Gúdarz upon the eighth day called a scribe,
And bade him write the answer, planting thus
Another tree of feud. He offered praise
To God, then point by point made this response:—
“Thy letter I have read and understand

Thy purposes. Rúín too hath delivered
Thy message, but I wonder at thy writing
Such goodly words, because thy tongue and heart
Accord not, and thy soul is poor in wisdom.
In all affairs thou speakest courteously,
And usest phrases so instinct with grace
That any one that is not really wise
Would rest with confidence on thy good will;
Yet art thou like those salt-marsh tracts which look
Afar like water when the sun is on them;
But lies and trickery are no avail
When it is time for mace and spear and lasso.
I will have naught with thee but war and strife,
This is no time for parley and rejoinder,
For glozing, league, and love, but to discern
The aspect of the sky, and mark to whom
God will give strength, the sun, and conquering fortune.
Still hear me, and let wisdom be thy guide;
First for thy saying: ‘I, through loving kindness,
Through fear of God, and recent happenings,
Wish not for war; my heart is strait and darkened
By all this coil.’ Thy tongue and heart agreed not
What time these words were passing through thy lips,
Because if justice had possessed thy heart
Thou hadst not been the foremost to shed blood.
When Gív first came to thee with prudent nobles,
Brave officers, and other clear-brained chieftains,
With fair discourse and prudent counsellings,
Thou didst array thine army for this fight,
And leave thine own land to invade another.
In every conflict thou hast been aggressor.
This tardy wisdom should have come before,
And peace been thy beginning not thine end;
But thine ill disposition and ill strain
Are forcing thee to quit the path of wisdom,
Because the nature of thy race is evil—
A race that is inured to treachery.
Thou knowest how high-born Íraj was used
By Túr in envy of the crown and throne;
How ill came on the earth through Túr and Salm,
How vengeance and injustice spread around;
How Farídún in agony of heart
Had open lips to curse them night and day;
And how by help of God who giveth good,
Who tendered and supported Minúchihr
In seeking vengeance and in justifying
The world by Grace of his supremacy,
Túr was requited for his wickedness.
Thus much time passed until the evil strain
Had reached Afrásiyáb through men of name
But little wit; he sought a new revenge
On Minúchihr, Naudar, and Kai Kubád,
Did that whereof we wot to Kai Káús,
Sent dust up from the homesteads of Írán,
And lastly with the blood of Siyáwush
Prepared the base of new and lengthy strife.
Thou hadst no thought of justice at the time
When Siyáwush though guiltless yielded up
Sweet life. How many great men of Írán
With crown and state have perished in this feud!
Thou sayest next: ‘O thou with hoary hair!
How long wilt thou be girded to shed blood?’
Know, veteran deceiver who hast witnessed
The ups and downs of life! that God hath given me
A length of days and an illustrious fortune
That I, in vengeance on the day of battle,
Might send the dust up sunward from Túrán;
And all mine apprehension is that God
May end my life ere I have been revenged,
And trodden underfoot your fields and fells.
Thou sayest thirdly: ‘I see not in thee
The heart-felt fear and awe of holy God.
Dost thou not realise that wanton bloodshed
Will be thine own undoing in the end?’
If for thy gentle words I turn from fight
Almighty God will ask at Question-time
About the days that I have spent on earth,
And say: ‘I gave thee leadership and strength,
With manhood, wealth, and skill; why didst not thou
Gird in the presence of the Íránians
Thy loins in wreak for Siyáwush?’ And when
The just Judge asketh me about the blood
Of all those seventy noble sons of mine,
How shall I tell the Maker of the world
The motives that seduced me from revenge?
And fourthly as to wreak for Siyáwush
Thou sayest, ancient prince! ‘For one now dust
'Tis wrong to take the lives of living men.’
Remember all the foul deeds which have been
Most grievous to the heart in every way,
The deeds which ye have wrought upon Írán,
What numbers of our monarchs ye have wronged,
What treaties have been broken, feuds begun,
And your eternal instancy in ill!
How can I think of these things and make peace,
For all along thou hast held evil good?
Thou sayest fifthly: ‘I will covenant
With thee, will give the chiefs as hostages,
Send treasure to Khusrau and end my travail.’
Know then, O chieftain of the Turkman host!
That we have no such orders from the Sháh.
He bade me fight, avenging Siyáwush
With blood for blood, and if I disobey
My soul will shame before him. If thou hopest
That he will look with favour on thy words
Send him Lahhák and that stanch liege Rúín
As hostages, with treasures such as may be,
At once; the road is open to Írán.
And sixthly for the lands, the populous
And fertile provinces, of which thou said'st:—
‘We will evacuate and surrender them,’
God hath forestalled thee; if thou knowest not
I will explain. Luhrásp hath all the west
As far as to the marches of Khazar;
Toward the south, and all the way to Sind,
The world is like a glittering Rúman glaive,
For gallant Rustam with his trenchant sword
Hath raised therefrom a Resurrection-blast,
And hath despatched the prince of Hindustán,
Together with his black flag, to the Sháh.
In Dahistán, Khárazm, and in those parts
Where Turkmans ruled, the plains are cleared of those
Who made the raids; Ashkash hath hailed on Shída,
Hath brought him down nigh unto death, and sent
Khusrau withal the captives and much spoil.
Now here the contest is betwixt us twain.
Thou hast beheld these famous Lions' prowess
And mine; if thou wilt meet me face to face
I will release thee from all further parley,
For by God's power and at the Sháh's command
Will I submerge this battlefield in blood.
Observe, O famous leader of the host!
The revolutions of the sun and moon,
For heaven hath nigh enthralled thee and the head
Of Turkman fortune is within the shears.
Mark what the Maker will bring down upon thee
For thine ill deeds; time hath uncloaked thy crimes,
And ill is manifest, requiting ill.
Be very heedful, ope thine cars and hearken
To wise men's words. Know that this host so famed,
These hundred thousand horsemen drawing swords,
And all in quest of honour and revenge,
Will not be charmed off from this battlefield.
I reach the seventh point. Thou 'stablishest
Thine honesty by oath. 'Twixt me and thee
There is no talk of league; no dealings hath
Thy soul with wisdom since in all thy compacts
Thou leavest honesty in tears. Thine oath
Wrecked Siyáwush. May no one trust thy words.
Thou didst not save him in his evil day,
Much as he called on thee in his distress!
The eighth point is, thou say'st: ‘My crown and throne,
My valour and my fortune, are more great
Than thine, and I possess more men and treasure,
But out of love for thee my soul is sad.’
Methinketh that thou hast without a doubt
Proved me in war ere this. Thou know'st if thou
Hast found me wanting in the day of battle.
Now scan me well again: in wealth and crown,
In throne and prowess, haply I exceed thee
At every point. And lastly thou hast said:—
‘Choose champions for the fray; I too will bring
Exalted horsemen from the Turkman host,
For, out of tenderness toward my troops,
I would not spread injustice and revenge.’
Thou dost not proffer this in tenderness,
Because thou knowest thine own heart and purpose.
The Sháh, the world-lord, will be wroth with me
If I shall cause our armies thus to part;
Before me is a guilty host wherewith
My people are aggrieved, the Sháh will never
Allow me to shun fight on such a plea.
First in full force our armies like two mountains
Must shock in battle. Let them be arrayed
In line upon the space which is between them,
And haply victory may declare itself;
But if not, we will choose a ground and champions,
And my word shall be kept though thine be broken.
But if thou wilt not with thy present force
Encounter me, then ask thy king for more,
And carefully consider thy position.
As for the wounded absent from the ranks,
Among thy kith and kindred and allies,
Wait till the leeches make them whole, for now
To gain time is of consequence to thee.
If thou wouldst have of me delay or respite
Well—but if battle set thy host in order.
I speak thus that upon the day of fight
Thou mayst not dare excuse thyself and say:—
‘Thou camest on us unexpectedly,
Didst lie in wait, and gavest us no time.’
If I shall seek revenge a hundred years,
Or now at once, 'tis all the same to me.
There is no hope that I shall leave this feud;
'Tis ever present to me night and day.”
Whenas the letter of reply was done
The envoy fairy-like appeared therefor
With girded loins upon a rapid steed,
Escorted by a band of cavaliers.
Rúín the warrior lighted from his horse,
And introduced his escort to Gúdarz.
The chieftain ordered that the archimages,
And all the famous sages of the host—
Wise men and shrewd—should come to him forthwith.
The paladin bade read to them his answer.
The great men, having heard that cogent letter
Recited by the well-graced scribe, ignored
The sense and counsel of Pírán, and thought
His rede but shallow, while they praised Gúdarz,
And hailed him as the paladin of earth.
He sealed and gave the letter to Rúín,
Son of Pírán of Wísa's race, and bade,
What time they rose to go, prepare a robe
Of honour—Arab steeds with golden trappings,
And crowns and scimitars with golden sheaths.
He gave Rúín's companions gold and silver,
With crowns and belts to those of rank for them.
Rúín departed with his little troop
Back to his host. Arrived, he came before
His sire, as was his duty, and bent low
Before the throne. The veteran Pírán
Embraced him. When Rúín had given the answer,
Sent by the general of the Sháh, he told
What he himself had witnessed. Then a scribe
Read out the letter to the paladin,
Whose cheek upon the instant grew like pitch.
His heart became all pain, his soul all dread;
He recognised that his decline was near,
But took it patiently and silently,
And kept it from his troops whom afterward
He thus harangued: “Gúdarz is obstinate;
His heart is instant with him to avenge
The slaughter of his seventy sons beloved.
If on the past he base revenge anew
Shall I not gird me to avenge forthwith
My brothers and nine hundred famous heads
Lost to their bodies on the day of battle,
For in Túrán there is no cavalier
To gird him like Húmán and Nastíhan—
That shadowing cypress-tree which in a breath
Evanished from the copse? And now to arms!
I will not leave the Íránians field or fell,
But, by God's strength and our sharp scimitars,
Bring down upon that folk the Day of Doom.”
Such in the herds of horses as were fit
He brought at once to camp from every side.
He mounted all the infantry and gave
To each of them two chargers fit for service.
Then, opening a hoard laid up of yore,
Began to make disbursements from his store.