The Sháh then gave his steed Bihzád, his helm
Of steel, and sable breastplate to Nastúr,
The slaughtered prince's son who, armed and mounted,
Rode forth between the opposing hosts and, halting
Before the battle of the enemy,
Heaved from his breast a deep, cold sigh, and cried:—
“Nastúr am I, the offspring of Zarír:
The lion dareth not encounter me.
Where is that warlock Bídirafsh who holdeth
The flag of Káwa?”
As no answer came
He urged along night-hued Bihzád, and slew
Full many a valiant warrior of the host,
While no one went forth to encounter him;
On this side too the brave Asfandiyár
Slew of them past all counting and compute.
Whenas the king of Chín beheld Nastúr—
That youthful paladin of Kaian race—
He cried out to his troops: “What man is this,
This spearman so accomplished, who hath slain
My chiefs in numbers numberless, unless
Zarír, the cavalier, hath come to life—
He that came out against me at the first,
And urged his charger in this selfsame way?
Where is the chosen warrior Bídirafsh?
Ho! summon him before me, and right soon.”
Then Bídirafsh went forth at once, he bare
The violet flag, was mounted on the charger
Of prince Zarír, and wore the prince's mail.
They wheeled—
Zarír's son and that chief of Turkman warlocks—
Contending with their scimitars and arrows.
Men told the glorious Asfandiyár,
The Sháh's son, of their combating, who made
All haste to go to them. Now when that chief
Of sorcerers beheld this, and perceived
What man now was advancing to assail him,
He urged his charger from amid the fray,
And hurled his baneful weapon at the prince
To darken if he might that radiant face;
It missed the prince, who caught it in his hand
And pierced—a hero's stroke—his foeman's liver,
So that the point came out the other side.
Thus Bídirafsh fell from his steed and perished,
Experiencing the might of Kaian birth.
Asfandiyár dismounted from his steed,
And stripping off the armour of Zarír—
The noble hero—from that ancient warlock,
Whose head he severed from its trunk withal,
He carried off the prince's glossy charger,
The flag, and head of worthless Bídirafsh.
The Kaian army raised a shout, all sent
Their clamour through the skies: “The prince hath
triumphed,
Hath overthrown the foe, gone forth, and brought
The dun steed back!”
The prince, that valiant horseman,
Brought to the Sháh Zarír's horse and presented
The head of that old warlock. Thus he slew
The slayer as by law and wont is due.