Ahran departed and prepared whatever
Gushtásp required of him. When all was ready
The hero mounted, and with his companions
Set forward. When Híshwí saw Mount Sakíla
He pointed with his finger, breathing hard,
And when the sun shot out its rays on high
He and Ahran turned and retraced their steps.
Gushtásp remained before the mountain-lair
Of that fierce worm and, having hung his helmet
Upon his saddle, thinking dragon's breath
And death but trifles, drew anear the mountain,
And gave a shout that made the dragon quake.
Now when it looked upon that lofty form
It strove to suck Gushtásp in with its breath,
While he rained arrows on it swift as hail,
And thick as petals from pomegranate-bloom.

It closed with him. Invoking all his powers
The young man thrust his sword adown its jaws,
And called upon the Judge who giveth good.
The dragon gnashed its teeth upon the sword
Deep in its maw, while blood and venom flowed
And drenched the mount until the brute grew weak.
Then, scimitar in hand, the Lion clove
The dragon's head and strewed the rock with brains.
Dismounting next that lucky warrior
Prized out a couple of the dragon's teeth,
And thence departing washed his head and body;
Then as he wallowed in the dust he raised
His voice before the Lord, the Victory-giver,
Who had bestowed on him such mastery
O'er wolf and lusty dragon, saying: “Luhrásp
And glorious Zarír had had enough,
Both soul and body, of Gushtásp, yet I
By shrewdness, courage, and sheer strength have flung
A dragon such as this upon the dust!
My lot from fortune is but travail, hardship,
And bane spread out instead of antidote.
If the Omnipotent shall grant me life
To look once more upon the monarch's face,
Then will I say: ‘What hath the throne availed me?
I sought the throne and fortune disappeared.’”
With tearful cheeks he mounted on his steed,
Still grasping in his hand his glittering sword,
And coming to Híshwí and to Ahran
Informed them of that marvel, saying: “The dragon
Proved naught before this trenchant blade of mine.
Ye were afraid of that great dragon's breath,
And in the matter of the wolf, but I
Am more distressed by fight with valiant captains,
Exalted and equipped with massive maces,
Than by contending with a crocodile
That cometh from the depths to fight with me.
Seen have I many a dragon such as this,
And never turned my back thereon in fight.”
They heard him—young in speech but old in know-ledge—
And those two nobles came and reverenced him:—
“O Lion! never will be born of woman
One brave as thou. The Master of the world
Aid thee whose might hath done the deed for us.”
Ahran produced abundance of rich gifts,
With noble steeds caparisoned. Gushtásp
Accepted for himself a sword, a bay,
A bow, ten wooden arrows, and a lasso,
Bestowing everything that still remained—
New raiment and dínárs—upon Híshwí.
Gushtásp said: “Nobody must know this matter,
Or be aware that I have seen the dragon,
Or hearkened to the howling of the wolf.”
He went thence merrily to Katáyún.
Ahran fetched wains and oxen, and consigned
The carcase of the dragon to his servants.
He said: “Convey it unto Cæsar's court
In presence of the great men of the host.”
He went himself before the wains and oxen
To Cæsar. When they gat the news in Rúm
The veterans hurried forth and, when the oxen
Descended from the mountain to the plain,
A shout rose from the concourse at that stroke,
And that grim dragon burdening ox and wagon.

V. 1477

They cried: “This is a stroke of Áhriman's,
And not Ahran's own sword and scimitar!”
They brought forth from the palace Cæsar's throne,
And called the great and wise. Then o'er the dragon
They held high revelry from dawn till dark.
The next day when the sun had crowned the sky,
And when the teaks were gilded with its rays,
The bishop came at the command of Cæsar,
Who seated him upon the golden throne.
Then the patricians and the presbyters,
So far as they were men of any standing,
Assembled in the presence of the prelate,
Of Cæsar, of his veterans, and advisers,
To marry Cæsar's daughter to Ahran,
Her loving mother giving her consent.
Then Cæsar, after all the folk had gone,
Spake thus, his heart still thrilling with delight:—
“This is my day of days! High heaven illumeth
My heart, for none will see in all the world
'Midst great and small two sons-in-law like mine.”
They wrote a letter unto all the chiefs,
Possessing throne and diadem, and said:—
“The dragon fierce and towering wolf are slain;
Two mighty heroes' hands their lives have ta'en.”