nmarch to the borders of Ch\u00edn and M\u00e1-ch\u00edn, for the purpose of uniting and\nco-operating with the army under G\u00fadarz, and, finally, to capture\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b.\n\nAs soon as it was known in T\u00far\u00e1n that G\u00fadarz was in motion to resume\nhostilities against the king, H\u00fam\u00e1n was appointed with a large force to\nresist his progress, and a second army of reserve was gathered together\nunder the command of P\u00edr\u00e1n. The first conflict which occurred was\nbetween the troops of G\u00fadarz and H\u00fam\u00e1n. G\u00fadarz directed Byzun to attack\nH\u00fam\u00e1n. The two chiefs joined in battle, when H\u00fam\u00e1n fell under the sword\nof his adversary, and his army, being defeated, retired, and united in\nthe rear with the legions of P\u00edr\u00e1n. The enemy thus became of formidable\nstrength, and in consequence it was thought proper to communicate the\ninequality to Kai-khosr\u00e1u, that reinforcements might be sent without\nloss of time. The king immediately complied, and also wrote to S\u00edst\u00e1n to\nrequest the aid of Rustem. The war lasted two years, the army on each\nside being continually recruited as necessity required, so that the\nnumbers were regularly kept up, till a great battle took place, in which\nthe venerable P\u00edr\u00e1n was killed, and nearly the whole of his army\ndestroyed. This victory was obtained without the assistance of Rustem,\nwho, notwithstanding the message of the king, had still remained in\nS\u00edst\u00e1n. The loss of P\u00edr\u00e1n, the counsellor and warrior, proved to be a\ngreat affliction to Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b: he felt as if his whole support was taken\naway, and deemed it the signal of approaching ruin to his cause.\n\n  \"Thou wert my refuge, thou my friend and brother;\n  Wise in thy counsel, gallant in the field,\n  My monitor and guide--and thou art gone!\n  The glory of my kingdom is eclipsed,\n  Since thou hast vanished from this world, and left me\n  All wretched to myself. But food, nor sleep\n  Nor rest will I indulge in, till just vengeance\n  Has been inflicted on the cruel foe.\"\n\nWhen the news of P\u00edr\u00e1n's death reached Kai-khosr\u00e1u, he rapidly marched\nforward, crossed the Jih\u00fan without delay, and passed through Samerk\u00e1nd\nand Bokh\u00e1ra, to encounter the T\u00far\u00e1nians. Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, in the meantime, had\nnot been neglectful. He had all his hidden treasure dug up, with which\nhe assembled a prodigious army, and appointed his son Shydah-Poshang to\nthe command of a hundred thousand horsemen. To oppose this force,\nKhosr\u00e1u appointed his young relative, Lohur\u00e1sp, with eight thousand\nhorsemen, and passing through S\u00edst\u00e1n, desired Rustem, on account of\nLohur\u00e1sp's tender age and inexperience, to afford him such good counsel\nas he required. When Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b heard this, he added to the force of\nShydah another hundred thousand men, but first sent his son to\nKai-khosr\u00e1u in the character of an ambassador to offer terms of peace.\n\"Tell him,\" said he, \"that to secure this object, I will deliver to him\none of my sons as a hostage, and a number of troops for his service,\nwith the sacred promise never to depart from my engagements again.--But,\na word in thy ear, Shydah; if Khosr\u00e1u is not disposed to accept these\nterms, say, to prevent unnecessary bloodshed, he and I must personally\ndecide the day by single combat. If he refuses to fight with me, say\nthat thou wilt meet him; and shouldst thou be slain in the strife, I\nwill surrender to him the kingdom of T\u00far\u00e1n, and retire myself from the\nworld.\" He further commanded him to propound these terms with a gallant\nand fearless bearing, and not to betray the least apprehension. Shydah\nentered fully into the spirit of his father's instructions, and declared\nthat he would devote his life to the cause, that he would boldly before\nthe whole assembly dare Kai-khosr\u00e1u to battle; so that Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b was\ndelighted with the valorous disposition he displayed.\n\nKai-khosr\u00e1u smiled when he heard of what Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b intended, and viewed\nthe proposal as a proof of his weakness. \"But never,\" said he, \"will I\nconsent to a peace till I have inflicted on him the death which Sai\u00e1wush\nwas made to suffer.\" When Shydah arrived, and with proper ceremony and\nrespect had delivered his message, Kai-khosr\u00e1u invited him to retire to\nhis chamber and go to rest, and he would send an answer by one of his\npeople. Shydah accordingly retired, and the king proceeded to consult\nhis warrior-friends on the offers that had been made. \"Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b tells\nme,\" said he, \"that if I do not wish for peace, I must fight either him\nor his son. I have seen Shydah--his eyes are red and blood-shot, and he\nhas a fierce expression of feature; if I do not accept his terms, I\nshall probably soon have a dagger lodged in my breast.\" Saying this, he\nordered his mail to be got ready; but Rustem and all the great men about\nhim exclaimed, unanimously: \"This must not be allowed; Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b is full\nof fraud, artifice, and sorcery, and notoriously faithless to his\nengagements. The sending of Shydah is all a trick, and his letter of\nproposal all deceit: his object is simply to induce thee to fight him\nalone.\n\n \"If them shouldst kill this Shydah--what of that!\n  There would be one T\u00far\u00e1nian warrior less,\n  To vex the world withal; would that be triumph?\n  And to a Persian king? But if it chanced,\n  That thou shouldst meet with an untimely death,\n  By dart or javelin, at the stripling's hands,\n  What scathe and ruin would this realm befall!\"\n\nBy the advice of Rustem, Kai-khosr\u00e1u gave Shydah permission\nto depart, and said that he would send his answer to Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b by K\u00e1run.\n\"But,\" observed the youth, \"I have come to fight thee!\" which touched\nthe honor of the king, and he replied: \"Be it so, let us then meet\nto-morrow.\"\n\nIn the meantime Khosr\u00e1u prepared his letter to Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, in which he\nsaid:--\n\n  \"Our quarrel now is dark to view,\n  It bears the fiercest, gloomiest hue;\n  And vain have speech and promise been\n  To change for peace the battle scene;\n  For thou art still to treachery prone,\n  Though gentle now in word and tone;\n  But that imperial crown thou wearest,\n  That mace which thou in battle bearest,\n  Thy kingdom, all, thou must resign;\n  Thy army too--for all are mine!\n  Thou talk'st of strength, and might, and power,\n  When revelling in a prosperous hour;\n  But know, that strength of nerve and limb\n  We owe to God--it comes from Him!\n  And victory's palm, and regal sway,\n  Alike the will of Heaven obey.\n  Hence thy lost throne, no longer thine,\n  Will soon, perfidious king! be mine!\"\n\nIn giving this letter to K\u00e1run, Kai-khosr\u00e1u directed him, in the first\nplace, to deliver a message from him to Shydah, to the following\neffect:--\n\n  \"Driven art thou out from home and life,\n  Doomed to engage in mortal strife,\n  For deeply lours misfortune's cloud;\n  That gay attire will be thy shroud;\n  Blood from thy father's eyes will gush,\n  As K\u00e1\u00fas wept for Sai\u00e1wush.\"\n\nIn the morning Khosr\u00e1u went to the appointed place, and when he\napproached Shydah, the latter said, \"Thou hast come on foot, let our\ntrial be in wrestling;\" and the proposal being agreed to, both applied\nthemselves fiercely to the encounter, at a distance from the troops.\n\n  The youth appeared with joyous mien,\n    And bounding heart, for life was new;\n  By either host the strife was seen,\n    And strong and fierce the combat grew.\n\nShydah exerted his utmost might, but was unable to move his antagonist\nfrom the ground; whilst Khosr\u00e1u lifted him up without difficulty, and,\ndashing him on the plain,\n\n  He sprang upon him as the lion fierce\n  Springs on the nimble gor, then quickly drew\n  His deadly dagger, and with cruel aim,\n  Thrust the keen weapon through the stripling's heart.\n\nKhosr\u00e1u, immediately after slaying him, ordered the body to be washed\nwith musk and rose-water, and, after burial, a tomb to be raised to his\nmemory.\n\nWhen K\u00e1run reached the court of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b with the answer to the offer\nof peace, intelligence had previously arrived that Shydah had fallen in\nthe combat, which produced in the mind of the father the greatest\nanguish. He gave no reply to K\u00e1run, but ordered the drums and trumpets\nto be sounded, and instantly marched with a large army against the\nenemy. The two hosts were soon engaged, the anger of the T\u00far\u00e1nians being\nso much roused and sharpened by the death of the prince, that they were\nutterly regardless of their lives. The battle, therefore, was fought\nwith unusual fury.\n\n  Two sovereigns in the field, in desperate strife,\n  Each by a grievous cause of wrath, urged on\n  To glut revenge; this, for a father's life\n  Wantonly sacrificed; that for a son\n  Slain in his prime.--The carnage has begun,\n  And blood is seen to flow on every side;\n  Thousands are slaughtered ere the day is done,\n  And weltering swell the sanguinary tide;\n  And why? To soothe man's hate, his cruelty, and pride.\n\nThe battle terminated in the discomfiture and defeat of the T\u00far\u00e1nians,\nwho fled from the conquerors in the utmost confusion. The people seized\nhold of the bridle of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b's horse, and obliged him to follow his\nscattered army.\n\nKai-khosr\u00e1u having despatched an account of his victory to K\u00e1\u00fas, went in\npursuit of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, traversing various countries and provinces, till\nhe arrived on the borders of Ch\u00edn. The Khak\u00e1n, or sovereign of that\nstate, became in consequence greatly alarmed, and presented to him large\npresents to gain his favor, but the only object of Khosr\u00e1u was to secure\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, and he told the ambassador that if his master dared to afford\nhim protection, he would lay waste the whole kingdom. The Khak\u00e1n\ntherefore withdrew his hospitable services, and the abandoned king was\ncompelled to seek another place of refuge.\n\n\n\nTHE DEATH OF AFR\u00c1SIY\u00c1B\n\nMelancholy and afflicted, Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b penetrated through wood and desert,\nand entered the province of Mikr\u00e1n, whither he was followed by\nKai-khosr\u00e1u and his army. He then quitted Mikr\u00e1n, but his followers had\nfallen off to a small number and to whatever country or region he\nrepaired for rest and protection, none was given, lest the vengeance of\nKai-khosr\u00e1u should be hurled upon the offender. Still pursued and hunted\nlike a wild beast, and still flying from his enemies, the small retinue\nwhich remained with him at last left him, and he was left alone,\ndejected, destitute, and truly forlorn. In this state of desertion he\nretired into a cave, where he hoped to continue undiscovered and unseen.\n\nIt chanced, however, that a man named H\u00fam, of the race of Ferid\u00fan, dwelt\nhard by. He was remarkable for his strength and bravery, but had\npeacefully taken up his abode upon the neighboring mountain, and was\npassing a religious life without any communication with the busy world.\nHis dwelling was a little way above the cave of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b. One night he\nheard a voice of lamentation below, and anxious to ascertain from whom\nand whence it proceeded, he stole down to the spot and listened. The\nmourner spoke in the Turkish language, and said:--\"O king of T\u00far\u00e1n and\nCh\u00edn, where is now thy pomp and power! How has Fortune cast away thy\nthrone and thy treasure to the winds?\" Hearing these words H\u00fam\nconjectured that this must be Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b; and as he had suffered severely\nfrom the tyranny of that monarch, his feelings of vengeance were\nawakened, and he approached nearer to be certain that it was he. The\nsame lamentations were repeated, and he felt assured that it was\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b himself. He waited patiently, however, till morning dawned,\nand then he called out at the mouth of the cave:--\"O, king of the world!\ncome out of thy cave, and obtain thy desires! I have left the invisible\nsphere to accomplish thy wishes. Appear!\" Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b thinking this a\nspiritual call, went out of the cave and was instantly recognized by\nH\u00fam, who at the same moment struck him a severe blow on the forehead,\nwhich felled him to the earth, and then secured his hands behind his\nback. When the monarch found himself in fetters and powerless, he\ncomplained of the cruelty inflicted upon him, and asked H\u00fam why he had\ntreated a stranger in that manner. H\u00fam replied: \"How many a prince of\nthe race of Ferid\u00fan hast thou sacrificed to thy ambition? How many a\nheart hast thou broken? I, too, am one who was compelled to fly from thy\npersecutions, and take refuge here on this desert mountain, and\nconstantly have I prayed for thy ruin that I might be released from this\nmiserable mode of existence, and be permitted to return to my paternal\nhome. My prayer has been heard at last, and God has delivered thee into\nmy hands. But how earnest thou hither, and by what strange vicissitudes\nart thou thus placed before me?\" Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b communicated to him the story\nof his misfortunes, and begged of him rather to put him to death on the\nspot than convey him to Kai-khosr\u00e1u. But H\u00fam was too much delighted with\nhaving the tyrant under his feet to consider either his safety or his\nfeelings, and was not long in bringing him to the Persian king.\nKai-khosr\u00e1u received the prisoner with exultation, and made H\u00fam a\nmagnificent present. He well recollected the basin and the dagger used\nin the murder of Sai\u00e1wush, and commanded the presence of the treacherous\nGers\u00edwaz, that he and Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b might suffer, in every respect, the same\nfate together. The basin was brought, and the two victims were put to\ndeath, like two goats, their heads being chopped off from their bodies.\n\nAfter this sanguinary catastrophe, Kai-khosr\u00e1u returned to Ir\u00e1n, leaving\nRustem to proceed to his own principality. Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas quitted his palace,\naccording to his established custom, to welcome back the conqueror. He\nkissed his head and face, and showered upon him praises and blessings\nfor the valor he had displayed, and the deeds he had done, and\nespecially for having so signally revenged the cruel murder of his\nfather Sai\u00e1wush.\n\n\n\nTHE DEATH OF KAI-KHOSR\u00c1U\n\nKai-khosr\u00e1u at last became inspired by an insurmountable attachment to a\nreligious life, and thought only of devotion to God. Thus influenced by\na disposition peculiar to ascetics, he abandoned the duties of\nsovereignty, and committed all state affairs to the care of his\nministers. The chiefs and warriors remonstrated respectfully against\nthis mode of government, and trusted that he would devote only a few\nhours in the day to the transactions of the kingdom, and the remainder\nto prayer and religious exercises; but this he refused, saying:--\"One\nheart is not equal to both duties; my affections indeed are not for this\ntransitory world, and I trust to be an inhabitant of the world to come.\"\nThe nobles were in great sorrow at this declaration, and anxiously\napplied to Z\u00e1l and Rustem, in the hopes of working some change in the\nking's disposition. On their arrival the people cried to them:--\n\n  \"Some evil eye has smote the king;--Ibl\u00eds\n  By wicked wiles has led his soul astray,\n  And withered all life's pleasures. O release\n  Our country from the sorrow, the dismay\n  Which darkens every heart:--his ruin stay.\n  Is it not mournful thus to see him cold\n  And gloomy, casting pomp and joy away?\n  Restore him to himself; let us behold\n  Again the victor-king, the generous, just and bold.\"\n\nZ\u00e1l and Rustem went to the palace of the king in a melancholy mood, and\nKhosr\u00e1u having heard of their approach, enquired of them why they had\nleft S\u00edst\u00e1n. They replied that the news of his having relinquished all\nconcern in the affairs of the kingdom had induced them to wait upon him.\n\"I am weary of the troubles of this life,\" said he composedly, \"and\nanxious to prepare for a future state.\" \"But death,\" observed Z\u00e1l, \"is a\ngreat evil. It is dreadful to die!\" Upon this the king said:--\"I cannot\nendure any longer the deceptions and the perfidy of mankind. My love of\nheaven is so great that I cannot exist one moment without devotion and\nprayer. Last night a mysterious voice whispered in my ear:--The time of\nthy departure is nigh, prepare the load for thy journey, and neglect not\nthy warning angel, or the opportunity will be lost.\" When Z\u00e1l and Rustem\nsaw that Khosr\u00e1u was resolved, and solemnly occupied in his devotions,\nthey were for some time silent. But Z\u00e1l was at length moved, and\nsaid:--\"I will go into retirement and solitude with the king, and by\ncontinual prayer, and through his blessing, I too may be forgiven.\"\n\"This, indeed,\" said the king, \"is not the place for me. I must seek out\na solitary cell, and there resign my soul to heaven.\" Z\u00e1l and Rustem\nwept, and quitted the palace, and all the warriors were in the deepest\naffliction.\n\nThe next day Kai-khosr\u00e1u left his apartment, and called together his\ngreat men and warriors, and said to them:--\n\n  \"That which I sought for, I have now obtained.\n  Nothing remains of worldly wish, or hope,\n  To disappoint or vex me. I resign\n  The pageantry of kings, and turn away\n  From all the pomp of the Kai\u00e1nian throne,\n  Sated with human grandeur.--Now, farewell!\n  Such is my destiny. To those brave friends,\n  Who, ever faithful, have my power upheld,\n  I will discharge the duty of a king,\n  Paying the pleasing debt of gratitude.\"\n\nHe then ordered his tents to be pitched in the desert, and opened his\ntreasury, and for seven days made a sumptuous feast, and distributed\nfood and money among the indigent, the widows, and orphans, and every\ndestitute person was abundantly supplied with the necessaries of life,\nso that there was no one left in a state of want throughout the empire.\nHe also attended to the claims of his warriors. To Rustem he gave Z\u00e1bul,\nand K\u00e1bul, and N\u00edm-r\u00faz. He appointed Lohur\u00e1sp, the son-in-law of\nKai-k\u00e1\u00fas, successor to his throne, and directed all his people to pay\nthe same allegiance to him as they had done to himself; and they\nunanimously consented, declaring their firm attachment to his person and\ngovernment. He appointed G\u00fadarz the chief minister, and G\u00edw to the chief\ncommand of the armies. To T\u00fas he gave Khorass\u00e1n; and he said to Fr\u00edburz,\nthe son of K\u00e1\u00fas:--\"Be thou obedient, I beseech thee, to the commands of\nLohur\u00e1sp, whom I have instructed, and brought up with paternal care; for\nI know of no one so well qualified in the art of governing a kingdom.\"\nThe warriors of Ir\u00e1n were surprised, and murmured together, that the son\nof Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas should be thus placed under the authority of Lohur\u00e1sp. But\nZ\u00e1l observed to them:--\"If it be the king's will, it is enough!\" The\nmurmurs of the warriors having reached Kai-khosr\u00e1u, he sent for them,\nand addressed them thus:--\"Fr\u00edburz is well known to be unequal to the\nfunctions of sovereignty; but Lohur\u00e1sp is enlightened, and fully\ncomprehends all the duties of regal sway. He is a descendant of H\u00fasheng,\nwise and merciful, and God is my witness, I think him perfectly\ncalculated to make a nation happy.\" Hearing this eulogium on the\ncharacter of the new king from Kai-khosr\u00e1u, all the warriors expressed\ntheir satisfaction, and anticipated a glorious reign. Khosr\u00e1u further\nsaid:--\"I must now address you on another subject. In my dreams a\nfountain has been pointed out to me; and when I visit that fountain, my\nlife will be resigned to its Creator.\" He then bid farewell to all the\npeople around him, and commenced his journey; and when he had\naccomplished one stage he pitched his tent. Next day he resumed his\ntask, and took leave of Z\u00e1l and Rustem; who wept bitterly as they parted\nfrom him.\n\n  \"Alas!\" they said, \"that one on whom\n    Heaven has bestowed a mind so great,\n  A heart so brave, should seek the tomb,\n    And not his hour in patience wait.\n  The wise in wonder gaze, and say,\n    No mortal being ever trod\n  Before, the dim supernal way,\n    And living, saw the face of God!\"\n\nAfter Z\u00e1l and Rustem, then Khosr\u00e1u took leave of G\u00fadarz and G\u00edw and T\u00fas,\nand Gustahem, but unwilling to go back, they continued with him. He soon\narrived at the promised fountain, in which he bathed. He then said to\nhis followers:--\"Now is the time for our separation;--you must go;\"\nbut they still remained. Again he said:--\"You must go quickly; for\npresently heavy showers of snow will fall, and a tempestuous wind will\narise, and you will perish in the storm.\" Saying this, he went into the\nfountain, and vanished!\n\n  And not a trace was left behind,\n    And not a dimple on the wave;\n  All sought, but sought in vain, to find\n    The spot which proved Kai-khosr\u00e1u's grave!\n\nThe king having disappeared in this extraordinary manner, a loud\nlamentation ascended from his followers; and when the paroxysm of\namazement and sorrow had ceased, Fr\u00edburz said:--\"Let us now refresh\nourselves with food, and rest awhile.\" Accordingly those that remained\nate a little, and were soon afterwards overcome with sleep. Suddenly a\ngreat wind arose, and the snow fell and clothed the earth in white, and\nall the warriors and soldiers who accompanied Kai-khosr\u00e1u to the\nmysterious fountain, and amongst them T\u00fas and Fr\u00edburz, and G\u00edw, were\nwhile asleep overwhelmed in the drifts of snow. Not a man survived.\nG\u00fadarz had returned when about half-way on the road; and not hearing for\na long time any tidings of his companions, sent a person to ascertain\nthe cause of their delay. Upon proceeding to the fatal place, the\nmessenger, to his amazement and horror, found them all stiff and\nlifeless under the snow!\n\n\n\nLOHUR\u00c1SP\n\nThe reputation of Lohur\u00e1sp was of the highest order, and it is said that\nhis administration of the affairs of his kingdom was more just and\npaternal than even that of Kai-khosr\u00e1u. \"The counsel which Khosr\u00e1u gave\nme,\" said he, \"was wise and admirable; but I find that I must go beyond\nhim in moderation and clemency to the poor.\" Lohur\u00e1sp had four sons, two\nby the daughter of Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas, one named Ardsh\u00edr, and the other Shydasp;\nand two by another woman, and they were named Gusht\u00e1sp and Zar\u00edr. But\nGusht\u00e1sp was intrepid, acute, and apparently marked out for sovereignty,\nand on account of his independent conduct, no favorite with his father;\nin defiance of whom, with a rebellious spirit, he collected together a\nhundred thousand horsemen, and proceeded with them towards Hind\u00fast\u00e1n of\nhis own accord. Lohur\u00e1sp sent after him his brother Zar\u00edr, with a\nthousand horsemen, in the hopes of influencing him to return; but when\nZar\u00edr overtook him and endeavored to persuade him not to proceed any\nfurther, he said to him, with an animated look:--\n\n  \"Proceed no farther!--Well thou know'st\n  We've no Kai\u00e1nian blood to boast,\n  And, therefore, but a minor part\n  In Lohur\u00e1sp's paternal heart.\n  Nor thou, nor I, can ever own\n  From him the diadem or throne.\n  The brothers of K\u00e1\u00fas's race\n  By birth command the brightest place,\n  Then what remains for us? We must\n  To other means our fortunes trust.\n  We cannot linger here, and bear\n  A life of discontent--despair.\"\n\nZar\u00edr, however, reasoned with him so winningly and effectually, that at\nlast he consented to return; but only upon the condition that he should\nbe nominated heir to the throne, and treated with becoming respect and\nceremony. Zar\u00edr agreed to interpose his efforts to this end, and brought\nhim back to his father; but it was soon apparent that Lohur\u00e1sp had no\ninclination to promote the elevation of Gusht\u00e1sp in preference to the\nclaims of his other sons; and indeed shortly afterwards manifested to\nwhat quarter his determination on this subject was directed. It was\nindeed enough that his determination was unfavorable to the views of\nGusht\u00e1sp, who now, in disgust, fled from his father's house, but without\nany attendants, and shaped his course towards R\u00fam. Lohur\u00e1sp again sent\nZar\u00edr in quest of him; but the youth, after a tedious search, returned\nwithout success. Upon his arrival in R\u00fam, Gusht\u00e1sp chose a solitary\nretirement, where he remained some time, and was at length compelled by\npoverty and want, to ask for employment in the establishment of the\nsovereign of that country, stating that he was an accomplished scribe,\nand wrote a beautiful hand. He was told to wait a few days, as at that\ntime there was no vacancy. But hunger was pressing, and he could not\nsuffer delay; he therefore went to the master of the camel-drivers and\nasked for service, but he too had no vacancy. However, commiserating the\ndistressed condition of the applicant, he generously supplied him with a\nhearty meal. After that, Gusht\u00e1sp went into a blacksmith's shop, and\nasked for work, and his services were accepted. The blacksmith put the\nhammer into his hands, and the first blow he struck was given with such\nforce, that he broke the anvil to pieces. The blacksmith was amazed and\nangry, and indignantly turned him out of his shop, uttering upon him a\nthousand violent reproaches.\n\n  Wounded in spirit, broken-hearted,\n    Misfortune darkening o'er his head,\n  To other lands he then departed,\n    To seek another home for bread.\n\nDisconsolate and wretched, he proceeded on his journey, and observing a\nhusbandman standing in a field of corn, he approached the spot and sat\ndown. The husbandman seeing a strong muscular youth, apparently a\nT\u00far\u00e1nian, sitting in sorrow and tears, went up to him and asked him the\ncause of his grief, and he soon became acquainted with all the\ncircumstances of the stranger's life. Pitying his distress, he took him\nhome and gave him some food.\n\nAfter having partaken sufficiently of the refreshments placed before\nhim, Gusht\u00e1sp inquired of his host to what tribe he belonged, and from\nwhom he was descended. \"I am descended from Ferid\u00fan,\" rejoined he, \"and\nI belong to the Kai\u00e1nian tribe. My occupation in this retired spot is,\nas thou seest, the cultivation of the ground, and the customs and duties\nof husbandry.\" Gusht\u00e1sp said, \"I am myself descended from H\u00fasheng, who\nwas the ancestor of Ferid\u00fan; we are, therefore, of the same origin.\" In\nconsequence of this connection, Gusht\u00e1sp and the husbandman lived\ntogether on the most friendly footing for a considerable time. At length\nthe star of his fortune began to illumine his path, and the favor of\nHeaven became manifest.\n\nIt was the custom of the king of R\u00fam, when his daughters came of age, to\ngive a splendid banquet, and to invite to it all the youths of\nillustrious birth in the kingdom, in order that each might select one of\nthem most suited to her taste, for her future husband. His daughter\nKitab\u00fan was now of age, and in conformity with the established practice,\nthe feast was prepared, and the youths of royal descent invited; but it\nso happened that not one of them was sufficiently attractive for her\nchoice, and the day passed over unprofitably. She had been told in a\ndream that a youth of a certain figure and aspect had arrived in the\nkingdom from Ir\u00e1n, and that to him she was destined to be married. But\nthere was not one at her father's banquet who answered to the\ndescription of the man she had seen in her dream, and in consequence she\nwas disappointed. On the following day the feast was resumed. She had\nagain dreamt of the youth to whom she was to be united. She had\npresented to him a bunch of roses, and he had given her a rose-branch,\nand each regarded the other with smiles of mutual satisfaction. In the\nmorning Kitab\u00fan issued a proclamation, inviting all the young men of\nroyal extraction, whether natives of the kingdom or strangers, to her\nfather's feast. On that day Gusht\u00e1sp and the husbandman had come into\nthe city from the country, and hearing the proclamation the latter said:\n\"Let us go, for in this lottery the prize may be drawn in thy name.\"\nThey accordingly went. Kitab\u00fan's handmaid was in waiting at the door,\nand kept every young man standing awhile, that her mistress might mark\nhim well before she allowed him to pass into the banquet. The keen eyes\nof Kitab\u00fan soon saw Gusht\u00e1sp, and her heart instantly acknowledged him\nas her promised lord, for he was the same person she had seen in her\ndream.\n\n  As near the graceful stripling drew,\n  She cried:--\"My dream, my dream is true!\n  Fortune from visions of the night\n  Has brought him to my longing sight.\n  Truth has portrayed his form divine;\n  He lives--he lives--and he is mine!\"\n\nShe presently descended from her balcony, and gave him a bunch of roses,\nthe token by which her choice was made known, and then retired. The\nking, when he heard of what she had done, was exceedingly irritated,\nthinking that her affections were placed on a beggar, or some nameless\nstranger of no birth or fortune, and his first impulse was to have her\nput to death. But his people assembled around him, and said:--\"What can\nbe the use of killing her?--It is in vain to resist the flood of\ndestiny, for what will be, will be.\n\n \"The world itself is governed still by Fate,\n  Fate rules the warrior's and the monarch's state;\n  And woman's heart, the passions of her soul,\n  Own the same power, obey the same control;\n  For what can love's impetuous force restrain?\n  Blood may be shed, but what will be thy gain?\"\n\nAfter this remonstrance he desired enquiries to be made into the\ncharacter and parentage of his proposed son-in-law, and was told his\nname, the name of his father, and of his ancestors, and the causes which\nled to his present condition. But he would not believe a word of the\nnarration. He was then informed of his daughter's dream, and other\nparticulars: and he so far relented as to sanction the marriage; but\nindignantly drove her from his house, with her husband, without a dowry,\nor any money to supply themselves with food.\n\nGusht\u00e1sp and his wife took refuge in a miserable cell, which they\ninhabited, and when necessity pressed, he used to cross the river, and\nbring in an elk or wild ass from the forest, give half of it to the\nferryman for his trouble, and keep the remainder for his own board, so\nthat he and the ferryman became great friends by these mutual\nobligations. It is related that a person of distinction, named Mabr\u00edn,\nsolicited the king's second daughter in marriage; and Ahrun, another man\nof rank, was anxious to be espoused to the third, or youngest; but the\nking was unwilling to part with either of them, and openly declared his\nsentiments to that effect. Mabr\u00edn, however, was most assiduous and\npersevering in his attentions, and at last made some impression on the\nfather, who consented to permit the marriage of the second daughter, but\nonly on the following conditions: \"There is,\" said he, \"a monstrous wolf\nin the neighboring forest, extremely ferocious, and destructive to my\nproperty. I have frequently endeavored to hunt him down, but without\nsuccess. If Mabr\u00edn can destroy the animal, I will give him my daughter.\"\nWhen these conditions were communicated to Mabr\u00edn, he considered it\nimpossible that they could be fulfilled, and looked upon the proposal as\nan evasion of the question. One day, however, the ferryman having heard\nof Mabr\u00edn's disappointment, told him that there was no reason to\ndespair, for he knew a young man, married to one of the king's\ndaughters, who crossed the river every day, and though only a\npedestrian, brought home regularly an elk-deer on his back. \"He is\ntruly,\" added he, \"a wonderful youth, and if you can by any means secure\nhis assistance, I have no doubt but that his activity and strength will\nsoon put an end to the wolfs depredations, by depriving him of life.\"\n\nThis intelligence was received with great pleasure by Mabr\u00edn, who\nhastened to Gusht\u00e1sp, and described to him his situation, and the\nconditions required. Gusht\u00e1sp in reply said, that he would be glad to\naccomplish for him the object of his desires, and at an appointed time\nproceeded towards the forest, accompanied by Mabr\u00edn and the ferryman.\nWhen the party arrived at the borders of the wilderness which the wolf\nfrequented, Gusht\u00e1sp left his companions behind, and advanced alone into\nthe interior, where he soon found the dreadful monster, in size larger\nthan an elephant, and howling terribly, ready to spring upon him. But\nthe hand and eye of Gusht\u00e1sp were too active to allow of his being\nsurprised, and in an instant he shot two arrows at once into the foaming\nbeast, which, irritated by the deep wound, now rushed furiously upon\nhim, without, however, doing him any serious injury; then with the\nrapidity of lightning, Gusht\u00e1sp drew his sharp sword, and with one\ntremendous stroke cut the wolf in two, deluging the ground with bubbling\nblood. Having performed this prodigious exploit, he called Mabr\u00edn and\nthe ferryman to see what he had done, and they were amazed at his\nextraordinary intrepidity and muscular power, but requested, in order\nthat the special object of the lover might be obtained, that he would\nconceal his name, for a time at least. Mabr\u00edn, satisfied on this point,\nthen repaired to the emperor, and claimed his promised bride, as the\nreward for his labor. The king of R\u00fam little expected this result, and\nto assure himself of the truth of what he had heard, bent his way to the\nforest, where he was convinced, seeing with astonishment and delight\nthat the wolf was really killed. He had now no further pretext, and\ntherefore fulfilled his engagement, by giving his daughter to Mabr\u00edn.\n\nIt was now Ahrun's turn to repeat his solicitations for the youngest\ndaughter. The king of R\u00fam had another evil to root out, so that he was\nprepared to propose another condition. This was to destroy a hideous\ndragon that had taken possession of a neighboring mountain. Ahrun, on\nhearing the condition was in as deep distress as Mabr\u00edn had been, until\nhe accidentally became acquainted with the ferryman, who described to\nhim the generosity and fearless bravery of Gusht\u00e1sp. He immediately\napplied to him, and the youth readily undertook the enterprise,\nsaying:--\"No doubt the monster's teeth are long and sharp, bring me\ntherefore a dagger, and fasten round it a number of knives.\" Ahrun did\nso accordingly, and Gusht\u00e1sp proceeded to the mountain. As soon as the\ndragon smelt the approach of a human being, flames issued from his\nnostrils, and he darted forward to devour the intruder, but was driven\nback by a number of arrows, rapidly discharged into his head and mouth.\nAgain he advanced, but Gusht\u00e1sp dodged round him, and continued driving\narrows into him to the extent of forty, which subdued his strength, and\nmade him writhe in agony. He then fixed the dagger, which was armed at\nright angles with knives, upon his spear, and going nearer, thrust it\ndown his gasping throat.\n\n  Dreadful the weapon each two-edged blade\n  Cut deep into the jaws on either side,\n  And the fierce monster, thinking to dislodge it,\n  Crushed it between his teeth with all his strength,\n  Which pressed it deeper in the flesh, when blood\n  And poison issued from the gaping wounds;\n  Then, as he floundered on the earth exhausted,\n  Seizing the fragment of a flinty rock,\n  Gusht\u00e1sp beat out the brains, and soon the beast\n  In terrible struggles died. Two deadly fangs\n  Then wrenched he from the jaws, to testify\n  The wonderful exploit he had performed.\n\nWhen he descended from the mountain, these two teeth were delivered to\nAhrun, and they were afterwards conveyed to the king, who could not\nbelieve his own eyes, but ascended the mountain himself to ascertain the\nfact, and there he beheld with amazement the dragon lifeless, and\ncovered with blood. \"And didst thou thyself kill this terrific dragon?\"\nsaid he. \"Yes,\" replied Ahrun. \"And wilt thou swear to God that this is\nthy own achievement? It must be either the exploit of a demon, or of a\ncertain Kai\u00e1nian, who resides in this neighborhood.\" But there was no\none to disprove his assertion, and therefore the king could no longer\nrefuse to surrender to him his youngest daughter.\n\nAnd now between Gusht\u00e1sp, and Mabr\u00edn, and Ahrun, the warmest friendship\nsubsisted. Indeed they were seldom parted; and the three sisters\nremained together with equal affection. One day Kitab\u00fan, the wife of\nGusht\u00e1sp, in conversation with some of her female acquaintance, let out\nthe secret that her husband was the person who killed the wolf and the\ndragon.\n\nNo sooner was this story told, than it spread, and in the end reached\nthe ears of the queen, who immediately communicated it to the king,\nsaying:--\"This is the work of Gusht\u00e1sp, thy son-in-law, of him thou hast\nbanished from thy presence--of him who nobly would not disclose his\nname, before Mabr\u00edn and Ahrun had attained the object of their wishes.\"\nThe king said in reply that it was just as he had suspected; and sending\nfor Gusht\u00e1sp, conferred upon him great honor, and appointed him to the\nchief command of his army.\n\nHaving thus possessed himself of a leader of such skill and intrepidity,\nhe thought it necessary to turn his attention to external conquest, and\naccordingly addressed a letter to Al\u00ed\u00e1s, the ruler of Khuz, in which he\nsaid:--\"Thou hast hitherto enjoyed thy kingdom in peace and\ntranquillity; but thou must now resign it to me, or prepare for war.\"\nAl\u00ed\u00e1s on receiving this imperious and haughty menace collected his\nforces together, and advanced to the contest, and the king of R\u00fam\nassembled his own troops with equal expedition, under the direction of\nGusht\u00e1sp. The battle was fought with great valor on both sides, and\nblood flowed in torrents. Gusht\u00e1sp challenged Al\u00ed\u00e1s to single combat,\nand the warriors met; but in a short time the enemy was thrown from his\nhorse, and dragged by the young conqueror, in fetters, before the king.\nThe troops witnessing the prowess of Gusht\u00e1sp, quickly fled; and the\nking commencing a hot pursuit, soon entered their city victoriously,\nsubdued the whole kingdom, and plundered it of all its property and\nwealth. He also gained over the army, and with this powerful addition to\nhis own forces, and with the booty he had secured, returned triumphantly\nto R\u00fam.\n\nIn consequence of this brilliant success, the king conferred additional\nhonors on Gusht\u00e1sp, who now began to display the ambition which he had\nlong cherished. Aspiring to the sovereignty of Ir\u00e1n, he spoke to the\nR\u00fam\u00ed warriors on the subject of an invasion of that country, but they\nrefused to enter into his schemes, conceiving that there was no chance\nof success. At this Gusht\u00e1sp took fire, and declared that he knew the\npower and resources of his father perfectly, and that the conquest would\nbe attended with no difficulty. He then went to the king, and said: \"Thy\nchiefs are afraid to fight against Lohur\u00e1sp; I will myself undertake the\ntask with even an inconsiderable army.\" The king was overjoyed, and\nkissed his head and face, and loaded him with presents, and ordered his\nsecretary to write to Lohur\u00e1sp in the following terms: \"I am anxious to\nmeet thee in battle, but if thou art not disposed to fight, I will\npermit thee to remain at peace, on condition of surrendering to me half\nthy kingdom. Should this be refused, I will myself deprive thee of thy\nwhole sovereignty.\" When this letter was conveyed by the hands of Kab\u00fas\nto Ir\u00e1n, Lohur\u00e1sp, upon reading it, was moved to laughter, and\nexclaimed, \"What is all this? The king of R\u00fam has happened to obtain\npossession of the little kingdom of Khuz, and he has become insane with\npride!\" He then asked Kab\u00fas by what means he accomplished the capture of\nKhuz, and how he managed to kill Al\u00ed\u00e1s. The messenger replied, that his\nsuccess was owing to a youth of noble aspect and invincible courage, who\nhad first destroyed a ferocious wolf, then a dragon, and had afterwards\ndragged Al\u00ed\u00e1s from his horse, with as much ease as if he had been a\nchicken, and laid him prostrate at the feet of the king of R\u00fam. Lohur\u00e1sp\nenquired his name, and he answered, Gusht\u00e1sp. \"Does he resemble in\nfeature any person in this assembly?\" Kab\u00fas looked round about him, and\npointed to Zar\u00edr, from which Lohur\u00e1sp concluded that it must be his own\nson, and sat silent. But he soon determined on what answer to send, and\nit was contained in the following words: \"Do not take me for an Al\u00ed\u00e1s,\nnor think that one hero of thine is competent to oppose me. I have a\nhundred equal to him. Continue, therefore, to pay me tribute, or I will\nlay waste thy whole country.\" With this letter he dismissed Kab\u00fas; and\nas soon as the messenger had departed, addressed himself to Zar\u00edr,\nsaying: \"Thou must go in the character of an ambassador from me to the\nking of R\u00fam, and represent to him the justice and propriety of\npreserving peace. After thy conference with him repair to the house of\nGusht\u00e1sp, and in my name ask his forgiveness for what I have done. I was\nnot before aware of his merit, and day and night I think of him with\nrepentance and sorrow. Tell him to pardon his old father's infirmities,\nand come back to Ir\u00e1n, to his own country and home, that I may resign to\nhim my crown and throne, and like Kai-khosr\u00e1u, take leave of the world.\nIt is my desire to deliver myself up to prayer and devotion, and to\nappoint Gusht\u00e1sp my successor, for he appears to be eminently worthy of\nthat honor.\" Zar\u00edr acted scrupulously, in conformity with his\ninstructions; and having first had an interview with the king, hastened\nto the house of his brother, by whom he was received with affection and\ngladness. After the usual interchange of congratulations and enquiry, he\nstated to him the views and the resolutions of his father, who on the\nfaith of his royal word promised to appoint him his successor, and\nthought of him with the most cordial attachment. Gusht\u00e1sp was as much\nastonished as delighted with this information, and his anxiety being\ngreat to return to his own country, he that very night, accompanied by\nhis wife Kitab\u00fan, and Zar\u00edr, set out for Ir\u00e1n. Approaching the city, he\nwas met by an istakb\u00e1l, or honorary deputation of warriors, sent by the\nking; and when he arrived at court, Lohur\u00e1sp descended from his throne\nand embraced him with paternal affection, shedding tears of contrition\nfor having previously treated him not only with neglect but severity.\nHowever he now made him ample atonement, and ordering a golden chair of\nroyalty to be constructed and placed close to his own, they both sat\ntogether, and the people by command tendered to him unanimously their\nrespect and allegiance. Lohur\u00e1sp repeatedly said to him:--\n\n  \"What has been done was Fate's decree,\n  Man cannot strive with destiny.\n  To be unfeeling once was mine,\n  At length to be a sovereign thine.\"\n\n  Thus spoke the king, and kissed the crown,\n  And gave it to his valiant son.\n\nSoon afterwards he relinquished all authority in the empire, assumed the\ncoarse habit of a recluse, retired to a celebrated place of pilgrimage,\nnear Balkh. There, in a solitary cell, he devoted the remainder of his\nlife to prayer and the worship of God. The period of Lohur\u00e1sp's\ngovernment lasted one hundred and twenty years.\n\n\n\nGUSHT\u00c1SP, AND THE FAITH OF ZERDUSHT\n\n  I've said preceding sovereigns worshipped God,\n  By whom their crowns were given to protect\n  The people from oppressors; Him they served,\n  Acknowledging His goodness--for to Him,\n  The pure, unchangeable, the Holy One!\n  They owed their greatness and their earthly power.\n  But after times produced idolatry,\n  And Pagan faith, and then His name was lost\n  In adoration of created things.\n\nGusht\u00e1sp had by his wife Kitab\u00fan, the daughter of the king of R\u00fam, two\nsons named Isfendiy\u00e1r and Bash\u00fatan, who were remarkable for their piety\nand devotion to the Almighty. Being the great king, all the minor\nsovereigns paid him tribute, excepting Arj\u00e1sp, the ruler of Ch\u00edn and\nM\u00e1-ch\u00edn, whose army consisted of D\u00edws, and Peris, and men; for\nconsidering him of superior importance, he sent him yearly the usual\ntributary present. In those days lived Zerdusht, the Guber, who was\nhighly accomplished in the knowledge of divine things; and having waited\nupon Gusht\u00e1sp, the king became greatly pleased with his learning and\npiety, and took him into his confidence. The philosopher explained to\nhim the doctrines of the fire-worshippers, and by his art he reared a\ntree before the house of Gusht\u00e1sp, beautiful in its foliage and\nbranches, and whoever ate of the leaves of that tree became learned and\naccomplished in the mysteries of the future world, and those who ate of\nthe fruit thereof became perfect in wisdom and holiness.\n\nIn consequence of the illness of Lohur\u00e1sp, who was nearly at the point\nof death, Zerdusht went to Balkh for the purpose of administering relief\nto him, and he happily succeeded in restoring him to health. On his\nreturn he was received with additional favor by Gusht\u00e1sp, who\nimmediately afterwards became his disciple. Zerdusht then told him that\nhe was the prophet of God, and promised to show him miracles. He said he\nhad been to heaven and to hell. He could send anyone, by prayer, to\nheaven; and whomsoever he was angry with he could send to hell. He had\nseen the seven mansions of the celestial regions, and the thrones of\nsapphires, and all the secrets of heaven were made known to him by his\nattendant angel. He said that the sacred book, called Zendavesta,\ndescended from above expressly for him, and that if Gusht\u00e1sp followed\nthe precepts in that blessed volume, he would attain celestial felicity.\nGusht\u00e1sp readily became a convert to his principles, forsaking the pure\nadoration of God for the religion of the fire-worshippers.\n\nThe philosopher further said that he had prepared a ladder, by which he\nhad ascended into heaven and had seen the Almighty. This made the\ndisciple still more obedient to Zerdusht. One day he asked Gusht\u00e1sp why\nhe condescended to pay tribute to Arj\u00e1sp; \"God is on thy side,\" said he,\n\"and if thou desirest an extension of territory, the whole country of\nChin may be easily conquered.\" Gusht\u00e1sp felt ashamed at this reproof,\nand to restore his character, sent a dispatch to Arj\u00e1sp, in which he\nsaid, \"Former kings who paid thee tribute did so from terror only, but\nnow the empire is mine; and it is my will, and I have the power, to\nresist the payment of it in future.\" This letter gave great offence to\nArj\u00e1sp; who at once suspected that the fire-worshipper, Zerdusht, had\npoisoned his mind, and seduced him from his pure and ancient religion,\nand was attempting to circumvent and lead him to his ruin. He answered\nhim thus: \"It is well known that thou hast now forsaken the right path,\nand involved thyself in darkness. Thou hast chosen a guide possessed of\nthe attributes of Ibl\u00eds, who with the art of a magician has seduced thee\nfrom the worship of the true God, from that God who gave thee thy\nkingdom and thy grandeur. Thy father feared God, and became a holy\nD\u00edrvesh, whilst thou hast lost thy way in wickedness and impiety. It\nwill therefore be a meritorious action in me to vindicate the true\nworship and oppose thy blasphemous career with all my demons. In a month\nor two I will enter thy kingdom with fire and sword, and destroy thy\nauthority and thee. I would give thee good advice; do not be influenced\nby a wicked counsellor, but return to thy former religious practices.\nWeigh well, therefore, what I say.\" Arj\u00e1sp sent this letter by two of\nhis demons, familiar with sorcery; and when it was delivered into the\nhands of Gusht\u00e1sp, a council was held to consider its contents, to which\nZerdusht was immediately summoned. Jam\u00e1sp, the minister, said that the\nsubject required deep thought, and great prudence was necessary in\nframing a reply; but Zerdusht observed, that the only reply was\nobvious--nothing but war could be thought of. At this moment Isfendiy\u00e1r\ngallantly offered to lead the army, but Zar\u00edr, his uncle, objected to\nhim on account of his extreme youth, and proposed to take the command\nhimself, which Gusht\u00e1sp agreed to, and the two demon-envoys were\ndismissed. The answer was briefly as follows:--\n\n  \"Thy boast is that thou wilt in two short months\n  Ravage my country, scathe with fire and sword\n  The empire of Ir\u00e1n; but on thyself\n  Heap not destruction; pause before thy pride\n  Hurries thee to thy ruin. I will open\n  The countless treasures of the realm; my warriors,\n  A thousand thousand, armed with shining steel,\n  Shall overrun thy kingdom; I myself\n  Will crush that head of thine beneath my feet.\"\n\nThe result of these menaces was the immediate prosecution of the war,\nand no time was lost by Arj\u00e1sp in hastening into Ir\u00e1n.\n\n  Plunder and devastation marked his course,\n  The villages were all involved in flames,\n  Palace of pride, low cot, and lofty tower;\n  The trees dug up, and root and branch destroyed.\n  Gusht\u00e1sp then hastened to repel his foes;\n  But to his legions they seemed wild and strange,\n  And terrible in aspect, and no light\n  Could struggle through the gloom they had diffused,\n  To hide their progress.\n\nZerdusht said to Gusht\u00e1sp, \"Ask thy vizir, Jam\u00e1sp, what is written in\nthy horoscope, that he may relate to thee the dispensations of heaven.\"\nJam\u00e1sp, in reply to the inquiry, took the king aside and whispered\nsoftly to him: \"A great number of thy brethren, thy relations, and\nwarriors will be slain in the conflict, but in the end thou wilt be\nvictorious.\" Gusht\u00e1sp deeply lamented the coming event, which involved\nthe destruction of his kinsmen, but did not shrink from the battle, for\nhe exulted in the anticipation of obtaining the victory. The contest was\nbegun with indescribable eagerness and impetuosity.\n\n  Approaching, each a prayer addrest\n  To Heaven, and thundering forward prest;\n  Thick showers of arrows gloomed the sky,\n  The battle-storm raged long and high;\n  Above, black clouds their darkness spread,\n  Below, the earth with blood was red.\n\nArdsh\u00edr, the son of Lohur\u00e1sp, and descended from Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas, was one of\nthe first to engage; he killed many, and was at last killed himself.\nAfter him, his brother Shydasp was killed. Then Bish\u00fa, the son of\nJam\u00e1sp, urged on his steed, and with consummate bravery destroyed a\ngreat number of warriors. Zar\u00edr, equally bold and intrepid, also rushed\namidst the host, and whether demons or men opposed him, they were all\nlaid lifeless on the field. He then rode up towards Arj\u00e1sp, scattered\nthe ranks, and penetrated the headquarters, which put the king into\ngreat alarm: for he exclaimed:--\"What, have ye no courage, no shame!\nwhoever kills Zar\u00edr shall have a magnificent reward.\" Bai-derafsh, one\nof the demons, animated by this offer, came forward, and with\nremorseless fury attacked Zar\u00edr. The onset was irresistible, and the\nyoung prince was soon overthrown and bathed in his own blood. The news\nof the unfortunate catastrophe deeply affected Gusht\u00e1sp, who cried, in\ngreat grief: \"Is there no one to take vengeance for this?\" when\nIsfendiy\u00e1r presented himself, kissed the ground before his father, and\nanxiously asked permission to engage the demon. Gusht\u00e1sp assented, and\ntold him that if he killed the demon and defeated the enemy, he would\nsurrender to him his crown and throne.\n\n  \"When we from this destructive field return,\n  Isfendiy\u00e1r, my son, shall wear the crown,\n  And be the glorious leader of my armies.\"\n\nSaying this, he dismounted from his famous black horse, called Behz\u00e1d,\nthe gift of Kai-khosr\u00e1u, and presented it to Isfendiy\u00e1r. The greatest\nclamor and lamentation had arisen among the Persian army, for they\nthought that Bai-derafsh had committed such dreadful slaughter, the\nmoment of utter defeat was at hand, when Isfendiy\u00e1r galloped forward,\nmounted on Behz\u00e1d, and turned the fortunes of the day. He saw the demon\nwith the mail of Zar\u00edr on his breast, foaming at the mouth with rage,\nand called aloud to him, \"Stand, thou murderer!\" The stern voice, the\nvalor, and majesty of Isfendiy\u00e1r, made the demon tremble, but he\nimmediately discharged a blow with his dagger at his new opponent, who\nhowever seized the weapon with his left hand, and with his right plunged\na spear into the monster's breast, and drove it through his body.\nIsfendiy\u00e1r then cut off his head, remounted his horse, and that instant\nwas by the side of Bish\u00fa, the son of the vizir, into whose charge he\ngave the severed head of Bai-derafsh, and the armor of Zar\u00edr. Bish\u00fa now\nattired himself in his father's mail, and fastening the head on his\nhorse, declared that he would take his post close by Isfendiy\u00e1r,\nwhatever might betide. Firshaid, another Ir\u00e1nian warrior, came to the\nspot at the same moment, and expressed the same resolution, so that all\nthree, thus accidentally met, determined to encounter Arj\u00e1sp and capture\nhim. Isfendiy\u00e1r led the way, and the other two followed. Arj\u00e1sp, seeing\nthat he was singled out by three warriors, and that the enemy's force\nwas also advancing to the attack in great numbers, gave up the struggle,\nand was the first to retreat. His troops soon threw away their arms and\nbegged for quarter, and many of them were taken prisoners by the\nIr\u00e1nians. Gusht\u00e1sp now approached the dead body of Zar\u00edr, and lamenting\ndeeply over his unhappy fate, placed him in a coffin, and built over him\na lofty monument, around which lights were ever afterwards kept burning,\nnight and day; and he also taught the people the worship of fire, and\nwas anxious to establish everywhere the religion of Zerdusht.\n\nJam\u00e1sp appointed officers to ascertain the number of killed in the\nbattle. Of Ir\u00e1nians there were thirty thousand, among whom were eight\nhundred chiefs; and the enemy's loss amounted to nine hundred thousand,\nand also eleven hundred and sixty-three chiefs. Gusht\u00e1sp rejoiced at the\nglorious result, and ordered the drums to be sounded to celebrate the\nvictory, and he increased his favor upon Zerdusht, who originated the\nwar, and told him to call his triumphant son, Isfendiy\u00e1r, near him.\n\n  The gallant youth the summons hears,\n  And midst the royal court appears,\n    Close by his father's side,\n  The mace, cow-headed, in his hand;\n  His air and glance express command,\n    And military pride.\n\n  Gusht\u00e1sp beholds with heart elate.\n  The conqueror so young, so great,\n    And places round his brows the crown,\n  The promised crown, the high reward,\n  Proud token of a mighty king's regard,\n    Conferred upon his own.\n\nAfter Gusht\u00e1sp had crowned his son as his successor, he told him that he\nmust not now waste his time in peace and private gratification, but\nproceed to the conquest of other countries. Zerdusht was also deeply\ninterested in his further operations, and recommended him to subdue\nkingdoms for the purpose of diffusing everywhere the new religion, that\nthe whole world might be enlightened and edified. Isfendiy\u00e1r instantly\ncomplied, and the first kingdom he invaded was R\u00fam. The sovereign of\nthat country having no power nor means to resist the incursions of the\nenemy, readily adopted the faith of Zerdusht, and accepted the sacred\nbook named Zendavesta, as his spiritual instructor. Isfendiy\u00e1r\nafterwards invaded Hind\u00fast\u00e1n and Arabia, and several other countries,\nand successfully established the religion of the fire-worshippers in\nthem all.\n\n  Where'er he went he was received\n  With welcome, all the world believed,\n  And all with grateful feelings took\n  The Holy Zendavesta-book,\n  Proud their new worship to declare,\n  The worship of Isfendiy\u00e1r.\n\nThe young conqueror communicated by letters to his father the success\nwith which he had disseminated the religion of Zerdusht, and requested\nto know what other enterprises required his aid. Gusht\u00e1sp rejoiced\nexceedingly, and commanded a grand banquet to be prepared. It happened\nthat Gurzam a warrior, was particularly befriended by the king, but\nretaining secretly in his heart a bitter enmity to Isfendiy\u00e1r, now took\nan opportunity to gratify his malice, and privately told Gusht\u00e1sp that\nhe had heard something highly atrocious in the disposition of the\nprince. Gusht\u00e1sp was anxious to know what it was; and he said,\n\"Isfendiy\u00e1r has subdued almost every country in the world: he is a\ndangerous person at the head of an immense army, and at this very moment\nmeditates taking Balkh, and making even thee his prisoner!\n\n \"Thou know'st not that thy son Isfendiy\u00e1r\n  Is hated by the army. It is said\n  Ambition fires his brain, and to secure\n  The empire to himself, his wicked aim\n  Is to rebel against his generous father.\n  This is the sum of my intelligence;\n  But thou'rt the king, I speak but what I hear.\"\n\nThese malicious accusations by Gurzam insidiously made, produced great\nvexation in the mind of Gusht\u00e1sp. The banquet went on, and for three\ndays he drank wine incessantly, without sleep or rest because his sorrow\nwas extreme. On the fourth day he said to his minister: \"Go with this\nletter to Isfendiy\u00e1r, and accompany him hither to me.\" Jam\u00e1sp, the\nminister, went accordingly on the mission, and when he arrived, the\nprince said to him, \"I have dreamt that my father is angry with\nme.\"--\"Then thy dream is true,\" replied Jam\u00e1sp, \"thy father is indeed\nangry with thee.\"--\"What crime, what fault have I committed?\n\n \"Is it because I have with ceaseless toil\n  Spread wide the Zendavesta, and converted\n  Whole kingdoms to that faith? Is it because\n  For him I conquered those far-distant kingdoms,\n  With this good sword of mine? Why clouds his brow\n  Upon his son--some demon must have changed\n  His temper, once affectionate and kind,\n  Calling me to him thus in anger! Thou\n  Hast ever been my friend, my valued friend\n  Say, must I go? Thy counsel I require.\"\n\n  \"The son does wrong who disobeys his father,\n  Despising his command,\" Jam\u00e1sp replied.\n\n  \"Yet,\" said Isfendiy\u00e1r, \"why should I go?\n  He is in wrath, it cannot be for good.\"\n\n  \"Know'st thou not that a father's wrath is kindness?\n  The anger of a father to his child\n  Is far more precious than the love and fondness\n  Felt by that child for him. 'Tis good to go,\n  Whatever the result, he is the king,\n  And more--he is thy father!\"\n\nIsfendiy\u00e1r immediately consented, and appointed Bahman, his eldest son,\nto fill his place in the army during his absence. He had four sons: the\nname of the second was Mihrb\u00fas; of the third, Avir; and of the fourth,\nN\u00fash\u00e1hder; and these three he took along with him on his journey.\n\nBefore he had arrived at Balkh, Gusht\u00e1sp had concerted measures to\nsecure him as a prisoner, with an appearance of justice and\nimpartiality. On his arrival, he waited on the king respectfully, and\nwas thus received: \"Thou hast become the great king! Thou hast conquered\nmany countries, but why am I unworthy in thy sight? Thy ambition is\nindeed excessive.\" Isfendiy\u00e1r replied: \"However great I may be, I am\nstill thy servant, and wholly at thy command.\" Upon hearing this,\nGusht\u00e1sp turned towards his courtiers, and said, \"What ought to be done\nwith that son, who in the lifetime of his father usurps his authority,\nand even attempts to eclipse him in grandeur? What! I ask, should be\ndone with such a son!\"\n\n  \"Such a son should either be\n  Broken on the felon tree,\n  Or in prison bound with chains,\n  Whilst his wicked life remains,\n  Else thyself, this kingdom, all\n  Will be ruined by his thrall!\"\n\nTo this heavy denunciation Isfendiy\u00e1r replied: \"I have received all my\nhonors from the king, by whom I am appointed to succeed to the throne;\nbut at his pleasure I willingly resign them.\" However, concession and\nremonstrance were equally fruitless, and he was straightway ordered to\nbe confined in the tower-prison of the fort situated on the adjacent\nmountain, and secured with chains.\n\n  Dreadful the sentence: all who saw him wept;\n  And sternly they conveyed him to the tower,\n  Where to four columns, deeply fixed in earth,\n  And reaching to the skies, of iron formed,\n  They bound him; merciless they were to him\n  Who had given splendour to a mighty throne.\n  Mournful vicissitude! Thus pain and pleasure\n  Successive charm and tear the heart of man;\n  And many a day in that drear solitude,\n  He lingered, shedding tears of blood, till times\n  Of happier omen dawned upon his fortunes.\n\nHaving thus made Isfendiy\u00e1r secure in the mountain-prison, and being\nentirely at ease about the internal safety of the empire, Gusht\u00e1sp was\nanxious to pay a visit to Z\u00e1l and Rustem at S\u00edst\u00e1n, and to convert them\nto the religion of Zerdusht. On his approach to S\u00edst\u00e1n he was met and\nrespectfully welcomed by Rustem. who afterwards in open assembly\nreceived the Zendavesta and adopted the new faith, which he propagated\nthroughout his own territory; but, according to common report it was\nfear of Gusht\u00e1sp alone which induced him to pursue this course. Gusht\u00e1sp\nremained two years his guest, enjoying all kinds of recreation, and\nparticularly the sports of the field and the forests.\n\nWhen Bahman, the son of Isfendiy\u00e1r, heard of the imprisonment of his\nfather, he, in grief and alarm, abandoned his trust, dismissed the army,\nand proceeded to Balkh, where he joined his two brothers, and wept over\nthe fate of their unhappy father.\n\nIn the meantime the news of the confinement of Isfendiy\u00e1r, and the\nabsence of Gusht\u00e1sp at S\u00edst\u00e1n, and the unprotected state of Balkh,\nstimulated Arj\u00e1sp to a further effort, and he despatched his son Kahram\nwith a large army towards the capital of the enemy, to carry into effect\nhis purpose of revenge. Lohur\u00e1sp was still in religious retirement at\nBalkh. The people were under great apprehension, and being without a\nleader, anxiously solicited the old king to command them, but he said\nthat he had abandoned all earthly concerns, and had devoted himself to\nGod, and therefore could not comply with their entreaties. But they\nwould hear no denial, and, as it were, tore him from his place of refuge\nand prayer. There were assembled only about one thousand horsemen, and\nwith these he advanced to battle; but what were they compared to the\nhundred thousand whom they met, and by whom they were soon surrounded.\nTheir bravery was useless. They were at once overpowered and defeated,\nand Lohur\u00e1sp himself was unfortunately among the slain.\n\nUpon the achievement of his victory, Kahram entered Balkh in triumph,\nmade the people prisoners, and destroyed all the places of worship\nbelonging to the Gubers. He also killed the keeper of the altar, and\nburnt the Zendavesta, which contained the formulary of their doctrines\nand belief.\n\nOne of the women of Gusht\u00e1sp's household happened to elude the grasp of\nthe invader, and hastened to S\u00edst\u00e1n to inform the king of the disaster\nthat had occurred. \"Thy father is killed, the city is taken, and thy\nwomen and daughters in the power of the conqueror.\" Gusht\u00e1sp received\nthe news with consternation, and prepared with the utmost expedition for\nhis departure. He invited Rustem to accompany him, but the champion\nexcused himself at the time, and afterwards declined altogether on the\nplea of sickness. Before he had yet arrived at Balkh, Kahram hearing of\nhis approach, went out to meet him with his whole army, and was joined\non the same day by Arj\u00e1sp and his demon-legions.\n\n  Great was the uproar, loud the brazen drums\n  And trumpets rung, the earth shook, and seemed rent\n  By that tremendous conflict, javelins flew\n  Like hail on every side, and the warm blood\n  Streamed from the wounded and the dying men.\n  The claim of kindred did not check the arm\n  Lifted in battle--mercy there was none,\n  For all resigned themselves to chance or fate,\n  Or what the ruling Heavens might decree.\n\nAt last the battle terminated in the defeat of Gusht\u00e1sp, who was pursued\ntill he was obliged to take refuge in a mountain-fort. He again\nconsulted Jam\u00e1sp to know what the stars foretold, and Jam\u00e1sp replied\nthat he would recover from the defeat through the exertions of\nIsfendiy\u00e1r alone. Pleased with this interpretation, he on that very day\nsent Jam\u00e1sp to the prison with a letter to Isfendiy\u00e1r, in which he hoped\nto be pardoned for the cruelty he had been guilty of towards him, in\nconsequence, he said, of being deceived by the arts and treachery of\nthose who were only anxious to effect his ruin. He declared too that he\nwould put those enemies to death in his presence, and replace the royal\ncrown upon his head. At the same time he confined in chains Gurzam, the\nwretch who first practised upon his feelings. Jam\u00e1sp rode immediately to\nthe prison, and delivering the letter, urged the prince to comply with\nhis father's entreaties, but Isfendiy\u00e1r was incredulous and not so\neasily to be moved.\n\n  \"Has he not at heart disdained me?\n  Has he not in prison chained me?\n  Am I not his son, that he\n  Treats me ignominiously?\n\n  \"Why should Gurzam's scorn and hate\n    Rouse a loving father's wrath?\n  Why should he, the foul ingrate,\n    Cast destruction in my path?\"\n\nJam\u00e1sp, however, persevered in his anxious solicitations, describing to\nhim how many of his brethren and kindred had fallen, and also the\nperilous situation of his own father if he refused his assistance. By a\nthousand various efforts he at length effected his purpose, and the\nblacksmith was called to take off his chains; but in removing them, the\nanguish of the wounds they had inflicted was so great that Isfendiy\u00e1r\nfainted away. Upon his recovery he was escorted to the presence of his\nfather, who received him with open arms, and the strongest expressions\nof delight. He begged to be forgiven for his unnatural conduct to him,\nagain resigned to him the throne of the empire, and appointed him to the\ncommand of the imperial armies. He then directed Gurzam, upon whose\nmalicious counsel he had acted, to be brought before him, and the wicked\nminister was punished with death on the spot, and in the presence of the\ninjured prince.\n\n  Wretch! more relentless even than wolf or pard,\n  Thou hast at length received thy just reward!\n\nWhen Arj\u00e1sp heard that Isfendiy\u00e1r had been reconciled to his father, and\nwas approaching at the head of an immense army, he was affected with the\ndeepest concern, and forthwith sent his son Kahram to endeavor to resist\nthe progress of the enemy. At the same time Kurugsar, a gladiator of the\ndemon race, requested that he might be allowed to oppose Isfendiy\u00e1r; and\npermission being granted, he was the very first on the field, where\ninstantly wielding his bow, he shot an arrow at Isfendiy\u00e1r, which\npierced through the mail, but fortunately for him did no serious harm.\nThe prince drew his sword with the intention of attacking him, but\nseeing him furious with rage, and being doubtful of the issue, thought\nit more prudent and safe to try his success with the noose. Accordingly\nhe took the kamund from his saddle-strap, and dexterously flung it round\nthe neck of his arrogant foe, who was pulled headlong from his horse:\nand, as soon as his arms were bound behind his back, dragged a prisoner\nin front of the Persian ranks. Isfendiy\u00e1r then returned to the battle,\nattacked a body of the enemy's auxiliaries, killed a hundred and sixty\nof their warriors, and made the division of which Kahram was the leader\nfly in all directions. His next feat was to attack another force, which\nhad confederated against him.\n\n  With slackened rein he galloped o'er the field;\n  Blood gushed from every stroke of his sharp sword,\n  And reddened all the plain; a hundred warriors\n  Eighty and five, in treasure rich and mail,\n  Sunk underneath him, such his mighty power.\n\nHis remaining object was to assail the centre, where Arj\u00e1sp himself was\nstationed; and thither he rapidly hastened. Arj\u00e1sp, angry and alarmed at\nthis success, cried out, \"What! is one man allowed to scathe all my\nranks, cannot my whole army put an end to his dreadful career?\" The\nsoldiers replied, \"No! he has a body of brass, and the vigor of an\nelephant: our swords make no impression upon him, whilst with his sword\nhe can cut the body of a warrior, cased in mail, in two, with the\ngreatest ease. Against such a foe, what can we do?\" Isfendiy\u00e1r rushed\non; and after an overwhelming attack, Arj\u00e1sp was compelled to quit his\nground and effect his escape. The Ir\u00e1nian troops were then ordered to\npursue the fugitives, and in revenge for the death of Lohur\u00e1sp, not to\nleave a man alive. The carnage was in consequence terrible, and the\nremaining T\u00far\u00e1nians were in such despair that they flung themselves from\ntheir exhausted horses, and placing straw in their mouths to show the\nextremity of their misfortune, called aloud for quarter. Isfendiy\u00e1r was\nmoved at last to compassion, and put an end to the fight; and when he\ncame before Gusht\u00e1sp, the mail on his body, from the number of arrows\nsticking in it, looked like a field of reeds; about a thousand arrows\nwere taken out of its folds. Gusht\u00e1sp kissed his head and face, and\nblessed him, and prepared a grand banquet, and the city of Balkh\nresounded with rejoicings on account of the great victory.\n\nMany days had not elapsed before a further enterprise was to be\nundertaken. The sisters of Isfendiy\u00e1r were still in confinement, and\nrequired to be released. The prince readily complied with the wishes of\nGusht\u00e1sp, who now repeated to him his desire to relinquish the cares of\nsovereignty, and place the reins of government in his hands, that he\nmight devote himself entirely to the service of God.\n\n  \"To thee I yield the crown and throne,\n  Fit to be held by thee alone;\n  From worldly care and trouble free,\n  A hermit's cell is enough for me,\"\n\nBut Isfendiy\u00e1r replied, that he had no desire to be possessed of the\npower; he rather wished for the prosperity of the king, and no change.\n\n  \"O, may thy life be long and blessed,\n  And ever by the good caressed;\n  For 'tis my duty still to be\n  Devoted faithfully to thee!\n  I want no throne, nor diadem;\n  My soul has no delight in them.\n  I only seek to give thee joy,\n  And gloriously my sword employ.\n  I thirst for vengeance on Arj\u00e1sp:\n  To crush him in my iron grasp,\n  That from his thrall I may restore\n    My sisters to their home again,\n  Who now their heavy fate deplore,\n  And toiling drag a slavish chain.\"\n  \"Then go!\" the smiling monarch said,\n  Invoking blessings on his head,\n  \"And may kind Heaven thy refuge be,\n  And lead thee on to victory.\"\n\nIsfendiy\u00e1r now told his father that his prisoner Kurugsar was\ncontinually requesting him to represent his condition in the royal ear,\nsaying, \"Of what use will it be to put me to death? No benefit can arise\nfrom such a punishment. Spare my life, and you will see how largely I am\nable to contribute to your assistance.\" Gusht\u00e1sp expressed his\nwillingness to be merciful, but demanded a guarantee on oath from the\npetitioner that he would heart and soul be true and faithful to his\nbenefactor. The oath was sworn, after which his bonds were taken from\nhis hands and feet, and he was set at liberty. The king then called him,\nand pressed him with goblets of wine, which made him merry. \"I have\npardoned thee,\" said Gusht\u00e1sp, \"at the special entreaty of\nIsfendiy\u00e1r--be grateful to him, and be attentive to his commands.\" After\nthat, Isfendiy\u00e1r took and conveyed him to his own house, that he might\nhave an opportunity of experiencing and proving the promised fidelity of\nhis new ally.\n\n\n\nTHE HEFT-KHAN OF ISFENDIY\u00c1R\n\n  Rustem had seven great labours, wondrous power\n  Nerved his strong arm in danger's needful hour;\n  And now Firdusi's legend-strains declare\n  The seven great labours of Isfendiy\u00e1r.\n\nThe prince, who had determined to undertake the new expedition, and\nappeared confident of success, now addressed himself to Kurugsar, and\nsaid, \"If I conquer the kingdom of Arj\u00e1sp, and restore my sisters to\nliberty, thou shalt have for thyself any principality thou may'st choose\nwithin the boundaries of Ir\u00e1n and T\u00far\u00e1n, and thy name shall be exalted;\nbut beware of treachery or fraud, for falsehood shall certainly be\npunished with death.\" To this Kurugsar replied, \"I have already sworn a\nsolemn oath to the king, and at thy intercession he has spared my\nlife--why then should I depart from the truth, and betray my\nbenefactor?\"\n\n\"Then tell me the road to the brazen fortress, and how far it is distant\nfrom this place?\" said Isfendiy\u00e1r.\n\n\"There are three different routes,\" replied Kurugsar. \"One will occupy\nthree months; it leads through a beautiful country, adorned with cities,\nand gardens, and pastures, and is pleasant to the traveller. The second\nis less attractive, the prospects less agreeable, and will only employ\ntwo months; the third, however, may be accomplished in seven days, and\nis thence called the Heft-khan, or seven stages; but at every stage some\nmonster, or terrible difficulty, must be overcome. No monarch, even\nsupported by a large army, has ever yet ventured to proceed by this\nroute; and if it is ever attempted, the whole party will be assuredly\nlost.\n\n \"Nor strength, nor juggling, nor the sorcerer's art\n  Can help him safely through that awful path,\n  Beset with wolves and dragons, wild and fierce,\n  From whom the fleetest have no power to fly.\n  There an enchantress, doubly armed with spells,\n  The most accomplished of that magic brood.\n  Spreads wide her snares to charm and to destroy,\n  And ills of every shape, and horrid aspect,\n  Cross the tired traveller at every step.\"\n\nAt this description of the terrors of the Heft-khan, Isfendiy\u00e1r became\nthoughtful for awhile, and then, resigning himself to the providence of\nGod, resolved to take the shortest route. \"No man can die before his\ntime,\" said he; \"heaven is my protector, and I will fearlessly encounter\nevery difficulty on the road.\" \"It is full of perils,\" replied Kurugsar,\nand endeavored to dissuade him from the enterprise. \"But with the\nblessing of God,\" rejoined Isfendiy\u00e1r, \"it will be easy.\" The prince\nthen ordered a sumptuous banquet to be served, at which he gave Kurugsar\nabundant draughts of wine, and even in a state of intoxication the\ndemon-guide still warned him against his proposed journey. \"Go by the\nroute which takes two months,\" said he, \"for that will be convenient and\nsafe;\" but Isfendiy\u00e1r replied:--\"I neither fear the difficulties of the\nroute, nor the perils thou hast described.\"\n\n  And though destruction spoke in every word,\n  Enough to terrify the stoutest heart,\n  Still he adhered to what he first resolved.\n  \"Thou wilt attend me,\" said the dauntless prince;\n  And thus Kurugsar, without a pause, replied:\n  \"Undoubtedly, if by the two months' way,\n  And do thee ample service; but if this\n  Heft-khan be thy election; if thy choice\n  Be fixed on that which leads to certain death,\n  My presence must be useless. Can I go\n  Where bird has never dared to wing its flight?\"\n\nIsfendiy\u00e1r, upon hearing these words, began to suspect the fidelity of\nKurugsar, and thought it safe to bind him in chains. The next day as he\nwas going to take leave of his father, Kurugsar called out to him, and\nsaid: \"After my promises of allegiance, and my solemn oath, why am I\nthus kept in chains?\" \"Not out of anger assuredly; but out of compassion\nand kindness, in order that I may take thee along with me on the\nenterprise of the Heft-khan; for wert thou not bound, thy faint heart\nmight induce thee to run away.\n\n \"Safe thou art when bound in chains,\n    Fettered foot can never fly.\n  Whilst thy body here remains,\n    We may on thy faith rely.\n  Terror will in vain assail thee;\n  For these bonds shall never fail thee.\n  Guarded by a potent charm,\n  They will keep thee free from harm.\"\n\nIsfendiy\u00e1r having received the parting benediction of Gusht\u00e1sp, was\nsupplied with a force consisting of twelve thousand chosen horsemen, and\nabundance of treasure, to enable him to proceed on his enterprise, and\nconquer the kingdom of Arj\u00e1sp.\n\nFirst Stage.--Isfendiy\u00e1r placed Kurugsar in bonds among his retinue, and\ntook with him his brother Bash\u00fatan. But the demon-guide complained that\nhe was unable to walk, and in consequence he was mounted on a horse,\nstill bound, and the bridle given into the hands of one of the warriors.\nIn this manner they proceeded, directed from time to time by Kurugsar,\ntill they arrived at the uttermost limits of the kingdom, and entered a\ndesert wilderness. Isfendiy\u00e1r now asked what they would meet with, and\nthe guide answered, \"Two monstrous wolves are in this quarter, as large\nas elephants, and whose teeth are of immense length.\" The prince told\nhis people, that as soon as they saw the wolves, they must at once\nattack them with arrows. The day passed away, and in the evening they\ncame to a forest and a murmuring stream, when suddenly the two enormous\nwolves appeared, and rushed towards the legions of Isfendiy\u00e1r. The\npeople seeing them advance, poured upon them a shower of arrows.\nSeveral, however, were wounded, but the wolves were much exhausted by\nthe arrows which had penetrated their bodies. At this moment Bash\u00fatan\nattacked one of them, and Isfendiy\u00e1r the other; and so vigorous was\ntheir charge, that both the monsters were soon laid lifeless in the\ndust. After this signal overthrow, Isfendiy\u00e1r turned to Kurugsar, and\nexclaimed: \"Thus, through the favor of Heaven, the first obstacle has\nbeen easily extinguished!\" The guide regarded him with amazement, and\nsaid:--\"I am indeed astonished at the intrepidity and valor that has\nbeen displayed.\"\n\n  Seeing the bravery of Isfendiy\u00e1r,\n  Amazement filled the soul of Kurugsar.\n\nThe warriors and the party now dismounted, and regaled themselves with\nfeasting and wine. They then reposed till the following morning.\n\nSecond Stage.--Proceeding on the second journey, Isfendiy\u00e1r inquired\nwhat might now be expected to oppose their progress, and Kurugsar\nreplied: \"This stage is infested by lions.\" \"Then,\" rejoined Isfendiy\u00e1r,\n\"thou shalt see with what facility I can destroy them.\" At about the\nclose of the day they met with a lion and a lioness. Bash\u00fatan said:\n\"Take one and I will engage the other.\" But Isfendiy\u00e1r observed, that\nthe animals seemed very wild and ferocious, and he preferred attacking\nthem both himself, that his brother might not be exposed to any harm. He\nfirst sallied forth against the lion, and with one mighty stroke put an\nend to his life. He then approached the lioness, which pounced upon him\nwith great fury, but was soon compelled to desist, and the prince,\nrapidly wielding his sword, in a moment cut off her head. Having thus\nsuccessfully accomplished the second day's task, he alighted from his\nhorse, and refreshments being spread out, the warriors and the troops\nenjoyed themselves with great satisfaction, exhilarated by plenteous\ndraughts of ruby wine. Again Isfendiy\u00e1r addressed Kurugsar, and said:\n\"Thou seest with what facility all opposition is removed, when I am\nassisted by the favor of Heaven!\" \"But there are other and more terrible\ndifficulties to surmount, and amazing as thy achievements certainly have\nbeen, thou wilt have still greater exertions to make before thy\nenterprise is complete.\" \"What is the next evil I have to subdue?\" \"An\nenormous dragon,\n\n \"With power to fascinate, and from the deep\n  To lure the finny tribe, his daily food.\n  Fire sparkles round him; his stupendous bulk\n  Looks like a mountain. When incensed, his roar\n  Makes the surrounding country shake with fear.\n  White poison-foam drops from his hideous jaws,\n  Which yawning wide, display a dismal gulf,\n  The grave of many a hapless being, lost\n  Wandering amidst that trackless wilderness.\"\n\nKurugsar described or magnified the ferocity of the animal in such a\nway, that Isfendiy\u00e1r thought it necessary to be cautious, and with that\nview he ordered a curious apparatus to be constructed on wheels,\nsomething like a carriage, to which he fastened a large quantity of\npointed instruments, and harnessed horses to it to drag it on the road.\nHe then tried its motion, and found it admirably calculated for his\npurpose. The people were astonished at the ingenuity of the invention,\nand lauded him to the skies.\n\nThird Stage--Away went the prince, and having travelled a considerable\ndistance, Kurugsar suddenly exclaimed: \"I now begin to smell the stench\nof the dragon.\" Hearing this, Isfendiy\u00e1r dismounted, ascended the\nmachine, and shutting the door fast, took his seat and drove off.\nBash\u00fatan and all the warriors upon witnessing this extraordinary act,\nbegan to weep and lament, thinking that he was hurrying himself to\ncertain destruction, and begged that for his own sake, as well as\ntheirs, he would come out of the machine. But he replied: \"Peace, peace!\nwhat know ye of the matter;\" and as the warlike apparatus was so\nexcellently contrived, that he could direct the movements of the horses\nhimself, he drove on with increased velocity, till he arrived in the\nvicinity of the monster.\n\n  The dragon from a distance heard\n    The rumbling of the wain,\n  And snuffing every breeze that stirred\n    Across the neighbouring plain,\n\n  Smelt something human in his power,\n    A welcome scent to him;\n  For he was eager to devour\n    Hot reeking blood, or limb.\n\n  And darkness now is spread around,\n    No pathway can be traced;\n  The fiery horses plunge and bound\n    Amid the dismal waste.\n\n  And now the dragon stretches far\n    His cavern throat, and soon\n  Licks in the horses and the car,\n    And tries to gulp them down.\n\n  But sword and javelin, sharp and keen,\n    Wound deep each sinewy jaw;\n  Midway, remains the huge machine,\n    And chokes the monster's maw.\n\n  In agony he breathes, a dire\n    Convulsion fires his blood,\n  And struggling, ready to expire,\n    Ejects a poison-flood!\n\n  And then disgorges wain and steeds,\n    And swords and javelins bright;\n  Then, as the dreadful dragon bleeds,\n    Up starts the warrior-knight,\n  And from his place of ambush leaps,\n    And, brandishing his blade,\n  The weapon in the brain he steeps,\n    And splits the monster's head.\n\n  But the foul venom issuing thence,\n    Is so o'erpowering found,\n  Isfendiy\u00e1r, deprived of sense,\n    Falls staggering to the ground!\n\nUpon seeing this result, and his brother in so deplorable a situation,\nBash\u00fatan and the troops also were in great alarm, apprehending the most\nfatal consequences. They sprinkled rose-water over his face, and\nadministered other remedies, so that after some time he recovered; then\nhe bathed, purifying himself from the filth of the monster, and poured\nout prayers of thankfulness to the merciful Creator for the protection\nand victory he had given him. But it was matter of great grief to\nKurugsar that Isfendiy\u00e1r had succeeded in his exploit, because under\npresent circumstances, he would have to follow him in the remaining\narduous enterprises; whereas, if the prince had been slain, his\nobligations would have ceased forever.\n\n\"What may be expected to-morrow?\" inquired Isfendiy\u00e1r. \"To-morrow,\"\nreplied the demon-guide, \"thou wilt meet with an enchantress, who can\nconvert the stormy sea into dry land, and the dry land again into the\nocean. She is attended by a gigantic ghoul, or apparition.\" \"Then thou\nshalt see how easily this enchantress and her mysterious attendant can\nbe vanquished.\"\n\nFourth Stage.--On the fourth day Isfendiy\u00e1r and his companions proceeded\non the destined journey, and coming to a pleasant meadow, watered by a\ntransparent rivulet, the party alighted, and they all refreshed\nthemselves heartily with various kinds of food and wine. In a short\nspace of time the enchantress appeared, most beautiful in feature and\nelegant in attire, and approaching our hero with a sad but fascinating\nexpression of countenance, said to him (the ghoul, her pretended\nparamour, being at a little distance):--\n\n  \"I am a poor unhappy thing,\n  The daughter of a distant king.\n  This monster with deceit and fraud,\n  By a fond parent's power unawed,\n  Seduced me from my royal home,\n  Through wood and desert wild to roam;\n  And surely Heaven has brought thee now\n  To cheer my heart, and smooth my brow,\n  And free me from his loathed embrace,\n  And bear me to a fitter place,\n  Where, in thy circling arms more softly prest,\n  I may at last be truly loved, and blest.\"\n\nIsfendiy\u00e1r immediately called her to him, and requested her to sit down.\nThe enchantress readily complied, anticipating a successful issue to her\nartful stratagems; but the intended victim of her sorcery was too\ncunning to be imposed upon. He soon perceived what she was, and\nforthwith cast his kamund over her, and in spite of all her entreaties,\nbound her too fast to escape. In this extremity, she successively\nassumed the shape of a cat, a wolf, and a decrepit old man: and so\nperfect were her transformations, that any other person would have been\ndeceived, but Isfendiy\u00e1r detected her in every variety of appearance;\nand, vexed by her continual attempts to cheat him, at last took out his\nsword and cut her in pieces. As soon as this was done, a thick dark\ncloud of dust and vapor arose, and when it subsided, a black apparition\nof a demon burst upon his sight, with flames issuing from its mouth.\nDetermined to destroy this fresh antagonist, he rushed forward, sword in\nhand, and though the flames, in the attack, burnt his cloth-armor and\ndress, he succeeded in cutting off the threatening monster's head.\n\"Now,\" said he to Kurugsar, \"thou hast seen that with the favor of\nHeaven, both enchantress and ghoul are exterminated, as well as the\nwolves, the lions, and the dragon.\" \"Very well,\" replied Kurugsar, \"thou\nhast achieved this prodigious labor, but to-morrow will be a heavy day,\nand thou canst hardly escape with life. To-morrow thou wilt be opposed\nby the S\u00edm\u00fargh, whose nest is situated upon a lofty mountain. She has\ntwo young ones, each the size of an elephant, which she conveys in her\nbeak and claws from place to place.\" \"Be under no alarm,\" said\nIsfendiy\u00e1r, \"God will make the labor easy.\"\n\nFifth Stage.--On the fifth day, Isfendiy\u00e1r resumed his journey,\ntravelling with his little army over desert, plain, mountain, and\nwilderness, until he reached the neighborhood of the S\u00edm\u00fargh. He then\nadopted the same stratagem which he had employed before, and the machine\nsupplied with swords and spears, and drawn by horses, was soon in\nreadiness for the new adventure. The S\u00edm\u00fargh, seeing with surprise an\nimmense vehicle, drawn by two horses, approach at a furious rate, and\nfollowed by a large company of horsemen, descended from the mountain,\nand endeavored to take up the whole apparatus in her claws to carry it\naway to her own nest; but her claws were lacerated by the sharp weapons,\nand she was then obliged to try her beak. Both beak and claws were\ninjured in the effort, and the animal became extremely weakened by the\nloss of blood. Isfendiy\u00e1r seizing the happy moment, sprang out of the\ncarriage, and with his trenchant sword divided the S\u00edm\u00fargh in two parts;\nand the young ones, after witnessing the death of their parent,\nprecipitately fled from the fatal scene. When Bash\u00fatan, with the army,\ncame to the spot, they were amazed at the prodigious size of the\nS\u00edm\u00fargh, and the valor by which it had been subdued. Kurugsar turned\npale with astonishment and sorrow. \"What will be our next adventure?\"\nsaid Isfendiy\u00e1r to him. \"To-morrow more pressing ills will surround\nthee. Heavy snow will fall, and there will be a violent tempest of wind,\nand it will be wonderful if even one man of thy legions remains alive.\nThat will not be like fighting against lions, a dragon, or the S\u00edm\u00fargh,\nbut against the elements, against the Almighty, which never can be\nsuccessful. Thou hadst better therefore, return unhurt.\" The people on\nhearing this warning were alarmed, and proposed to go back; \"for if the\nadvice of Kurugsar is not taken, we shall all perish like the companions\nof Kai-khosr\u00e1u, and lie buried under drifts of snow.\n\n \"Let us return then, whilst we may;\n  Why should we throw our lives away?\"\n\nBut Isfendiy\u00e1r replied that he had already overcome five of the perils\nof the road, and had no fear about the remaining two. The people,\nhowever, were still discontented, and still murmured aloud; upon which\nthe prince said, \"Return then, and I will go alone.\n\n \"I never can require the aid\n  Of men so easily dismayed.\"\n\nFinding their leader immovable, the people now changed their tone, and\nexpressed their devotion to his cause; declaring that whilst life\nremained, they would never forsake him, no never.\n\nSixth Stage.--On the following morning, the sixth, Isfendiy\u00e1r continued\nhis labors, and hurried on with great speed. Towards evening he arrived\non the skirts of a mountain, where there was a running stream, and upon\nthat spot, he pitched his tents.\n\n  Presently from the mountain there rushed down\n  A furious storm of wind, then heavy showers\n  Of snow fell, covering all the earth with whiteness,\n  And making desolate the prospect round.\n  Keen blew the blast, and pinching was the cold;\n  And to escape the elemental wrath,\n  Leader and soldier, in the caverned rock\n  Scooped out by mouldering time, took shelter, there\n  Continuing three long days. Three lingering days\n  Still fell the snow, and still the tempest raged,\n  And man and beast grew faint for want of food.\n\nIsfendiy\u00e1r and his warriors, with heads exposed, now prostrated\nthemselves in solemn prayer to the Almighty, and implored his favor and\nprotection from the calamity which had befallen them. Happily their\nprayers were heard, Heaven was compassionate, and in a short space the\nsnow and the mighty wind entirely ceased. By this fortunate interference\nof Providence, the army was enabled to quit the caves of the mountain;\nand then Isfendiy\u00e1r again addressed Kurugsar triumphantly: \"Thus the\nsixth labor is accomplished. What have we now to fear?\" The demon-guide\nanswered him and said: \"From hence to the Brazen Fortress it is forty\nfarsangs. That fortress is the residence of Arj\u00e1sp; but the road is full\nof peril. For three farsangs the sand on the ground is as hot as fire,\nand there is no water to be found during the whole journey.\" This\ninformation made a serious impression upon the mind of Isfendiy\u00e1r; who\nsaid to him sternly: \"If I find thee guilty of falsehood, I will\nassuredly put thee to death.\" Kurugsar replied: \"What! after six trials?\nThou hast no reason to question my veracity. I shall never depart from\nthe truth, and my advice is, that thou hadst better return; for the\nseventh stage is not to be ventured upon by human strength.\n\n \"Along those plains of burning sand\n    No bird can move, nor ant, nor fly;\n  No water slakes the fiery land,\n    Intensely glows the flaming sky.\n  No tiger fierce, nor lion ever\n    Could breathe that pestilential air;\n  Even the unsparing vulture never\n    Ventures on blood-stained pinions there.\n\n\"At the distance of three farsangs beyond this inaccessible belt of\nscorching country lies the Brazen Fortress, to which there is no visible\npath; and if an army of a hundred thousand strong were to attempt its\nreduction, there would not be the least chance of success.\"\n\nSeventh Stage.--When Isfendiy\u00e1r heard these things, enough to alarm the\nbravest heart, he turned towards his people to ascertain their\ndetermination; when they unanimously repeated their readiness to\nsacrifice their lives in his service, and to follow wherever he might be\ndisposed to lead the way. He then put Kurugsar in chains again, and\nprosecuted his journey, until he reached the place said to be covered\nwith burning sand. Arrived on the spot, he observed to the demon-guide:\n\"Thou hast described the sand as hot, but it is not so.\" \"True; and it\nis on account of the heavy showers of snow that have fallen and cooled\nthe ground, a proof that thou art under the protection of the Almighty.\"\nIsfendiy\u00e1r smiled, and said: \"Thou art all insincerity and deception,\nthus to play upon my feelings with false or imaginary terrors.\" Saying\nthis he urged his soldiers to pass rapidly on, so as to leave the sand\nbehind them, and they presently came to a great river. Isfendiy\u00e1r was\nnow angry with Kurugsar, and said: \"Thou hast declared that for the\nspace of forty farsangs there was no water, every drop being everywhere\ndried up by the burning heat of the sun, and here we find water! Why\ndidst thou also idly fill the minds of my soldiers with groundless\nfears?\" Kurugsar replied: \"I will confess the truth. Did I not swear a\nsolemn oath to be faithful, and yet I was still doubted, and still\nconfined in irons, though the experience of six days of trial had proved\nthe correctness of my information and advice. For this reason I was\ndisappointed and displeased; and I must confess that I did, therefore,\nexaggerate the dangers of the last day, in the hope too of inducing thee\nto return and release me from my bonds.\n\n \"For what have I received from thee,\n  But scorn, and chains, and slavery.\"\n\nIsfendiy\u00e1r now struck off the irons from the hands and feet of his\ndemon-guide and treated him with favor and kindness, repeating to him\nhis promise to reward him at the close of his victorious career with the\ngovernment of a kingdom. Kurugsar was grateful for this change of\nconduct to him, and again acknowledging the deception he had been guilty\nof, hoped for pardon, engaging at the same time to take the party in\nsafety across the great river which had impeded their progress. This was\naccordingly done, and the Brazen Fortress was now at no great distance.\nAt the close of the day they were only one farsang from the towers, but\nIsfendiy\u00e1r preferred resting till the next morning. \"What is thy counsel\nnow?\" said he to his guide. \"What sort of a fortress is this which fame\ndescribes in such dreadful colors?\" \"It is stronger than imagination can\nconceive, and impregnable.\"--\"Then how shall I get to Arj\u00e1sp?\n\n \"How shall I cleave the oppressor's form asunder,\n  The murderer of my grandsire, Lohur\u00e1sp?\n  The bravest heroes of T\u00far\u00e1n shall fall\n  Under my conquering sword; their wives and children\n  Led captive to Ir\u00e1n; and desolation\n  Scathe the whole realm beneath the tyrant's sway.\"\n\nBut these words only roused and exasperated the feelings of Kurugsar,\nwho bitterly replied:--\n\n  \"Then may calamity be thy reward,\n  Thy stars malignant, and thy life all sorrow;\n  And may'st thou perish, weltering in thy blood,\n  And the bare desert be thy lonely grave\n  For that inhuman thought, that cruel menace.\"\n\nIsfendiy\u00e1r, upon hearing this unexpected language, became furious with\nindignation, and instantly punished the offender on the spot; with one\nstroke of his sword he cleft Kurugsar in twain.\n\nWhen the clouds of night had darkened the sky, Isfendiy\u00e1r, with a number\nof his warriors, proceeded towards the Brazen Fortress, and secretly\nexplored it on every side. He found it constructed entirely of iron and\nbrass; and, notwithstanding a strict examination at every point,\ndiscovered no accessible part for attack. It was three farsangs high,\nand forty wide; and such a place as was never before beheld by man.\n\n\n\nCAPTURE OF THE BRAZEN FORTRESS\n\nIsfendiy\u00e1r returned from reconnoitring the fortress with acute feelings\nof sorrow and despair. He was at last convinced that Kurugsar had spoken\nthe truth; for there seemed to be no chance whatever of taking the place\nby any stratagem he could invent. Revolving the enterprise seriously in\nhis mind, he now began to repent of his folly, and the overweening\nconfidence which had led him to undertake the journey. Returning thus to\nhis tent in a melancholy mood, he saw a Fak\u00edr sitting down on the road,\nand him he anxiously accosted. \"What may be the number of the garrison\nin this fort?\" \"There are a hundred thousand veteran warriors in the\nservice of Arj\u00e1sp in the fort, with abundance of supplies of every kind,\nand streams of pure water, so that nothing is wanted to foil an enemy.\"\nThis was very unwelcome intelligence to Isfendiy\u00e1r, who now assembled\nhis officers to consider what was best to be done. They all agreed that\nthe reduction of the fortress was utterly impracticable, and that the\nsafest course for him would be to return. But he could not bring himself\nto acquiesce in this measure, saying: \"God is almighty, and beneficent,\nand with him is the victory.\" He then reflected deeply and long, and\nfinally determined upon entering the fort disguised as a merchant.\nHaving first settled the mode of proceeding, he put Bash\u00fatan in\ntemporary charge of the army, saying:--\n\n  \"This Brazen Fortress scorns all feats of arms,\n  Nor sword nor spear, nor battle-axe, can here\n  Be wielded to advantage; stratagem\n  Must be employed, or we shall never gain\n  Possession of its wide-extended walls,\n  Placing my confidence in God alone\n  I go with rich and curious wares for sale,\n  To take the credulous people by surprise,\n  Under the semblance of a peaceful merchant.\"\n\nIsfendiy\u00e1r then directed a hundred dromedaries to be collected, and when\nthey were brought to him he disposed of them in the following manner. He\nloaded ten with embroidered cloths, five with rubies and sapphires, and\nfive more with pearls and other precious jewels. Upon each of the\nremaining eighty he placed two chests, and in each chest a warrior was\nsecreted, making in all one hundred and sixty; and one hundred more were\ndisposed as camel-drivers and servants. Thus the whole force, consisting\nof a hundred dromedaries and two hundred and sixty warriors, set off\ntowards the Brazen Fortress, Isfendiy\u00e1r having first intimated to his\nbrother Bash\u00fatan to march with his army direct to the gates of the fort,\nas soon as he saw a column of flame and smoke ascend from the interior.\nOn the way they gave out that they were merchants come with valuable\ngoods from Persia, and hoped for custom. The tidings of travellers\nhaving arrived with rubies and gold-embroidered garments for sale, soon\nreached the ears of Arj\u00e1sp, the king, who immediately gave them\npermission to enter the fort. When Isfendiy\u00e1r, the reputed master of the\ncaravan, had got within the walls, he said that he had brought rich\npresents for the king, and requested to be introduced to him in person.\nHe was accordingly allowed to take the presents himself, was received\nwith distinguished attention, and having stated his name to be Kher\u00e1d,\nwas invited to go to the royal palace, whenever, and as often as, he\nmight please. At one of the interviews the king asked him, as he had\ncome from Persia, if he knew whether the report was true or not that\nKurugsar had been put to death, and what Gusht\u00e1sp and Isfendiy\u00e1r were\nengaged upon. The hero in disguise replied that it was five months since\nhe left Persia; but he had heard on the road from many persons that\nIsfendiy\u00e1r intended proceeding by the way of the Heft-khan with a vast\narmy, towards the Brazen Fortress. At these words Arj\u00e1sp smiled in\nderision, and said: \"Ah! ah! by that way even the winged tribe are\nafraid to venture; and if Isfendiy\u00e1r had a thousand lives, he would lose\nthem all in any attempt to accomplish that journey.\" After this\ninterview Isfendiy\u00e1r daily continued to attend to the sale of his\nmerchandise, and soon found that his sisters were employed in the\ndegrading office of drawing and carrying water for the kitchen of\nArj\u00e1sp. When they heard that a caravan had arrived from Ir\u00e1n, they went\nto Isfendiy\u00e1r (who recognized them at a distance, but hid his face that\nthey might not know him), to inquire what tidings he had brought about\ntheir father and brother. Alarmed at the hazard of discovery, he replied\nthat he knew nothing, and desired them to depart; but they remained, and\nsaid: \"On thy return to Ir\u00e1n, at least, let it be known that here we\nare, two daughters of Gusht\u00e1sp, reduced to the basest servitude, and\nneither father nor brother takes compassion upon our distresses.\n\n \"Whilst with bare head, and naked feet, we toil,\n  They pass their time in peace and happiness,\n  Regardless of the misery we endure.\"\n\nIsfendiy\u00e1r again, in assumed anger, told them to depart, saying: \"Talk\nnot to me of Gusht\u00e1sp and Isfendiy\u00e1r--what have I to do with them?\" At\nthat moment the sound of his voice was recognized by the elder sister,\nwho, in a transport of joy, instantly communicated her discovery to the\nyounger; but they kept the secret till night, and then they returned to\ncommune with their brother. Isfendiy\u00e1r finding that he was known,\nacknowledged himself, and informed them that he had undertaken to\nrestore them to liberty, and that he was now engaged in the enterprise,\nopposing every obstacle in his way; but it was necessary that they\nshould continue their usual labor at the wells, till a fitting\nopportunity occurred.\n\nFor the purpose of accelerating the moment of release, Isfendiy\u00e1r\nrepresented to the king that at a period of great adversity, he had made\na vow that he would give a splendid banquet if ever Heaven again smiled\nupon him, and as he then was in the way to prosperity, and wished to\nfulfil his vow, he hoped that his majesty would honor him with his\npresence on the occasion. The king accepted the invitation with\nsatisfaction, and said: \"To-morrow I will be thy guest, at thy own\nhouse, and with all my warriors and soldiers.\" But this did not suit the\nscheme of the pretended merchant, who apologized on account of his house\nbeing too small, and proposed that the feast should be held upon the\nloftiest part of the fortress, where spacious tents and pavilions might\nbe erected for the purpose, and a large fire lighted to give splendor to\nthe scene. The king assented, and every requisite preparation being\nmade, all the royal and warrior guests assembled in the morning, and\neagerly partook of the rich viands set before them. They all drank wine\nwith such relish and delight, that they soon became intoxicated, and\nKher\u00e1d seizing the opportunity, ordered the logs of wood which had been\ncollected, to be set on fire, and rapidly the smoke and flame sprung up,\nand ascended to the sky. Bash\u00fatan saw the looked-for sign, and hastened\nwith two thousand horsemen to the gates of the fortress, where he slew\nevery one that he met, calling himself Isfendiy\u00e1r. Arj\u00e1sp had enjoyed\nthe banquet exceedingly; the music gave him infinite pleasure, and the\nwine had intoxicated him; but in the midst of his hilarity and\nmerriment, he was told that Isfendiy\u00e1r had reached the gates, and\nentered the fort, killing immense numbers of his people. This terrible\nintelligence roused him and quitting the festive board of Kher\u00e1d, he\nordered his son Kahram, with fifty thousand horsemen, to repel the\ninvader. He also ordered forty thousand horsemen to protect different\nparts of the walls, and ten thousand to remain as his own personal\nguard. Kahram accordingly issued forth without delay, and soon engaged\nin battle with the force under Bash\u00fatan.\n\nWhen night came, Isfendiy\u00e1r opened the lids of the chests, and let out\nthe hundred and sixty warriors, whom he supplied with swords and spears,\nand armor, and also the hundred who were disguised as camel-drivers and\nservants.\n\n  With this bold band he sped,\n  Whither Arj\u00e1sp had fled;\n  And all who fought around,\n  To keep untouched that sacred ground;\n  (Resistance weak and vain,)\n  By him were quickly slain.\n\nThe sisters of Isfendiy\u00e1r now arrived, and pointed out to him the\nchamber of Arj\u00e1sp, to which place he immediately repaired, and roused up\nthe king, who was almost insensible with the fumes of wine. Arj\u00e1sp,\nhowever, sprang upon his feet,\n\n  And grappled stoutly with Isfendiy\u00e1r,\n  And desperate was the conflict: head and loins\n  Alternately received deep gaping wounds\n  From sword and dagger. Wearied out at length,\n  Arj\u00e1sp shrunk back, when with one mighty blow,\n  Isfendiy\u00e1r, exulting in his power,\n  Cleft him asunder.\n\nTwo of the wives, two daughters, and one sister of Arj\u00e1sp fell\nimmediately into the hands of the conqueror, who delivered them into the\ncustody of his son, to be conveyed home. He then quitted the palace, and\nturning his steps towards the gates of the fortress, slew a great number\nof the enemy.\n\nKahram, in the meantime, had been fiercely engaged with Bash\u00fatan, and\nwas extremely reduced. At the very moment too of his discomfiture, he\nheard the watchmen call out aloud that Arj\u00e1sp had been slain by Kher\u00e1d.\nConfounded and alarmed by these tidings, he approached the fort, where\nhe heard the confirmation of his misfortune from every mouth, and also\nthat the garrison had been put to the sword. Leading on the remainder of\nhis troops he now came in contact with Isfendiy\u00e1r and his two hundred\nand sixty warriors, and a sharp engagement ensued; but the coming up of\nBash\u00fatan's force on his rear, placed him in such a predicament on every\nside, that defeat and destruction were almost inevitable. In short,\nKahram was left with only a few of his soldiers near him, when\nIsfendiy\u00e1r, observing his situation, challenged him to personal combat,\nand the challenge was accepted.\n\n  So closely did the eager warriors close,\n  They seemed together joined, and but one man.\n  At last Isfendiy\u00e1r seized Kahram's girth,\n  And flung him to the ground, and bound his hands;\n  And as a leaf is severed from its stalk,\n  So he the head cleft from its quivering trunk;\n  Thus one blow wins, and takes away a throne,\n  In battle heads are trodden under hoofs,\n  Crowns under heads.\n\nAfter the death of Kahram, Isfendiy\u00e1r issued a proclamation, offering\nfull pardon to all who would unite under his banners. They had no king.\n\n  The country had no throne, no crown. Alas!\n  What is the world without a governor,\n  What, but a headless trunk? A thing more worthless\n  Than the vile dust upon the common road.\n  What could the people do in their despair?\n  They were obedient, and Isfendiy\u00e1r\n  Encouraged them with kind and gentle words,\n  Fitting a generous and a prudent master.\n\nHaving first written to his father an account of the great victory which\nhe had gained, he occupied himself in reducing all the surrounding\nprovinces and their inhabitants to subjection. Those people who\ncontinued hostile to him he deemed it necessary to put to death. He took\nall the women of Arj\u00e1sp into his own service, and their daughters he\npresented to his own sons.\n\n  Not a warrior of Ch\u00edn remained;\n    The king of T\u00far\u00e1n was swept away;\n  And the realm where in pomp he had reigned,\n    Where he basked in prosperity's ray,\n  Was spoiled by the conqueror's brand,\n    Desolation marked every scene,\n  And a stranger now governed the mountainous land,\n    Where the splendour of Poshang had been.\n  Not a dirhem of treasure was left;\n    For nothing eluded the conqueror's grasp;\n  Of all was the royal pavilion bereft;\n    All followed the fate of Arj\u00e1sp!\n\nWhen Gusht\u00e1sp received information of this mighty conquest, he sent\norders to Isfendiy\u00e1r to continue in the government of the new empire;\nbut the prince replied that he had settled the country, and was anxious\nto see his father. This request being permitted, he was desired to bring\naway all the immense booty, and return by the road of the Heft-khan.\nArriving at the place where he was overtaken by the dreadful\nwinter-storm, he again found all the property he had lost under the\ndrifts of snow; and when he had accomplished his journey, he was\nreceived with the warmest welcome and congratulations, on account of his\nextraordinary successes. A royal feast was prepared, and the king filled\nhis son's goblet with wine so repeatedly, and drank himself so\nfrequently, and with such zest, that both of them at length became\nintoxicated. Gusht\u00e1sp then asked Isfendiy\u00e1r to describe to him the\nparticulars of his expedition by the road of the Heft-khan; for though\nhe had heard the story from others, he wished to have it from his own\nmouth. But Isfendiy\u00e1r replied: \"We have both drank too much wine, and\nnothing good can proceed from a drunken man; I will recite my adventures\nto-morrow, when my head is clear.\" The next day Gusht\u00e1sp, seated upon\nhis throne, and Isfendiy\u00e1r placed before him on a golden chair, again\nasked for the prince's description of his triumphant progress by the\nHeft-khan, and according to his wish every incident that merited notice\nwas faithfully detailed to him. The king expressed great pleasure at the\nconclusion; but envy and suspicion lurked in his breast, and writhing\ninternally like a serpent, he still delayed fulfilling his promise to\ninvest Isfendiy\u00e1r, upon the overthrow of Arj\u00e1sp, with the sovereignty of\nIr\u00e1n.\n\nThe prince could not fail to observe the changed disposition of his\nfather, and privately went to Kitab\u00fan, his mother, to whom he related\nthe solemn promise and engagement of Gusht\u00e1sp, and requested her to go\nto him, and say: \"Thou hast given thy royal word to Isfendiy\u00e1r, that\nwhen he had conquered and slain Arj\u00e1sp, and restored his own sisters to\nliberty, thou wouldst place upon his head the crown of Ir\u00e1n; faith and\nhonor are indispensable in princes, they are inculcated by religion, and\nyet thou hast failed to make good thy word.\" But the mother had more\nprudence, and said: \"Let me give thee timely counsel, and breathe not a\nsyllable to any one on the subject. God forbid that thou shouldst again\nbe thrown into prison, and confined in chains. Recollect thine is the\nsuccession; the army is in thy favor; thy father is old and infirm. Have\na little patience and in the end thou wilt undoubtedly be the King of\nPersia.\n\n \"The gold and jewels, the imperial sway,\n  The crown, the throne, the army, all he owns,\n  Will presently be thine; then wait in patience,\n  And reign, in time, the monarch of the world.\"\n\nIsfendiy\u00e1r, however, was not contented with his mother's counsel, and\nsuspecting that she would communicate to the king what he had said, he\none day, as if under the influence of wine, thus addressed his father:\n\"In what way have I failed to accomplish thy wishes? Have I not\nperformed such actions as never were heard of, and never will be\nperformed again, in furtherance of thy glory? I have overthrown thy\ngreatest enemy, and supported thy honor with ceaseless toil and\nexertion. Is it not then incumbent on thee to fulfil thy promise?\"\nGusht\u00e1sp replied: \"Do not be impatient--the throne is thine;\" but he was\ndeeply irritated at heart on being thus reproached by his own son. When\nhe retired he consulted with Jam\u00e1sp, and was anxious to know what the\nstars foretold. The answer was: \"He is of exalted fortune, of high\ndestiny; he will overcome all his enemies, and finally obtain the\nsovereignty of the heft-akl\u00edm, or seven climes.\" This favorable prophecy\naggravated the spleen of the father against the son, and he inquired\nwith bitter and unnatural curiosity: \"What will be his death? Look to\nthat.\"\n\n  \"A deadly dart from Rustem's bow,\n  Will lay the glorious warrior low.\"\n\nThese tidings gladdened the heart of Gusht\u00e1sp, and he said: \"If this\nmiscreant had been slain in his expedition to the Brazen Fortress I\nshould not now have been insulted with his claim to my throne.\" The king\nthen having resolved upon a scheme of deep dissimulation, ordered a\ngorgeous banquet, and invited to it all his relations and warriors; and\nwhen the guests were assembled he said to Isfendiy\u00e1r: \"The crown and the\nthrone are thine; indeed, who is there so well qualified for imperial\nsway?\" and turning to his warriors, he spoke of him with praise and\nadmiration, and added: \"When I was entering upon the war against Arj\u00e1sp,\nbefore I quitted S\u00edst\u00e1n, I said to Rustem: 'Lohur\u00e1sp, my father, is\ndead, my wife and children made prisoners, wilt thou assist me in\npunishing the murderer and oppressor?' but he excused himself, and\nremained at home, and although I have since been involved in numberless\nperils, he has not once by inquiry shown himself interested in my\nbehalf; in short, he boasts that Kai-khosr\u00e1u gave him the principalities\nof Z\u00e1bul and K\u00e1bul, and N\u00edm-r\u00faz, and that he owes no allegiance to me!\nIt behooves me, therefore, to depute Isfendiy\u00e1r to go and put him to\ndeath, or bring him before me in bonds alive. After that I shall have no\nenemy to be revenged upon, and I shall retire from the world, and leave\nto Isfendiy\u00e1r the crown and the throne of Persia, with confidence and\nsatisfaction.\" All the nobles and heroes present approved of the\nmeasure, and the king, gratified by their approbation, then turned to\nIsfendiy\u00e1r, and said: \"I have sworn on the Zendavesta, to relinquish my\npower, and place it in thy hands, as soon as Rustem is subdued. Take\nwhatever force the important occasion may require, for the whole\nresources of the empire shall be at thy command,\" But Isfendiy\u00e1r thus\nreplied: \"Remember the first time I defeated Arj\u00e1sp--what was my reward?\nThrough the machinations of Gurzam I was thrown into prison and chained.\nAnd what is my reward now that I have slain both Arj\u00e1sp and his son in\nbattle? Thy solemn promise to me is forgotten, or disregarded. The\nprince who forgets one promise will forget another, if it be convenient\nfor his purpose.\n\n  \"Whenever the Heft-khan is brought to mind,\n  I feel a sense of horror. But why should I\n  Repeat the story of those great exploits!\n  God is my witness, how I slew the wolf,\n  The lion, and the dragon; how I punished\n  That fell enchantress with her thousand wiles;\n  And how I suffered, midst the storm of snow,\n  Which almost froze the blood within my veins;\n  And how that vast unfathomable deep\n  We crossed securely. These are deeds which awaken\n  Wonder and praise in others, not in thee!\n  The treasure which I captured now is thine;\n  And what is my reward?--the interest, sorrow.\n  Thus am I cheated of my recompense.\n  It is the custom for great kings to keep\n  Religiously their pledged, affianced word;\n  But thou hast broken thine, despite of honour.\n\n  \"I do remember in my early youth,\n  It was in R\u00fam, thou didst perform a feat\n  Of gallant daring; for thou didst destroy\n  A dragon and a wolf, but thou didst bear\n  Thyself most proudly, thinking human arm\n  Never before had done a deed so mighty;\n  Yes, thou wert proud and vain, and seemed exalted\n  Up to the Heavens; and for that noble act\n  What did thy father do? The king for that\n  Gave thee with joyous heart his crown and throne.\n  Now mark the difference; think what I have done,\n  What perils I sustained, and for thy sake!\n  Thy foes I vanquished, clearing from thy mind\n  The gnawing rust of trouble and affliction.\n  Monsters I slew, reduced the Brazen Fortress,\n  And laid Arj\u00e1sp's whole empire at thy feet,\n  And what was my reward? Neglect and scorn.\n  Did I deserve this at a father's hands?\"\n\nGusht\u00e1sp remained unmoved by this sharp rebuke, though he readily\nacknowledged its justice. \"The crown shall be thine,\" said he, \"but\nconsider my position. Think, too, what services Z\u00e1l and Rustem performed\nfor Kai-khosr\u00e1u, and shall I expect less from my own son, gifted as he\nis with a form of brass, and the most prodigious valor? Forbid it,\nHeaven! that any rumor of our difference should get abroad in the world,\nwhich would redound to the dishonor of both! Nearly half of Ir\u00e1n is in\nthe possession of Rustem.\" \"Give me the crown,\" said Isfendiy\u00e1r, \"and I\nwill immediately proceed against the Zab\u00fal champion.\" \"I have given thee\nboth the crown and the throne, take with thee my whole army, and all my\ntreasure.--What wouldst thou have more? He who has conquered the\nterrific obstacles of the Heft-khan, and has slain Arj\u00e1sp and subdued\nhis entire kingdom, can have no cause to fear the prowess of Rustem, or\nany other chief.\" Isfendiy\u00e1r replied that he had no fear of Rustem's\nprowess; he was now old, and therefore not equal to himself in strength;\nstill he had no wish to oppose him:--\n\n  \"For he has been the monitor and friend\n  Of our Kai\u00e1nian ancestors; his care\n  Enriched their minds, and taught them to be brave;\n  And he was ever faithful to their cause.\n  Besides,\" said he, \"thou wert the honoured guest\n  Of Rustem two long years; and at S\u00edst\u00e1n\n  Enjoyed his hospitality and friendship,\n  His festive, social board; and canst thou now,\n  Forgetting that delightful intercourse,\n  Become his bitterest foe?\"\n\nGusht\u00e1sp replied:--\n\n  \"Tis true he may have served my ancestors;\n  But what is that to me? His spirit is proud,\n  And he refused to yield me needful aid\n  When danger pressed; that is enough, and thou\n  Canst not divert me from my settled purpose.\n  Therefore, if thy aim be still\n  To rule, thy father's wish fulfil;\n  Quickly trace the distant road;\n  Quick invade the chiefs abode;\n  Bind his feet, and bind his hands\n  In a captive's galling bands;\n  Bring him here, that all may know\n  Thou hast quelled the mighty foe.\"\n\nBut Isfendiy\u00e1r was still reluctant, and implored him to relinquish his\ndesign.\n\n  \"For if resolved, a gloomy cloud\n  Will quickly all thy glories shroud,\n    And dim thy brilliant throne;\n  I would not thus aspire to reign,\n  But rather, free from crime, remain\n    Sequestered and alone.\"\n\nAgain Gusht\u00e1sp spoke, and said: \"There is no necessity for any further\ndelay. Thou art appointed my successor, and the crown and the throne are\nthine; thou hast therefore only to march to the scene of action, and\naccomplish the object of the war.\" Hearing this, Isfendiy\u00e1r sullenly\nretired to his own house, and Gusht\u00e1sp, perceiving that he was in an\nangry mood, requested Jam\u00e1sp (his minister) to ascertain the state of\nhis mind, and whether he intended to proceed to S\u00edst\u00e1n or not. Jam\u00e1sp\nimmediately went, and Isfendiy\u00e1r asked him, as his friend, what he would\nadvise. \"The commands of a father,\" he replied, \"must be obeyed.\" There\nwas now no remedy, and the king being informed that the prince consented\nto undertake the expedition, no further discussion took place.\n\nBut Kitab\u00fan was deeply affected when she heard of these proceedings, and\nrepaired instantly to her son, to represent to him the hopelessness of\nthe enterprise he had engaged to conduct.\n\n  \"A mother's counsel is a golden treasure,\n  Consider well, and listen not to folly.\n  Rustem, the champion of the world, will never\n  Suffer himself to be confined in bonds.\n  Did he not conquer the White Demon, fill\n  The world with blood, in terrible revenge,\n  When Sai\u00e1wush was by Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b\n  Cruelly slain? O, curses on the throne,\n  And ruin seize the country, which returns\n  Evil for good, and spurns its benefactor.\n  Restrain thy steps, engage not in this war;\n  It cannot do thee honour. Hear my voice!\n  For Rustem still can conquer all the world.\"\n  Hear the safe counsel of thy anxious mother!\n  Thus spoke Kitab\u00fan, shedding ceaseless tears;\n  And thus Isfendiy\u00e1r: \"I fear not Rustem;\n  I fear not his prodigious power and skill;\n  But never can I on so great a hero\n  Place ignominious bonds; it must not be.\n  Yet, mother dear, my faithful word is pledged;\n  My word Jam\u00e1sp has taken to the king,\n  And I must follow where my fortune leads.\"\n\nThe next morning Isfendiy\u00e1r took leave of the king, and with a vast\narmy, and immense treasure, commenced his march towards S\u00edst\u00e1n. It\nhappened that one of the camels in advance laid down, and though beaten\nseverely, could not be made to get up on its legs. Isfendiy\u00e1r, seeing\nthe obstinacy of the animal, ordered it to be killed, and passed on. The\npeople, however, interpreted the accident as a bad omen, and wished him\nnot to proceed; but he could not attend to their suggestions, as he\nthought the king would look upon it as a mere pretence, and therefore\ncontinued his journey.\n\nWhen he approached S\u00edst\u00e1n, he sent Bahman, his eldest son, to Rustem,\nwith a flattering message, to induce the champion to honor him with an\nistakb\u00e1l, or deputation to receive him. Upon Bahman's arrival, however,\nhe hesitated and delayed, being reluctant to give a direct answer; but\nZ\u00e1l interposed, saying: \"Why not immediately wait upon the prince?--have\nwe not always been devoted to the Kai\u00e1nian dynasty?--Go and bring him\nhither, that we may tender him our allegiance, and entertain him at our\nmansion as becomes his illustrious birth,\" Accordingly Rustem went out\nto welcome Isfendiy\u00e1r, and alighting from Rakush, proceeded respectfully\non foot to embrace him. He then invited him to his house, but Isfendiy\u00e1r\nsaid: \"So strict are my father's commands, that after having seen thee,\nI am not permitted to delay my departure.\" Rustem, however, pressed him\nto remain with him, but all in vain. On the contrary the prince artfully\nconducted him to his own quarters, where he addressed him thus: \"If thou\nwilt allow me to bind thee, hand and foot, in chains, I will convey thee\nto the king my father, whose humor it is to see thee once in fetters,\nand then to release thee!\" Rustem was silent. Again Isfendiy\u00e1r said: \"If\nthou art not disposed to comply with this demand, go thy ways,\" Rustem\nreplied: \"First be my guest, as thy father once was, and after that I\nwill conform to thy will.\" Again the prince said: \"My father visited\nthee under other circumstances; I have come for a different purpose. If\nI eat thy bread and salt, and after that thou shouldst refuse thy\nacquiescence, I must have recourse to force. But if I become thy guest,\nhow can I in honor fight with thee? and if I do not take thee bound into\nmy father's presence, according to his command, what answer shall I give\nto him?\" \"For the same reason,\" said Rustem; \"how can I eat thy bread\nand salt?\" Isfendiy\u00e1r then replied: \"Thou needest not eat my bread and\nsalt, but only drink wine.--Bring thy own pure ruby.\" To this Rustem\nagreed, and they drank, each his own wine, together.\n\nIn a short space Rustem observed that he wished to consult his father\nZ\u00e1l; and being allowed to depart, he, on his return home, described in\nstrong terms of admiration the personal appearance and mental qualities\nof Isfendiy\u00e1r.\n\n  \"In wisdom ripe, and with a form\n  Of brass to meet the battle-storm,\n  Thou wouldst confess his every boon,\n  Had been derived from Ferid\u00fan.\"\n\nBash\u00fatan in the meanwhile observed to his brother, with some degree of\ndissatisfaction, that his enemy had come into his power, on his own feet\ntoo, but had been strangely permitted to go away again. To this gentle\nreproof Isfendiy\u00e1r confidently replied, \"If he does fail to return, I\nwill go and secure him in bonds, even in his own house,\"--\"Ah!\" said\nBash\u00fatan, \"that might be done by gentleness, but not by force, for the\ndescendant of S\u00e1m, the champion of the world, is not to be subdued so\neasily.\" These words had a powerful effect upon the mind of Isfendiy\u00e1r,\nand he became apprehensive that Rustem would not return; but whilst he\nwas still murmuring at his own want of vigilance, the champion appeared,\nand at this second interview repeated his desire that the prince would\nbecome his guest. \"I am sent here by my father, who relies upon thy\naccepting his proffered hospitality.\"--\"That may be,\" said Isfendiy\u00e1r,\n\"but I am at my utmost limit, I cannot go farther. From this place,\ntherefore, thou hadst better prepare to accompany me to Ir\u00e1n.\" Here\nRustem paused, and at length artfully began to enumerate his various\nachievements, and to blazon his own name.\n\n  \"I fettered fast the emperor of Chin,\n  And broke the enchantment of the Seven Khans;\n  I stood the guardian of the Persian kings,\n  Their shield in danger. I have cleared the world\n  Of all their foes, enduring pain and toil\n  Incalculable. Such exploits for thee\n  Will I achieve, such sufferings will I bear,\n  And hence we offer thee a social welcome.\n  But let not dark suspicion cloud thy mind,\n  Nor think thyself exalted as the heavens,\n  Because I thus invite thee to our home.\"\n\nIsfendiy\u00e1r felt so indignant and irritated by this apparent boasting and\nself-sufficiency of Rustem, that his first impulse was to cast a dagger\nat him; but he kept down his wrath, and satisfied himself with giving\nhim a scornful glance, and telling him to take a seat on his left hand.\nBut Rustem resented this affront, saying that he never yet had sat down\non the left of any king, and placed himself, without permission, on the\nright hand of Isfendiy\u00e1r. The unfavorable impression on the prince's\nmind was increased by this independent conduct, and he was provoked to\nsay to him, \"Rustem! I have heard that Z\u00e1l, thy father, was of demon\nextraction, and that S\u00e1m cast him into the desert because of his\ndisgusting and abominable appearance; that even the hungry S\u00edm\u00fargh, on\nthe same account, forebore to feed upon him, but conveyed him to her\nnest among her own young ones, who, pitying his wretched condition,\nsupplied him with part of the carrion they were accustomed to devour.\nNaked and filthy, he is thus said to have subsisted on garbage, till S\u00e1m\nwas induced to commiserate his wretchedness, and take him to S\u00e1st\u00e1n,\nwhere, by the indulgence of his family and royal bounty, he was\ninstructed in human manners and human science.\" This was a reproach and\nan insult too biting for Rustem to bear with any degree of patience, and\nfrowning with strong indignation, he said, \"Thy father knows, and thy\ngrandfather well knew that Z\u00e1l was the son of S\u00e1m, and S\u00e1m of Nar\u00edm\u00e1n,\nand that Nar\u00edm\u00e1n was descended from H\u00fasheng. Thou and I, therefore, have\nthe same origin. Besides, on my mother's side, I am descended from\nZoh\u00e1k, so that by both parents I am of a race of princes. Knowest thou\nnot that the Ir\u00e1nian empire was for some time in my hands, and that I\nrefused to retain it, though urged by the nobles and the army to\nexercise the functions of royalty? It was my sense of justice, and\nattachment to the Kais and to thy family, which have enabled thee to\npossess thy present dignity and command. It is through my fidelity and\nzeal that thou art now in a situation to reproach me. Thou hast slain\none king, Arj\u00e1sp, how many kings have I slain? Did I not conquer\nAfr\u00e1siy\u00e1b, the greatest and bravest king that ever ruled over T\u00far\u00e1n? And\ndid I not also subdue the king of H\u00e1m\u00e1ver\u00e1n, and the Khak\u00e1n of Ch\u00edn?\nK\u00e1\u00fas, thy own ancestor, I released from the demons of M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n. I slew\nthe White Demon, and the tremendous giant, Akw\u00e1n D\u00edw. Can thy\ninsignificant exploits be compared with mine? Never!\" Rustem's\nvehemence, and the disdainful tone of his voice, exasperated still more\nthe feelings of Isfendiy\u00e1r, who however recollected that he was under\nhis roof, otherwise he would have avenged himself instantly on the spot.\nRestraining his anger, he then said softly to him, \"Wherefore dost thou\nraise thy voice so high? For though thy head be exalted to the skies,\nthou wert, and still art, but a dependent on the Kais. And was thy\nHeft-khan equal in terrible danger to mine? Was the capture of\nM\u00e1zinder\u00e1n equal in valorous exertion to the capture of the Brazen\nFortress? And did I not, by the power of my sword, diffuse throughout\nthe world the blessings of my own religion, the faith of the\nfire-worshipper, which was derived from Heaven itself? Thou hast\nperformed the duties of a warrior and a servant, whilst I have performed\nthe holy functions of a sovereign and a prophet!\" Rustem, in reply,\nsaid:--\n\n  \"In thy Heft-khan thou hadst twelve thousand men\n  Completely armed, with ample stores and treasure,\n  Whilst Rakush and my sword, my conquering sword,\n  Were all the aid I had, and all I sought,\n  In that prodigious enterprise of mine.\n  Two sisters thou released--no arduous task,\n  Whilst I recovered from the demon's grasp\n  The mighty K\u00e1\u00fas, and the monsters slew,\n  Roaring like thunder in their dismal caves.\n\n  \"This great exploit my single arm achieved;\n  And when Kai-khosr\u00e1u gave the regal crown\n  To Lohur\u00e1sp, the warriors were incensed,\n  And deemed Fr\u00edburz, K\u00e1\u00fas's valiant son,\n  Fittest by birth to rule. My sire and I\n  Espoused the cause of Lohur\u00e1sp; else he\n  Had never sat upon the throne, nor thou\n  Been here to treat with scorn thy benefactor.\n  And now Gusht\u00e1sp, with foul ingratitude,\n  Would bind me hand and foot! But who on earth\n  Can do that office? I am not accustomed\n  To hear harsh terms, and cannot brook their sting,\n  Therefore desist. Once in K\u00e1\u00fas's court,\n  When I was moved to anger, I poured out\n  Upon him words of bitterest scorn and rage,\n  And though surrounded by a thousand chiefs,\n  Not one attempted to repress my fury,\n  Not one, but all stood silent and amazed.\"\n\n  \"Smooth that indignant brow,\" the prince replied\n  \"And measure not my courage nor my strength\n  With that of K\u00e1\u00fas; had he nerve like mine?\n  Thou might'st have kept the timorous king in awe,\n  But I am come myself to fetter thee!\"\n  So saying, he the hand of Rustem grasped,\n  And wrung it so intensely, that the champion\n  Felt inwardly surprised, but careless said,\n  \"The time is not yet come for us to try\n  Our power in battle.\" Then Isfendiy\u00e1r\n  Dropped Rustem's hand, and spoke, \"To-day let wine\n  Inspire our hearts, and on the field to-morrow\n  Be ours the strife, with battle-axe and sword,\n  And my first aim shall be to bind thee fast,\n  And show thee to my troops, Rustem in fetters!\"\n\n  At this the champion smiled, and thus exclaimed,\n  \"Where hast thou seen the deeds of warriors brave?\n  Where hast thou heard the clash of mace and sword\n  Wielded by men of valour? I to-morrow\n  Will take thee in my arms, and straight convey thee\n  To Z\u00e1l, and place thee on the ivory throne,\n  And on thy head a crown of gold shall glitter.\n  The treasury I will open, and our troops\n  Shall fight for thee, and I will gird my loins\n  As they were girt for thy bold ancestors;\n  And when thou art the chosen king, and I\n  Thy warrior-chief, the world will be thy own;\n  No other sovereign need attempt to reign.\"\n\n\"So much time has been spent in vain boasting, and extravagant\nself-praise,\" rejoined Isfendiy\u00e1r, \"that the day is nearly done, and I\nam hungry; let us therefore take some refreshment together.\" Rustem's\nappetite being equally keen, the board was spread, and every dish that\nwas brought to him he emptied at once, as if at one swallow; then he\nthrew aside the goblets, and called for the large flagon that he might\ndrink his fill without stint. When he had finished several dishes and as\nmany flagons of wine, he paused, and Isfendiy\u00e1r and the assembled chiefs\nwere astonished at the quantity he had devoured. He now prepared to\ndepart, and the prince said to him, \"Go and consult with thy father: if\nthou art contented to be bound, well; if not, thou wilt have cause to\nrepent, for I will assuredly attend to the commands of Gusht\u00e1sp.\"--\"Do\nthou also consult with thy brethren and friends,\" replied Rustem,\n\"whether thou wilt be our guest to-morrow, or not; if not, come to this\nplace before sunrise, that we may decide our differences in battle.\"\nIsfendiy\u00e1r said, \"My most anxious desire, my wish to heaven, is to meet\nthee, for I shall have no difficulty in binding thee hand and foot. I\nwould indeed willingly convey thee without fetters to my father, but if\nI did so, he would say that I was unable to put thee in bonds, and that\nwould disgrace my name.\" Rustem observed that the immense number of men\nand demons he had contended against was as nothing in the balance of his\nmind compared with the painful subject of his present thoughts and\nfears. He was ready to engage, but afraid of meriting a bad name.\n\n  \"If in the battle thou art slain by me,\n  Will not my cheek turn pale among the princes\n  Of the Kai\u00e1nian race, having cut off\n  A lovely branch of that illustrious tree?\n  Will not reproaches hang upon my name\n  When I am dead, and shall I not be cursed\n  For perpetrating such a horrid deed?\n  Thy father, too, is old, and near his end,\n  And thou upon the eve of being crowned;\n  And in thy heart thou knowest that I proffered,\n  And proffer my allegiance and devotion,\n  And would avoid the conflict. Sure, thy father\n  Is practising some trick, some foul deception,\n  To urge thee on to an untimely death,\n  To rid himself of some unnatural fear,\n  He stoops to an unnatural, treacherous act,\n  For I have ever been the firm support\n  Of crown and throne, and perfectly he knows\n  No mortal ever conquered me in battle,\n  None ever from my sword escaped his life.\"\n\n  Then spoke Isfendiy\u00e1r: \"Thou wouldst be generous\n  And bear a spotless name, and tarnish mine;\n  But I am not to be deceived by thee:\n  In fetters thou must go!\" Rustem replied:\n  \"Banish that idle fancy from thy brain;\n  Dream not of things impossible, for death\n  Is busy with thee; pause, or thou wilt die.\"\n  \"No more!\" exclaimed the prince, \"no more of this.\n  Nor seek to frighten me with threatening words;\n  Go, and to-morrow bring with thee thy friends,\n  Thy father and thy brother, to behold\n  With their own eyes thy downfall, and lament\n  In sorrow over thy impending fate.\"\n  \"So let it be,\" said Rustem, and at once\n  Mounted his noble horse, and hastened home.\n\nThe champion immediately requested his father's permission to go and\nfight Isfendiy\u00e1r the following day, but the old man recommended\nreconciliation and peace. \"That cannot be,\" said Rustem, \"for he has\nreviled thee so severely, and heaped upon me so many indignities, that\nmy patience is exhausted, and the contest unavoidable.\" In the morning\nZ\u00e1l, weeping bitterly, tied on Rustem's armor himself, and in an agony\nof grief, said: \"If thou shouldst kill Isfendiy\u00e1r, thy name will be\nrendered infamous throughout the world; and if thou shouldst be killed,\nS\u00edst\u00e1n will be prostrate in the dust, and extinguished forever! My heart\nshudders at the thoughts of this battle, but there is no remedy.\" Rustem\nsaid to him:--\"Put thy trust in God, and be not sorrowful, for when I\ngrasp my sword the head of the enemy is lost; but my desire is to take\nIsfendiy\u00e1r alive, and not to kill him. I would serve him, and not sever\nhis head from his body.\" Z\u00e1l was pleased with this determination, and\nrejoiced that there was a promise of a happy issue to the engagement.\n\nIn the morning Rustem arrayed himself in his war-attire, helmet and\nbreast-plate, and mounted Rakush, also armed in his bargustuwan. His\ntroops, too, were all assembled, and Z\u00e1l appointed Z\u00fa\u00e1ra to take charge\nof them, and be careful of his brother on all occasions where assistance\nmight be necessary. The old man then prostrated himself in prayer, and\nsaid, \"O God, turn from us all affliction, and vouchsafe to us a\nprosperous day.\" Rustem being prepared for the struggle, directed Z\u00fa\u00e1ra\nto wait with the troops at a distance, whilst he went alone to meet\nIsfendiy\u00e1r. When Bash\u00fatan first saw him, he thought he was coming to\noffer terms of peace, and said to Isfendiy\u00e1r, \"He is coming alone, and\nit is better that he should go to thy father of his own accord, than in\nbonds.\"--\"But,\" replied Isfendiy\u00e1r, \"he is coming completely equipped in\nmail--quick, bring me my arms.\"--\"Alas!\" rejoined Bash\u00fatan, \"thy brain\nis wild, and thou art resolved upon fighting. This impetuous spirit will\nbreak my heart.\" But Isfendiy\u00e1r took no notice of the gentle rebuke.\nPresently he saw Rustem ascend a high place, and heard his summons to\nsingle combat. He then told his brother to keep at a distance with the\narmy, and not to interfere till aid was positively required. Insisting\nrigidly on these instructions, he mounted his night-black charger, and\nhastened towards Rustem, who now proposed to him that they should wait\nawhile, and that in the meantime the two armies might be put in motion\nagainst each other. \"Though,\" said he, \"my men of Z\u00e1bul are few, and\nthou hast a numerous host.\"\n\n  \"This is a strange request,\" replied the prince,\n  \"But thou art all deceit and artifice;\n  Mark thy position, lofty and commanding,\n  And mine, beneath thee--in a spreading vale.\n  Now, Heaven forbid that I, in reckless mood,\n  Should give my valiant legions to destruction,\n  And look unpitying on! No, I advance,\n  Whoever may oppose me; and if thou\n  Requirest aid, select thy friend, and come,\n  For I need none, save God, in battle--none.\"\n  And Rustem said the same, for he required\n  No human refuge, no support but Heaven.\n\n  The battle rose, and numerous javelins whizzed\n  Along the air, and helm and mail were bruised;\n  Spear fractured spear, and then with shining swords\n  The strife went on, till, trenched with many a wound,\n  They, too, snapped short. The battle-axe was next\n  Wielded, in furious wrath; each bending forward\n  Struck brain-bewildering blows; each tried in vain\n  To hurl the other from his fiery horse.\n  Wearied, at length, they stood apart to breathe\n  Their charges panting from excessive toil,\n  Covered with foam and blood, and the strong armor,\n  Of steed and rider rent. The combatants\n  Thus paused, in mutual consternation lost.\n\nIn the meantime Z\u00fa\u00e1ra, impatient at this delay, advanced towards the\nIr\u00e1nians, and reproached them for their cowardice so severely, that\nN\u00fash\u00e1wer, the younger son of Isfendiy\u00e1r, felt ashamed, and immediately\nchallenged the bravest of the enemy to fight. Alwa\u00ed, one of Rustem's\nfollowers, came boldly forward, but his efforts only terminated in his\ndiscomfiture and death. After him came Z\u00fa\u00e1ra himself:--\n\n  Who galloped to the charge incensed, and, high\n  Lifting his iron mace, upon the head\n  Of bold N\u00fash\u00e1wer struck a furious blow,\n  Which drove him from his steed a lifeless corse.\n  Seeing their gallant leader thus overthrown,\n  The troops in terror fled, and in their flight\n  Thousands were slain, among them brave Mehrn\u00fas,\n  Another kinsman of Isfendiy\u00e1r.\n\nBahman, observing the defeat and confusion of the Ir\u00e1nians, went\nimmediately to his father, and told him that two of his own family were\nkilled by the warriors of Z\u00e1bul, who had also attacked him and put his\ntroops to the rout with great slaughter. Isfendiy\u00e1r was extremely\nirritated at this intelligence, and called aloud to Rustem: \"Is\ntreachery like this becoming in a warrior?\" The champion being deeply\nconcerned, shook like a branch, and swore by the head and life of the\nking, by the sun, and his own conquering sword, that he was ignorant of\nthe event, and innocent of what had been done. To prove what he said, he\noffered to bind in fetters his brother Z\u00fa\u00e1ra, who must have authorized\nthe movement; and also to secure Fer\u00e1murz, who slew Mehrn\u00fas, and deliver\nthem over to Gusht\u00e1sp, the fire-worshipper. \"Nay,\" said he, \"I will\ndeliver over to thee my whole family, as well as my brother and son, and\nthou mayest sacrifice them all as a punishment for having commenced the\nfight without permission.\" Isfendiy\u00e1r replied: \"Of what use would it be\nto sacrifice thy brother and thy son? Would that restore my own to me?\nNo. Instead of them, I will put thee to death, therefore come on!\"\nAccordingly both simultaneously bent their bows, and shot their arrows\nwith the utmost rapidity; but whilst Rustem's made no impression, those\nof Isfendiy\u00e1r's produced great effect on the champion and his horse. So\nseverely was Rakush wounded, that Rustem, when he perceived how much his\nfavorite horse was exhausted, dismounted, and continued to impel his\narrows against the enemy from behind his shield. But Rakush brooked not\nthe dreadful storm, and galloped off unconscious that his master himself\nwas in as bad a plight. When Z\u00fa\u00e1ra saw the noble animal, riderless,\ncrossing the plain, he gasped for breath, and in an agony of grief\nhurried to the fatal spot, where he found Rustem desperately hurt, and\nthe blood flowing copiously from every wound. The champion observed,\nthat though he was himself bleeding so much, not one drop of blood\nappeared to have issued from the veins of his antagonist. He was very\nweak, but succeeded in dragging himself up to his former position, when\nIsfendiy\u00e1r, smiling to see them thus, exclaimed:--\n\n  \"Is this the valiant Rustem, the renowned,\n  Quitting the field of battle? Where is now\n  The raging tiger, the victorious chief?\n  Was it from thee the Demons shrunk in terror,\n  And did thy burning sword sear out their hearts?\n  What has become of all thy valour now?\n  Where is thy matchless mace, and why art thou,\n  The roaring lion, turned into a fox,\n  An animal of slyness, not of courage,\n  Losing thy noble character and name?\"\n\nZ\u00fa\u00e1ra, when he came to Rustem, alighted and resigned his horse to his\nbrother; and placing an arrow on his bow-string, wished himself to\nengage Isfendiy\u00e1r, who was ready to fight him, but Rustem cried, \"No, I\nhave not yet done with thee.\" Isfendiy\u00e1r replied: \"I know thee well, and\nall thy dissimulation, but nothing yet is accomplished. Come and consent\nto be fettered, or I must compel thee.\" Rustem, however, was not to be\novercome, and he said: \"If I were really subdued by thee, I might agree\nto be bound like a vanquished slave; but the day is now closing,\nto-morrow we will resume the fight!\" Isfendiy\u00e1r acquiesced, and they\nseparated, Rustem going to his own tent, and the prince remaining on the\nfield. There he affectionately embraced the severed heads of his\nkinsmen, placed them himself on a bier, and sent them to his father, the\nking, with a letter in which he said, \"Thy commands must be obeyed, and\nsuch is the result of to-day; Heaven only knows what may befall\nto-morrow.\" Then he spoke privately to Bash\u00fatan: \"This Rustem is not\nhuman, he is formed of rock and iron, neither sword nor javelin has done\nhim mortal harm; but the arrows went deep into his body, and it will\nindeed be wonderful if he lives throughout the night. I know not what to\nthink of to-morrow, or how I shall be able to overcome him.\"\n\nWhen Rustem arrived at his quarters, Z\u00e1l soon discovered that he had\nreceived many wounds, which occasioned great affliction in his family,\nand he said: \"Alas! that in my old age such a misfortune should have\nbefallen us, and that with my own eyes I should see these gaping\nwounds!\" He then rubbed Rustem's feet, and applied healing balm to the\nwounds, and bound them up with the skill and care of a physician. Rustem\nsaid to his father: \"I never met with a foe, warrior or demon, of such\namazing strength and bravery as this! He seems to have a brazen body,\nfor my arrows, which I can drive through an anvil, cannot penetrate his\nchest. If I had applied the power which I have exerted to a mountain,\nthe mountain would have moved from its base, but he sat firmly upon his\nsaddle and scorned my efforts. I thank God that it is night, and that I\nhave escaped from his grasp. To-morrow I cannot fight, and my secret\nwish is to retire unseen from the struggle, that no trace of me may be\ndiscovered.\"--\"In that case,\" replied Z\u00e1l, \"the victor will come and\ntake me and all my family into bondage. But let us not despair. Did not\nthe S\u00edm\u00fargh promise that whenever I might be overcome by adversity, if I\nburned one of her feathers, she would instantly appear? Shall we not\nthen solicit assistance in this awful extremity?\" So saying, Z\u00e1l went up\nto a high place, and burnt the feather in a censer, and in a short time\nthe S\u00edm\u00fargh stood before him. After due praise and acknowledgment, he\nexplained his wants. \"But,\" said he, \"may the misfortune we endure be\nfar from him who has brought it upon us. My son Rustem is wounded almost\nunto death, and I am so helpless that I can do him no good.\" He then\nbrought forward Rakush, pierced by numerous arrows; upon which the\nwonderful Bird said to him, \"Be under no alarm on that account, for I\nwill soon cure him;\" and she immediately plucked out the rankling\nweapons with her beak, and the wounds, on passing a feather over them,\nwere quickly healed.\n\n  To Rustem now she turns, and soothes his grief,\n  And drawing forth the arrows, sucks the blood\n  From out the wounds, which at her bidding close,\n  And the illustrious champion is restored\n  To life and power.\n\nBeing thus reinvigorated by the magic influence of the S\u00edm\u00fargh, he\nsolicits further aid in the coming strife with Isfendiy\u00e1r; but the\nmysterious animal laments that she cannot assist him. \"There never\nappeared in the world,\" said she, \"so brave and so perfect a hero as\nIsfendiy\u00e1r. The favor of Heaven is with him, for in his Heft-khan he, by\nsome artifice, succeeded in killing a S\u00edm\u00fargh, and the further thou art\nremoved from his invincible arm, the greater will be thy safety.\" Here\nZ\u00e1l interposed and said: \"If Rustem retires from the contest, his family\nwill all be enslaved, and I shall equally share their bondage and\naffliction.\" The S\u00edm\u00fargh, hearing these words, fell into deep thought,\nand remained some time silent. At length she told Rustem to mount Rakush\nand follow her. Away she went to a far distance; and crossing a great\nriver, arrived at a place covered with reeds, where the Kaz\u00fa-tree\nabounded. The S\u00edm\u00fargh then rubbed one of her feathers upon the eyes of\nRustem, and directed him to take a branch of the Kaz\u00fa-tree, and make it\nstraight upon the fire, and form that wand into a forked arrow; after\nwhich he was to advance against Isfendiy\u00e1r, and, placing the arrow on\nhis bow-string, shoot it into the eyes of his enemy. \"The arrow will\nonly make him blind,\" said the S\u00edm\u00fargh, \"but he who spills the blood of\nIsfendiy\u00e1r will never be free from calamity during his whole life. The\nKaz\u00fa-tree has also this peculiar quality: an arrow made of it is sure to\naccomplish its intended errand--it never misses the aim of the archer.\"\nRustem expressed his boundless gratitude for this information and\nassistance; and the S\u00edm\u00fargh having transported him back to his tent, and\naffectionately kissed his face, returned to her own habitation. The\nchampion now prepared the arrow according to the instructions he had\nreceived; and when morning dawned, mounted his horse, and hastened to\nthe field. He found Isfendiy\u00e1r still sleeping, and exclaimed aloud:\n\"Warrior, art thou still slumbering? Rise, and see Rustem before thee!\"\nWhen the prince heard his stern voice, he started up, and in great\nanxiety hurried on his armor. He said to Bash\u00fatan, \"I had uncharitably\nthought he would have died of his wounds in the night, but this clear\nand bold voice seems to indicate perfect health--go and see whether his\nwounds are bound up or not, and whether he is mounted on Rakush or on\nsome other horse.\" Rustem perceived Bash\u00fatan approach with an\ninquisitive look, and conjectured that his object was to ascertain the\ncondition of himself and Rakush. He therefore vociferated to him: \"I am\nnow wholly free from wounds, and so is my horse, for I possess an elixir\nwhich heals the most cruel lacerations of the flesh the moment it is\napplied; but no such wounds were inflicted upon me, the arrows of\nIsfendiy\u00e1r being only like needles sticking in my body.\" Bash\u00fatan now\nreported to his brother that Rustem appeared to be more fresh and\nvigorous than the day before, and, thinking from the spirit and\ngallantry of his demeanor that he would be victorious in another\ncontest, he strongly recommended a reconciliation.\n\n\n\nTHE DEATH OF ISFENDIY\u00c1R\n\nIsfendiy\u00e1r, blind to the march of fate, treated the suggestion of his\nbrother with scorn, and mounting his horse, was soon in the presence of\nRustem, whom he thus hastily addressed: \"Yesterday thou wert wounded\nalmost to death by my arrows, and to-day there is no trace of them. How\nis this?\n\n \"But thy father Z\u00e1l is a sorcerer,\n    And he by charm and spell\n  Has cured all the wounds of the warrior,\n    And now he is safe and well.\n  For the wounds I gave could never be\n  Closed up, excepting by sorcery.\n  Yes, the wounds I gave thee in every part,\n  Could never be cured but by magic art.\"\n\nRustem replied, \"If a thousand arrows were shot at me, they would all\ndrop harmless to the ground, and in the end thou wilt fall by my hands.\nTherefore, if thou seekest thy own welfare, come at once and be my\nguest, and I swear by the Almighty, by Zerdusht, and the Zendavesta, by\nthe sun and moon, that I will go with thee, but unfetterd, to thy\nfather, who may do with me what he lists.\"--\"That is not enough,\"\nreplied Isfendiy\u00e1r, \"thou must be fettered.\"--\"Then do not bind my arms,\nand take whatever thou wilt from me.\"--\"And what hast thou to give?\"\n\n  \"A thousand jewels of brilliant hue,\n    And of unknown price, shall be thine;\n  A thousand imperial diadems too,\n    And a thousand damsels divine,\n  Who with angel-voices will sing and play,\n  And delight thy senses both night and day;\n  And my family wealth shall be brought thee, all\n  That was gathered by Nar\u00edm\u00e1n, S\u00e1m, and Z\u00e1l.\"\n\n\"This is all in vain,\" said Isfendiy\u00e1r. \"I may have wandered from the\nway of Heaven, but I will not disobey the commands of the king. And of\nwhat use would thy treasure and property be to me? I must please my\nfather, that he may surrender to me his crown and throne, and I have\nsolemnly sworn to him that I will place thee before him in fetters.\"\nRustem replied, \"And in the hopes of a crown and throne thou wouldst\nsacrifice thyself!\"--\"Thou shalt see!\" said Isfendiy\u00e1r, and seized his\nbow to commence the combat. Rustem did the same, and when he had placed\nthe forked arrow in the bow-string, he imploringly turned up his face\ntowards Heaven, and fervently exclaimed, \"O God, thou knowest how\nanxiously I have wished for a reconciliation, how I have suffered, and\nthat I would now give all my treasures and wealth and go with him to\nIr\u00e1n, to avoid this conflict; but my offers are disdained, for he is\nbent upon consigning me to bondage and disgrace. Thou art the redresser\nof grievances--direct the flight of this arrow into his eyes, but do not\nlet me be punished for the involuntary deed.\" At this moment Isfendiy\u00e1r\nshot an arrow with great force at Rustem, who dexterously eluded its\npoint, and then, in return, instantly lodged the charmed weapon in the\neyes of his antagonist.\n\n  And darkness overspread his sight,\n  The world to him was hid in night;\n  The bow dropped from his slackened hand,\n  And down he sunk upon the sand.\n\n\"Yesterday,\" said Rustem, \"thou discharged at me a hundred and sixty\narrows in vain, and now thou art overthrown by one arrow of mine.\"\nBahman, the son of Isfendiy\u00e1r, seeing his father bleeding on the ground,\nuttered loud lamentations, and Bash\u00fatan, followed by the Ir\u00e1nian troops,\nalso drew nigh with the deepest sorrow marked on their countenances. The\nfatal arrow was immediately drawn from the wounded eyes of the prince,\nand some medicine being first applied to them, they conveyed him\nmournfully to his own tent.\n\nThe conflict having thus terminated, Rustem at the same time returned\nwith his army to where Z\u00e1l remained in anxious suspense about the\nresult. The old man rejoiced at the issue, but said, \"O, my son, thou\nhast killed thy enemy, but I have learnt from the wise men and\nastrologers that the slayer of Isfendiy\u00e1r must soon come to a fatal end.\nMay God protect thee!\" Rustem replied, \"I am guiltless, his blood is\nupon his own head.\" The next day they both proceeded to visit\nIsfendiy\u00e1r, and offer to him their sympathy and condolence, when the\nwounded prince thus spoke to Rustem: \"I do not ascribe my misfortune to\nthee, but to an all-ruling power. Fate would have it so, and thus it is!\nI now consign to thy care and guardianship my son Bahman: instruct him\nin the science of government, the customs of kings, and the rules and\nstratagems of the warrior, for thou art exceedingly wise and\nexperienced, and perfect in all things,\" Rustem readily complied, and\nsaid:--\n\n  \"That duty shall be mine alone,\n  To seat him firmly on the throne.\"\n\nThen Isfendiy\u00e1r murmured to Bash\u00fatan, that the anguish of his wound was\nwearing him away, and that he had but a short time to live.\n\n  \"The pace of death is fast and fleet,\n    And nothing my life can save,\n  I shall want no robe, but my winding sheet,\n    No mansion but the grave.\n\n  \"And tell my father the wish of his heart\n    Has not been breathed in vain,\n  The doom he desired when he made me depart,\n    Has been sealed, and his son is slain!\n\n  \"And, O! to my mother, in kindliest tone,\n    The mournful tidings bear,\n  And soothe her woes for her warrior gone,\n    For her lost Isfendiy\u00e1r.\"\n\nHe now groaned heavily, and his last words were:--\n\n  \"I die, pursued by unrelenting fate,\n  The hapless victim of a father's hate.\"\n\nLife having departed, his body was placed upon a bier, and conveyed to\nIr\u00e1n, amidst the tears and lamentations of the people.\n\nRustem now took charge of Bahman, according to the dying request of\nIsfendiy\u00e1r, and brought him to S\u00edst\u00e1n. This was, however, repugnant to\nthe wishes of Z\u00fa\u00e1ra, who observed to his brother: \"Thou hast slain the\nfather of this youth; do not therefore nurture and instruct the son of\nthy enemy, for, mark me, in the end he will be avenged.\"--\"But did not\nIsfendiy\u00e1r, with his last breath, consign him to my guardianship? how\ncan I refuse it now? It must be so written and determined in the\ndispensations of Heaven.\"\n\nThe arrival of the bier in Persia, at the palace of Gusht\u00e1sp, produced a\nmelancholy scene of public and domestic affliction. The king took off\nthe covering and wept bitterly, and the mother and sisters exclaimed,\n\"Alas! thy death is not the work of human hands; it is not the work of\nRustem, nor of Z\u00e1l, but of the S\u00edm\u00fargh. Thou hast not lived long enough\nto be ashamed of a gray beard, nor to witness the maturity and\nattainments of thy children. Alas! thou art snatched away at a moment of\nthe highest promise, even at the commencement of thy glory.\" In the\nmeanwhile the curses and imprecations of the people were poured upon the\ndevoted head of Gusht\u00e1sp on account of his cruel and unnatural conduct,\nso that he was obliged to confine himself to his palace till after the\ninterment of Isfendiy\u00e1r.\n\nRustem scrupulously fulfilled his engagement, and instructed Bahman in\nall manly exercises; in the use of bow and javelin, in the management of\nsword and buckler, and in all the arts and accomplishments of the\nwarrior. He then wrote to Gusht\u00e1sp, repeating that he was unblamable in\nthe conflict which terminated in the death of his son Isfendiy\u00e1r, that\nhe had offered him presents and wealth to a vast extent, and moreover\nwas ready to return with him to Ir\u00e1n, to his father; but every overture\nwas rejected. Relentless fate must have hurried him on to a premature\ndeath. \"I have now,\" continued Rustem, \"completed the education of\nBahman, according to the directions of his father, and await thy further\ncommands.\" Gusht\u00e1sp, after reading this letter, referred to Bash\u00fatan,\nwho confirmed the declarations of Rustem, and the treacherous king,\nwilling to ascribe the event to an overruling destiny, readily acquitted\nRustem of all guilt in killing Isfendiy\u00e1r. At the same time he sent for\nBahman, and on his arrival from S\u00edst\u00e1n, was so pleased with him that he\nwithout hesitation appointed him to succeed to the throne.\n\n  \"Methinks I see Isfendiy\u00e1r again,\n    Thou hast the form, the very look he bore,\n    And since thy glorious father is no more,\n  Long as I live thou must with me remain.\"\n\n\n\nTHE DEATH OF RUSTEM\n\nFirdusi seems to have derived the account of Shughad, and the melancholy\nfate of Rustem, from a descendant of S\u00e1m and Nar\u00edm\u00e1n, who was\nparticularly acquainted with the chronicles of the heroes and the kings\nof Persia. Shughad, it appears, was the son of Z\u00e1l, by one of the old\nwarrior's maid-servants, and at his very birth the astrologers predicted\nthat he would be the ruin of the glorious house of S\u00e1m and Nar\u00edm\u00e1n, and\nthe destruction of their race.\n\n  Throughout S\u00edst\u00e1n the prophecy was heard\n  With horror and amazement; every town\n  And city in Ir\u00e1n was full of woe,\n  And Z\u00e1l, in deepest agony and grief,\n  Sent up his prayers to the Almighty Power\n  That he would purify the infant's heart,\n  And free it from that quality, foretold\n  As the destroyer of his ancient house.\n  But what are prayers, opposed by destiny?\n\nThe child, notwithstanding, was brought up with great care and\nattention, and when arrived at maturity, he was sent to the king of\nK\u00e1bul, whose daughter he espoused.\n\nRustem was accustomed to go to K\u00e1bul every year to receive the tribute\ndue to him; but on the last occasion, it is said that he exacted and\ntook a higher rate than usual, and thus put many of the people to\ndistress. The king was angry, and expressed his dissatisfaction to\nShughad, who was not slow in uttering his own discontent, saying,\n\"Though I am his brother, he has no respect for me, but treats me always\nlike an enemy. For this personal hostility I long to punish him with\ndeath.\"--\"But how,\" inquired the king, \"couldst thou compass that\nend?\" Shughad replied, \"I have well considered the subject, and propose\nto accomplish my purpose in this manner. I shall feign that I have been\ninsulted and injured by thee, and carry my complaint to Z\u00e1l and Rustem,\nwho will no doubt come to K\u00e1bul to redress my wrongs. Thou must in the\nmeantime prepare for a sporting excursion, and order a number of pits to\nbe dug on the road sufficiently large to hold Rustem and his horse, and\nin each several swords must be placed with their points and edges\nupwards. The mouths of the pits must then be slightly covered over, but\nso carefully that there may be no appearance of the earth underneath\nhaving been removed. Everything being thus ready, Rustem, on the\npretence of going to the sporting ground, must be conducted by that\nroad, and he will certainly fall into one of the pits, which will become\nhis grave.\" This stratagem was highly approved by the king, and it was\nagreed that at a royal banquet, Shughad should revile and irritate the\nking, whose indignant answer should be before all the assembly: \"Thou\nhast no pretensions to be thought of the stock of S\u00e1m and Nar\u00edm\u00e1n. Z\u00e1l\npays thee no attention, at least, not such attention as he would pay to\na son, and Rustem declares thou art not his brother; indeed, all the\nfamily treat thee as a slave.\" At these words, Shughad affected to be\ngreatly enraged, and, starting up from the banquet, hastened to Rustem\nto complain of the insult offered him by the king of K\u00e1bul. Rustem\nreceived him with demonstrations of affection, and hearing his\ncomplaint, declared that he would immediately proceed to K\u00e1bul, depose\nthe king for his insolence, and place Shughad himself on the throne of\nthat country. In a short time they arrived at the city, and were met by\nthe king, who, with naked feet and in humble guise, solicited\nforgiveness. Rustem was induced to pardon the offence, and was honored\nin return with great apparent respect, and with boundless hospitality.\nIn the meantime, however, the pits were dug, and the work of destruction\nin progress, and Rustem was now invited to share the sports of the\nforest. The champion was highly gratified by the courtesy which the king\ndisplayed, and mounted Rakush, anticipating a day of excellent\ndiversion. Shughad accompanied him, keeping on one side, whilst Rustem,\nsuspecting nothing, rode boldly forward. Suddenly Rakush stopped, and\nthough urged to advance, refused to move a step. At last the champion\nbecame angry, and struck the noble animal severely; the blows made him\ndart forward, and in a moment he unfortunately fell into one of the\npits.\n\n  It was a place, deep, dark, and perilous,\n  All bristled o'er with swords, leaving no chance\n  Of extrication without cruel wounds;\n  And horse and rider sinking in the midst,\n  Bore many a grievous stab and many a cut\n  In limb and body, ghastly to the sight.\n  Yet from that depth, at one prodigious spring,\n  Rakush escaped with Rustem on his back;\n  But what availed that effort? Down again\n  Into another pit both fell together,\n  And yet again they rose, again, again;\n  Seven times down prostrate, seven times bruised and maimed,\n  They struggled on, till mounting up the edge\n  Of the seventh pit, all covered with deep wounds,\n  Both lay exhausted. When the champion's brain\n  Grew cool, and he had power to think, he knew\n  Full well to whom he owed this treachery,\n  And calling to Shughad, said: \"Thou, my brother!\n  Why hast thou done this wrong? Was it for thee,\n  My father's son, by wicked plot and fraud\n  To work this ruin, to destroy my life?\"\n  Shughad thus sternly answered: \"'Tis for all\n  The blood that thou hast shed, God has decreed\n  This awful vengeance--now thy time is come!\"\n  Then spoke the king of K\u00e1bul, as if pity\n  Had softened his false heart: \"Alas! the day\n  That thou shouldst perish, so ignobly too,\n  And in my kingdom; what a wretched fate!\n  But bring some medicine to relieve his wounds--\n  Quick, bring the matchless balm for Rustem's cure;\n  He must not die, the champion must not die!\"\n  But Rustem scorned the offer, and in wrath,\n  Thus spoke: \"How many a mighty king has died,\n  And left me still triumphant--still in power,\n  Unconquerable; treacherous thou hast been,\n  Inhuman, too, but Fer\u00e1murz, the brave,\n  Will be revenged upon thee for this crime.\"\n\nRustem now turned towards Shughad, and in an altered and mournful tone,\ntold him that he was at the point of death, and asked him to string his\nbow and give it to him, that he might seem as a scare-crow, to prevent\nthe wolves and other wild animals from devouring him when dead.\n\n  Shughad performed the task, and lingered not,\n  For he rejoiced at this catastrophe,\n  And with a smile of fiendish satisfaction,\n  Placed the strong bow before him--Rustem grasped\n  The bended horn with such an eager hand,\n  That wondering at the sight, the caitiff wretch\n  Shuddered with terror, and behind a tree\n  Shielded himself, but nothing could avail;\n  The arrow pierced both tree and him, and they\n  Were thus transfixed together--thus the hour\n  Of death afforded one bright gleam of joy\n  To Rustem, who, with lifted eyes to Heaven,\n  Exclaimed: \"Thanksgivings to the great Creator,\n  For granting me the power, with my own hand,\n  To be revenged upon my murderer!\"\n  So saying, the great champion breathed his last,\n  And not a knightly follower remained,\n  Z\u00fa\u00e1ra, and the rest, in other pits,\n  Dug by the traitor-king, and traitor-brother,\n  Had sunk and perished, all, save one, who fled,\n  And to the afflicted veteran at S\u00edst\u00e1n\n  Told the sad tidings. Z\u00e1l, in agony,\n  Tore his white hair, and wildly rent his garments,\n  And cried: \"Why did not I die for him, why\n  Was I not present, fighting by his side?\n  But he, alas! is gone! Oh! gone forever.\"\n\nThen the old man despatched Fer\u00e1murz with a numerous force to K\u00e1bul, to\nbring away the dead body of Rustem. Upon his approach, the king of K\u00e1bul\nand his army retired to the mountains, and Fer\u00e1murz laid waste the\ncountry. He found only the skeletons of Rustem and Z\u00fa\u00e1ra, the beasts of\nprey having stripped them of their flesh: he however gathered the bones\ntogether and conveyed them home and buried them, amidst the lamentations\nof the people. After that, he returned to K\u00e1bul with his army, and\nencountered the king, captured the cruel wretch, and carried him to\nS\u00edst\u00e1n, where he was put to death.\n\nGusht\u00e1sp having become old and infirm, bequeathed his empire to Bahman,\nand then died. He reigned one hundred and eight years.\n\n\n\nBAHMAN\n\nBahman, the grandson of Gusht\u00e1sp, having at the commencement of his\nsovereignty obtained the approbation of his people, by the clemency of\nhis conduct and the apparent generosity of his disposition, was not long\nin meditating vindictive measures against the family of Rustem. \"Did not\nKai-khosr\u00e1u,\" said he to his warriors, \"revenge himself on Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b for\nthe murder of Sai\u00e1wush; and have not all my glorious ancestors pursued a\nsimilar course? Why, then, should not I be revenged on the father of\nRustem for the death of Isfendiy\u00e1r?\" The warriors, as usual, approved of\nthe king's resolution, and in consequence one hundred thousand veteran\ntroops were assembled for the immediate invasion of S\u00edst\u00e1n. When Bahman\nhad arrived on the borders of the river Behermund, he sent a message to\nZ\u00e1l, frankly declaring his purpose, and that he must sacrifice the lives\nof himself and all his family as an atonement for Rustem's guilt in\nshedding the blood of Isfendiy\u00e1r.\n\n  Z\u00e1l heard his menace with astonishment,\n  Mingled with anguish, and he thus replied:\n  \"Rustem was not in fault; and thou canst tell,\n  For thou wert present, how he wept, and prayed\n  That he might not be bound. How frequently\n  He offered all his wealth, his gold, and gems,\n  To be excused that ignominious thrall;\n  And would have followed thy impatient father\n  To wait upon Gusht\u00e1sp; but this was scorned;\n  Nothing but bonds would satisfy his pride;\n  All this thou know'st. Then did not I and Rustem\n  Strictly fulfil Isfendiy\u00e1r's commands,\n  And most assiduously endow thy mind\n  With all the skill and virtues of a hero,\n  That might deserve some kindness in return?\n  Now take my house, my treasure, my possessions,\n  Take all; but spare my family and me.\"\n\n  The messenger went back, and told the tale\n  Of Z\u00e1l's deep grief with such persuasive grace,\n  And piteous accent, that the heart of Bahman\n  Softened at every word, and the old man\n  Was not to suffer. After that was known,\n  With gorgeous presents Z\u00e1l went forth to meet\n  The monarch in his progress to the city;\n  And having prostrated himself in low\n  Humility, retired among the train\n  Attendant on the king. \"Thou must not walk,\"\n  Bahman exclaimed, well skilled in all the arts\n  Of smooth hypocrisy--\"thou art too weak;\n  Remount thy horse, for thou requirest help.\"\n  But Z\u00e1l declined the honour, and preferred\n  Doing that homage as illustrious S\u00e1m,\n  His conquering ancestor, had always done,\n  Barefoot, in presence of the royal race.\n\n  Fast moving onwards, Bahman soon approached\n  S\u00edst\u00e1n, and entered Z\u00e1l's superb abode;\n  Not as a friend, or a forgiving foe,\n  But with a spirit unappeased, unsoothed;\n  True, he had spared the old man's life, but there\n  His mercy stopped; all else was confiscate,\n  For every room was plundered, all the treasure\n  Seized and devoted to the tyrant's use.\n\nAfter remorselessly obtaining this booty, Bahman inquired what had\nbecome of Fer\u00e1murz, and Z\u00e1l pretended that, unaware of the king's\napproach, he had gone a-hunting. But this excuse was easily seen\nthrough, and the king was so indignant on the occasion, that he put Z\u00e1l\nhimself in fetters. Fer\u00e1murz had, in fact, secretly retired with the\nZ\u00e1bul army to a convenient distance, for the purpose of acting as\nnecessity might require, and when he heard that Z\u00e1l was placed in\nconfinement, he immediately marched against the invader and oppressor of\nhis country. Both armies met, and closed, and were in desperate conflict\nthree long days and nights. On the fourth day, a tremendous hurricane\narose, which blew thick clouds of dust in the face of the Z\u00e1bul army,\nand blinding them, impeded their progress, whilst the enemy were driven\nfuriously forward by the strong wind at their backs. The consequence was\nthe defeat of the Z\u00e1bul troops. Fer\u00e1murz, with a few companions,\nhowever, kept his ground, though assailed by showers of arrows. He tried\nrepeatedly to get face to face with Bahman, but every effort was\nfruitless, and he felt convinced that his career was now nearly at an\nend. He bravely defended himself, and aimed his arrows with great\nprecision; but what is the use of art when Fortune is unfavorable?\n\n  When Fate's dark clouds portentous lower,\n    And quench the light of day,\n  No effort, none, of human power,\n    Can chase the gloom away.\n  Arrows may fly a countless shower,\n    Amidst the desperate fray;\n  But not to sword or arrow death is given,\n  Unless decreed by favouring Heaven\n\nAnd it was so decreed that the exertions of Fer\u00e1murz should be\nunsuccessful. His horse fell, he was wounded severely, and whilst\ninsensible, the enemy secured and conveyed him in fetters to Bahman, who\nimmediately ordered him to be hanged. The king then directed all the\npeople of S\u00edst\u00e1n to be put to the sword; upon which Bash\u00fatan said:\n\"Alas! why should the innocent and unoffending people be thus made to\nperish? Hast thou no fear of God? Thou hast taken vengeance for thy\nfather, by slaying Fer\u00e1murz, the son of Rustem. Is not that enough? Be\nmerciful and beneficent now to the people, and thank Heaven for the\ngreat victory thou hast gained.\" Bahman was thus withdrawn from his\nwicked purpose, and was also induced to liberate Z\u00e1l, whose age and\ninfirmities had rendered him perfectly harmless. He not only did this,\nbut restored to him the possession of S\u00edst\u00e1n; and divesting himself of\nall further revenge, returned to Persia. There he continued to exercise\nthe functions of royalty, till one day he happened to be bitten by a\nsnake, whose venom was so excruciating, that remedies were of no avail,\nand he died of the wound, in the eighth year of his reign. Although he\nhad a son named Sass\u00e1n, he did not appoint him his successor; but gave\nthe crown and the throne to his wife, H\u00fama\u00ed, whom he had married a short\ntime before his death, saying: \"If H\u00fama\u00ed should have a son, that son\nshall be my successor; but if a daughter, H\u00fama\u00ed continue to reign.\"\n\n\n\nH\u00daMAI AND THE BIRTH OF D\u00c1R\u00c1B\n\nWisdom and generosity were said to have marked the government of H\u00fama\u00ed.\nIn justice and beneficence she was unequalled. No misfortune happened in\nher days: even the poor and the needy became rich. She gave birth to a\nson, whom she entrusted to a nurse to be brought up secretly, and\ndeclared publicly that it had died the same day it was born. At this\nevent the people rejoiced, for they were happy under the administration\nof H\u00fama\u00ed. Upon the boy attaining his seventh month, however, the queen\nsent for him, and wrapping him up in rich garments, put him in a box,\nand when she had fastened down the cover, gave it to two confidential\nservants, in the middle of the night, to be flung into the Euphrates.\n\"For,\" thought she, \"if he be found in the city, there will be an end to\nmy authority, and the crown will be placed upon his head; wiser,\ntherefore, will it be for me to cast him into the river; and if it\nplease God to preserve him, he may be nurtured, and brought up in\nanother country.\" Accordingly in the darkness of night, the box was\nthrown into the Euphrates, and it floated rapidly down the stream for\nsome time without being observed.\n\n  Amidst the waters, in that little ark\n  Was launched the future monarch. But, vain mortal!\n  How bootless are thy most ingenious schemes,\n  Thy wisest projects! Such were thine, H\u00fama\u00ed!\n  Presumptuous as thou wert to think success\n  Would crown that deed unnatural and unjust.\n  But human passions, human expectations\n  Are happily controlled by righteous Heaven.\n\nIn the morning the ark was noticed by a washerman; who, curious to know\nwhat it contained, drew it to the shore, and opened the lid. Within the\nbox he then saw splendid silk-embroidered scarfs and costly raiment, and\nupon them a lovely infant asleep. He immediately took up the child, and\ncarried it to his wife, saying: \"It was but yesterday that our own\ninfant died, and now the Almighty has sent thee another in its place.\"\nThe woman looked at the child with affection, and taking it in her arms\nfed it with her own milk. In the box they also found jewels and rubies,\nand they congratulated themselves upon being at length blessed by\nProvidence with wealth, and a boy at the same time. They called him\nD\u00e1r\u00e1b, and the child soon began to speak in the language of his\nfoster-parents. The washerman and his wife, for fear that the boy and\nthe wealth might be discovered, thought it safest to quit their home,\nand sojourn in another country. When D\u00e1r\u00e1b grew up, he was more skilful\nand accomplished, and more expert at wrestling than other boys of a\ngreater age. But whenever the washerman told him to assist in washing\nclothes, he always ran away, and would not stoop to the drudgery. This\nuntoward behavior grieved the washerman exceedingly, and he lamented\nthat God had given him so useless a son, not knowing that he was\ndestined to be the sovereign of all the world.\n\n  How little thought he, whilst the task he prest,\n  A purer spirit warmed the stripling's breast,\n  Whose opening soul, by kingly pride inspired,\n  Disdained the toil a menial slave required;\n  The royal branch on high its foliage flung,\n  And showed the lofty stem from which it sprung.\n\nD\u00e1r\u00e1b was now sent to school, and he soon excelled his master, who\ncontinually said to the washerman: \"Thy son is of wonderful capacity,\nacute and intelligent beyond his years, of an enlarged understanding,\nand will be at least the minister of a king.\" D\u00e1r\u00e1b requested to have\nanother master, and also a fine horse of Ir\u00e1k, that he might acquire the\nscience and accomplishments of a warrior; but the washerman replied that\nhe was too poor to comply with his wishes, which threw the youth into\ndespair, so that he did not touch a morsel of food for two days\ntogether. His foster-mother, deeply affected by his disappointment, and\nnaturally anxious to gratify his desires, gave an article of value to\nthe washerman, that he might sell it, and with the money purchase the\nhorse required. The horse obtained, he was daily instructed in the art\nof using the bow, the javelin, and the sword, and in every exercise\nbecoming a young gentleman and a warrior. So devouringly did he\npersevere in his studies, and in his exertions to excel, that he never\nremained a moment unoccupied at home or abroad. The development of his\ntalents and genius suggested to him an inquiry who he was, and how he\ncame into the house of a washerman; and his foster-mother, in compliance\nwith his entreaties, described to him the manner in which he was found.\nHe had long been miserable at the thoughts of being the son of a\nwasherman, but now he rejoiced, and looked upon himself as the son of\nsome person of consideration. He asked her if she had anything that was\ntaken out of the box, and she replied: \"Two valuable rubies remain.\" The\nyouth requested them to be brought to him; one he bound round his arm,\nand the other he sold to pay the expenses of travelling and change of\nplace.\n\nAt that time, it is said, the king of R\u00fam had sent an army into the\ncountry of Ir\u00e1n. Upon receiving this information, H\u00fama\u00ed told her\ngeneral, named Rishnaw\u00e1d, to collect a force corresponding with the\nemergency; and he issued a proclamation, inviting all young men desirous\nof military glory to flock to his standard. D\u00e1r\u00e1b heard this\nproclamation with delight, and among others hastened to Rishnaw\u00e1d, who\npresented the young warriors as they arrived successively to H\u00fama\u00ed. The\nqueen steadfastly marked the majestic form and features of D\u00e1r\u00e1b, and\nsaid in her heart: \"The youth who bears this dignified and royal aspect,\nappears to be a Kai\u00e1nian by birth;\" and as she spoke, the instinctive\nfeeling of a mother seemed to agitate her bosom.\n\n  The queen beheld his form and face,\n  The scion of a princely race;\n  And natural instinct seemed to move\n  Her heart, which spoke a mother's love;\n  She gazed, but like the lightning's ray,\n  That sudden thrill soon passed away.\n\nThe army was now in motion. After the first march, a tremendous wind and\nheavy rain came on, and all the soldiers were under tents, excepting\nD\u00e1r\u00e1b, who had none, and was obliged to take shelter from the inclemency\nof the weather beneath an archway, where he laid himself down, and fell\nasleep. Suddenly a supernatural voice was heard, saying:--\n\n  \"Arch! stand firm, and from thy wall\n  Let no ruined fragment fall!\n  He who sleeps beneath is one\n  Destined to a royal throne.\n  Arch! a monarch claims thy care,\n  The king of Persia slumbers there!\"\n\nThe voice was heard by every one near, and Rishnaw\u00e1d having also heard\nit, inquired of his people from whence it came. As he spoke, the voice\nrepeated its caution:--\n\n  \"Arch! stand firm, and from thy wall\n  Let no ruined fragment fall!\n  Bahman's son is in thy keeping;\n  He beneath thy roof is sleeping.\n  Though the winds are loudly roaring,\n  And the rain in torrents pouring,\n  Arch! stand firm, and from thy wall\n  Let no loosened fragment fall.\"\n\nAgain Rishnaw\u00e1d sent other persons to ascertain from whence the voice\nproceeded; and they returned, saying, that it was not of the earth, but\nfrom Heaven. Again the caution sounded in his ears:--\n\n  \"Arch! stand firm, and from thy wall\n  Let no loosened fragment fall.\"\n\nAnd his amazement increased. He now sent a person under the archway to\nsee if any one was there, when the youth was discovered in deep sleep\nupon the ground, and the arch above him rent and broken in many parts.\nRishnaw\u00e1d being apprised of this circumstance, desired that he might be\nawakened and brought to him. The moment he was removed, the whole of the\narch fell down with a dreadful crash, and this wonderful escape was also\ncommunicated to the leader of the army, who by a strict and particular\nenquiry soon became acquainted with all the occurrences of the\nstranger's life. Rishnaw\u00e1d also summoned before him the washerman and\nhis wife, and they corroborated the story he had been told. Indeed he\nhimself recognized the ruby on D\u00e1r\u00e1b's arm, which convinced him that he\nwas the son of Bahman, whom H\u00fama\u00ed caused to be thrown into the\nEuphrates. Thus satisfied of his identity, he treated him with great\nhonor, placed him on his right hand, and appointed him to a high command\nin the army. Soon afterwards an engagement took place with the R\u00fam\u00eds,\nand D\u00e1r\u00e1b in the advanced guard performed prodigies of valor. The battle\nlasted all day, and in the evening Rishnaw\u00e1d bestowed upon him the\npraise which he merited. Next day the army was again prepared for\nbattle, when D\u00e1r\u00e1b proposed that the leader should remain quiet, whilst\nhe with a chosen band of soldiers attacked the whole force of the enemy.\nThe proposal being agreed to, he advanced with fearless impetuosity to\nthe contest.\n\n  With loosened rein he rushed along the field,\n  And through opposing numbers hewed his path,\n  Then pierced the Kulub-gah, the centre-host,\n  Where many a warrior brave, renowned in arms,\n  Fell by his sword. Like sheep before a wolf\n  The harassed R\u00fam\u00eds fled; for none had power\n  To cope with his strong arm. His wondrous might\n  Alone, subdued the legions right and left;\n  And when, unwearied, he had fought his way\n  To where great Ka\u00edsar stood, night came, and darkness,\n  Shielding the trembling emperor of R\u00fam,\n  Snatched the expected triumph from his hands.\n\nRishnaw\u00e1d was so filled with admiration at his splendid prowess, that he\nnow offered him the most magnificent presents; but when they were\nexposed to his view, a suit of armor was the only thing he would accept.\n\nThe R\u00fam\u00eds were entirely disheartened by his valor, and they said: \"We\nunderstood that the sovereign of Persia was only a woman, and that the\nconquest of the empire would be no difficult task; but this woman seems\nto be more fortunate than a warrior-king. Even her general remains\ninactive with the great body of his army; and a youth, with a small\nforce, is sufficient to subdue the legions of R\u00fam; we had, therefore,\nbetter return to our own country.\" The principal warriors entertained\nthe same sentiments, and suggested to Ka\u00edsar the necessity of retiring\nfrom the field; but the king opposed this measure, thinking it cowardly\nand disgraceful, and said:--\n\n  \"To-morrow we renew the fight,\n  To-morrow we shall try our might;\n  To-morrow, with the smiles of Heaven,\n  To us the victory will be given.\"\n\nAccordingly on the following day the armies met again, and after a\nsanguinary struggle, the Persians were again triumphant. Ka\u00edsar now\ndespaired of success, sent a messenger to Rishnaw\u00e1d, in which he\nacknowledged the aggressions he had committed, and offered to pay him\nwhatever tribute he might require. Rishnaw\u00e1d readily settled the terms\nof the peace; and the emperor was permitted to return to his own\ndominions.\n\nAfter this event Rishnaw\u00e1d sent to H\u00fama\u00ed intelligence of the victories\nhe had gained, and of the surprising valor of D\u00e1r\u00e1b, transmitting to her\nthe ruby as an evidence of his birth. H\u00fama\u00ed was at once convinced that\nhe was her son, for she well remembered the day on which he was enrolled\nas one of her soldiers, when her heart throbbed with instinctive\naffection at the sight of him; and though she had unfortunately failed\nto question him then, she now rejoiced that he was so near being\nrestored to her. She immediately proceeded to the Atish-gadeh, or the\nFire-altar, and made an offering on the occasion; and ordering a great\nfire to be lighted, gave immense sums away in charity to the poor.\nHaving called D\u00e1r\u00e1b to her presence, she went with a splendid retinue to\nmeet him at the distance of one journey from the city; and as soon as he\napproached, she pressed him to her bosom, and kissed his head and eyes\nwith the fondest affection of a mother. Upon the first day of happy\nomen, she relinquished in his favor the crown and the throne, after\nhaving herself reigned thirty-two years.\n\n\n\nD\u00c1R\u00c1B AND D\u00c1R\u00c1\n\nWhen D\u00e1r\u00e1b had ascended the throne, he conducted the affairs of the\nkingdom with humanity, justice, and benevolence; and by these means\nsecured the happiness of his people. He had no sooner commenced his\nreign, than he sent for the washerman and his wife, and enriched them by\nhis gifts. \"But,\" said he, \"I present to you this property on these\nconditions--you must not give up your occupation--you must go every day,\nas usual, to the river-side, and wash clothes; for perhaps in process of\ntime you may discover another box floating down the stream, containing\nanother infant!\" With these conditions the washerman complied.\n\nSome time afterwards the kingdom was invaded by an Arabian army,\nconsisting of one hundred thousand men, and commanded by Sh\u00e1\u00edb, a\ndistinguished warrior. D\u00e1r\u00e1b was engaged with this army three days and\nthree nights, and on the fourth morning the battle terminated, in\nconsequence of Sh\u00e1\u00edb being slain. The booty was immense, and a vast\nnumber of Arabian horses fell into the hands of the victor; which,\ntogether with the quantity of treasure captured, strengthened greatly\nthe resources of the state. The success of this campaign enabled D\u00e1r\u00e1b\nto extend his military operations; and having put his army in order, he\nproceeded against Failak\u00fas (Philip of Macedon), then king of R\u00fam, whom\nhe defeated with great loss. Many were put to the sword, and the women\nand children carried into captivity. Failak\u00fas himself took refuge in the\nfortress of Am\u00far, from whence he sent an ambassador to D\u00e1r\u00e1b, saying,\nthat if peace was only granted to him, he would willingly consent to any\nterms that might be demanded. When the ambassador arrived, D\u00e1r\u00e1b said to\nhim: \"If Failak\u00fas will bestow upon me his daughter, Nah\u00edd, peace shall\nbe instantly re-established between us--I require no other terms.\"\nFailak\u00fas readily agreed, and sent Nah\u00edd with numerous splendid presents\nto the king of Persia, who espoused her, and took her with him to his\nown country. It so happened that Nah\u00edd had an offensive breath, which\nwas extremely disagreeable to her husband, and in consequence he\ndirected enquiries to be made everywhere for a remedy. No place was left\nunexplored; at length an herb of peculiar efficacy and fragrance was\ndiscovered, which never failed to remove the imperfection complained of;\nand it was accordingly administered with confident hopes of success.\nNah\u00edd was desired to wash her mouth with the infused herb, and in a few\ndays her breath became balmy and pure. When she found she was likely to\nbecome a mother she did not communicate the circumstance, but requested\npermission to pay a visit to her father. The request was granted; and on\nher arrival in R\u00fam she was delivered of a son. Failak\u00fas had no male\noffspring, and was overjoyed at this event, which he at once determined\nto keep unknown to D\u00e1r\u00e1b, publishing abroad that a son had been born in\nhis house, and causing it to be understood that the child was his own.\nWhen the boy grew up, he was called Sikander; and, like Rustem, became\nhighly accomplished in all the arts of diplomacy and war. Failak\u00fas\nplaced him under Arist\u00e1tal\u00eds, a sage of great renown, and he soon\nequalled his master in learning and science.\n\nD\u00e1r\u00e1b married another wife, by whom he had another son, named D\u00e1r\u00e1; and\nwhen the youth was twenty years of age, the father died. The period of\nD\u00e1r\u00e1b's reign was thirty-four years.\n\nD\u00e1r\u00e1 continued the government of the empire in the same spirit as his\nfather; claiming custom and tribute from the inferior rulers, with\nsimilar strictness and decision. After the death of Failak\u00fas, Sikander\nbecame the king of R\u00fam; and refusing to pay the demanded tribute to\nPersia, went to war with D\u00e1r\u00e1, whom he killed in battle; the particulars\nof these events will be presently shown. Failak\u00fas reigned twenty-four\nyears.\n\n\n\nSIKANDER\n\nFailak\u00fas, before his death, placed the crown of sovereignty upon the\nhead of Sikander, and appointed Arist\u00fa, who was one of the disciples of\nthe great Afl\u00e1t\u00fan, his vizir. He cautioned him to pursue the path of\nvirtue and rectitude, and to cast from his heart every feeling of vanity\nand pride; above all he implored him to be just and merciful, and\nsaid:--\n\n  \"Think not that thou art wise, but ignorant,\n  And ever listen to advice and counsel;\n  We are but dust, and from the dust created;\n  And what our lives but helplessness and sorrow!\"\n\nSikander for a time attended faithfully to the instructions of his\nfather, and to the counsel of Arist\u00fa, both in public and private\naffairs.\n\nUpon Sikander's elevation to the throne, D\u00e1r\u00e1 sent an envoy to him to\nclaim the customary tribute, but he received for answer: \"The time is\npast when R\u00fam acknowledged the superiority of Persia. It is now thy turn\nto pay tribute to R\u00fam. If my demand be refused, I will immediately\ninvade thy dominions; and think not that I shall be satisfied with the\nconquest of Persia alone, the whole world shall be mine; therefore\nprepare for war.\" D\u00e1r\u00e1 had no alternative, not even submission, and\naccordingly assembled his army, for Sikander was already in full march\nagainst him. Upon the confines of Persia the armies came in sight of\neach other, when Sikander, in the assumed character of an envoy, was\nresolved to ascertain the exact condition of the enemy. With this view\nhe entered the Persian camp, and D\u00e1r\u00e1 allowing the person whom he\nsupposed an ambassador, to approach, enquired what message the king of\nR\u00fam had sent to him. \"Hear me!\" said the pretended envoy: \"Sikander has\nnot invaded thy empire for the exclusive purpose of fighting, but to\nknow its history, its laws, and customs, from personal inspection. His\nobject is to travel through the whole world. Why then should he make war\nupon thee? Give him but a free passage through thy kingdom, and nothing\nmore is required. However if it be thy wish to proceed to hostilities,\nhe apprehends nothing from the greatness of thy power.\" D\u00e1r\u00e1 was\nastonished at the majestic air and dignity of the envoy, never having\nwitnessed his equal, and he anxiously said:--\n\n  \"What is thy name, from whom art thou descended?\n  For that commanding front, that fearless eye,\n  Bespeaks illustrious birth. Art thou indeed\n  Sikander, whom my fancy would believe thee,\n  So eloquent in speech, in mien so noble?\"\n  \"No!\" said the envoy, \"no such rank is mine,\n  Sikander holds among his numerous host\n  Thousands superior to the humble slave\n  Who stands before thee. It is not for me\n  To put upon myself the air of kings,\n  To ape their manners and their lofty state.\"\n\nD\u00e1r\u00e1 could not help smiling, and ordered refreshments and wine to be\nbrought. He filled a cup and gave it to the envoy, who drank it off, but\ndid not, according to custom, return the empty goblet to the cup-bearer.\nThe cup-bearer demanded the cup, and D\u00e1r\u00e1 asked the envoy why he did not\ngive it back. \"It is the custom in my country,\" said the envoy, \"when a\ncup is once given into an ambassador's hands, never to receive it back\nagain.\" D\u00e1r\u00e1 was still more amused by this explanation, and presented to\nhim another cup, and successively four, which the envoy did not fail to\nappropriate severally in the same way. In the evening a feast was held,\nand Sikander partook of the delicious refreshments that had been\nprepared for him; but in the midst of the entertainment one of the\npersons present recognized him, and immediately whispered to D\u00e1r\u00e1 that\nhis enemy was in his power.\n\n  Sikander's sharp and cautious eye now marked\n  The changing scene, and up he sprang, but first\n  Snatched the four cups, and rushing from the tent,\n  Vaulted upon his horse, and rode away.\n  So instantaneous was the act, amazed\n  The assembly rose, and presently a troop\n  Was ordered in pursuit--but night, dark night,\n  Baffled their search, and checked their eager speed.\n\nAs soon as he reached his own army, he sent for Arist\u00e1tal\u00eds and his\ncourtiers, and exultingly displayed to them the four golden cups.\n\"These,\" said he, \"have I taken from my enemy, I have taken them from\nhis own table, and before his own eyes. His strength and numbers too I\nhave ascertained, and my success is certain.\" No time was now lost in\narrangements for the battle. The armies engaged, and they fought seven\ndays without a decisive blow being struck. On the eighth, D\u00e1r\u00e1 was\ncompelled to fly, and his legions, defeated and harassed, were pursued\nby the R\u00fam\u00eds with great slaughter to the banks of the Euphrates.\nSikander now returned to take possession of the capital. In the meantime\nD\u00e1r\u00e1 collected his scattered forces together, and again tried his\nfortune, but he was again defeated. After his second success, the\nconqueror devoted himself so zealously to conciliate and win the\naffections of the people, that they soon ceased to remember their former\nking with any degree of attachment to his interests. Sikander said to\nthem: \"Persia indeed is my inheritance: I am no stranger to you, for I\nam myself descended from D\u00e1r\u00e1b; you may therefore safely trust to my\njustice and paternal care, in everything that concerns your welfare.\"\nThe result was, that legion after legion united in his cause, and\nconsolidated his power.\n\nWhen D\u00e1r\u00e1 was informed of the universal disaffection of his army, he\nsaid to the remaining friends who were personally devoted to him: \"Alas!\nmy subjects have been deluded by the artful dissimulation and skill of\nSikander; your next misfortune will be the captivity of your wives and\nchildren. Yes, your wives and children will be made the slaves of the\nconquerors.\" A few troops, still faithful to their unfortunate king,\noffered to make another effort against the enemy, and D\u00e1r\u00e1 was too\ngrateful and too brave to discountenance their enthusiastic fidelity,\nthough with such little chance of success. A fragment of an army was\nconsequently brought into action, and the result was what had been\nanticipated. D\u00e1r\u00e1 was again a fugitive; and after the defeat, escaped\nwith three hundred men into the neighboring desert. Sikander captured\nhis wife and family, but magnanimously restored them to the unfortunate\nmonarch, who, destitute of all further hope, now asked for a place of\nrefuge in his own dominions, and for that he offered him all the buried\ntreasure of his ancestors. Sikander, in reply, invited him to his\npresence; and promised to restore him to his throne, that he might\nhimself be enabled to pursue other conquests; but D\u00e1r\u00e1 refused to go,\nalthough advised by his nobles to accept the invitation. \"I am willing\nto put myself to death,\" said he with emotion, \"but I cannot submit to\nthis degradation. I cannot go before him, and thus personally\nacknowledge his authority over me.\" Resolved upon this point, he wrote\nto Fa\u00far, one of the sovereigns of Ind, to request his assistance, and\nFa\u00far recommended that he should pay him a visit for the purpose of\nconcerting what measures should be adopted. This correspondence having\ncome to the knowledge of Sikander, he took care that his enemy should be\nintercepted in whatever direction he might proceed.\n\nD\u00e1r\u00e1 had two ministers, named Mahiy\u00e1r and Jam\u00fasip\u00e1r, who, finding that\naccording to the predictions of the astrologers their master would in a\nfew days fall into the hands of Sikander, consulted together, and\nthought they had better put him to death themselves, in order that they\nmight get into favor with Sikander. It was night, and the soldiers of\nthe escort were dispersed at various distances, and the vizirs were\nstationed on each side of the king. As they travelled on, Jam\u00fasip\u00e1r took\nan opportunity of plunging his dagger into D\u00e1r\u00e1's side, and Mahiy\u00e1r gave\nanother blow, which felled the monarch to the ground. They immediately\nsent the tidings of this event to Sikander, who hastened to the spot,\nand the opening daylight presented to his view the wounded king.\n\n  Dismounting quickly, he in sorrow placed\n  The head of D\u00e1r\u00e1 on his lap, and wept\n  In bitterness of soul, to see that form\n  Mangled with ghastly wounds.\n\nD\u00e1r\u00e1 still breathed; and when he lifted up his eyes and beheld Sikander,\nhe groaned deeply. Sikander said, \"Rise up, that we may convey thee to a\nplace of safety, and apply the proper remedies to thy wounds.\"--\"Alas!\"\nreplied D\u00e1r\u00e1, \"the time for remedies is past. I leave thee to Heaven,\nand may thy reign give peace and happiness to the empire.\"--\"Never,\"\nsaid Sikander, \"never did I desire to see thee thus mangled and\nfallen--never to witness this sight! If the Almighty should spare thy\nlife, thou shalt again be the monarch of Persia, and I will go from\nhence. On my mother's word, thou and I are sons of the same father. It\nis this brotherly affection which now wrings my heart!\" Saying this, the\ntears chased each other down his cheeks in such abundance that they fell\nupon the face of D\u00e1r\u00e1. Again, he said, \"Thy murderers shall meet with\nmerited vengeance, they shall be punished to the uttermost.\" D\u00e1r\u00e1\nblessed him, and said, \"My end is approaching, but thy sweet discourse\nand consoling kindness have banished all my grief. I shall now die with\na mind at rest. Weep no more--\n\n \"My course is finished, thine is scarce begun;\n  But hear my dying wish, my last request:\n  Preserve the honour of my family,\n  Preserve it from disgrace. I have a daughter\n  Dearer to me than life, her name is Roshung;\n  Espouse her, I beseech thee--and if Heaven\n  Should bless thee with a boy, O! let his name be\n  Isfendiy\u00e1r, that he may propagate\n  With zeal the sacred doctrines of Zerdusht,\n  The Zendavesta, then my soul will be\n  Happy in Heaven; and he, at N\u00e1u-r\u00faz tide,\n  Will also hold the festival I love,\n  And at the altar light the Holy Fire;\n  Nor will he cease his labour, till the faith\n  Of Lohur\u00e1sp be everywhere accepted,\n  And everywhere believed the true religion.\"\n\nSikander promised that he would assuredly fulfil the wishes he had\nexpressed, and then D\u00e1r\u00e1 placed the palm of his brother's hand on his\nmouth, and shortly afterwards expired. Sikander again wept bitterly, and\nthen the body was placed on a golden couch, and he attended it in sorrow\nto the grave.\n\nAfter the burial of D\u00e1r\u00e1, the two ministers, Jam\u00fasip\u00e1r and Mahiy\u00e1r, were\nbrought near the tomb, and executed upon the dar.\n\n  Just vengeance upon the guilty head,\n  For they their generous monarch's blood had shed.\n\nSikander had now no rival to the throne of Persia, and he commenced his\ngovernment under the most favorable auspices. He continued the same\ncustoms and ordinances which were handed down to him, and retained every\none in his established rank and occupation. He gladdened the heart by\nhis justice and liberality. Keeping in mind his promise to D\u00e1r\u00e1, he now\nwrote to the mother of Roshung, and communicating to her the dying\nsolicitations of the king, requested her to send Roshung to him, that he\nmight fulfil the last wish of his brother. The wife of D\u00e1r\u00e1 immediately\ncomplied with the command, and sent her daughter with various presents\nto Sikander, and she was on her arrival married to the conqueror,\nacceding to the customs and laws of the empire. Sikander loved her\nexceedingly, and on her account remained some time in Persia, but he at\nlength determined to proceed into Ind to conquer that country of\nenchanters and enchantment.\n\nOn approaching Ind he wrote to Kaid, summoning him to surrender his\nkingdom, and received from him the following answer: \"I will certainly\nsubmit to thy authority, but I have four things which no other person in\nthe world possesses, and which I cannot relinquish. I have a daughter,\nbeautiful as an angel of Paradise, a wise minister, a skilful physician,\nand a goblet of inestimable value!\" Upon receiving this extraordinary\nreply, Sikander again addressed a letter to him, in which he\nperemptorily required all these things immediately. Kaid not daring to\nrefuse, or make any attempt at evasion, reluctantly complied with the\nrequisition. Sikander received the minister and the physician with great\npoliteness and attention, and in the evening held a splendid feast, at\nwhich he espoused the beautiful daughter of Kaid, and taking the goblet\nfrom her hands, drank off the wine with which it was filled. After that,\nKaid himself waited upon Sikander, and personally acknowledged his\nauthority and dominion.\n\nSikander then proceeded to claim the allegiance and homage of Fa\u00far, the\nking of Kan\u00faj, and wrote to him to submit to his power; but Fa\u00far\nreturned a haughty answer, saying:--\n\n  \"Kaid Ind\u00ed is a coward to obey thee,\n  But I am Fa\u00far, descended from a race\n  Of matchless warriors; and shall I submit,\n  And to a Greek!\"\n\nSikander was highly incensed at this bold reply. The force he had now\nwith him amounted to eighty thousand men; that is, thirty thousand\nIr\u00e1nians, forty thousand R\u00fam\u00eds, and ten thousand Ind\u00eds. Fa\u00far had sixty\nthousand horsemen, and two thousand elephants. The troops of Sikander\nwere greatly terrified at the sight of so many elephants, which gave the\nenemy such a tremendous superiority. Arist\u00e1tal\u00eds, and some other\ningenious counsellors, were requested to consult together to contrive\nsome means of counteracting the power of the war-elephants, and they\nsuggested the construction of an iron horse, and the figure of a rider\nalso of iron, to be placed upon wheels like a carriage, and drawn by a\nnumber of horses. A soldier, clothed in iron armor, was to follow the\nvehicle--his hands and face besmeared with combustible matter, and this\nsoldier, armed with a long staff, was at an appointed signal, to pierce\nthe belly of the horse and also of the rider, previously filled with\ncombustibles, so that when the ignited point came in contact with them,\nthe whole engine would make a tremendous explosion and blaze in the air.\nSikander approved of this invention, and collected all the blacksmiths\nand artisans in the country to construct a thousand machines of this\ndescription with the utmost expedition, and as soon as they were\ncompleted, he prepared for action. Fa\u00far too pushed forward with his two\nthousand elephants in advance; but when the Kan\u00fajians beheld such a\nformidable array they were surprised, and Fa\u00far anxiously inquired from\nhis spies what it could be. Upon being told that it was Sikander's\nartillery, his troops pushed the elephants against the enemy with vigor,\nat which moment the combustibles were fired by the R\u00fam\u00eds, and the\nmachinery exploding, many elephants were burnt and destroyed, and the\nremainder, with the troops, fled in confusion. Sikander then encountered\nFa\u00far, and after a severe contest, slew him, and became ruler of the\nkingdom of Kan\u00faj.\n\nAfter the conquest of Kan\u00faj, Sikander went to Mekka, carrying thither\nrich presents and offerings. From thence he proceeded to another city,\nwhere he was received with great homage by the most illustrious of the\nnation. He enquired of them if there was anything wonderful or\nextraordinary in their country, that he might go to see it, and they\nreplied that there were two trees in the kingdom, one a male, the other\na female, from which a voice proceeded. The male-tree spoke in the day,\nand the female-tree in the night, and whoever had a wish, went thither\nto have his desires accomplished. Sikander immediately repaired to the\nspot, and approaching it, he hoped in his heart that a considerable part\nof his life still remained to be enjoyed. When he came under the tree, a\nterrible sound arose and rung in his ears, and he asked the people\npresent what it meant. The attendant priest said it implied that\nfourteen years of his life still remained. Sikander, at this\ninterpretation of the prophetic sound, wept and the burning tears ran\ndown his cheeks. Again he asked, \"Shall I return to R\u00fam, and see my\nmother and children before I die?\" and the answer was, \"Thou wilt die at\nKash\u00e1n.[51]\n\n \"Nor mother, nor thy family at home\n  Wilt thou behold again, for thou wilt die,\n  Closing thy course of glory at Kash\u00e1n.\"\n\nSikander left the place in sorrow, and pursued his way towards R\u00fam. In\nhis progress he arrived at another city, and the inhabitants gave him\nthe most honorable welcome, representing to him, however, that they were\ndreadfully afflicted by the presence of two demons or giants, who\nconstantly assailed them in the night, devouring men and goats and\nwhatever came in their way. Sikander asked their names; and they\nreplied, Y\u00e1juj and M\u00e1juj (Gog and Magog). He immediately ordered a\nbarrier to be erected five hundred yards high, and three hundred yards\nwide, and when it was finished he went away. The giants, notwithstanding\nall their efforts, were unable to scale this barrier, and in consequence\nthe inhabitants pursued their occupations without the fear of\nmolestation.\n\n  To scenes of noble daring still he turned\n  His ardent spirit--for he knew not fear.\n  Still he led on his legions--and now came\n  To a strange place, where countless numbers met\n  His wondering view--countless inhabitants\n  Crowding the city streets, and neighbouring plains;\n  And in the distance presently he saw\n  A lofty mountain reaching to the stars.\n  Onward proceeding, at its foot he found\n  A guardian-dragon, terrible in form,\n  Ready with open jaws to crush his victim;\n  But unappalled, Sikander him beholding\n  With steady eye, which scorned to turn aside,\n  Sprang forward, and at once the monster slew.\n\n  Ascending then the mountain, many a ridge,\n  Oft resting on the way, he reached the summit,\n  Where the dead corse of an old saint appeared\n  Wrapt in his grave-clothes, and in gems imbedded.\n  In gold and precious jewels glittering round,\n  Seeming to show what man is, mortal man!\n  Wealth, worldly pomp, the baubles of ambition,\n  All left behind, himself a heap of dust!\n\n  None ever went upon that mountain top,\n  But sought for knowledge; and Sikander hoped\n  When he had reached its cloudy eminence,\n  To see the visions of futurity\n  Arise from that departed, holy man!\n  And soon he heard a voice: \"Thy time is nigh!\n  Yet may I thy career on earth unfold.\n  It will be thine to conquer many a realm,\n  Win many a crown; thou wilt have many friends\n  And numerous foes, and thy devoted head\n  Will be uplifted to the very heavens.\n  Renowned and glorious shalt thou be; thy name\n  Immortal; but, alas! thy time is nigh!\"\n  At these prophetic words Sikander wept,\n  And from that ominous mountain hastened down.\n\nAfter that Sikander journeyed on to the city of Kash\u00e1n, where he fell\nsick, and in a few days, according to the oracle and the prophecy,\nexpired. He had scarcely breathed his last, when Arist\u00fa, and Bilniy\u00e1s\nthe physician, and his family, entered Kash\u00e1n, and found him dead. They\nbeat their faces, and tore their hair, and mourned for him forty days.\n\n\n\nFIRDUSI'S INVOCATION\n\n  Thee I invoke, the Lord of Life and Light!\n  Beyond imagination pure and bright!\n  To thee, sufficing praise no tongue can give,\n  We are thy creatures, and in thee we live!\n  Thou art the summit, depth, the all in all,\n  Creator, Guardian of this earthly ball;\n  Whatever is, thou art--Protector, King,\n  From thee all goodness, truth, and mercy spring.\n  O pardon the misdeeds of him who now\n  Bends in thy presence with a suppliant brow.\n  Teach them to tread the path thy Prophet trod;\n  To wash his heart from sin, to know his God;\n  And gently lead him to that home of rest,\n  Where filled with holiest rapture dwell the blest.\n\n   Saith not that book divine, from Heaven supplied,\n  \"Mustafa is the true, the unerring guide,\n  The purest, greatest Prophet!\" Next him came\n  Wise Abu Buker, of unblemished name;\n  Then Omer taught the faith, unknown to guile,\n  And made the world with vernal freshness smile;\n  Then Othm\u00e1n brave th' imperial priesthood graced;\n  All, led by him, the Prophet's faith embraced.\n  The fourth was Al\u00ed; he, the spouse adored\n  Of Fatima, then spread the saving word.\n  Al\u00ed, of whom Mahommed spoke elate,\n  \"I am the city of knowledge--he my gate.\"\n  Al\u00ed the blest. Whoever shall recline\n  A supplicant at his all-powerful shrine,\n  Enjoys both this life and the next; in this,\n  All earthly good, in that, eternal bliss!\n\n  From records true my legends I rehearse,\n  And string the pearls of wisdom in my verse,\n  That in the glimmering days of life's decline,\n  Its fruits, in wealth and honor, may be mine.\n  My verse, a structure pointing to the skies;\n  Whose solid strength destroying time defies.\n  All praise the noble work, save only those\n  Of impious life, or base malignant foes;\n  All blest with learning read, and read again,\n  The sovereign smiles, and thus approves my strain:\n  \"Richer by far, Firdusi, than a mine\n  Of precious gems, is this bright lay of thine.\"\n  Centuries may pass away, but still my page\n  Will be the boast of each succeeding age.\n\n  Praise, praise to Mahmud, who of like renown,\n  In battle or the banquet, fills the throne;\n  Lord of the realms of Ch\u00edn and Hind\u00fast\u00e1n,\n  Sovereign and Lord of Persia and T\u00far\u00e1n,\n  With his loud voice he rends the flintiest ear;\n  On land a tiger fierce, untouched by fear,\n  And on the wave, he seems the crocodile\n  That prowls amidst the waters of the Nile.\n  Generous and brave, his equal is unknown;\n  In deeds of princely worth he stands alone.\n  The infant in the cradle lisps his name;\n  The world exults in Mahmud's spotless fame.\n  In festive hours Heaven smiles upon his truth;\n  In combat deadly as the dragon's tooth;\n  Bounteous in all things, his exhaustless hand\n  Diffuses blessings through the grateful land;\n  And, of the noblest thoughts and actions, lord;\n  The soul of Gabriel breathes in every word,\n  May Heaven with added glory crown his days;\n  Praise, praise to mighty Mahmud--everlasting praise!\n\n\n\nFIRDUSI'S SATIRE ON MAHMUD\n\n  Know, tyrant as thou art, this earthly state\n  Is not eternal, but of transient date;\n  Fear God, then, and afflict not human-kind;\n  To merit Heaven, be thou to Heaven resigned.\n  Afflict not even the Ant; though weak and small,\n  It breathes and lives, and life is sweet to all.\n  Knowing my temper, firm, and stern, and bold,\n  Didst thou not, tyrant, tremble to behold\n  My sword blood-dropping? Hadst thou not the sense\n  To shrink from giving man like me offence?\n  What could impel thee to an act so base?\n  What, but to earn and prove thy own disgrace?\n  Why was I sentenced to be trod upon,\n  And crushed to death by elephants? By one\n  Whose power I scorn! Couldst thou presume that I\n  Would be appalled by thee, whom I defy?\n  I am the lion, I, inured to blood,\n  And make the impious and the base my food;\n  And I could grind thy limbs, and spread them far\n  As Nile's dark waters their rich treasures bear.\n  Fear thee! I fear not man, but God alone,\n  I only bow to his Almighty throne.\n  Inspired by Him my ready numbers flow;\n  Guarded by Him I dread no earthly foe.\n  Thus in the pride of song I pass my days,\n  Offering to Heaven my gratitude and praise.\n\n  From every trace of sense and feeling free,\n  When thou art dead, what will become of thee?\n  If thou shouldst tear me limb from limb, and cast\n  My dust and ashes to the angry blast,\n  Firdusi still would live, since on thy name,\n  Mahmud, I did not rest my hopes of fame\n  In the bright page of my heroic song,\n  But on the God of Heaven, to whom belong\n  Boundless thanksgivings, and on Him whose love\n  Supports the Faithful in the realms above,\n  The mighty Prophet! none who e'er reposed\n  On Him, existence without hope has closed.\n\n  And thou wouldst hurl me underneath the tread\n  Of the wild elephant, till I were dead!\n  Dead! by that insult roused, I should become\n  An elephant in power, and seal thy doom--\n  Mahmud! if fear of man hath never awed\n  Thy heart, at least fear thy Creator, God.\n  Full many a warrior of illustrious worth,\n  Full many of humble, of imperial birth:\n  T\u00far, S\u00edlim, Jemsh\u00edd, Min\u00fachihr the brave,\n  Have died; for nothing had the power to save\n  These mighty monarchs from the common doom;\n  They died, but blest in memory still they bloom.\n  Thus kings too perish--none on earth remain,\n  Since all things human seek the dust again.\n\n  O, had thy father graced a kingly throne,\n  Thy mother been for royal virtues known,\n  A different fate the poet then had shared,\n  Honors and wealth had been his just reward;\n  But how remote from thee a glorious line!\n  No high, ennobling ancestry is thine;\n  From a vile stock thy bold career began,\n  A Blacksmith was thy sire of Isfah\u00e1n.\n  Alas! from vice can goodness ever spring?\n  Is mercy hoped for in a tyrant king?\n  Can water wash the Ethiopian white?\n  Can we remove the darkness from the night?\n  The tree to which a bitter fruit is given,\n  Would still be bitter in the bowers of Heaven;\n  And a bad heart keeps on its vicious course;\n  Or if it changes, changes for the worse;\n  Whilst streams of milk, where Eden's flowrets blow,\n  Acquire more honied sweetness as they flow.\n  The reckless king who grinds the poor like thee,\n  Must ever be consigned to infamy!\n\n  Now mark Firdusi's strain, his Book of Kings\n  Will ever soar upon triumphant wings.\n  All who have listened to its various lore\n  Rejoice, the wise grow wiser than before;\n  Heroes of other times, of ancient days,\n  Forever flourish in my sounding lays;\n  Have I not sung of K\u00e1\u00fas, T\u00fas, and G\u00edw;\n  Of matchless Rustem, faithful, still, and true.\n  Of the great Demon-binder, who could throw\n  His kamund to the Heavens, and seize his foe!\n  Of H\u00fasheng, Ferid\u00fan, and S\u00e1m Suw\u00e1r,\n  Lohur\u00e1sp, Kai-khosr\u00e1u, and Isfendiy\u00e1r;\n  Gusht\u00e1sp, Arj\u00e1sp, and him of mighty name,\n  G\u00fadarz, with eighty sons of martial fame!\n\n  The toil of thirty years is now complete,\n  Record sublime of many a warlike feat,\n  Written midst toil and trouble, but the strain\n  Awakens every heart, and will remain\n  A lasting stimulus to glorious deeds;\n  For even the bashful maid, who kindling reads,\n  Becomes a warrior. Thirty years of care,\n  Urged on by royal promise, did I bear,\n  And now, deceived and scorned, the aged bard\n  Is basely cheated of his pledged reward!\n\n\n\n[FOOTNOTES to the SH\u00c1H N\u00c1MEH]\n\n[Footnote 1: Love at first sight, and of the most enthusiastic kind, is\nthe passion described in all Persian poems, as if a whole life of love\nwere condensed into one moment. It is all wild and rapturous. It has\nnothing of a rational cast. A casual glance from an unknown beauty often\naffords the subject of a poem. The poets whom Dr. Johnson has\ndenominated metaphysical, such as Donne, Jonson, and Cowley, bear a\nstrong resemblance to the Persians on the subject of love.\n\n  Now, sure, within this twelvemonth past,\n  I've loved at least some twenty years or more;\n  Th' account of love runs much more fast,\n  Than that with which our life does score:\n  So, though my life be short, yet I may prove,\n      The Great Methusalem of love!!!\n                  \"Love and Life.\"--Cowley.\n\nThe odes of H\u00e1fiz also, with all their spirit and richness of\nexpression, abound in conceit and extravagant metaphor. There is,\nhowever, something very beautiful in the passage which may be\nparaphrased thus:\n\n  Zephyr thro' thy locks is straying,\n  Stealing fragrance, charms displaying;\n  Should it pass where H\u00e1fiz lies,\n  From his conscious dust would rise,\n  Flowrets of a thousand dyes!]\n\n[Footnote 2: Ancient Scythia embraced the whole of T\u00far\u00e1n and the\nnorthern part of Persia. The T\u00far\u00e1nians are the Scythians of the Greek\nHistorians, who are said, about the year B.C. 639, to have invaded the\nkingdom of the Medes.\n\nT\u00far\u00e1n, which is the ancient name of the country of Turkist\u00e1n, appears\nfrom Des Guignes, to be the source and fountain of all the celebrated\nScythian nations, which, under the name of Goths and Vandals,\nsubsequently overran the Roman empire. Ir\u00e1n and T\u00far\u00e1n, according to the\nOriental historians, comprehended all that is comprised in upper Asia,\nwith the exception of India and China. Every country beyond the pale of\nthe Persian empire was considered barbarous. The great river called by\nthe Arabs and Persians, Jih\u00fan or Am\u00fa, and by the Greeks and Romans,\nOxus, divided these two great countries from each other.]\n\n[Footnote 3: S\u00e1m, S\u00e1m Suw\u00e1r, was the son of Nar\u00edm\u00e1n. He is said to have\nvanquished or tamed a great number of animals and terrible monsters,\namongst which was one remarkable for its ferocity. This furious animal\nwas called Soh\u00e1m, on account of its being of the color and nature of\nfire. According to fabulous history, he made it his war-horse, in all\nhis engagements against the Demons.]\n\n[Footnote 4: The sex of this fabulous animal is not clearly made out! It\ntells Z\u00e1l that it had nursed him like a _father_, and therefore I have,\nin this place, adopted the masculine gender, though the preserver of\nyoung ones might authorize its being considered a female. The S\u00edm\u00fargh is\nprobably neither one nor the other, or both! Some have likened the\nS\u00edm\u00fargh to the Ippogrif or Griffin; but the S\u00edm\u00fargh is plainly a biped;\nothers again have supposed that the fable simply meant a holy recluse of\nthe mountains, who nourished and educated the poor child which had been\nabandoned by its father.]\n\n[Footnote 5: This custom is derived from the earliest ages of Persia,\nand has been continued down to the present times with no abatement of\nits pomp or splendor Mr. Morier thus speaks of the progress of the\nEmbassy to Persia:--\n\n  \"An Istakb\u00e1l composed of fifty horsemen of our Mehmandar's tribe,\n  met us about three miles from our encampment; they were succeeded as\n  we advanced by an assemblage on foot, who threw a glass vessel\n  filled with sweetmeats beneath the Envoy's horse, a ceremony which\n  we had before witnessed at Kauzeroon, and which we again understood\n  to be an honor shared with the King and his sons alone. Then came\n  two of the principal merchants of Shiraz, accompanied by a boy, the\n  son of Mahomed Nebee Khan, the new Governor of Bushere. They,\n  however, incurred the Envoy's displeasure by not dismounting from\n  their horses, a form always observed in Persia by those of lower\n  rank, when they met a superior. We were thus met by three Istakb\u00e1ls\n  during the course of the day.\"]\n\n[Footnote 6: The province of M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n, of which the principal city is\nAmol, comprehends the whole of the southern coast of the Caspian sea. It\nwas known to the ancients by the name of Hyrcania. At the period to\nwhich the text refers, the country was in the possession of demons.]\n\n[Footnote 7: The fort called Killah Suffeed, lies about seventy-six\nmiles northwest of the city of Shiraz. It is of an oblong form, and\nencloses a level space at the top of the mountain, which is covered with\ndelightful verdure, and watered by numerous springs. The ascent is near\nthree miles, and for the last five or six hundred yards, the summit is\nso difficult of approach, that the slightest opposition, if well\ndirected, must render it impregnable.]\n\n[Footnote 8: The numerical strength of the Persian and T\u00far\u00e1nian forces\nappears prodigious on all occasions, but nothing when compared with the\narmy under Xerxes at Thermopylae, which, with the numerous retinue of\nservants, eunuchs, and women that attended it, is said to have amounted\nto no less than 5,283,220 souls.]\n\n[Footnote 9: Herodotus speaks of a people confederated with the army of\nXerxes, who employed the noose. \"Their principal dependence in action is\nupon cords made of twisted leather, which they use in this manner: when\nthey engage an enemy, they throw out these cords, having a noose at the\nextremity; if they entangle in them either horse or man, they without\ndifficulty put them to death.\"--Beloe's transl. Polymnia, Sec. 85.]\n\n[Footnote 10: Istakhar, also called Persepolis, and Chehel-minar, or the\nForty Pillars. This city was said to have been laid in ruins by\nAlexander after the conquest of Darius.]\n\n[Footnote 11: Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas, the second King of Persia of the dynasty called\nKai\u00e1nides. He succeeded Kai-kob\u00e1d, about six hundred years B.C.\nAccording to Firdusi he was a foolish tyrannical prince. He appointed\nRustem captain-general of the armies, to which the lieutenant-generalship\nand the administration of the state was annexed, under the title of \"the\nchampion of the world.\" He also gave him a taj, or crown of gold, which\nkings only were accustomed to wear, and granted him the privilege of\ngiving audience seated on a throne of gold. It is said that Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas\napplied himself much to the study of astronomy, and that he founded two\ngreat observatories, the one at Babel, and the other on the Tigris.]\n\n[Footnote 12: The armor called Burgustuw\u00e1n almost covered the horse, and\nas usually made of leather and felt-cloth.]\n\n[Footnote 13: In this hunting excursion he is completely armed, being\nsupplied with spear, sword, shield, mace, bow and arrows. Like the\nknight-errants of after times, he seldom even slept unarmed. Single\ncombat and the romantic enterprises of European Chivalry may indeed be\ntraced to the East. Rustem was a most illustrious example of all that is\npious, disinterested, and heroic. The adventure now describing is highly\ncharacteristic of a chivalrous age. In the Dissertation prefixed to\nRichardson's Dictionary, mention is made of a famous Arabian\nKnight-errant called Abu Mahommud Albatal, \"who wandered everywhere in\nquest of adventures, and redressing grievances. He was killed in the\nyear 738.\"]\n\n[Footnote 14: As a proof of her innocence Tahm\u00edneh declares to Rustem,\n\"No person has ever seen me out of my private chamber, or even heard the\nsound of my voice.\" It is but just to remark, that the seclusion in\nwhich women of rank continue in Persia, and other parts of the East, is\nnot, by them, considered intolerable, or even a hardship. Custom has not\nonly rendered it familiar, but happy. It has nothing of the unprofitable\nseverity of the cloister. The Zenanas are supplied with everything that\ncan please and gratify a reasonable wish, and it is well known that the\nwomen of the East have influence and power, more flattering and solid,\nthan the free unsecluded beauties of the Western world.]\n\n[Footnote 15: In Percy's Collection, there is an old song which contains\na similar idea.\n\n  You meaner beauties of the night,\n   That poorly satisfie our eies,\n  More by your number, than your light;\n   You common people of the skies,\n   What are you when the Moon shall rise?\n\n     SIR HENRY WOTTON.]\n\n[Footnote 16: Kus is a tymbal, or large brass drum, which is beat in the\npalaces or camps of Eastern Princes.]\n\n[Footnote 17: It appears throughout the Sh\u00e1h N\u00e1meh that whenever any\narmy was put in motion, the inhabitants and the country, whether hostile\nor friendly, were equally given up to plunder and devastation, and\n\"Everything in their progress was burnt and destroyed.\"]\n\n[Footnote 18: Literally, H\u00fam\u00e1n was not at first aware that Sohr\u00e1b was\nwounded in the LIVER. In this organ, Oriental as well as the Greek and\nRoman poets, place the residence of love.]\n\n[Footnote 19: The paper upon which the letters of royal and\ndistinguished personages in the East are written is usually perfumed,\nand covered with curious devices in gold. This was scented with amber.\nThe degree of embellishment is generally regulated according to the rank\nof the party.]\n\n[Footnote 20: Four days were consumed in uninterrupted feasting. This\nseems to have been an ancient practice previous to the commencement of\nany important undertaking, or at setting out on a journey.]\n\n[Footnote 21: Z\u00fa\u00e1ra, it will be remembered, was the brother of Rustem,\nand had the immediate superintendence of the Z\u00e1bul troops.]\n\n[Footnote 22: The original is, \"Seize and inflict upon him the\npunishment of the dar.\" According to Burh\u00e1ni-katia, dar is a tree upon\nwhich felons are hanged. But the general acceptation of the term is\nbreaking or tearing the body upon a stake.]\n\n[Footnote 23: In this speech Rustem recounts the services which he had\nperformed for K\u00e1\u00fas. He speaks of his conquests in Egypt, China,\nH\u00e1m\u00e1ver\u00e1n, R\u00fam, S\u00fak-sar, and M\u00e1zinder\u00e1n. Thus Achilles boasts of his\nunrequited achievements in the cause of Greece.\n\n  The warriors now, with sad forebodings wrung,\n  I sacked twelve ample cities on the main,\n  And twelve lay smoking on the Trojan plain.\n\n     POPE.--Iliad ix. 328.]\n\n[Footnote 24: Literally, \"Kings ought to be endowed with judgment and\ndiscretion; no advantage can arise from impetuosity and rage.\" G\u00fadarz\nwas one of the greatest generals of Persia, he conquered Judea, and took\nJerusalem under the reign of Lohur\u00e1sp, of the first dynasty of Persia,\nand sustained many wars against Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b under the Kings of the second\ndynasty. He was the father of G\u00edw, who is also celebrated for his valor\nin the following reigns. The opinion of this venerable and distinguished\nwarrior appears to have had considerable weight and influence with\nK\u00e1\u00fas.]\n\n[Footnote 25: K\u00e1\u00fas, in acknowledging the violence Of his disposition,\nuses a singular phrase: \"When you departed in anger, Champion! I\nrepented; ashes fell into my mouth.\" A similar metaphor is used in\nHind\u00fastan\u00ed: If a person falls under the displeasure of his friend, he\nsays, \"Ashes have fallen into my meat\": meaning, that his happiness is\ngone.]\n\n[Footnote 26: This is one of Firdusi's favorite similes.\n\n  \"My heart became as slender as the new moon.\"]\n\n[Footnote 27: The beautiful arbors referred to in the text are often\nincluded within the walls of Eastern palaces. They are fancifully fitted\nup, and supplied with reservoirs, fountains, and flower-trees. These\nromantic garden-pavilions are called Kiosks in Turkey, and are generally\nsituated upon an eminence near a running stream.]\n\n[Footnote 28: Milton alludes to this custom in Paradise Lost:\n\n  Where the gorgeous east with richest hand\n  Showers on her Kings barbaric pearl and gold.\n\nIn the note on this passage by Warburton, it is said to have been an\neastern ceremony, at the coronation of their Kings, to powder them with\ngold-dust and seed-pearl. The expression in Firdusi is, \"he showered or\nscattered gems.\" It was usual at festivals, and the custom still exists,\nto throw money amongst the people. In H\u00e1fiz, the term used is nisar,\nwhich is of the same import. Clarke, in the second volume of his\nTravels, speaks of the four principal Sultanas of the Seraglio at\nConstantinople being powdered with diamonds:\n\n  \"Long spangled robes, open in front, with pantaloons embroidered in\n  gold and silver, and covered by a profusion of pearls and precious\n  stones, displayed their persons to great advantage. Their hair hung in\n  loose and very thick tresses on each side of their cheeks, falling\n  quite down to the waist, and covering their shoulders behind. Those\n  tresses were quite powdered with diamonds, not displayed according to\n  any studied arrangement, but as if carelessly scattered, by handfuls,\n  among their flowing locks.\"\n\n--Vol. ii. p. 14.]\n\n[Footnote 29: In his descriptions of battle-array, Firdusi seldom omits\n\"golden slippers,\" which, however, I have not preserved in this place.]\n\n[Footnote 30: The original is Sandur[=u]s, sandaraca; for which I have\nsubstituted amber, Sandur[=u]s is the Arabic name for Gum Juniper.]\n\n[Footnote 31: The banners were adorned with the figure of an elephant,\nto denote his royal descent.]\n\n[Footnote 32: The text says that he was also the son-in-law of Rustem.]\n\n[Footnote 33: The word Gur\u00e1z signifies a wild boar, but this acceptation\nis not very accordant to Mussulman notions, and consequently it is not\nsupposed, by the orthodox, to have that meaning in the text. It is\ncurious that the name of the warrior, Gur\u00e1z, should correspond with the\nbearings on the standard. This frequently obtains in the heraldry of\nEurope. Family bearings seem to be used in every country of any degree\nof civilization. Krusenstern, the Russian circumnavigator, speaking of\nthe Japanese, says, \"Everyone has his family arms worked into his\nclothes, in different places, about the size of a half dollar, a\npractice usual to both sexes; and in this manner any person may be\nrecognized, and the family to which he belongs easily ascertained. A\nyoung lady wears her father's arms until after her marriage, when she\nassumes those of her husband. The greatest mark of honor which a Prince\nor a Governor can confer upon any one, is to give him a cloak with his\narms upon it, the person having such a one wearing his own arms upon his\nunder dress.\"]\n\n[Footnote 34: Firdusi considers this to be destiny! It would have been\nnatural in Sohr\u00e1b to have gloried in the fame of his father, but from an\ninevitable dispensation, his lips are here sealed on that subject; and\nhe inquires of Rustem as if he only wanted to single him out for the\npurpose of destroying him. The people of Persia are all fatalists.]\n\n[Footnote 35: This passage will remind the classical reader of the\nspeech of Themistocles, in Plutarch, addressed to Xerxes. The Persian\nKing had assured him of his protection, and ordered him to declare\nfreely whatever he had to propose concerning Greece. Themistocles\nreplied, that a man's discourse was like a piece of tapestry which, when\nspread open, displays its figures; but when it is folded up, they are\nhidden and lost; therefore he begged time. The King, delighted with the\ncomparison, bade him take what time he pleased; and he desired a year;\nin which space he learned the Persian language, so as to be able to\nconverse with the King without an interpreter.]\n\n[Footnote 36: Huj\u00edr was the son of G\u00fadarz. A family of the extent\nmentioned in the text is not of rare occurrence amongst the Princes of\nthe East. The King of Persia had, in 1809, according to Mr. Morier,\n\"sixty-five sons!\" As the Persians make no account of females, it is not\nknown how many daughters he had.]\n\n[Footnote 37: The Kulub-gah is the centre or heart of the army, where\nthe Sovereign or Chief of the troops usually remains.]\n\n[Footnote 38: Ahirmun, a demon, the principle of evil.]\n\n[Footnote 39: This girdle was the gift of the king, as a token of\naffection and gratitude. Jonathan gives to David, among other things,\nhis girdle: \"Because he loved him as his own soul.\"--I Samuel, xviii. 3.\n4.]\n\n[Footnote 40: A crocodile in war, with Firdusi, is a figure of great\npower and strength.]\n\n[Footnote 41: It is difficult to account for this denial of his name, as\nthere appears to be no equivalent cause. But all the famous heroes,\ndescribed in the Sh\u00e1h N\u00e1meh, are as much distinguished for their address\nand cunning, as their bravery.]\n\n[Footnote 42: The original is Um[=u]d, which appears to have been a\nweapon made of iron. Um[=u]d also signifies a column, a beam.]\n\n[Footnote 43: Thus also Sa'di \"Knowest thou What Z\u00e1l said to Rustem the\nChampion? Never calculate upon the weakness or insignificance of an\nenemy.\"]\n\n[Footnote 44: Rustem is as much distinguished for piety as bravery.\nEvery success is attributed by him to the favor of Heaven. In the\nachievement of his labors in the Heft-Khan, his devotion is constant and\nhe everywhere justly acknowledges that power and victory are derived\nfrom God alone.]\n\n[Footnote 45: The expression in the original is remarkable. \"Assuredly,\nas thou hast thirsted for blood, Destiny will also thirst for thine, and\nthe very hairs upon thy body will become daggers to destroy thee.\" This\npassage is quoted in the preface to the Sh\u00e1h N\u00e1meh, collated by order of\nBayisunghur Khan, as the production of the poet Unsar\u00ed. Unsar\u00ed was one\nof the seven poets whom Mahmud appointed to give specimens of their\npowers in versifying the History of the Kings of Persia. The story of\nRustem and Sohr\u00e1b fell to Unsar\u00ed, and his arrangement of it contained\nthe above verses, which so delighted the Sultan that he directed the\npoet to undertake the whole work. This occurred before Firdusi was\nintroduced at Court and eclipsed every competitor. In compliment to\nMahmud, perhaps he ingrafted them on his own poem, or more probably they\nhave been interpolated since.]\n\n[Footnote 46: Jemsh\u00edd's glory and misfortunes, as said before, are the\nconstant theme of admiration and reflection amongst the poets of\nPersia.]\n\n[Footnote 47: These medicated draughts are often mentioned in Romances.\nThe reader will recollect the banter upon them in Don Quixote, where the\nKnight of La enumerates to Sancho the cures which had been performed\nupon many valorous champions, covered with wounds. The Hind\u00fas, in their\nbooks on medicine, talk of drugs for the recovery of the dead!]\n\n[Footnote 48: Z\u00fa\u00e1ra conducted the troops of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b across the Jih\u00fan.\nRustem remained on the field of battle till his return.]\n\n[Footnote 49: Man\u00edjeh was the daughter of Afr\u00e1siy\u00e1b.]\n\n[Footnote 50: Theocritus introduces a Greek singing-girl in Idyllium xv,\nat the festival of Adonis. In the Arabian Nights, the Caliph is\nrepresented at his feasts surrounded by troops of the most beautiful\nfemales playing on various instruments.]\n\n[Footnote 51: Kash\u00e1n is here made to be the deathplace of Alexander,\nwhilst, according to the Greek historians, he died suddenly at Babylon,\nas foretold by the magicians, on the 21st of April, B.C. 323, in the\nthirty-second year of his age.]\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE RUB\u00c1IY\u00c1T OF OMAR KHAYY\u00c1M\n\n[_Translation by Edward Fitzgerald_]\n\n\n\nIntroduction\n\nIt is seldom that we come across a poem which it is impossible to\nclassify in accordance with European standards. Yet such a poem is\nOmar's \"Rub\u00e1iy\u00e1t.\" If elegiac poetry is the expression of subjective\nemotion, sentiment, and thought, we might class this Persian masterpiece\nas elegy; but an elegy is a sustained train of connected imagery and\nreflection. The \"Rub\u00e1iy\u00e1t\" is, on the other hand, a string of quatrains,\neach of which has all the complete and independent significance of an\nepigram. Yet there is so little of that lightness which should\ncharacterize an epigram that we can scarcely put Omar in the same\ncategory with Martial, and it is easy to understand why the author\nshould have been contented to name his book the \"Rub\u00e1iy\u00e1t,\" or\nQuatrains, leaving it to each individual to make, if he chooses, a more\ndefinite description of the work. To English readers, Mr. Edward\nFitzgerald's version of the poem has provided one of the most masterly\ntranslations that was ever made from an Oriental classic. For Omar, like\nH\u00e1fiz, is one of the most Persian of Persian writers. There is in this\nvolume all the gorgeousness of the East: all the luxury of the most\nrefined civilization. Omar's bowers are always full of roses; the notes\nof the nightingale tremble through his stanzas. The intoxication of wine\nand the bright eyes of lovely women are ever present to his mind. The\nfeast, the revel, the joys of love, and the calm satisfaction of\nappetite make up the grosser elements in his song. But the prevailing\nnote of his music is that of deep and settled melancholy, breaking out\noccasionally into words of misanthropy and despair. The keenness and\nintensity of this poet's style seem to be inspired by an ever-present\nfear of death. This sense of approaching Fate is never absent from him,\neven in his most genial moments; and the strange fascination which he\nexercises over his readers is largely due to the thrilling sweetness of\nsome passage which ends in a note of dejection and anguish.\n\nStrange to say, Omar was the greatest mathematician of his day. The\nexactness of his fine and analytic mind is reflected in the exquisite\nfinish, the subtile wit, the delicate descriptive touches, that abound\nin his Quatrains. His verses hang together like gems of the purest water\nexquisitely cut and clasped by \"jacinth work of subtlest jewelry.\" But\napart from their masterly technique, these Quatrains exhibit in their\ngeneral tone the revolt of a clear intellect from the prevailing bigotry\nand fanaticism of an established religion. There is in the poet's mind\nthe lofty indignation of one who sees, in its true light, the narrowness\nof an ignorant and hypocritical clergy, yet can find no solid ground on\nwhich to build up for himself a theory of supernaturalism, illumined by\nhope. Yet there are traces of Mysticism in his writings, which only\nserve to emphasize his profound longing for some knowledge of the\ninvisible, and his foreboding that the grave is the \"be-all\" and\n\"end-all\" of life. The poet speaks in tones of bitterest lamentation\nwhen he sees succumb to Fate all that is bright and fresh and beautiful.\nAt his brightest moments he gives expression to a vague pantheism, but\nall his views of the power that lies behind life are obscured and\nperturbed by sceptical despondency. He is the great man of science, who,\nlike other men of genius too deeply immersed in the study of natural law\nor abstract reasoning, has lost all touch with that great world of\nspiritual things which we speak of as religion, and which we can only\ncome in contact with through those instinctive emotions which scientific\nanalysis very often does so much to stifle. There are many men of\nscience who, like Darwin, have come, through the study of material\nphenomena in nature, to a condition of mind which is indifferent in\nmatters of religion. But the remarkable feature in the case of Omar is\nthat he, who could see so clearly and feel so acutely, has been enabled\nalso to embody in a poem of imperishable beauty the opinions which he\nshared with many of his contemporaries. The range of his mind can only\nbe measured by supposing that Sir Isaac Newton had written Manfred or\nChilde Harold. But even more remarkable is what we may call the\nmodernity of this twelfth century Persian poet. We sometimes hear it\nsaid that great periods of civilization end in a manifestation of\ninfidelity and despair. There can be no doubt that a great deal of\nrestlessness and misgiving characterizes the minds of to-day in regard\nto all questions of religion. Europe, in the nineteenth century,\nas reflected in the works of Byron, Spencer, Darwin, and Schopenhauer,\nis very much in the same condition as intellectual Persia in the twelfth\ncentury, so far as the pessimism of Omar is representative of his day.\nThis accounts for the wide popularity of Fitzgerald's \"Rub\u00e1iy\u00e1t.\" The\nbook has been read eagerly and fondly studied, as if it were a new book\nof _fin du si\u00e8cle_ production: the last efflorescence of intellectual\nsatiety, cynicism, and despair. Yet the book is eight centuries old, and\nit has been the task of this seer of the East to reveal to the West the\nheart-sickness under which the nations were suffering.\n\nOmar Khayy\u00e1m--that is, Omar the tent-maker--was born in the year 1050 at\nN\u00edshap\u00far, the little Damascus (as it is called) of Persia: famous as a\nseat of learning, as a place of religion, and a centre of commerce. In\nthe days of Omar it was by far the most important city of Khorasan. The\npoet, like his father before him, held a court office under the Vizir of\nhis day. It was from the stipend which he thus enjoyed that he secured\nleisure for mathematical and literary work. His father had been a\nkhayy\u00e1m, or tent-maker, and his gifted son doubtless inherited the\nhandicraft as well as the name; but his position at Court released him\nfrom the drudgery of manual labor. He was thus also brought in contact\nwith the luxurious side of life, and became acquainted with those scenes\nof pleasure which he recalls only to add poignancy to the sorrow with\nwhich he contemplates the yesterday of life. Omar's astronomical\nresearches were continued for many years, and his algebra has been\ntranslated into French: but his greatest claim to renown is based upon\nhis immortal Quatrains, which will always live as the best expression of\na phase of mind constantly recurring in the history of civilization,\nfrom the days of Anaxagoras to those of Darwin and Spencer.\n\nE.W.\n\n\n\nOMAR KHAYY\u00c1M\nBy John Hay\n\n_Address delivered December 8, 1897, at the Dinner of the Omar Khayy\u00e1m\nClub, London_.\n\nI can never forget my emotions when I first saw Fitzgerald's\ntranslations of the Quatrains. Keats, in his sublime ode on Chapman's\nHomer, has described the sensation once for all:\n\n  \"Then felt I like some watcher of the skies\n  When a new planet swims into his ken.\"\n\nThe exquisite beauty, the faultless form, the singular grace of those\namazing stanzas were not more wonderful than the depth and breadth of\ntheir profound philosophy, their knowledge of life, their dauntless\ncourage, their serene facing of the ultimate problems of life and death.\nOf course the doubt did not spare me, which has assailed many as\nignorant as I was of the literature of the East, whether it was the poet\nor the translator to whom was due this splendid result. Was it, in fact,\na reproduction of an antique song, or a mystification of a great modern,\ncareless of fame and scornful of his time? Could it be possible that in\nthe eleventh century, so far away as Khorasan, so accomplished a man of\nletters lived, with such distinction, such breadth, such insight, such\ncalm disillusions, such cheerful and jocund despair? Was this\n\"Weltschmerz,\" which we thought a malady of our day, endemic in Persia\nin 1100? My doubt only lasted until I came upon a literal translation of\nthe Rub\u00e1iy\u00e1t, and I saw that not the least remarkable quality of\nFitzgerald's poem was its fidelity to the original.\n\nIn short, Omar was a Fitzgerald, or Fitzgerald was a reincarnation of\nOmar. It was not to the disadvantage of the latter poet that he followed\nso closely in the footsteps of the earlier. A man of extraordinary\ngenius had appeared in the world, had sung a song of incomparable beauty\nand power in an environment no longer worthy of him, in a language of\nnarrow range; for many generations the song was virtually lost; then by\na miracle of creation, a poet, a twin-brother in the spirit to the\nfirst, was born, who took up the forgotten poem and sang it anew with\nall its original melody and force, and all the accumulated refinement of\nages of art. It seems to me idle to ask which was the greater master;\neach seems greater than his work. The song is like an instrument of\nprecious workmanship and marvellous tone, which is worthless in common\nhands, but when it falls, at long intervals, into the hands of the\nsupreme master, it yields a melody of transcendent enchantment to all\nthat have ears to hear. If we look at the sphere of influence of the\npoets, there is no longer any comparison. Omar sang to a half-barbarous\nprovince: Fitzgerald to the world. Wherever the English speech is spoken\nor read, the \"Rub\u00e1iy\u00e1t\" have taken their place as a classic. There is\nnot a hill post in India, nor a village in England, where there is not a\ncoterie to whom Omar Khayy\u00e1m is a familiar friend and a bond of union.\nIn America he has an equal following, in many regions and conditions. In\nthe Eastern States his adepts form an esoteric sect; the beautiful\nvolume of drawings by Mr. Vedder is a centre of delight and suggestion\nwherever it exists. In the cities of the West you will find the\nQuatrains one of the most thoroughly read books in any club library. I\nheard them quoted once in one of the most lonely and desolate spots in\nthe high Rockies. We had been camping on the Great Divide, our \"roof of\nthe world,\" where in the space of a few feet you may see two springs,\none sending its waters to the Polar solitudes, the other to the eternal\nCarib summer. One morning at sunrise, as we were breaking camp, I was\nstartled to hear one of our party, a frontiersman born, intoning these\nwords of sombre majesty:--\n\n  \"Tis but a Tent where takes his one day's rest\n  A Sultan to the realm of Death addrest;\n    The Sultan rises, and the dark Ferrash\n  Strikes, and prepares it for another Guest.\"\n\nI thought that sublime setting of primeval forest and pouring canyon was\nworthy of the lines; I am sure the dewless, crystalline air never\nvibrated to strains of more solemn music. Certainly, our poet can never\nbe numbered among the great writers of all time. He has told no story;\nhe has never unpacked his heart in public; he has never thrown the reins\non the neck of the winged horse, and let his imagination carry him where\nit listed. \"Ah! the crowd must have emphatic warrant,\" as Browning sang.\nIts suffrages are not for the cool, collected observer, whose eyes no\nglitter can dazzle, no mist suffuse. The many cannot but resent that air\nof lofty intelligence, that pale and subtle smile. But he will hold a\nplace forever among that limited number, who, like Lucretius and\nEpicurus--without range or defiance, even without unbecoming mirth, look\ndeep into the tangled mysteries of things; refuse credence to the\nabsurd, and allegiance to arrogant authority; sufficiently conscious of\nfallibility to be tolerant of all opinions; with a faith too wide for\ndoctrine and a benevolence untrammelled by creed; too wise to be wholly\npoets, and yet too surely poets to be implacably wise.\n\n\n\nTHE RUB\u00c1IY\u00c1T\n\n  Wake! For the Sun, who scatter'd into flight\n  The Stars before him from the Field of Night,\n    Drives Night along with them from Heav'n, and strikes\n  The Sultan's Turret with a Shaft of Light.\n\n  Before the phantom of False morning died,\n  Methought a Voice within the Tavern cried,\n    \"When all the Temple is prepared within,\n  Why nods the drowsy Worshipper outside?\"\n\n  And, as the Cock crew, those who stood before\n  The Tavern shouted--\"Open then the Door!\n    You know how little while we have to stay,\n  And, once departed, may return no more.\"\n\n  Now the New Year reviving old Desires,\n  The thoughtful Soul to Solitude retires,\n    Where the White Hand of Moses on the Bough\n  Puts out, and Jesus from the Ground suspires.\n\n  Iram indeed is gone with all his Rose,\n  And Jemsh\u00edd's Sev'n-ring'd Cup where no one knows;\n    But still a Ruby kindles in the Vine,\n  And many a Garden by the Water blows.\n\n  And David's lips are lockt; but in divine\n  High-piping Pehlev\u00ed, with \"Wine! Wine! Wine!\n    Red Wine!\"--the Nightingale cries to the Rose\n  That sallow cheek of hers to incarnadine.\n\n  Come, fill the Cup, and in the fire of Spring\n  Your Winter-garment of Repentance fling:\n    The Bird of Time has but a little way\n  To flutter--and the Bird is on the Wing.\n\n  Whether at N\u00edshap\u00far or Babylon,\n  Whether the Cup with sweet or bitter run,\n    The Wine of Life keeps oozing drop by drop,\n  The Leaves of Life keep falling one by one.\n\n  Each Morn a thousand Roses brings, you say;\n  Yes, but where leaves the Rose of Yesterday?\n    And this first Summer month that brings the Rose\n  Shall take Jemsh\u00edd and Kai-kob\u00e1d away.\n\n  Well, let it take them! What have we to do\n  With Kai-kob\u00e1d the Great, or Kai-khosr\u00e1u?\n    Let Z\u00e1l and Rustem bluster as they will,\n  Or H\u00e1t\u00edm call to Supper--heed not you.\n\n  With me along the strip of Herbage strewn\n  That just divides the desert from the sown,\n    Where name of Slave and Sultan is forgot--\n  And Peace to Mahmud on his golden Throne!\n\n  A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,\n  A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread--and Thou\n    Beside me singing in the Wilderness--\n  Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!\n\n  Some for the Glories of This World; and some\n  Sigh for the Prophet's Paradise to come;\n    Ah, take the Cash, and let the Credit go,\n  Nor heed the rumble of a distant Drum!\n\n  Look to the blowing Rose about us--\"Lo,\n  Laughing,\" she says, \"into the world I blow,\n    At once the silken tassel of my Purse\n  Tear, and its Treasure on the Garden throw.\"\n\n  And those who husbanded the Golden grain,\n  And those who flung it to the winds like Rain,\n    Alike to no such aureate Earth are turn'd\n  As, buried once, Men want dug up again.\n\n  The Worldly Hope men set their Hearts upon\n  Turns Ashes--or it prospers; and anon,\n    Like Snow upon the Desert's dusty Face,\n  Lighting a little hour or two--is gone.\n\n  Think, in this batter'd Caravanserai\n  Whose Portals are alternate Night and Day,\n    How Sultan after Sultan with his Pomp\n  Abode his destined Hour, and went his way.\n\n  They say the Lion and the Lizard keep\n  The Courts where Jemsh\u00edd gloried and drank deep:\n    And B\u00e1hr\u00e1m, that great Hunter--the Wild Ass\n  Stamps o'er his Head, but cannot break his Sleep.\n\n  I sometimes think that never blows so red\n  The Rose as where some buried Caesar bled;\n    That every Hyacinth the Garden wears\n  Dropt in her Lap from some once lovely Head.\n\n  And this reviving Herb whose tender Green\n  Fledges the River-Lip on which we lean--\n    Ah, lean upon it lightly! for who knows\n  From what once lovely Lip it springs unseen!\n\n  Ah, my Belov\u00e9d, fill the Cup that clears\n  To-day of past Regrets and future Fears:\n    _To-morrow!_--Why, To-morrow I may be\n  Myself with Yesterday's Sev'n thousand Years.\n\n  For some we loved, the loveliest and the best\n  That from his Vintage rolling Time hath prest,\n    Have drunk their Cup a Round or two before,\n  And one by one crept silently to rest.\n\n  And we, that now make merry in the Room\n  They left, and Summer dresses in new bloom,\n    Ourselves must we beneath the Couch of Earth\n  Descend--ourselves to make a Couch--for whom?\n\n  Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend,\n  Before we too into the Dust descend;\n    Dust into Dust, and under Dust to lie,\n  Sans Wine, sans Song, sans Singer, and--sans End!\n\n  Alike for those who for TO-DAY prepare,\n  And those that after some TO-MORROW stare,\n    A Muezz\u00edn from the Tower of Darkness cries,\n  \"Fools! your Reward is neither Here nor There.\"\n\n  Why, all the Saints and Sages who discuss'd\n  Of the Two Worlds so wisely--they are thrust\n    Like foolish Prophets forth; their Words to Scorn\n  Are scattered, and their Mouths are stopt with Dust.\n\n  Myself when young did eagerly frequent\n  Doctor and Saint, and heard great argument\n    About it and about: but evermore\n  Came out by the same door where in I went.\n\n  With them the seed of Wisdom did I sow,\n  And with mine own hand wrought to make it grow;\n    And this was all the Harvest that I reap'd--\n  \"I came like Water, and like Wind I go.\"\n\n  Into this Universe, and _Why_ not knowing\n  Nor _Whence_, like Water willy-nilly flowing;\n    And out of it, as Wind along the Waste,\n  I know not _Whither_, willy-nilly blowing.\n\n  What, without asking, hither hurried _Whence_?\n  And, without asking, _Whither_ hurried hence!\n    Oh, many a Cup of this forbidden Wine\n  Must drown the memory of that insolence!\n\n  Up from Earth's Centre through the Seventh Gate\n  I rose, and on the Throne of Saturn sate,\n    And many a Knot unravel'd by the Road;\n  But not the Master-knot of Human Fate.\n\n  There was the Door to which I found no Key;\n  There was the Veil through which I might not see:\n    Some little talk awhile of ME and THEE\n  There was--and then no more of THEE and ME.\n\n  Earth could not answer; nor the Seas that mourn\n  In flowing Purple, of their Lord forlorn;\n    Nor rolling Heaven, with all his Signs reveal'd\n  And hidden by the sleeve of Night and Morn.\n\n  Then of the THEE IN ME who works behind\n  The Veil, I lifted up my hands to find\n    A lamp amid the Darkness; and I heard,\n  As from Without--\"THE ME WITHIN THEE BLIND!\"\n\n  Then to the Lip of this poor earthen Urn\n  I lean'd, the Secret of my Life to learn:\n    And Lip to Lip it murmur'd--\"While you live,\n  Drink!--for, once dead, you never shall return.\"\n\n  I think the Vessel, that with fugitive\n  Articulation answer'd, once did live,\n    And drink; and Ah! the passive Lip I kiss'd,\n  How many Kisses might it take--and give!\n\n  For I remember stopping by the way\n  To watch a Potter thumping his wet Clay:\n    And with its all-obliterated Tongue\n  It murmur'd--\"Gently, Brother, gently, pray!\"\n\n  And has not such a story from of Old\n  Down Man's successive generations roll'd\n    Of such a clod of saturated Earth\n  Cast by the Maker into Human mould?\n\n  And not a drop that from our Cups we throw\n  For Earth to drink of, but may steal below\n    To quench the fire of Anguish in some Eye\n  There hidden--far beneath, and long ago.\n\n  As then the Tulip for her morning sup\n  Of Heav'nly Vintage from the soil looks up,\n    Do you devoutly do the like, till Heav'n\n  To Earth invert you--like an empty Cup.\n\n  Perplext no more with Human or Divine,\n  To-morrow's tangle to the winds resign,\n    And lose your fingers in the tresses of\n  The Cypress-slender Minister of Wine.\n\n  And if the Wine you drink, the Lip you press,\n  End in what All begins and ends in--Yes;\n    Think then you are To-day what Yesterday\n  You were--To-morrow you shall not be less.\n\n  So when that Angel of the darker Drink\n  At last shall find you by the river-brink,\n    And, offering his Cup, invite your Soul\n  Forth to your Lips to quaff--you shall not shrink.\n\n  Why, if the Soul can fling the Dust aside,\n  And naked on the Air of Heaven ride,\n    Were't not a Shame--were't not a Shame for him\n  In this clay carcase crippled to abide?\n\n  'Tis but a Tent where takes his one day's rest\n  A Sultan to the realm of Death addrest;\n    The Sultan rises, and the dark Ferrash\n  Strikes, and prepares it for another Guest\n\n  And fear not lest Existence closing your\n  Account, and mine, should know the like no more;\n    The Eternal S\u00e1k\u00ed from the Bowl has pour'd\n  Millions of Bubbles like us, and will pour.\n\n  When You and I behind the Veil are past,\n  Oh, but the long, long while the World shall last,\n    Which of our Coming and Departure heeds\n  As the Sea's self should heed a pebble-cast.\n\n  A Moment's Halt--a momentary taste\n  Of Being from the Well amid the Waste--\n    And Lo!--the phantom Caravan has reach'd\n  The Nothing it set out from--Oh, make haste!\n\n  Would you that spangle of Existence spend\n  About THE SECRET--quick about it, Friend!\n    A Hair perhaps divides the False and True--\n  And upon what, prithee, may life depend?\n\n  A Hair perhaps divides the False and True;\n  Yes; and a single Alif were the clue--\n    Could you but find it--to the Treasure-house,\n  And peradventure to THE MASTER too;\n\n  Whose secret Presence, through Creation's veins\n  Running Quicksilver-like eludes your pains;\n    Taking all shapes from M\u00e1h to M\u00e1h\u00ed; and\n  They change and perish all--but He remains;\n\n  A moment guess'd--then back behind the Fold\n  Immerst of Darkness round the Drama roll'd\n    Which, for the Pastime of Eternity,\n  He doth Himself contrive, enact, behold.\n\n  But if in vain, down on the stubborn floor\n  Of Earth, and up to Heav'n's unopening Door,\n    You gaze To-day, while You are You--how then\n  To-morrow, when You shall be You no more?\n\n  Waste not your Hour, nor in the vain pursuit\n  Of This and That endeavor and dispute;\n    Better be jocund with the fruitful Grape\n  Than sadden after none, or bitter, Fruit.\n\n  You know, my Friends, with what a brave Carouse\n  I made a Second Marriage in my house;\n    Divorced old barren Reason from my Bed,\n  And took the Daughter of the Vine to Spouse.\n\n  For \"Is\" and \"Is-not\" though with Rule and Line\n  And \"Up-and-down\" by Logic I define,\n    Of all that one should care to fathom, I\n  Was never deep in anything but--Wine.\n\n  Ah, but my Computations, People say,\n  Reduced the Year to better reckoning?--Nay,\n    'Twas only striking from the Calendar\n  Unborn To-morrow, and dead Yesterday.\n\n  And lately, by the Tavern Door agape,\n  Came shining through the Dusk an Angel Shape\n    Bearing a Vessel on his Shoulder; and\n  He bid me taste of it; and 'twas--the Grape!\n\n  The Grape that can with Logic absolute\n  The Two-and-Seventy jarring Sects confute:\n    The Sovereign Alchemist that in a trice\n  Life's leaden metal into Gold transmute:\n\n  The mighty Mahmud, Allah-breathing Lord,\n  That all the misbelieving and black Horde\n    Of Fears and Sorrows that infest the Soul\n  Scatters before him with his whirlwind Sword.\n\n  Why, be this Juice the growth of God, who dare\n  Blaspheme the twisted tendril as a Snare?\n    A Blessing, we should use it, should we not?\n  And if a Curse--why, then, Who set it there?\n\n  I must abjure the Balm of Life, I must,\n  Scared by some After-reckoning ta'en on trust,\n    Or lured with Hope of some Diviner Drink,\n  To fill the Cup--when crumbled into Dust!\n\n  Oh threats of Hell and Hopes of Paradise!\n  One thing at least is certain--This Life flies;\n    One thing is certain and the rest is Lies;\n  The Flower that once has blown forever dies.\n\n  Strange, is it not? that of the myriads who\n  Before us pass'd the door of Darkness through,\n    Not one returns to tell us of the Road,\n  Which to discover we must travel too.\n\n  The Revelations of Devout and Learn'd\n  Who rose before us, and as Prophets burn'd,\n    Are all but Stories, which, awoke from Sleep\n  They told their comrades, and to Sleep return'd.\n\n  I sent my Soul through the Invisible,\n  Some letter of that After-life to spell:\n    And by and by my Soul return'd to me,\n  And answered, \"I Myself am Heav'n and Hell:\"\n\n  Heav'n but the Vision of fulfill'd Desire,\n  And Hell the Shadow from a Soul on fire,\n    Cast on the Darkness into which Ourselves,\n  So late emerged from, shall so soon expire.\n\n  We are no other than a moving row\n  Of Magic Shadow-shapes that come and go\n    Round with the Sun-illumined Lantern held\n  In Midnight by the Master of the Show;\n\n  But helpless Pieces of the Game He plays\n  Upon this Checker-board of Nights and Days;\n    Hither and thither moves, and checks, and slays,\n  And one by one back in the Closet lays.\n\n  The Ball no question makes of Ayes and Noes,\n  But Here or There as strikes the Player goes;\n    And He that toss'd you down into the Field,\n  _He_ knows about it all--HE knows--HE knows!\n\n  The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,\n  Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit\n    Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,\n  Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.\n\n  And that inverted Bowl they call the Sky,\n  Whereunder crawling coop'd we live and die,\n    Lift not your hands to _It_ for help--for It\n  As impotently moves as you or I.\n\n  With Earth's first Clay They did the Last Man knead,\n  And there of the Last Harvest sow'd the Seed:\n    And the first Morning of Creation wrote\n  What the Last Dawn of Reckoning shall read.\n\n  Yesterday This Day's Madness did prepare;\n  To-morrow's Silence, Triumph, or Despair:\n    Drink! for you know not whence you came, nor why:\n  Drink! for you know not why you go, nor where.\n\n  I tell you this--When, started from the Goal,\n  Over the flaming shoulders of the Foal\n    Of Heav'n Parw\u00edn and Mushtar\u00ed they flung,\n  In my predestined Plot of Dust and Soul\n\n  The Vine had struck a fibre: which about\n  If clings my Being--let the Dervish flout;\n    Of my Base metal may be filed a Key,\n  That shall unlock the Door he howls without.\n\n  And this I know: whether the one True Light\n  Kindle to Love, or Wrath-consume me quite,\n    One Flash of It within the Tavern caught\n  Better than in the Temple lost outright.\n\n  What! out of senseless Nothing to provoke\n  A conscious Something to resent the yoke\n    Of unpermitted Pleasure, under pain\n  Of Everlasting Penalties, if broke!\n\n  What! from his helpless Creature be repaid\n  Pure Gold for what he lent him dross-allay'd--\n    Sue for a Debt he never did contract,\n  And cannot answer--Oh the sorry trade!\n\n  Oh Thou, who didst with pitfall and with gin\n  Beset the Road I was to wander in,\n    Thou wilt not with Predestined Evil round\n  Enmesh, and then impute my Fall to Sin!\n\n  O Thou, who Man of baser Earth didst make,\n  And ev'n with Paradise devise the Snake:\n    For all the Sin wherewith the Face of Man\n  Is blacken'd--Man's forgiveness give--and take!\n\n  As under cover of departing Day\n  Slunk hunger-stricken Ramaz\u00e1n away,\n    Once more within the Potter's house alone\n  I stood, surrounded by the Shapes of Clay.\n\n  Shapes of all Sorts and Sizes, great and small,\n  That stood along the floor and by the wall;\n    And some loquacious Vessels were; and some\n  Listen'd perhaps, but never talk'd at all.\n\n  Said one among them--\"Surely not in vain\n  My substance of the common Earth was ta'en\n    And to this Figure moulded, to be broke,\n  Or trampled back to shapeless Earth again.\"\n\n  Then said a Second--\"Ne'er a peevish Boy\n  Would break the Bowl from which he drank in joy;\n    And He that with his hand the Vessel made\n  Will surely not in after Wrath destroy.\"\n\n  After a momentary silence spake\n  Some Vessel of a more ungainly Make;\n    \"They sneer at me for leaning all awry:\n  What! did the Hand then of the Potter shake?\"\n\n  Whereat some one of the loquacious Lot--\n  I think a S\u00fafi pipkin--waxing hot--\n    \"All this of Pot and Potter--Tell me, then,\n  Who is the Potter, pray, and who the Pot?\"\n\n  \"Why,\" said another, \"some there are who tell\n  Of one who threatens he will toss to Hell\n    The luckless Pots he marr'd in making--Pish!\n  He's a Good Fellow, and 't will all be well.\"\n\n  \"Well,\" murmur'd one, \"let whoso make or buy,\n  My Clay with long Oblivion is gone dry:\n    But fill me with the old familiar Juice,\n  Methinks I might recover by and by.\"\n\n  So while the Vessels one by one were speaking,\n  The little Moon look'd in that all were seeking:\n    And then they jogg'd each other, \"Brother! Brother!\n  Now for the Potter's shoulder-knot a-creaking!\"\n\n  Ah, with the Grape my fading Life provide,\n  And wash the Body whence the Life has died,\n    And lay me, shrouded in the living Leaf,\n  By some not unfrequented Garden-side.\n\n  That ev'n my buried Ashes such a snare\n  Of Vintage shall fling up into the Air\n    As not a True-believer passing by\n  But shall be overtaken unaware.\n\n  Indeed the Idols I have loved so long\n  Have done my credit in this World much wrong:\n    Have drown'd my Glory in a shallow Cup,\n  And sold my Reputation for a Song.\n\n  Indeed, indeed, Repentance oft before\n  I swore--but was I sober when I swore?\n    And then and then came Spring, and Rose-in-hand\n  My threadbare Penitence apieces tore.\n\n  And much as Wine has play'd the Infidel,\n  And robb'd me of my Robe of Honor--Well,\n    I wonder often what the Vintners buy\n  One half so precious as the stuff they sell.\n\n  Yet ah, that Spring should vanish with the Rose!\n  That Youth's sweet-scented manuscript should close!\n    The Nightingale that in the branches sang,\n  Ah whence, and whither flown again, who knows!\n\n  Would but the Desert of the Fountain yield\n  One glimpse--if dimly, yet indeed, reveal'd,\n    To which the fainting Traveller might spring,\n  As springs the trampled herbage of the field!\n\n  Would but some wing\u00e8d Angel ere too late\n  Arrest the yet unfolded Roll of Fate,\n    And make the stern Recorder otherwise\n  Enregister, or quite obliterate!\n\n  Ah, Love! could you and I with Him conspire\n  To grasp this sorry Scheme of Things entire,\n    Would not we shatter it to bits--and then\n  Re-mould it nearer to the Heart's Desire!\n\n  Yon rising Moon that looks for us again--\n  How oft hereafter will she wax and wane;\n    How oft hereafter rising look for us\n  Through this same Garden--and for _one_ in vain!\n\n  And when like her, oh S\u00e1k\u00ed, you shall pass\n  Among the Guests Star-scatter'd on the Grass,\n    And in your joyous errand reach the spot\n  Where I made One--turn down an empty Glass!\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE DIVAN\n\nBY H\u00c1FIZ\n\n[_Translation by H. Bicknell_]\n\n\n\nNOTE\n\nThe reader will be struck with the apparent want of unity in many of the\nOdes. The Orientals compare each couplet to a single pearl and the\nentire \"Ghazal,\" or Ode, to a string of pearls. It is the rhyme, not\nnecessarily the sense, which links them together. Hence the single\npearls or couplets may often be arranged in various orders without\ninjury to the general effect; and it would probably be impossible to\nfind two manuscripts either containing the same number of Odes, or\nhaving the same couplets following each other in the same order.\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\nWe are told in the Persian histories that when Tamerlane, on his\nvictorious progress through the East, had reached Shiraz, he halted\nbefore the gates of the city and sent two of his followers to search in\nthe bazar for a certain dervish Muhammad Shams-ad-din, better known to\nthe world by the name of H\u00e1fiz. And when this man of religion, wearing\nthe simple woollen garment of a Sufi, was brought into the presence of\nthe great conqueror, he was nothing abashed at the blaze of silks and\njewelry which decorated the pavilion where Tamerlane sat in state. And\nTamerlane, meeting the poet with a frown of anger, said, \"Art not thou\nthe insolent verse-monger who didst offer my two great cities Samarkand\nand Bokhara for the black mole upon thy lady's cheek?\" \"It is true,\"\nreplied H\u00e1fiz calmly, smiling, \"and indeed my munificence has been so\ngreat throughout my life, that it has left me destitute, so that I shall\nbe hereafter dependent upon thy generosity for a livelihood.\" The reply\nof the poet, as well as his imperturbable self-possession, pleased the\nAsiatic Alexander, and he dismissed H\u00e1fiz with a liberal present.\n\nThis story, we are told, cannot be true, for Tamerlane did not reach\nShiraz until after the death of the greatest of Persian lyric poets; but\nif it is not true in fact, it is true in spirit, and gives the real key\nto the character of H\u00e1fiz. For we must look upon H\u00e1fiz as one of the few\npoets in the world who utters an unbroken strain of joy and contentment.\nHis poverty was to him a constant fountain of satisfaction, and he\nfrankly took the natural joys of life as they came, supported under\nevery vicissitude by his religious sense of the goodness and kindliness\nof the One God, manifested in everything in the world that was sweet and\ngenial, and beautiful to behold. It is strange that we have to go to the\nliterature of Persia to find a poet whose deep religious convictions\nwere fully reconciled with the theory of human existence which was\nnothing more or less than an optimistic hedonism. There is nothing\nparallel to this in classic literature. The greatest of Roman\nEpicureans, the materialist, whose maxim was: enjoy the present for\nthere is no God, and no to-morrow, speaks despairingly of that drop of\nbitterness, which rises in the fountain of Delight and brings torture,\neven amid the roses of the feast. It is with mocking irony that Dante\nplaces Epicurus in the furnace-tombs of his Inferno amid those\nheresiarchs who denied the immortality of the soul. H\u00e1fiz was an\nEpicurean without the atheism or the despair of Epicurus. The roses in\nhis feast are ever fresh and sweet and there is nothing of bitterness in\nthe perennial fountain of his Delight. This unruffled serenity, this\njoyful acceptance of material existence and its pleasures are not in the\nPersian poet the result of the carelessness and shallowness of Horace,\nor the cold-blooded worldliness and sensuality of Martial. The theory of\nlife which H\u00e1fiz entertained was founded upon the relation of the human\nsoul to God. The one God of Sufism was a being of exuberant benignity,\nfrom whose creative essence proceeded the human soul, whose experiences\non earth were intended to fit it for re-entrance into the circle of\nlight and re-absorption into the primeval fountain of being. In\naccordance with the beautiful and pathetic imagery of the Mystic, life\nwas merely a journey of many stages, and every manifestation of life\nwhich the traveller met on the high road was a manifestation and a gift\nof God Himself. Every stage on the journey towards God which the soul\nmade in its religious experience was like a wayside inn in which to rest\nawhile before resuming the onward course. The pleasures of life, all\nthat charmed the eye, all that gratified the senses, every draught that\nintoxicated, and every fruit that pleased the palate, were, in the\npantheistic doctrine of the Sufi considered as equally good, because God\nwas in each of them, and to partake of them was therefore to be united\nmore closely with God. Never was a theology so well calculated to put to\nrest the stings of doubt or the misgivings of the pleasure-seeker. This\ntheology is of the very essence of H\u00e1fiz's poetry. It is in full\nreliance on this interpretation of the significance of human existence\nthat H\u00e1fiz faces the fierce Tamerlane with a placid smile, plunges\nwithout a qualm into the deepest abysses of pleasure, finds in the\nlove-song of the nightingale the voice of God, and in the bright eyes of\nwomen and the beaker brimming with crimson wine the choicest sacraments\nof life, the holiest and the most sublime intermediaries between divine\nand human life.\n\nIt is this that makes H\u00e1fiz almost the only poet of unadulterated\ngladsomeness that the world has ever known. There is no shadow in his\nsky, no discord in his music, no bitterness in his cup. He passes\nthrough life like a happy pilgrim, singing all the way, mounting in his\nown way from strength to strength, sure of a welcome when he reaches the\ngoal, contented with himself, because every manifestation of life of\nwhich he is conscious must be the stirrings within him of that divinity\nof which he is a portion. When we have thus spoken of H\u00e1fiz we have said\nalmost all that is known of the Persian lyric poet, for to know H\u00e1fiz we\nmust read his verses, whose magic charm is as great for Europeans as for\nAsiatics. The endless variety of his expressions, the deep earnestness\nof his convictions, the persistent gayety of his tone, are qualities of\nirresistible attractiveness. Even to this day his tomb is visited as the\nMecca of literary pilgrims, and his numbers are cherished in the memory\nand uttered on the tongue of all educated Persians. The particulars of\nhis life may be briefly epitomized as follows: He was born at Shiraz in\nthe early part of the fourteenth century, dying in the year 1388. The\nname H\u00e1fiz means, literally, the man who remembers, and was applied to\nhimself by H\u00e1fiz from the fact that he became a professor of the\nMohammedan scriptures, and for this purpose had committed to memory the\ntext of the Koran. His manner of life was not approved of by the\ndervishes of the monastic college in which he taught, and he satirizes\nhis colleagues in revenge for their animadversions. The whole Mohammedan\nworld hailed with delight the lyrics which H\u00e1fiz published to the world,\nand kings and rulers vied with each other in making offers to him of\nhonors and hospitality. At one time he started for India on the\ninvitation of a great Southern Prince, who sent a vessel to meet him on\nthe way, but the hardships of the sea were too severe for him, and he\nmade his way back to Shiraz without finishing his journey.\n\nHis out-and-out pantheism, as well as his manner of life, caused him at\nhis death to be denied burial in consecrated ground. The ecclesiastical\nauthorities were, however, induced to relent in their plan of\nexcommunication at the dictates of a passage from the poet's writings,\nwhich was come upon by opening the book at random. The passage ran as\nfollows: \"Turn not thy feet from the bier of H\u00e1fiz, for though immersed\nin sin, he will be admitted into Paradise.\" And so he rests in the\ncemetery at Shiraz, where the nightingales are singing and the roses\nbloom the year through, and the doves gather with low murmurs amid the\nwhite stones of the sacred enclosure. The poets of nature, the mystical\npantheist, the joyous troubadour of life, H\u00e1fiz, in the naturalness and\nspontaneity of his poetry, and in the winning sweetness of his imagery,\noccupies a unique place in the literature of the world, and has no rival\nin his special domain.\n\n\n\nFRAGMENT BY H\u00c1FIZ\n\n_In Praise of His Verses_.\n\n  The beauty of these verses baffles praise:\n  What guide is needed to the solar blaze?\n  Extol that artist by whose pencil's aid\n  The virgin, Thought, so richly is arrayed.\n  For her no substitute can reason show,\n  Nor any like her human judgment know.\n  This verse, a miracle, or magic white--\n  Brought down some voice from Heaven, or Gabriel bright?\n  By me as by none else are secrets sung,\n  No pearls of poesy like mine are strung.\n\n\n\nTHE DIVAN\n\n\n\nI\n\n  \"Al\u00e1 y\u00e1 ayyuha's-S\u00e1k\u00ed!\"--pass round and offer thou the bowl,\n  For love, which seemed at first so easy, has now brought trouble to my\n        soul.\n\n  With yearning for the pod's aroma, which by the East that lock shall\n        spread\n  From that crisp curl of musky odor, how plenteously our hearts have\n        bled!\n\n  Stain with the tinge of wine thy prayer-mat, if thus the aged Magian\n        bid,\n  For from the traveller from the Pathway[1] no stage nor usage can be\n        hid.\n\n  Shall my beloved one's house delight me, when issues ever and anon\n  From the relentless bell the mandate: \"'Tis time to bind thy litters\n        on\"?\n\n  The waves are wild, the whirlpool dreadful, the shadow of the night\n        steals o'er,\n  How can my fate excite compassion in the light-burdened of the shore?\n\n  Each action of my froward spirit has won me an opprobrious name;\n  Can any one conceal the secret which the assembled crowds proclaim?\n\n    If Joy be thy desire, O H\u00e1fiz,\n    From Him far distant never dwell.\n    \"As soon as thou hast found thy Loved one,\n    Bid to the world a last farewell.\"\n\n\n\nII\n\n  Thou whose features clearly-beaming make the moon of Beauty bright,\n  Thou whose chin contains a well-pit[2] which to Loveliness gives light.\n\n  When, O Lord! shall kindly Fortune, sating my ambition, pair\n  This my heart of tranquil nature and thy wild and ruffled hair?\n\n  Pining for thy sight my spirit trembling on my lip doth wait:\n  Forth to speed it, back to lead it, speak the sentence of its fate.\n\n  Pass me with thy skirt uplifted from the dusty bloody ground:\n  Many who have been thy victims dead upon this path are found.\n\n  How this heart is anguish-wasted let my heart's possessor know:\n  Friends, your souls and mine contemplate, equal by their common woe.\n\n  Aught of good accrues to no one witched by thy Narcissus eye:\n  Ne'er let braggarts vaunt their virtue, if thy drunken orbs are nigh.\n\n  Soon my Fortune sunk in slumber shall her limbs with vigor brace:\n  Dashed upon her eye is water, sprinkled by thy shining face.\n\n  Gather from thy cheek a posy, speed it by the flying East;\n  Sent be perfume to refresh me from thy garden's dust at least.\n\n  H\u00e1fiz offers a petition, listen, and \"Amen\" reply:\n  \"On thy sugar-dropping rubies let me for life's food rely.\"\n\n  Many a year live on and prosper, S\u00e1k\u00eds of the court of Jem,[3]\n  E'en though I, to fill my wine-cup, never to your circle come.\n\n  East wind, when to Yazd thou wingest, say thou to its sons from me:\n  \"May the head of every ingrate ball-like 'neath your mall-bat be!\"\n\n  \"What though from your dais distant, near it by my wish I seem;\n  Homage to your Ring I render, and I make your praise my theme.\"\n\n  Sh\u00e1h of Shahs, of lofty planet, Grant for God what I implore;\n  Let me, as the sky above thee, Kiss the dust which strews thy floor.\n\n\n\nV\n\n  Up, S\u00e1k\u00ed!--let the goblet flow;\n  Strew with dust the head of our earthly woe!\n\n  Give me thy cup; that, joy-possessed,\n  I may tear this azure cowl from my breast,[4]\n\n  The wise may deem me lost to shame,\n  But no care have I for renown or name.\n\n  Bring wine!--how many a witless head\n  By the wind of pride has with dust been spread!\n\n  My bosom's fumes, my sighs so warm,\n  Have inflamed yon crude and unfeeling swarm.[5]\n\n  This mad heart's secret, well I know,\n  Is beyond the thoughts of both high and low.\n\n  E'en by that sweetheart charmed am I,\n  Who once from my heart made sweetness fly.\n\n  Who that my Silvern Tree hath seen,\n  Would regard the cypress that decks the green?[6]\n\n    In grief be patient,\n      Night and day,\n    Till thy fortune, H\u00e1fiz,\n      Thy wish obey.\n\n\n\nVI\n\n  My heart no longer brooks my hand: sages, aid for God my woe!\n  Else, alas! my secret-deep soon the curious world must know.\n\n  The bark we steer has stranded: O breeze auspicious swell:\n  We yet may see once more the Friend we love so well.\n\n  The ten days' favor of the Sphere--magic is; a tale which lies!\n  Thou who wouldst befriend thy friends, seize each moment ere it flies.\n\n  At night, 'mid wine and flowers, the bulbul tuned his song:\n  \"Bring thou the morning bowl: prepare, ye drunken throng!\"\n\n  Sikander's mirror, once so famed, is the wine-filled cup: behold\n  All that haps in D\u00e1r\u00e1's realm glassed within its wondrous mould.[7]\n\n  O bounteous man, since Heaven sheds o'er thee blessings mild,\n  Inquire, one day at least, how fares Misfortune's child.\n\n  What holds in peace this twofold world, let this twofold sentence show:\n  \"Amity to every friend, courtesy to every foe.\"\n\n  Upon the way of honor, impeded was my range;\n  If this affect thee, strive my destiny to change.\n\n  That bitter, which the S\u00fafi styled \"Mother of all woes that be,\"[8]\n  Seems, with maiden's kisses weighed, better and more sweet to me.\n\n  Seek drunkenness and pleasure till times of strait be o'er:\n  This alchemy of life can make the beggar Kore.[9]\n\n  Submit; or burn thou taper-like e'en from jealousy o'er-much:\n  Adamant no less than wax, melts beneath that charmer's touch.\n\n  When fair ones talk in Persian, the streams of life out-well:\n  This news to pious Pirs, my S\u00e1k\u00ed, haste to tell.\n\n    Since H\u00e1fiz, not by his own choice,\n    This his wine-stained cowl did win,\n    Shaikh, who hast unsullied robes,\n    Hold me innocent of sin.[10]\n\n  Arrayed in youthful splendor, the orchard smiles again;\n  News of the rose enraptures the bulbul of sweet strain.\n\n  Breeze, o'er the meadow's children, when thy fresh fragrance blows,\n  Salute for me the cypress, the basil, and the rose.\n\n  If the young Magian[11] dally with grace so coy and fine,\n  My eye shall bend their fringes to sweep the house of wine.\n\n  O thou whose bat of amber hangs o'er a moon below,[12]\n  Deal not to me so giddy, the anguish of a blow.\n\n  I fear that tribe of mockers who topers' ways impeach,\n  Will part with their religion the tavern's goal to reach.\n\n  To men of God be friendly: in Noah's ark was earth[13]\n  Which deemed not all the deluge one drop of water worth.\n\n  As earth, two handfuls yielding, shall thy last couch supply,\n  What need to build thy palace, aspiring to the sky?\n\n  Flee from the house of Heaven, and ask not for her bread:\n  Her goblet black shall shortly her every guest strike dead.[14]\n\n  To thee, my Moon of Kanaan, the Egyptian throne pertains;\n  At length has come the moment that thou shouldst quit thy chains.\n\n  I know not what dark projects those pointed locks design,\n  That once again in tangles their musky curls combine.\n\n    Be gay, drink wine, and revel;\n    But not, like others, care,\n    O H\u00e1fiz, from the Koran\n    To weave a wily snare!\n\n\n\nXII\n\n  Oh! where are deeds of virtue and this frail spirit where?\n  How wide the space that sunders the bounds of Here and There!\n\n  Can toping aught in common with works and worship own?\n  Where is regard for sermons, where is the rebeck's Tone?[15]\n\n  My heart abhors the cloister, and the false cowl its sign:\n  Where is the Magian's cloister, and where is his pure wine?\n\n  'Tis fled: may memory sweetly mind me of Union's days!\n  Where is that voice of anger, where those coquettish ways?\n\n  Can a foe's heart be kindled by the friend's face so bright?\n  Where is a lamp unlighted, and the clear Day-star's light?\n\n  As dust upon thy threshold supplies my eyes with balm,\n  If I forsake thy presence, where can I hope for calm?\n\n  Turn from that chin's fair apple; a pit is on the way.\n  To what, O heart, aspir'st thou? Whither thus quickly? Say!\n\n    Seek not, O friend, in H\u00e1fiz\n    Patience, nor rest from care:\n    Patience and rest--what are they?\n    Where is calm slumber, where?\n\n\n\nXIV\n\n  At eve a son of song--his heart be cheerful long!--\n  Piped on his vocal reed a soul-inflaming lay.\n\n  So deeply was I stirred, that melody once heard,\n  That to my tearful eyes the things of earth grew gray.\n\n  With me my S\u00e1k\u00ed was, and momently did he\n  At night the sun of Da\u00ef[16] by lock and cheek display.\n\n  When he perceived my wish, he filled with wine the bowl;\n  Then said I to that youth whose track was Fortune's way:\n\n  \"S\u00e1k\u00ed, from Being's prison deliverance did I gain,\n  When now and now the cup thou lit'st with cheerful ray.\n\n  \"God guard thee here below from all the haps of woe;\n  God in the Seat of Bliss reward thee on His day!\"\n\n    When H\u00e1fiz rapt has grown,\n    How, at one barleycorn,\n    Should he appraise the realm,\n    E'en of K\u00e1\u00fas the Kay?[17]\n\n\n\nXVI\n\n  I said: \"O Monarch of the lovely, a stranger seeks thy grace this day.\"\n  I heard: \"The heart's deceitful guidance inclines the stranger from\n        his way.\"\n\n  Exclaimed I then: \"One moment tarry!\" \"Nay,\" was the answer, \"let me go;\n  How can the home-bred child be troubled by stories of a stranger's\n        woe?\"\n\n  Shall one who, gently nurtured, slumbers with royal ermine for a bed,\n  \"Care if on rocks or thorns reposing the stranger rests his weary head?\"\n\n  O thou whose locks hold fast on fetters so many a soul known long ago,\n  How strange that musky mole and charming upon thy cheek of vermil glow!\n\n  Strange is that ant-like down's appearance circling the oval of thy\n        face;\n  Yet musky shade is not a stranger within the Hall which paintings\n        grace.[18]\n\n  A crimson tint, from wine reflected gleams in that face of moonlight\n        sheen;\n  E'en as the bloom of syrtis, strangely, o'er clusters of the pale\n        Nasr\u00edn.[19]\n\n  I said: \"O thou, whose lock so night-black is evening in the\n        stranger's sight,\n  Be heedful if, at break of morning, the stranger sorrow for his\n        plight.\"\n\n    \"H\u00e1fiz,\" the answer was, \"familiars\n    Stand in amaze at my renown;\n    It is no marvel if a stranger\n    In weariness and grief sit down.\"\n\n\n\nXVII\n\n  'Tis morn; the clouds a ceiling make:\n  The morn-cup, mates, the morn-cup take!\n\n  Drops of dew streak the tulip's cheek;\n  The wine-bowl, friends, the wine-bowl seek\n\n  The greensward breathes a gale divine;\n  Drink, therefore, always limpid wine.\n\n  The Flower her emerald throne displays:\n  Bring wine that has the ruby's blaze\n\n  Again is closed the vintner's store,\n  \"Open, Thou Opener of the door!\"[20]\n\n  While smiles on us the season's boon,\n  I marvel that they close so soon.\n\n  Thy lips have salt-rights, 'tis confessed,\n  O'er wounds upon the fire-burnt breast.\n\n    H\u00e1fiz, let not\n    Thy courage fail!\n    Fortune, thy charmer\n    Shall unveil.\n\n\n\nXIX\n\n  Lo! from thy love's enchanting bowers Rizv\u00e1n's bright gardens fresher\n        grow;[21]\n  From the fierce heat thine absence kindles, Gehenna's flames intenser\n        glow.\n\n  To thy tall form and cheek resplendent, as to a place of refuge, fleet\n  Heaven and the T\u00fab\u00e2-tree, and find there--\"Happiness--and a fair\n        retreat.\"[22]\n\n  When nightly the celestial river glides through the garden of the skies,\n  As my own eye, it sees in slumber, nought but thy drunk narcissus eyes.\n\n  Each section of the spring-tide's volume makes a fresh comment on thy\n        name,\n  Each portal of the Empyrean murmurs the title of thy fame.\n\n  My heart has burned, but to ambition, the aim, still wished for, is\n        denied:\n  These tears that tinged with blood are flowing, if I could reach it,\n        would be dried.\n\n  What ample power thy salt-rights give thee (which both thy mouth and\n        lips can claim),\n  Over a breast by sorrow wounded, and a heart burnt within its flame!\n\n  Oh! think not that the amorous only are drunk with rapture at thy sway:\n  Hast thou not heard of zealots, also, as reckless and as wrecked as\n        they?\n\n  By thy lips' reign I hold it proven that the bright ruby's sheen is won\n  By the resplendent light that flashes out of a world-illuming sun.[23]\n\n  Fling back thy veil! how long, oh tell me! shall drapery thy beauty\n        pale?\n  This drapery, no profit bringing, can only for thy shame avail.\n\n  A fire within the rose's bosom was kindled when she saw thy face;\n  And soon as she inhaled thy fragrance, she grew all rose-dew from\n        disgrace.\n\n  The love thy countenance awakens whelms H\u00e1fiz in misfortune's sea;\n  Death threatens him! ho there! give help, ere yet that he has ceased\n        to be!\n\n    While life is thine, consent not, H\u00e1fiz,\n    That it should speed ignobly by;\n    But strive thou to attain the object\n    Of thy existence ere thou die.\n\n\n\nXX\n\n  I swear--my master's soul bear witness, faith of old times, and\n        promise leal!--\n  At early morning, my companion, is prayer for thy unceasing weal.\n\n  My tears, a more o'erwhelming deluge than was the flood which Noah\n        braved,\n  Have washed not from my bosom's tablet the image which thy love has\n        graved.\n\n  Come deal with me, and strike thy bargain: I have a broken heart to\n        sell,\n  Which in its ailing state out-values a hundred thousand which are well.\n\n  Be lenient, if thou deem me drunken: on the primeval day divine\n  Love, who possessed my soul as master, bent my whole nature unto wine.\n\n  Strive after truth that for thy solace the Sun may in thy spirit rise;\n  For the false dawn of earlier morning grows dark of face because it\n        lies.[24]\n\n  O heart, thy friend's exceeding bounty should free thee from unfounded\n        dread;\n  This instant, as of love thou vauntest, be ready to devote thy head!\n\n  I gained from thee my frantic yearning for mountains and the barren\n        plain,\n  Yet loath art thou to yield to pity, and loosen at mid-height my chain.\n\n  If the ant casts reproach on \u00c1saf, with justice does her tongue upbraid,\n  For when his Highness lost Jem's signet, no effort for the quest he\n        made.[25]\n\n    No constancy--yet grieve not, H\u00e1fiz--\n    Expect thou from the faithless fair;\n    What right have we to blame the garden,\n    Because the plant has withered there?\n\n\n\nXXII\n\n  Veiled in my heart my fervent love for him dwells,\n  And my true eye holds forth a glass to his spells.\n\n  Though the two worlds ne'er bowed my head when elate,\n  Favors as his have bent my neck with their weight.\n\n  Thine be the lote, but I Love's stature would reach.\n  High like his zeal ascends the fancy of each.\n\n  Yet who am I that sacred temple to tread?\n  Still let the East that portal guard in my stead!\n\n  Spots on my robe--shall they arouse my complaint?\n  Nay! the world knows that he at least has no taint.\n\n  My turn has come; behold! Majn\u00fan is no more;[26]\n  Five days shall fly, and each one's turn shall be o'er.\n\n  Love's ample realm, sweet joy, and all that is glad,\n  Save for his bounty I should never have had.[27]\n\n  I and my heart--though both should sacrificed be,\n  Grant my friend's weal, their loss were nothing to me.\n\n  Ne'er shall his form within my pupil be dim,\n  For my eye's cell is but a chamber for him.\n\n  All the fresh blooms that on the greensward we view,\n  Gain but from him their scent and beauty of hue.\n\n    H\u00e1fiz seems poor;\n    But look within, for his breast,\n    Shrining his love,\n    With richest treasure is blest.\n\n\n\nXXIII\n\n  Prone at my friend's high gates, my Will its head lays still:\n  Whate'er my head awaits is ordered by that will.\n\n  My friend resembles none; in vain I sought to trace,\n  In glance of moon or sun, the radiance of that face.\n\n  Can morning's breeze make known what grief this heart doth hold,\n  Which as a bud hath grown, compressed by fold on fold?\n\n  Not I first drained the jar where rev'lers pass away:[28]\n  Heads in this work-yard are nought else than wine-jars' clay.\n\n  Meseems thy comb has wreathed those locks which amber yield:\n  The gale has civet breathed, and amber scents the field.\n\n  Flowers of verdant nooks be strewn before thy face:\n  Let cypresses of brooks bear witness to thy grace!\n\n  When dumb grow tongues of men that on such love would dwell,\n  Why should a tongue-cleft pen by babbling strive to tell?\n\n  Thy cheek is in my heart; no more will bliss delay;\n  Glad omens e'er impart news of a gladder day.\n\n    Love's fire has dropped its spark\n    In H\u00e1fiz' heart before:\n    The wild-grown tulip's mark\n    Branded of old its core.[29]\n\n\n\nXXV\n\n  Breeze of the morn, if hence to the land thou fliest--Of my friend,\n  Return with a musky breath from the lock so sweet\n    Of my friend.\n\n  Yea, by that life, I swear I would lay down mine in content,\n  If once I received through thee but a message sent\n    Of my friend.\n\n  But--at that sacred court, if approach be wholly denied,\n  Convey, for my eyes, the dust that the door supplied\n    Of my friend.\n\n  I--but a beggar mean--can I hope for Union at last?\n  Ah! would that in sleep I saw but the shadow cast\n    Of my friend.\n\n  Ever my pine-cone heart, as the aspen trembling and shy,\n  Has yearned for the pine-like shape and the stature high\n    Of my friend.\n\n  Not at the lowest price would my friend to purchase me care;\n  Yet I, a whole world to win, would not sell one hair\n    Of my friend.\n\n    How should this heart gain aught,\n    Were its gyves of grief flung aside?\n    I, H\u00e1fiz, a bondsman, still\n    Would the slave abide\n      Of my friend.\n\n\n\nXXIX\n\n  Who of a Heaven on earth can tell, pure as the cell--Of dervishes?\n  If in the highest state you'd dwell, be ever slaves\n    Of dervishes.\n\n  The talisman of magic Might hid in some ruin's lonely site,\n  Emerges from its ancient night at the wild glance\n    Of dervishes.\n\n  When the proud sun has run his race, and he puts off his crown apace,\n  He bows before the pomp and place which are the boast\n    Of dervishes.\n\n  The palace portal of the sky, watched by Rizv\u00e1n's unsleeping eye,\n  All gazers can at once descry from the glad haunts\n    Of dervishes.\n\n  When mortal hearts are black and cold, that which transmutes them into\n        gold\n  Is the alchemic stone we hold from intercourse\n    Of dervishes.\n\n  When tyranny, from pole to pole, sways o'er the earth with dire control,\n  We see from first to last unroll the victor-flag\n    Of dervishes.\n\n  There is a wealth which lasts elate, unfearful of decline from fate;\n  Hear it with joy--this wealth so great, is in the hands\n    Of dervishes.\n\n  Khosr\u00e1us, the kiblahs of our prayer have weight to solace our\n        despair,[30]\n  But they are potent by their care for the high rank\n    Of dervishes.\n\n  O, vaunter of thy riches' pride! lay all thy vanity aside,\n  And know that health and wealth abide but by the will\n    Of dervishes.\n\n  Korah lost all his treasured store, which, cursed of Heaven, sinks\n        daily more,\n  (Hast thou not heard this tale of yore?) from disregard\n    Of dervishes,[31]\n\n  The smiling face of joy unknown, yet sought by tenants of a throne,\n  Is only in the mirror shown of the clear face\n    Of dervishes.\n\n  Let but our \u00c1saf's eye request, I am the slave of his behest,\n  For though his looks his rank attest, he has the mind\n    Of dervishes.\n\n  H\u00e1fiz, if of the tide thou think, which makes immortal those who drink,\n  Seek in the dust that fountain's brink, at the cell door\n    Of dervishes.\n\n    H\u00e1fiz, while here on earth, be wise:\n    He who to empire's rule would rise,\n    Knows that his upward pathway lies\n    Through his regard\n      Of dervishes.\n\n\n\nXXXI\n\n  In blossom is the crimson rose, and the rapt bulbul trills his song;\n  A summons that to revel calls you, O S\u00fafis, wine-adoring throng!\n\n  The fabric of my contrite fervor appeared upon a rock to bide;\n  Yet see how by a crystal goblet it hath been shattered in its pride.\n\n  Bring wine; for to a lofty spirit, should they at its tribunal be,\n  What were the sentry, what the Sultan, the toper, or the foe of glee?\n\n  Forth from this hostel of two portals as finally thou needs must go,\n  What of the porch and arch of Being be of high span or meanly low?\n\n  To bliss' goal we gain not access, if sorrow has been tasted not;\n  Yea, with Alastu's pact was coupled the sentence of our baleful lot.\n\n  At Being and Non-being fret not; but either with calm temper see:\n  Non-being is the term appointed for the most lovely things that be.\n\n  \u00c1saf's display, the airy courser, the language which the birds employed,\n  The wind has swept; and their possessor no profit from his wealth\n        enjoyed.[32]\n\n  Oh! fly not from thy pathway upward, for the winged shaft that quits\n        the bow\n  A moment to the air has taken, to settle in the dust below.\n\n    What words of gratitude, O H\u00e1fiz\n    Shall thy reed's tongue express anon,\n    As its choice gems of composition\n    From hands to other hands pass on?\n\n\n\nXXXV\n\n  Now on the rose's palm the cup with limpid wine is brimming,\n  And with a hundred thousand tongues the bird her praise is hymning.\n\n  Ask for a song-book, seek the wild, no time is this for knowledge;\n  The Comment of the Comments spurn, and learning of the college,[33]\n\n  Be it thy rule to shun mankind, and let the Phoenix monish,\n  For the reports of hermit fame, from K\u00e1f to K\u00e1f astonish.[34]\n\n  When yesterday our rector reeled, this sentence he propounded:\n  \"Wine is a scandal; but far worse what men's bequests have founded.\"\n\n  Turbid or clear, though not thy choice, drink thankfully; well knowing\n  That all which from our S\u00e1k\u00ed flows to his free grace is owing.\n\n  Each dullard who would share my fame, each rival self-deceiver,\n  Reminds me that at times the mat seems golden to its weaver.\n\n    Cease, H\u00e1fiz! store as ruddy gold\n    The wit that's in thy ditty:\n    The stampers of false coin, behold!\n    Are bankers for the city.[35]\n\n\n\nXLII\n\n  'Tis a deep charm which wakes the lover's flame,\n  Not ruby lip, nor verdant down its name.\n\n  Beauty is not the eye, lock, cheek, and mole;\n  A thousand subtle points the heart control.\n\n\n\nXLIII\n\n  Zealot, censure not the toper, guileless though thou keep thy soul:\n  Certain 'tis that sins of others none shall write upon thy scroll.\n\n  Be my deeds or good or evil, look thou to thyself alone;\n  All men, when their work is ended, reap the harvest they have sown.\n\n  Never of Eternal Mercy preach that I must yet despair;\n  Canst thou pierce the veil, and tell me who is ugly, who is fair?\n\n  Every one the Friend solicits, be he sober, quaff he wine;\n  Every place has love its tenant, be it or the mosque, or shrine.\n\n  From the still retreat of virtue not the first am I to roam,\n  For my father also quitted his eternal Eden home.\n\n  See this head, devout submission: bricks at many a vintner's door:\n  If my foe these words misconstrue--\"Bricks and head!\"--Say nothing more.\n\n  Fair though Paradise's garden, deign to my advice to yield:\n  Here enjoy the shading willow, and the border of the field.\n\n  Lean not on thy store of merits; know'st thou 'gainst thy name for aye\n  What the Plastic Pen indited, on the Unbeginning Day?\n\n    H\u00e1fiz, if thou grasp thy beaker\n    When the hour of death is nigh,\n    From the street where stands the tavern\n    Straight they'll bear thee to the sky.\n\n\n\nXLV\n\n  O breeze of morn! where is the place which guards my friend from strife?\n  Where is the abode of that sly Moon who lovers robs of life?\n\n  The night is dark, the Happy Vale in front of me I trace.[36]\n  Where is the fire of Sin\u00e4i, where is the meeting place?\n\n  Here jointly are the wine-filled cup, the rose, the minstrel; yet\n  While we lack love, no bliss is here: where can my Loved be met?\n\n  Of the Shaikh's cell my heart has tired, and of the convent bare:\n  Where is my friend, the Christian's child, the vintner's mansion, where?\n\n    H\u00e1fiz, if o'er the glade of earth\n    The autumn-blast is borne,\n    Grieve not, but musing ask thyself:\n    \"Where has the rose no thorn?\"\n\n\n\nLIX\n\n  My Prince, so gracefully thou steppest, that where thy footsteps\n        fall--I'd die.\n  My Turk, so gracefully thou glidest, before thy stature tall\n    I'd die.\n\n  \"When wilt thou die before me?\"--saidst thou. Why thus so eagerly\n        inquire?\n  These words of thy desire delight me; forestalling thy desire\n    I'd die.\n\n  I am a lover, drunk, forsaken: S\u00e1k\u00ed, that idol, where is he?\n  Come hither with thy stately bearing! let me thy fair form see,\n    I'd die.\n\n  Should he, apart from whom I've suffered a life-long illness, day by\n        day,\n  Bestow on me a glance, one only, beneath that orb dark-gray\n    I'd die.\n\n  \"The ruby of my lips,\" thou saidst, \"now bale, now balsam may exhale\":\n  At one time from their healing balsam, at one time from their bale\n    I'd die.\n\n  How trim thy gait! May eye of evil upon thy face be never bent!\n  There dwells within my head this fancy; that at thy feet content\n    I'd die.\n\n    Though no place has been found for H\u00e1fiz\n    In Love's retreat, where hid thou art,\n    For me thine every part has beauty,\n    Before thine every part--\n      I'd die.\n\n\n\nLXIII\n\n  My heart has of the world grown weary and all that it can lend:\n  The shrine of my affection holds no Being but my friend.\n\n  If e'er for me thy love's sweet garden a fragrant breath exhale,\n  My heart, expansive in its joy, shall bud-like burst its veil.\n\n  Should I upon love's path advise thee, when now a fool I've grown,\n  'Twould be the story of the fool, the pitcher, and the stone.\n\n  Go! say to the secluded zealot: \"Withhold thy blame; for know,\n  I find the arch of the Mihr\u00e1b[37] but in an eyebrow's bow.\"\n\n  Between the Ka'bah and the wine-house, no difference I see:\n  Whate'er the spot my glance surveys, there equally is He.\n\n  'Tis not for beard, hair, eyebrow only, Kalandarism should care:\n  The Kalandar computes the Path by adding hair to hair.[38]\n\n    The Kalandar who gives a hair's head,\n    An easy path doth tread:\n    The Kalandar of genuine stamp,\n    As H\u00e1fiz gives his head.\n\n\n\nLXIX\n\n  My heart desires the face so fair--Of Farrukh;[39]\n  It is perturbed as is the hair\n    Of Farrukh.\n\n  No creature but that lock, that Hind\u00fa swart,\n  Enjoyment from the cheek has sought\n    Of Farrukh.\n\n  A blackamoor by Fortune blest is he,\n  Placed at the side, and near the knee\n    Of Farrukh.\n\n  Shy as the aspen is the cypress seen,\n  Awed by the captivating mien\n    Of Farrukh.\n\n  S\u00e1k\u00ed, bring syrtis-tinted wine to tell\n  Of those narcissi, potent spell\n    Of Farrukh.\n\n  Bent as the archer's bow my frame is now,\n  From woes continuous as the brow\n    Of Farrukh.\n\n  E'en Tartar gales which musky odors whirl,\n  Faint at the amber-breathing curl\n    Of Farrukh.\n\n  If leans the human heart to any place,\n  Mine has a yearning to the grace\n    Of Farrukh.\n\n    That lofty soul\n    Shall have my service true,\n    That serves, as H\u00e1fiz,\n    The Hind\u00fa--[40]\n       Of Farrukh.\n\n\n\nLXXI\n\n  When now the rose upon the meadow from Nothing into Being springs,\n  When at her feet the humble violet with her head low in worship clings,\n\n  Take from thy morn-filled cup refreshment while tabors and the harp\n        inspire,\n  Nor fail to kiss the chin of S\u00e1k\u00ed while the flute warbles and the lyre.\n\n  Sit thou with wine, with harp, with charmer, until the rose's bloom be\n        past;\n  For as the days of life which passes, is the brief week that she shall\n        last.\n\n  The face of earth, from herbal mansions, is lustrous as the sky; and\n        shines\n  With asterisms of happy promise, with stars that are propitious signs.\n\n  In gardens let Zoroaster's worship again with all its rites revive,\n  While now within the tulip's blossoms the fires of Nimrod[41] are alive.\n\n  Drink wine, presented by some beauty of Christ-like breath, of cheek\n        fair-hued;\n  And banish from thy mind traditions to \u00c1d relating, and Tham\u00fad.[42]\n\n  Earth rivals the Immortal Garden during the rose and lily's reign;\n  But what avails when the immortal is sought for on this earth in vain?\n\n  When riding on the windy courser, as Solomon, the rose is found,\n  And when the Bird, at hour of morning, makes David's melodies resound,\n\n  Ask thou, in Solomon's dominion, a goblet to the brim renewed;\n  Pledge the Vizir, the cycle's \u00c1saf, the column of the Faith, Mahmud.\n\n  O H\u00e1fiz, while his days continue, let joy eternal be thine aim;\n  And may the shadow of his kindness eternally abide the same!\n\n    Bring wine; for H\u00e1fiz, if in trouble,\n    Will ceaselessly the help implore\n    Of him who bounty shall aid ever,\n    As it have aid vouchsafed before.\n\n\n\nLXXVII\n\n  Upon the path of Love, O heart, deceit and risk are great!\n  And fall upon the way shall he who at swift rate\n    Shall go.\n\n  Inflated by the wind of pride, the bubble's head may shine;\n  But soon its cap of rule shall fall, and merged in wine\n    Shall go.\n\n  O heart, when thou hast aged grown, show airs of grace no more:\n  Remember that such ways as these when youth is o'er\n    Shall go.\n\n  Has the black book of black locks closed, the album yet shall stay,\n  Though many a score the extracts be which day by day\n    Shall go.\n\n\n\nLXXXV\n\n  To me love's echo is the sweetest sound\n  Of all that 'neath this circling Round\n    Hath stayed.\n\n\n\nLXXXVI\n\n  A beggar am I; yet enamoured of one of cypress mould:\n  One in whose belt the hand bides only with silver and with gold.\n\n    Bring wine! let first the hand of H\u00e1fiz\n    The cheery cup embrace!\n    Yet only on one condition--\n    No word beyond this place!\n\n\n\nLXXXVII\n\n  When beamed Thy beauty on creation's morn,\n  The world was set on fire by love new-born.\n\n  Thy cheek shone bright, yet angels' hearts were cold:\n  Then flashed it fire, and turned to Adam's mould.\n\n  The lamp of Reason from this flame had burned,\n  But lightning jealousy the world o'erturned.\n\n  The enemy Thy secret sought to gain;\n  A hand unseen repelled the beast profane.\n\n  The die of Fate may render others glad:\n  My own heart saddens, for its lot is sad.\n\n  Thy chin's deep pit allures the lofty mind:\n  The hand would grasp thy locks in twines entwined,\n\n    H\u00e1fiz his love-scroll\n    To Thyself addressed,\n    When he had cancelled\n    What his heart loved best.\n\n\n\nLXXXVIII\n\n  The preacher of the town will find my language hard, maybe:\n  While bent upon deceit and fraud, no Mussulman is he.\n\n  Learn drinking and do gracious deeds; the merit is not great\n  If a mere brute shall taste not wine, and reach not man's estate.\n\n  Efficient is the Name Divine; be of good cheer, O heart!\n  The d\u00edv becomes not Solomon by guile and cunning's art.\n\n  The benisons of Heaven are won by purity alone:\n  Else would not pearl and coral spring from every clod and stone?\n\n\n\nCI\n\n  Angels I saw at night knock at the wine-house gate:\n  They shaped the clay of Adam, flung into moulds its weight.\n\n  Spirits of the Unseen World of Purities divine,\n  With me an earth-bound mortal, poured forth their 'wildering wine.\n\n  Heaven, from its heavy trust aspiring to be free,\n  The duty was allotted, mad as I am, to me.\n\n  Thank God my friend and I once more sweet peace have gained!\n  For this the houris dancing thanksgiving cups have drained.\n\n  With Fancy's hundred wisps what wonder that I've strayed,\n  When Adam in his prudence was by a grain bewrayed?[43]\n\n  Excuse the wrangling sects, which number seventy-two:\n  They knock at Fable's portal, for Truth eludes their view.\n\n  No fire is that whose flame the taper laughs to scorn:\n  True fire consumes to ashes the moth's upgarnered corn.\n\n  Blood fills recluses' hearts where Love its dot doth place,\n  Fine as the mole that glistens upon a charmer's face.\n\n    As H\u00e1fiz, none Thought's face\n    Hath yet unveiled; not e'en\n    Since for the brides of Language\n    Combed have their tresses been.\n\n\n\nCXV\n\n  Lost Joseph shall return to Kanaan's land--Despair not:\n  Affliction's cell of gloom with flowers shall bloom:\n    Despair not\n\n  Sad heart, thy state shall mend; repel despondency;\n  Thy head confused with pain shall sense regain:\n    Despair not.\n\n  When life's fresh spring returns upon the da\u00efs mead,\n  O night-bird! o'er thy head the rose shall spread:\n    Despair not,\n\n  Hope on, though things unseen may baffle thy research;\n  Mysterious sports we hail beyond the veil:\n    Despair not.\n\n  Has the revolving Sphere two days opposed thy wish,\n  Know that the circling Round is changeful found:\n    Despair not.\n\n  If on the Ka'bah bent, thou brave the desert sand,\n  Though from the acacias thorn thy foot be torn,\n    Despair not,\n\n  Heart, should the flood of death life's fabric sweep away,\n  Noah shall steer the ark o'er billows dark:\n    Despair not,\n\n  Though perilous the stage, though out of sight the goal,\n  Whither soe'er we wend, there is an end:\n    Despair not,\n\n  If Love evades our grasp, and rivals press our suit,\n  God, Lord of every change, surveys the range:\n    Despair not.\n\n    H\u00e1fiz, in thy poor nook--\n    Alone, the dark night through--\n    Prayer and the Koran's page\n    Shall grief assuage--\n      Despair not.\n\n\n\nCXXIX\n\n  Endurance, intellect, and peace have from my bosom flown,\n  Lured by an idol's silver ear-lobes, and its heart of stone.\n\n  An image brisk, of piercing looks, with peris' beauty blest,\n  Of slender shape, of lunar face, in Turk-like tunic drest!\n\n  With a fierce glow within me lit--in amorous frenzy lost--\n  A culinary pot am I, in ebullition tost.\n\n  My nature as a shirt's would be, at all times free from smart,\n  If like yon tunic garb I pressed the wearer to my heart.\n\n  At harshness I have ceased to grieve, for none to light can bring\n  A rose that is apart from thorns, or honey void of sting.\n\n  The framework of this mortal form may rot within the mould,\n  But in my soul a love exists which never shall grow cold.\n\n  My heart and faith, my heart and faith--of old they were unharmed,\n  Till by yon shoulders and yon breast, yon breast and shoulders charmed.\n\n    H\u00e1fiz, a medicine for thy woe,\n    A medicine must thou sip,\n    No other than that lip so sweet,\n    That lip so sweet, that lip.\n\n\n\nCXXXIV\n\n  Although upon his moon-like cheek delight and beauty glow,\n  Nor constancy nor love is there: O Lord! these gifts bestow.\n\n  A child makes war against my heart; and he in sport one day\n  Will put me to a cruel death, and law shall not gainsay.\n\n  What seems for my own good is this: my heart from him to guard;\n  For one who knows not good from ill its guardianship were hard.\n\n  Agile and sweet of fourteen years that idol whom I praise:\n  His ear-rings in her soul retains the moon of fourteen days.\n\n  A breath as the sweet smell of milk comes from those sugary lips;\n  But from those black and roguish eyes behold what blood there drips!\n\n  My heart to find that new-born rose has gone upon its way;\n  But where can it be found, O Lord? I've lost it many a day.\n\n  If the young friend who owns my heart my centre thus can break,\n  The Pasha will command him soon the lifeguard's rank to take.\n\n    I'd sacrifice my life in thanks,\n      If once that pearl of sheen\n    Would make the shell of H\u00e1fiz' eye\n      Its place of rest serene.\n\n\n\nCXXXV\n\n  I tried my fortune in this city lorn:\n  From out its whirlpool must my pack be borne.\n\n  I gnaw my hand, and, heaving sighs of ire,\n  I light in my rent frame the rose's fire.\n\n  Sweet sang the bulbul at the close of day,\n  The rose attentive on her leafy spray:\n\n  \"O heart! be joyful, for thy ruthless Love\n  Sits down ill-temper'd at the sphere above.\n\n  \"To make the false, harsh world thyself pass o'er,\n  Ne'er promise falsely and be harsh no more.\n\n  \"If beat misfortune's waves upon heaven's roof,\n  Devout men's fate and gear bide ocean-proof.\n\n          \"H\u00e1fiz, if lasting\n            Were enjoyment's day,\n          Jem's throne would never\n            Have been swept away.\"\n\n\n\nCXLV\n\n  Breeze of the North, thy news allays my fears:\n  The hour of meeting with my Loved one nears.\n\n  Prospered by Heaven, O carrier pigeon, fly:\n  Hail to thee, hail to thee, come nigh, come nigh!\n\n  How fares our Salm\u00e2? What Z\u00fa Salam's state?\n  Our neighbors there--are they unscathed by Fate?\n\n  The once gay banquet-hall is now devoid\n  Of circling goblets, and of friends who joyed.\n\n  Perished the mansion with its lot serene:\n  Interrogate the mounds where once 'twas seen.\n\n  The night of absence has now cast its shade:\n  What freaks by Fancy's night-gang will be played?\n\n  He who has loved relates an endless tale:\n  Here the most eloquent of tongues must fail.\n\n  My Turk's kind glances no one can obtain:\n  Alas, this pride, this coldness, this disdain!\n\n  In perfect beauty did thy wish draw nigh:\n  God guard thee from Kam\u00e1l's malefic eye![44]\n\n    H\u00e1fiz, long will last\n      Patience, love, and pain?\n    Lovers wail is sweet:\n      Do thou still complain.\n\n\n\nCXLVI\n\n  O thou who hast ravished my heart by thine exquisite grace and thy\n        shape,\n  Thou carest for no one, and yet not a soul from thyself can escape.\n\n  At times I draw sighs from my heart, and at times, O my life, thy\n        sharp dart:\n  Can aught I may say represent all the ills I endure from my heart?\n\n  How durst I to rivals commend thy sweet lips by the ruby's tent gemmed,\n  When words that are vivid in hue by a soul unrefined are contemned?\n\n  As strength to thy beauty accrues ev'ry day from the day sped before,\n  To features consummate as thine, will we liken the night-star no more.\n\n  My heart hast thou reft: take my soul! For thine envoy of grief what\n        pretence?\n  One perfect in grief as myself with collector as he may dispense.\n\n    O H\u00e1fiz, in Love's holy bane,\n      As thy foot has at last made its way,\n    Lay hold of his skirt with thy hand,\n      And with all sever ties from to-day.\n\n\n\nCXLIX\n\n  Both worlds, the Transient and Eterne, for S\u00e1k\u00ed and the Loved I'd yield:\n  To me appears Love's satellite the universe's ample field.\n\n  Should a new favorite win my place, my ruler shall be still supreme:\n  It were a sin should I my life more precious than my friend esteem.\n\n\n\nCLV\n\n  Last night my tears, a torrent stream, stopped Sleep by force:\n  I painted, musing on thy down, upon the water-course.\n\n  Then, viewing my Beloved one's brow--my cowl burnt up--\n  In honor of the sacred Arch I drained my flowing cup.\n\n  From my dear friend's resplendent brow pure light was shed;\n  And on that moon there fell from far the kisses that I sped.\n\n  The face of S\u00e1k\u00ed charmed my eye, the harp my ear:\n  At once for both mine ear and eye what omens glad were here!\n\n  I painted thine ideal face till morning's light,\n  Upon the studio of my eye, deprived of sleep at night.\n\n  My S\u00e1k\u00ed took at this sweet strain the wine-bowl up:\n  I sang to him these verses first; then drank to sparkling cup.\n\n  If any of my bird-like thoughts from joy's branch flew,\n  Back from the springes of thy lock their fleeting wings I drew.\n\n    The time of H\u00e1fiz passed in joy:\n    To friends I brought\n    For fortune and the days of life\n    The omens that they sought.\n\n\n\nCLVII\n\n  Come, S\u00fafi, let us from our limbs the dress that's worn for cheat Draw:\n  Let us a blotting line right through this emblem of deceit\n    Draw.\n\n  The convent's revenues and alms we'd sacrifice for wine awhile,\n  And through the vintry's fragrant flood this dervish-robe of guile\n    Draw.\n\n  Intoxicated, forth we'll dash, and from our feasting foe's rich stores\n  Bear off his wine, and then by force his charmer out of doors\n    Draw.\n\n  Fate may conceal her mystery, shut up within her hiding pale,\n  But we who act as drunken men will from its face the veil\n    Draw.\n\n  Here let us shine by noble deeds, lest we at last ashamed appear,\n  When starting for the other world, we hence our spirit's gear\n    Draw.\n\n  To-morrow at Rizv\u00e1n's green glade, should they refuse to make it ours,\n  We from their halls will the ghilm\u00e1n, the houris from their bowers\n    Draw.\n\n  Where can we see her winking brow, that we, as the new moon of old,\n  At once may the celestial ball, as with a bat of gold,\n    Draw?\n\n    O H\u00e1fiz! it becomes us not\n    Our boastful claims thus forth to put:\n    Beyond the limits of our rug\n    Why would we fain our foot\n      Draw?\n\n\n\nCLIX\n\n  Aloud I say it, and with heart of glee:\n  \"Love's slave am I, and from both worlds am free.\"\n\n  Can I, the bird of sacred gardens, tell\n  Into this net of chance how first I fell?\n\n  My place the Highest Heaven, an angel born,\n  I came by Adam to this cloister lorn.\n\n  Sweet houris, T\u00fab\u00e2's shade, and Fountain's brink\n  Fade from my mind when of thy street I think.\n\n  Knows no astrologer my star of birth:\n  Lord, 'neath what plant bore me Mother Earth?\n\n  Since with ringed ear I've served Love's house of wine,\n  Grief's gratulations have each hour been mine.\n\n  My eyeball's man drains my heart's blood; 'tis just:\n  In man's own darling did I place my trust.\n\n  My Loved one's Alif-form[45] stamps all my thought:\n  Save that, what letter has my master taught?\n\n    Let H\u00e1fiz' tear-drops\n      By thy lock be dried,\n    For fear I perish\n      In their rushing tide.\n\n\n\nCLXVI\n\n    Knowest thou what fortune is?\n      'Tis Beauty's sight obtaining;\n    'Tis asking in her lane for alms,\n      And royal pomp disdaining.\n\n  Sev'erance from the wish for life an easy task is ever;\n  But lose we friends who sweeten life, the tie is hard to sever.\n\n  Bud-like with a serried heart I'll to the orchard wander;\n  The garment of my good repute I'll tear to pieces yonder;\n\n  Now, as doth the West-wind, tell deep secrets to the Flower,\n  Hear now of Love's mysterious sport from bulbuls of the bower.\n\n  Kiss thy Beloved one's lips at first while the occasion lingers:\n  Await thou else disgust at last from biting lip and fingers.\n\n  Profit by companionship: this two-doored house forsaken,\n  No pathway that can thither lead in future time is taken.\n\n    H\u00e1fiz from the thought, it seems,\n      Of Sh\u00e1h Mansur has fleeted;\n    O Lord! remind him that the poor\n      With favor should be treated.\n\n\n\nCLXXIII\n\n  With my heart's blood I wrote to one most dear:\n  \"The earth seems doom-struck if thou are not near.\n\n  \"My eyes a hundred signs of absence show:\n  These tears are not their only signs of woe.\"\n\n  I gained no boon from her for labor spent:\n  \"Who tries the tried will in the end repent.\"\n\n  I asked how fared she; the physician spake:\n  \"Afar from her is health; but near her ache.\"\n\n  The East-wind from my Moon removed her veil:\n  At morn shone forth the Sun from vapors pale.\n\n  I said: \"They'll mock, if I go round thy lane.\"\n  By God! no love escapes the mocker's bane.\n\n    Grant H\u00e1fiz' prayer:\n    \"One cup, by life so sweet!\"\n    He seeks a goblet\n    With thy grace replete!\n\n\n\nCLXXX\n\n  O thou who art unlearned still, the quest of love essay:\n  Canst thou who hast not trod the path guide others on the way?\n\n  While in the school of Truth thou stay'st, from Master Love to learn,\n  Endeavor, though a son to-day, the father's grade to earn.\n\n  Slumber and food have held thee far from Love's exalted good:\n  Wouldst thou attain the goal of love, abstain from sleep and food.\n\n  If with the rays of love of truth thy heart and soul be clear,\n  By God! thy beauty shall outshine the sun which lights the sphere.\n\n  Wash from the dross of life thy hands, as the Path's men of old,\n  And winning Love's alchemic power, transmute thyself to gold.\n\n  On all thy frame, from head to foot, the light of God shall shine,\n  If on the Lord of Glory's path nor head nor foot be thine.\n\n  An instant plunge into God's sea, nor e'er the truth forget\n  That the Seven Seas' o'erwhelming tide, no hair of thine shall wet.\n\n  If once thy glancing eye repose on the Creator's face.\n  Thenceforth among the men who glance shall doubtless be thy place.[46]\n\n  When that which thy existence frames all upside-down shall be,\n  Imagine not that up and down shall be the lot of thee.\n\n    H\u00e1fiz, if ever in thy head\n      Dwell Union's wish serene,\n    Thou must become the threshold's dust\n      Of men whose sight is keen.\n\n\n\n[FOOTNOTES to THE DIVAN]\n\n[Footnote 1: \"The traveller of the Pathway\"--the Magian, or Shaikh. In\nformer times wine was chiefly sold by Magians, and as the keepers of\ntaverns and caravansaries grew popular, the term Magian was used to\ndesignate not only \"mine host,\" but also a wise old man, or spiritual\nteacher.]\n\n[Footnote 2: An allusion to the dimple and moisture of the chin,\nconsidered great beauties by Orientals.]\n\n[Footnote 3: Jem or Jemsh\u00edd, an ancient King of Persia. By Jem and his\nS\u00e1k\u00ed are to be understood, in this couplet, the King of Yazd and his\ncourtiers.]\n\n[Footnote 4: By the azure cowl is implied the cloak of deceit and false\nhumility. H\u00e1fiz uses this expression to cast ridicule upon Shaikh\nHazan's order of dervishes, who were inimical to the brotherhood of\nwhich the poet was a member. The dervishes mentioned wore blue to\nexpress their celestial aspirations.]\n\n[Footnote 5: The disciples of Shaikh Hasan. H\u00e1fiz had incurred their\ndispleasure by the levity of his conduct.]\n\n[Footnote 6: In the \"Gulistan\" of Sa'di a philosopher declares that, of\nall the trees, the cypress is alone to be called free, because, unlike\nthe others, it is not subject to the vicissitudes of appointed place and\nseason, \"but is at all times fresh and green, and this is the condition\nof the free.\"]\n\n[Footnote 7: In some MSS. we read: \"The mirror of Sikander is the goblet\nof Jem.\" King Jem, or Jemsh\u00edd, had a talismanic cup: Sikander, or\nAlexander, had inherited from pre-Adamite times a magic mirror by means\nof which he was enabled to see into the camp of his enemy D\u00e1r\u00e1 (Darius).\nH\u00e1fiz here informs us that the knowledge imputed to either king was\nobtained by wine.]\n\n[Footnote 8: Referring to wine, which in the Koran is declared to be the\nMother of Vices.]\n\n[Footnote 9: Korah, Kore, or K\u00e1run, the Dives of his age, was an\nalchemist. He lived in an excess of luxury and show. At the height of\nhis pride and gluttony he rebelled against Moses, refusing to pay a\ntithe of his possessions for the public use. The earth then opened and\nswallowed him up together with the palace in which he dwelt. (See Koran,\nchap, xxviii, and, for the Bible narrative, The Book of Numbers, chap,\nxvi.)]\n\n[Footnote 10: It was decreed from all eternity that H\u00e1fiz should drink\nwine. He had therefore no free agency and could not be justly blamed.]\n\n[Footnote 11: The boy serving at the wine-house.]\n\n[Footnote 12: The curl of hair over a moon-like face is here compared to\na curved mall-bat sweeping over a ball.]\n\n[Footnote 13: By \"earth\" is to be understood Noah himself.]\n\n[Footnote 14: Fate, Fortune, and the Sky, are in Oriental poetry\nintervertible expressions; and the dome of Heaven is compared to a cup\nwhich is full of poison for the unfortunate.]\n\n[Footnote 15: The rebeck is a sort of violin having only three chords.]\n\n[Footnote 16: His locks being black as night and his cheek cheerful as\nthe Sun of Da\u00ef or December.]\n\n[Footnote 17: Kai-k\u00e1\u00fas, one of the most celebrated monarchs of Persia.]\n\n[Footnote 18: The pictured halls of China, or, in particular, the palace\nof Arzhang, the dwelling of Manes. Manes lived in the third century of\nour era, and his palace was famed as the Chinese picture-gallery. H\u00e1fiz\ncompares the bloom upon the cheek of his friend to the works of art\nexecuted by Manes, in which dark shadows, like velvety down upon the\nhuman face, excite no surprise.]\n\n[Footnote 19: The Nasr\u00edn is the dog-rose.]\n\n[Footnote 20: In Mohammedan countries it is customary to write upon the\ndoors: \"O Opener of the gates! open unto us the gates of blessing.\"]\n\n[Footnote 21: Rizv\u00e1n is the gardener and gatekeeper of Paradise.]\n\n[Footnote 22: The lote-tree, known to Arabs as the T\u00fab\u00e2, is a prickly\nshrub. The Koran says: \"To those who believe, and perform good works,\nappertain welfare and a fair retreat. The men of the right hand--how\nhappy shall be the men of the right hand!--shall dwell among the\nlote-trees without thorns. Under their feet rivers shall flow in the\ngarden of Delight.\"]\n\n[Footnote 23: According to Oriental belief, the ruby and all other gems,\nderive their brilliancy from the action of the sun. By a similar process\nof Nature, ruby lips obtain their vivid color from the sun above them.]\n\n[Footnote 24: The zodiacal light or faint illumination of the sky which\ndisappears before the light of daybreak.]\n\n[Footnote 25: \u00c1saf, Solomon's \"Vizir,\" was entrusted with the\nguardianship of the imperial signet ring, which was possessed of magical\nproperties. While in his care it was stolen. When Solomon granted an\naudience to animals, and even insects, the ant, it is related, brought\nas an offering a blade of grass and rebuked \u00c1saf for having guarded the\nroyal treasure so carelessly. By \u00c1saf, H\u00e1fiz symbolizes in the present\ninstance his friend or favorite; by the ant is implied a small hair on\nthe face, and by the lost signet of Jem, a beautiful mouth, so small and\ndelicate as to be invisible.]\n\n[Footnote 26: Majn\u00fan, a celebrated lover, maddened by the charms of\nLail\u00e0.]\n\n[Footnote 27: This ode may have been written in gratitude for the\npatronage of a man of rank.]\n\n[Footnote 28: Literally in this toper-consuming shrine (of the world).\nThe second line of the couplet probably means: Other revellers have\npreceded me, but their heads are now potter's clay in the potter's field\nof the earth.]\n\n[Footnote 29: The wild tulip of Shiraz has white petals streaked with\npink, the inner end of each bearing a deep puce mark. The dark spot\nformed thus in the centre of the flower is compared to the brand of\nlove, pre-ordained on the Past Day of Eternity to be imprinted on the\nheart of H\u00e1fiz.]\n\n[Footnote 30: Khosr\u00e1u (Cyrus) is the title of several ancient kings of\nPersia, and is here used in the plural to denote monarchs in general.\nThe term \"kiblah,\" fronting-point, signifies the object towards which\nthe worshipper turns when he prays.]\n\n[Footnote 31: Korah or K\u00e1run--the miser who disobeyed Moses and was\nswallowed up with his treasures by the earth. They are said to be still\nsinking deeper and deeper. (See Numbers, xvi.)]\n\n[Footnote 32: How vain were the glories of Solomon! \u00c1saf was his\nminister, the East wind his courser, and the language of birds one of\nhis accomplishments; but the blast of time had swept them away.]\n\n[Footnote 33: The \"Comment of the Comments\" is a celebrated explanatory\ntreatise on the Koran.]\n\n[Footnote 34: K\u00e1f is a fabulous mountain encircling the world. In this\ncouplet and the following the poet ridicules the ascetics of his time.]\n\n[Footnote 35: The false coiners are inferior poets who endeavor to pass\noff their own productions as the work of H\u00e1fiz.]\n\n[Footnote 36: Aiman (Happiness) is the valley in which God appeared to\nMoses--metaphorically, the abode of the Beloved.]\n\n[Footnote 37: \"Mihr\u00e1b\"--the niche in a mosque, towards which Mohammedans\npray.]\n\n[Footnote 38: Kalandars are an order of Mohammedan dervishes who wander\nabout and beg. The worthless sectaries of Kalandarism, H\u00e1fiz says, shave\noff beard and tonsure, but the true or spiritual Kalandar shapes his\npath by a scrupulous estimate of duty.]\n\n[Footnote 39: \"Farrukh\" (auspicious) is doubtless the name of some\nfavorite of the Poet.]\n\n[Footnote 40: \"Hind\u00fa\" is here equivalent to \"slave.\"]\n\n[Footnote 41: Zerdusht (in Latin, Zoroaster)--the celebrated prophet of\nthe Gulbres, or fire-worshippers. Nimrod is said to have practised a\nreligion, similar to theirs.]\n\n[Footnote 42: \u00c1d and Tham\u00fad were Arab tribes exterminated by God in\nconsequence of their having disobeyed the prophet S\u00e1lih.]\n\n[Footnote 43: By a \"grain\" is meant a grain of wheat; according to\nMohammedans, the forbidden fruit of Paradise.]\n\n[Footnote 44: Kam\u00e1l was an Arab whose glance inflicted death.]\n\n[Footnote 45: \"Alif-form,\" meaning a straight and erect form: the\nletter Alif being, as it were, of upright stature.]\n\n[Footnote 46: \"The men who glance\" are lovers. The spiritual or true\nlover is he who loves God.]\n\n\nEND OF VOLUME ONE","title":"The Persian Literature, Comprising The Shah Nameh, The Rubaiyat, The Divan, and The Gulistan, Volume 1","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":142878}