Mine author saith that when the Sháh bestowed
A royal crown upon Asfandiyár
There was a certain noble hight Gurazm,
A famous war-worn warrior, who cherished
A secret enmity against the prince.
I know not why it was, but I have heard
That this man was a kinsman of Gushtásp's,
And always ill-disposed toward his son,*

And, when that prince's fame was noised abroad,
Was wont to slander and belittle him.
Once at the dawn of day the famous Sháh,
While sitting in the banquet-hall at ease,
Gave audience to the chosen of his host,
The magnates, kings, and others of high birth.

Gurazm sat, his visage passion-pale
And heart all black with hate, before the Sháh,
The glorious one. Now mark the villain's conduct
What time the converse turned upon the prince,
For thereupon he wrung his hands, and cried:—
“A wicked son is like an enemy,
And, being such, should win advancement never.
An archimage, a holy man, hath told us:—
‘A puissant son, if he becometh great,
Will alter for the worse his sire's estate;
A slave that is disloyal to his lord
Should be beheaded as his just reward.’”
Gushtásp asked what the riddler meant, and said:—
“What is this riddle? Who doth know the answer?”
The slanderous Kaian said: “'Twere indiscreet
To tell it now.”

The great king cleared the hall,

And said to that deceiver: “Come to me,
Reveal the whole to me and what my son,
That man of serpent faith, concealeth from me.”
Gurazm, the ill-disposed, made answer thus:—
“To do the right thing is the part of wisdom.
The Sháh hath satisfied mine every wish,
And I must keep no secrets from the Sháh.
I will not keep my counsel back from him,
E'en though it proveth unacceptable,
I will in no wise keep it from my lord,
Though he should let me never speak again,
Because for me to speak, although he hear not,
Is better than to hide from him the secret.
Know then, O world-lord! that Asfandiyár
Is clearly bent on battle, troops have flocked
In multitudes, and all men turned, to him.

His purpose is to put thee into bonds;
He cannot bear that thou shouldst be the Sháh,
And, when he hath laid hands on thee and bound
thee,
Will make the whole world subject to himself.
Thou knowest that Asfandiyár is one
That hath no peer in battle, and when he
Hath coiled his lasso up the sun itself
Will not dare meet him. I have told thee truly
What I have heard; so now be well-advised;
To counsel and take action are for thee.”
Now when Gurazm spake thus before the Shah
That famous warrior was all astound,
And said: “Whoever saw a thing so monstrous?”
In dudgeon he began to hate his son;
He quaffed no wine withal, forwent his pleasures,
Refused the feast, and heaved deep, chilling sighs;
He could not sleep for thinking all that night,
Possessed by wrath against Asfandiyár.
As soon as dawn breathed from the mountain-tops,
And starlight disappeared, he called to him
Jámásp, that man of much experience,
His minister in chief, and said: “Approach
Asfandiyár, call him forthwith, conduct him
To me, and say: ‘A great affair is toward,
And therefore come, O leader of the realm!
Thy presence is required, and for my part,
When thou art absent, nothing prospereth.’”
He wrote an urgent letter in these words:—
“O noble, glorious Asfandiyár!
I have dispatched the old Jámásp to thee,
Who can remember to have seen Luhrásp.
When thou beholdest him gird up thy loins,
And come with him upon swift-footed steeds.
If thou art lying down spring to thy feet,
And if thou shalt be standing tarry not.”
Charged with the letter of the Sháh in haste
That wise man crossed the hills and trod the waste.