To strive with death is but a bootless strife,
Such is the moral taught by Rustam's life.
A minstrel whom a lion once surprised—
A man of valiant heart—thus moralised:—
“If thou wouldst have the glory of the brave,
And wouldst imbrue in blood an Indian glave,
Seek not to spare thyself, for destiny
Will not be balked when 'tis the time to die.
If, being wise, thou keepest death in sight
The brave will count thee not a man of might.
Both Faith and wisdom sanction not this course,
But their good teaching is enslaved by force.”

A goodly gest of Rustam's next I tell.
Once at Nawand—that place of palaces—
The mighty hero gave a splendid feast
Where tall Barzín*

now beaconeth the way.
The great men of Írán— a famous band—
Tús and Gudárz son of Kishwád, Bahrám
And Gív—both noble men—Gurgín and Zanga,
Kharrád and Gustaham, that haughty swordsman
Barzín and, crown of all the band, Guráza,
Assembled at the place of banqueting,
Each with his meiny—an illustrious throng.
They spent a while at polo, wine, and hunting,
And, when they all were merry, Gív bemused
Said thus to Rustam: “O illustrious chief!
Come let us, if thou hast a mind to hunt,
Hide from the great Afrásiyáb's preserves
The sun's resplendent visage with the dust
Of horsemen, cheetahs, hawks, and our long spears.
There let us chase the rapid onager,
O'ercome the lion with the sword, and take
Boars with the spear and pheasants with the hawk
Throughout the livelong day. Come let us go

A-hunting in yon desert of Túrán
To make ourselves a memory in the world.”
Then Rustam answered: “Be it as thou wilt,
And prosper thou. Seek we Túrán at dawn
To hunt and harry in the deserts there.”
They all agreed and, when they rose next day,
Made ready eagerly, and setting forth
With cheetahs, hawks, and baggage bravely sped
Toward the Shahd?? across the hunting ground
Of great Afrásiyáb, on one side mountains,
A river on another side, Sarakhs
Upon the third, a wilderness in front.
Both deer and sheep flocked on the plain, which
soon
Was occupied by tents and huts. The deer
Were frighted by the company, the lions
No longer ravened there, birds as they flew
Knew something of the sport, for bird and beast
Lay everywhere in heaps, some killed, some wounded.
The hunters were light-hearted, full of glee,
With laughter constantly upon their lips,
And having spent a sennight wine in hand
Were jovially bemused. The peerless Rustam
Came as the eighth day dawned with needful warn-ings:—
“Afrásiyáb no doubt hath heard of us
By this. We must not let that Áhriman
Take counsel with his famous officers,

V. 419

Devise a ruse, come forth to fight, and rob
Our cheetahs of their hunting-grounds. We need
An outpost on the road to bring us news,
However scanty, of our enemies;
We must not let them cut us off.”

The chief

Of all the offspring of Gívgán—Guráza—
Girt him for that emprise. With such a watchman
The ruses of the foe were nothing worth.
The others hunted in security.
At length Afrásiyáb gat news of them
At sleeping-time and called his veteran chiefs,
Discoursed to them at large of Rustam, told them
About the seven warriors—lion-like
And gallant cavaliers—and thus he said:—
“We must not dally, but devise a ruse,
And fall upon them unawares. If we
Can seize these seven warriors we shall straiten
The world for Kai Káús. We must go forth
As if to hunt and take them by surprise.”
He chose him thirty thousand famous swordsmen,

V. 420

And spake thus: “Go not by the beaten track,
And slumber not but hasten night and day.”
They hastened forth along the desert-route.
And raised their necks for strife. Afrásiyáb
Dispatched meanwhile to cut those proud chiefs off
A countless host. As they drew near the chace,
Advancing quickly eager for revenge,
The outpost saw them like a darksome cloud,
While dust arose like lapislazuli
Wherein a flag appeared. Like rushing wind
He turned back shouting lustily and found
The matchless Rustam and his mates at wine,
Then cried: “O Rustam, lion-man! away
With these delights, for such a countless host
Appeareth that the plain and heights are one;
The standard of the fell Afrásiyáb
Is shining sun-like through the clouds of dust!”
Then Rustam, laughing heartily, replied:—
“Victorious fortune is with us, why fear
The Turkman king and dust of Turkman horse?
All told he is not five score thousand strong,
And were I by myself upon this plain,
What with my battle-ax, cuirass, and Rakhsh,
I should not trouble for Afrásiyáb
With all his mighty army and his dash;
Nay, any one of us upon the field
Would over-match the whole host of Túrán.
A battle-ground like this is all I need;
I want not I the Íránian warriors.
We have a band of seven cavaliers,
Such men of name, such swordsmen, that each one
Will match five hundred, two will match a thousand,
Skilled cavaliers and spearmen though they be.

V. 421

And now, cup-bearer! fill up to the brim
The goblet with the vintage of Zábul.”
They poured the wine, and Rustam's spirits rose;
He took a bowl and toasted Kai Káús.
“I give the monarch of the age,” he said,
“And may he flourish ever soul and body,”
Then kissed the ground. Again he took the cup,
And cried: “This goblet do I drain to Tús.”
Thereat those princes of the worldlord rose
And prayed the paladin have them excused.
“We can no more,” they said; “Iblís himself
Could not drink fair with thee. Wine, one-blow mace,
And battlefield are thine and thine alone.”
Then from a golden cup the hero drank
Zawára's health in red wine of Zábul,
Whereat Zawára took the cup in hand,
And he too gave the health of Kai Káús,
Then quaffed the wine and kissed the face of earth,
While Rustam fell to praising him and said:—
“The brother doth the brother's cup essay!
A Lion he, the wine-cup is his prey.”