Anon one said to Kai Káús: “This monarch
Hath in his bower a daughter goodlier
In stature than a cypress, crowned with musk,
With locks like lassos, dagger-shaped of tongue,

With lips like sugar, decked like Paradiso
With charms, or like bright Sol in jocund spring.
None ??o should be the consort of the Sháh:
How good it were for him to mate this Moon!”
His heart was stirred, he answered: “It is well,
I will demand her from her sire; her beauty
Will well become my ladies' bower.”

He chose

A man of noble birth, shrewd, wise, and grave,
Bade him set forward to Hámávarán,
And said: “Dispose the king to favour me,
And charm his intellect with honied words.
Say thus to him: ‘The most redoubted chiefs
Throughout the world seek mine affinity
Because the sun is lighted from my crown,
Earth is the footing of mine ivory throne,
And one that sh??ltereth not beneath my shado
Hath little standing-room. I seek to be
Affined to thee and wash the face of peace.
Now I have heard that thou hast in thy bower
A daughter who is worthy of my state,
Immaculate in form and countenance,
Praised everywhere by all. Thou wilt obtain
The son of Kai Kubád as son-in-law,
For know that Sol thus favoureth thy cause.’”
This shrewd man with the ready tongue approached
The ruler of Hámávarán, adorned
His tongue with eloquence, his heart with zeal,
And furnished forth his lips with courtesies,
He gave that monarch greeting from Káús,
Then did the embassage, which pained the king,
Who thought: “Though he be king of kings and world-
lord
Victorious and obeyed, I have no daughter
But this, and she is dearer than sweet life;
Yet if I slight and spurn this messenger

I cannot fight. 'Tis best to shut mine eyes
To this affliction and repress my wrath.”
He answered that fair-spoken envoy thus:—
“He asketh of me much—two things unequalled
In preciousness; my wealth is my support,
My child my treasure; being robbed of her
My very heart is gone, yet I resign them
And yield to his request.”

He called Súdába,

And full of sorrow spake thus of Káús:—
“A courteous envoy hath arrived and brought
A letter from that mighty lord, who lacketh
Naught that is great and good, to this effect:—
He would deprive me, though I wish it not,
Of heart-repose and all my peace of mind.
What dost thou say now? What is thine own wish?
What is thy shrewd decision in this case?”
Súdába answered: “If this must be so
There is no need to sup on grief to-day.
Why grieve at union with the king of earth,
Who can deprive the mighty of their lands?
This is not grief but joy.”

The king perceived

That she was not unwilling, called the envoy,
And gave him the chief place. They made a compact,
Each with the rites and sanctions then obtaining.

The broken-hearted monarch and his chiefs
Were busied for a week, and then brought forth
Two scores of litters and three hundred slaves,
A thousand each of camels, steeds, and mules,
Whose loads were of dínárs and of brocade,
And 'neath the haudahs hung embroidered trappings.
An escort was drawn up in long defile;
The New Moon graced one litter; following her
There came her marriage-portion, then the escort
Arrayed like Paradise; thou wouldst have said:—
“The heaven hath planted tulips in the earth!”
Now when that fair-faced troop and Heart's Delight
Approached the presence of Sháh Kai Káús
A New Moon issued from the haudah like
A new-thro??ed monarch robed. There musk and rose
Contrasted, and the earrings hung on civet;
Eyes languished, cheeks were ruby-red, and eyebrows
Sprang from a column like a silvern reed.
Káús in rapt amaze invoked God's name,
He called the hoary, shrewd, and wise archmages,
And having judged her fit to be his consort
He sanctioned his desires with legal rites.
“I knew thee at first sight,” he told his spouse,
“Fit to adorn mine Idols' golden house.”