That night, when both the armies were at rest,

Bahrám came to his sire in haste and said:—
“O mine illustrious sire and worshipful!
When I retrieved that crown, and raised it cloudward
Upon my spear, I lost a whip of mine.
Those villain Turkmans, when they pick it up,
Will break their jests upon the great Bahrám;
The world will be all ebon in mine eyes.
The Turkman general will use a whip
That hath my name inscribed upon the leather.
I will go quickly and recover it
However great and long the toil may be.
Doth this ill come upon me from the stars
That my renown may go down to the dust?”
Said old Gúdarz: “O son! thou wilt but end
Thy fortunes. Wilt thou face the foemen's breath
So madly for a stick bound round with leather?”
Gív said: “My brother! go not forth. New whips
Have I in plenty—one whose haft is gold
And silver, two with handles of fine pearls
And other gems. When Farangís unlocked
The treasury and gave so many arms
And belts to me I took this whip and breastplate;
The rest I left unheeded in Túrán.*

Moreover Sháh Káús bestowed upon me

A whip resplendent as the moon with jewels,
And five I have besides of golden work
Inwrought with royal gems, and all the seven
Will I bestow upon thee. Go not forth
And wantonly provoke a new engagement.”
Said brave Bahrám to Gív: “I cannot hold
This shame of small account. Your talk is all
Of colour and design, mine of a name
Now wedded to disgrace. I will recover
My whip or, by endeavouring this, will bring
Mine own head to the shears.”

Bahrám misread

God's purpose, and his fortune proved averse.
The fool is all agog to take his leap
Just when his fortune falleth into sleep!
Bahrám pricked forth by moonlight to the field,
And bitterly bewailed the slain, those luckless
And heart-seared ones. The body of Rívníz
Was whelmed in blood and dust, his tunic rent.
Bahrám the Lion wept for him and cried:—
“Alas! O young and valiant cavalier!
Men slain like thee are but a pinch of dust!
For nobles palaces, for thee a trench!”
Among his brethren flung on that broad plain
He roamed. One, stricken by the scimitar,
Of all those chiefs still lived. He marked Bahrám,
Wailed, asked his name, and said: “O Lion! I live,
Though flung among the slain, and I have craved
For two days bread and water and a robe
To sleep upon!”

Bahrám made haste to him

With loving spirit and a kinsman's heart,

Began to weep and lacerate his cheeks,
Rent his own raiment into strips to bind
The wounds, and said: “Fear not; 'tis but a scratch,
And merely needeth binding. Thou shalt go,
When I have bound it, to the host again,
And speedily recover of thy hurts.”
He thus restored one that was lost but knew not
That he himself was doomed to lose his way.
He said: “Stay here, youth! till I hurry back.
While I was fighting for the crown I dropped
My whip; when I have found it I will come,
And take thee to the army with all speed.”
Thence hasting to the centre of the field
He searched about until he found the whip,
Which was amid a heap of wounded men
With much dust showered thereon and blood withal.
Alighting from his steed he took it up,
And heard the sound of neighing. His steed likewise
Perceived the neighing of some mares, became
As nimble as Ázargashasp, rushed off,
And turned its head toward them while Bahrám
In dudgeon followed after in his tunic
And helmet, with the sweat upon his face
With hurrying, until he reached the horse
And, having caught it, mounted carrying
In hand an Indian sword; but, when he spurred,
The steed moved not a foot. Both man and horse
Were covered o'er with dust and sweat. Bahrám
Was so chagrined that with his scimitar
He slew the steed. Thence to the battlefield
He went as swift as wind. There all the plain
Was covered with the dead, and all the ground
Like cercis-bloom. “How can we make our way
Upon the plain,” he said, “without a horse?”
The foe grew ware of him and from the centre
There hasted forth a hundred cavaliers
To capture him and from the battlefield
Convey him to Pírán. Bahrám the Lion
Strung up his bow and showered shafts upon them—
A hero's shafts—so who could bide about him?
He slew or wounded most of them and sprang
Like some fierce lion at his enemies.
The rest withdrew and sought Pírán, exclaiming:—
“Behold a Lion both in pluck and might,
Who though afoot will do his kind in fight!”