The third day at the dawn the Sháh went forth,
He and his men, to hunt upon the plain;
Hurmuz, his minister, was on his left,
And on his right the holy archimage.
They told him tales, discoursing of Jamshíd
And Farídún.*

Before them were the hounds,
The cheetahs, hawks, and falcons. Thus they shortened
The tedious day. Bright Sol was high, but still
They saw no trace of deer or onager,
And so Bahrám Gúr, troubled by the heat,
Turned back in dudgeon from the hunting-field.
He came upon a verdurous spot fulfilled
With houses, men, and cattle. Many folk
Came from the settlement to see the troops,
But no man did obeisance! Thou hadst said:—
“The earth hath tethered every ass of them!”
The monarch, vexed and overcome by heat,
Had fixed upon that village for a halt.
Its folk disgusted him, he viewed them not
With favour, and in anger thus addressed
The high priest: “What an ill-starred spot is this!
Be it a lair for wild beasts and for game,
And may its streams run pitch.”

The archimage,

Who took this for an order, turned aside

Toward the village and informed the folk:—
“This verdant spot—all fruitage, men, and cattle—
Hath greatly pleased Bahrám, the king of kings,
Who hath a new design respecting it.
He raiseth all of you to noble rank
To turn this pleasant village to a city.
Here, lord and hireling, ye shall be all equal.
Men, women, children, ye shall be all chiefs,
Each of you be the master of the village.”
Glad shouts rose from that prosperous settlement
Because the people were all lords alike.
Thenceforth, man's rede or woman's, 'twas all one,
And slave and hireling were their master's peers.
The village-youths, no longer checked by awe,
Cut off their elders' heads, then fell upon
Each other and, where roads were not, shed blood.
At that to-do folk fled incontinent.
The helpless aged remained, but there remained not
The implements of culture, goods, and crops.
The settlement had ruin in its face,
The trees were withered and the streams ran dry,
The land and houses were all desolate,
And shunned of man and beast. Now when a year
Had passed and spring returned the monarch went
A-hunting in those parts and reached that spot
Erst populous and blithe, and saw the place
O'erturned, trees withered, habitations waste,
And not a man or beast throughout the march.
Thereat the Sháh turned pale, the fear of God
Came on him, he was grievously distressed,
And thus addressed the archmage: “O Rúzbih!
Alack! this place so jocund once is ruined!
Go to now and restore it with my treasures,
And take such order that the folk henceforth
Be scathless.”

Going from the royal presence

The archmage sped forth to that scene of ruin.
From street to street he hurried and at last
Came on an old man unemployed. Dismounting
He spake the elder fair, made him sit down
Near by, and said to him: “Old, honoured sir!
Who wrecked this district once so populous?”
The old man answered thus: “Our monarch once
Was passing through our parts, and thereupon
There came to us a witless archimage,
One of those useless people with big names,
And said to us: ‘Ye all are chieftains here:
See that ye pay respect to nobody.
Be masters, all of you, both men and women,
And great among the great.’ Such were his words,

And all the township was convulsed thereat,
All rapine, murder, stick! May God befriend him
In like proportion, may grief, death, and hardship
Ne'er stale with him. Our case is growing worse,
And such that folk must weep for us.”

Rúzbih,

Grieved for that old man, asked: “Who is your
chief?”
The other answered: “Who will have a place
Where there is naught excepting seed and grass?”
Rúzbih replied: “Be thou the governor,
Be as the crown upon the head in all things,
Make requisition from the world-lord's treasures
For money, oxen, asses, grain, and produce;
Bring to the village all the unemployed;
They all are subjects, thou alone art chief,
And curse no more the ancient archimage,
Who spake not as he would in what he said.
If thou wilt have assistants from the court
I will dispatch them. Ask for what thou wilt.”
The elder joyed to hear this and was freed
From longsome grief. He hied him home forthwith,
Brought others to his Cistern and began
To people and apportion out the lands.
They borrowed from their neighbours ox and ass,
And furnished all the plain. He and his settlers
Worked hard and planted many trees on all sides,
And, when his labour had restored one piece,
The hearts of those that dwelt therein rejoiced.
Those that had fled, their heart's blood in their eyes,
Flocked back on hearing of that restoration,
And of the toils of that white-headed chief,
And reinstated street and water-course,
While fowl, ox, ass, and sheep all multiplied
Upon the cultured parts, and everywhere
Folk planted trees till that waste spot became
Like Paradise. The third year he restored
The town: the chief was blessed in all his labours.
When jocund spring came round the Sháh went forth
Upon the plain a-hunting with Rúzbih,
The high priest. When the pair drew near the hamlet
Bahrám Gúr suddenly beheld the world
All crops and cattle, lofty mansions rose,
And all the township thronged with sheep and oxen.
'Twas all streams, pleasances, and growing crops,
And fenugreek and tulips filled the hills,
Whereon roamed sheep and lambs, for hill and dale
Had grown to be a paradise. The Sháh

Said to the high priest: “O Rúzbih! what didst thou
To make this verdant village waste and scatter
Its men and beasts, and what hast thou dispensed
In thus restoring it?”

The high priest answered:—

“This ancient seat was ruined by a word,
And by a word restored, to please the Sháh.
He bade me: ‘Take thou treasure and dínárs,
And make this verdant spot a wilderness,’
But I feared God and blame from great and small.
When friends, though one in heart, are two in aim
'Tis ruin, as I have perceived, to both;
So when there are two rulers in a state
Their land will be o'erturned. I went and said
Thus to the elders of this settlement:—
‘O men! there is no ruler over you
From this time forth, but women, children, slaves,
Hirelings and husbandmen, are lords alike.’
When those who had been underlings became
Lords too the nobles' heads were all brought low,
And all the place was ruined by a word.
Thus was I far removed from all reproach,
And apprehension of God's chastisement.
Thereafter, when the Sháh had ruth on them,
I went and pointed out another course;
I made a wise, old man and eloquent,
A man of leading and informed, the ruler.
He laboured and restored the waste, rejoicing
His subjects' hearts. When one man ruled, the counsel
Was good, prosperity increased, ill waned.
I, unobserved, had shown them what was bad,
And opened afterward the way of God.
Discourse is better than fine-watered gems
When 'tis employed aright. Let wisdom be
The Sháh, the tongue the paladin, if thou
Wouldst have thy spirit easy. May thy heart
Be glad for aye and free from wile and waste.”
The Sháh, on hearing, cried: “Well done, Rúzbih!
Thou'rt worthy of a crown!”

Bahrám Gúr gave

That old man worshipful and prescient
A purse all filled with gold dínárs. For him
A robe of honour too they fashionéd
Of royal stuffs, and cloud-ward raised his head.