How Hurmuzd's Letter granting Quarter to Parmúda reached Bahrám Chúbína, and how Bahrám Chúbína was wroth with Parmúda

Now when this letter reached the paladin
That famous chieftain's heart grew young; the letter
Astounded him. He sent and called the Íránians,
And showed the Sháh's gifts; all that saw them blessed him.
He showed the Íránians too all that Hurmuzd
Had written of them. The warriors acclaimed;
Thou wouldst have said: “Earth's surface shook.”
He sent too
The honourable safe-conduct for Parmúda,
Giv'n by the monarch, to the hold to him;
His darkened soul grew bright. With many blessings
Upon the king he left his famous fortress,
And leaving to Bahrám Chúbína all
The wealth therein made ready to depart.
Descending from the hold the proud Parmúda
Bestrode his charger swift as flying dust,
And set forth with his troops without regard
To bold Bahrám Chúbína who chagrined
Thereat, and though his captive was a king,
Sent after him and had him brought afoot,
And running in the presence of the troops;
Then said to him indignantly: “Are such
Your manners in Túrán and Chín—to go
Without leave asked of me? Sheer folly this!”
Parmúda said: “Once I was raised o'er folk,
But now am humbled and a suppliant,
Cast vilely from the zenith of my power.
To-day withal thou art not generous
In bringing me before thee, evil one!
Now that I have the letter of safe-conduct
I purpose going to the king. Perchance
He will receive me brother-like; misfortune
May grow more light to me. What wouldst thou more?
I have surrendered fortune, home, and goods.”
Bahrám Chúbína raged with flashing eyes
In indignation at Parmúda's words,
And struck him in excitement with a whip—
Behaviour only fit for miscreants.
They bound Parmúda's feet forthwith and made
A scanty tent his prison. Said thereat

Kharrád, son of Barzín: “This paladin
And wisdom are not mates!”

He sought the archscribe,

And said: “This mighty paladin possesseth
Not one gnat's wing of wisdom!* so he taketh
No heed of any one, and we must go,
And say to him: ‘This is remediless.’
His temper is his great calamity.”
The two departed to Bahrám Chúbína
With pallid cheeks and counsel on their tongues,
And told him: “Thou hast given to the winds
Thy toil! Oh! be that noble head of thine
Unfilled with fire!”

Ware of his foul behaviour,

That into water had been flung a brick
Already dried, he in his penitence
Released the Khán and was in great concern.
He sent the Khán a steed with golden trappings,
And Indian falchion with a golden scabbard,
Moreover went forthwith to him to make
His dark soul bright, there tarried till the Khán
Had armed and mounted on a speedy steed,
And then escorted him upon his way,
Perceiving that the prince's visage loured.
When it was time to part Bahrám Chúbína
Told him: “Thou hast a secret grudge against me;
Yet, though it be so, tell it not the Sháh;
No credit will result to thee therefrom.”
The Khán replied to him: “It is of fortune
That I complain; I leave it all to God.
I am not such an one as would desire
To speak in many words of other men;
Still if thy monarch hath no news hereof
He is not worthy of his high estate.
It was the turning sky that fettered me;
I tell not of ill usage from a slave.”
Thereat Bahrám Chúbína paled; he writhed,
But with an effort swallowed down his wrath,
And thus returned reply: “An instance this
Of what the famous nobles used to say:—
‘Forbear thine utmost seed of ill to cast,
For time will give thee fruit thereof at last.’
* To what end did I deck for thee my heart,
Attempt to do thee kindness in the world,
And wrote its lord a letter hiding all
Thine own shortcomings?”

“That,” the Khán rejoined,

“Is past, and all the past hath turned to wind.
By God! I do not owe thee any grudge,
Or cherish in my heart the former strife.
Thy kindness hath been greater than this wrong,
And thou didst guide me on the way to good;
But just as there is insolence in war,
So is there courtesy in time of peace,

And if the two are all the same to thee
Thy wisdom out of question is but small,
And when a leader is too wise to take
His lord's commands then evil will befall him.
Moreover one should tread God's path and purge
All darkness from the heart. 'Twere well for thee
To say no more for past ill is but wind.”
On hearing this Bahrám Chúbína said:—
‘Methought 'twould out, but no mishap will come
Of thy complaint for I will hide it up
With painted silk. On thine arrival say
Whate'er thou wilt; 'twill minish not my lustre.”
The Khán said: “Every king that taketh not
Account of good and ill, but passeth over
His slave's misdeeds in silence, be assured
Is witless, and when malcontents afar—
Allies or other kings—observe this thing
They will term thee unseemly and light-headed,
And him the foolish monarch of Írán.”
Bahrám Chúbína paled, and when Kharrád,
Son of Barzín, had taken note thereof
He feared that wrathful and bloodthirsty man
Would hurl Parmúda from his steed to dust,
And said: “O general of the Sháh! repress
Thy wrath and quit that path because the Khán
Saith well, so list to him and think no ill,
For had cool words ne'er passed the hearts of neither
Would have been pained.”

“This ill-conditioned one,”

Bahrám Chúbína said. “would join his sire.”
The Khán said: “Wrong me not. Reft as I am
Of mine own father I may well die young.
All those that in the world are like thyself,
With heads all dust-cloud and with hearts all fume,
Imagine ill, accord to none, but raise
Themselves by craft and cruelty. I fear not
The king of kings; from him bale or relief
Is well. He is my peer among the great,
And not a slave malignantly disposed
Towards me, but is gentle, wise, high-born,
And greatly mindful of the men of name.
I charge thee by the soul and by the head
Of Sháh Hurmuzd that thou return forthwith.
Give me no more replies and insolence;
Say naught and hear naught.”

When Bahrám Chúbína

Heard he returned to camp in vengeful mood,
And thus that proven warrior harangued
The prudent chiefs: “Kharrád, son of Barzín,
And those wise men, the archscribe and arch-mages,

Shall write a letter to the world's king, telling
All that hath passed in public and in private.”
The general said further to the chief
And other archimages: “Men of wisdom!
Depart hence to the hold, be diligent,
Companion with the wind and ascertain
What quantity of wealth is hoarded there.”
With fearful hearts the scribes set forth. From dawn
Until three watches of the night had passed
They blacked much paper but they had not done.
There was not room to move for precious things,
Hoards of the era of Afrásiyáb,
And of Arjásp, so ancient yet unspent,
Gold coins and jewels won from sea and mine
By favour of the sky; such were the treasures
Within Áwáza hold world-famous then.
Among the goods of Siyáwush came first
A belt with jewelled buckles and such earrings
As no one high or low besides possessed,
Which Kai Khusrau had given Luhrásp and he
Thereafter gave them to Gushtásp. Arjásp
Gat them and stored them there, none knoweth when.
They wrote a list of all the precious things
That were laid up within the treasury,
But no one in the world, astrologer,
Or noble prince had knowledge of the sum.
Bahrám Chúbína sent a scribe, a man
Shrewd, eloquent, and mindful, who collected
The booty from the hold and battlefield.
There were a pair of earrings in the spoil,
And pair of boots with patterns formed by gems;
The stuff was interwoven with gold threads
Bestrung with precious stones. There were withal
Two gold-embroidered curtains from Yaman,
Whereof each one was seven mans* in weight.
Now through presumption and perversity
The captain of the host, contemplating
No scrutiny, put secretly aside
The pairs of boots and curtains of Yaman,
And made no entry of them in his list.
He then gave orders to Ízid Gashasp
That he and all his cavaliers should mount,
Select a thousand warriors from the host,
And take the booty to the monarch's gate.
The warriors having mounted on their steeds,
Ízid Gashasp bore off that mass of spoil,
And full of joy and merriment they took
A hundred caravan-loads to Írán.
Íránian horsemen closed the long array,
The Khán with his own nobles led the way.