How Bahrám Chúbína made known to the Chiefs his Designs upon the Throne, and how his Sister Gurdya advised him

Bahrám Chúbína summoned then the chiefs,
And told them many secrets. There were present
Hamdán Gashasp and the archscribe, Yalán-sína,
Renowned and strong, with valorous Bahrám,
The son of Siyáwush, and that wise chief,
Kandá Gashasp. With these he held debate,
For they were Lions and men of war, and then
Harangued that fierce host, which was all astray,
Thus: “Famous chiefs whose counsel all require!
The Sháh is wroth with us without a cause,
And so hath turned away from what is right.
What will ye do? What is the remedy?
'Tis useless to shed tears upon the past.
Whoe'er hath hid his anguish from the leech
Hath showered from his lashes tears of blood,
And trifles grow in moment when we keep
Our secrets from the men of understanding.
I have myself my privy griefs and I
Will tell them to the sages of the world.
Ye all are conversant with these affairs,
And so can testify to what I say.
We left Írán by order of the Sháh
With but few troops, though eager to engage,
And none, though long his life, will see a foe
More numerous. Now if the Turk Parmúda,
Had, with king Sáwa, marched upon Írán
It would not have been worth a piece of wax,
And later they would have attempted Rúm;

But on Parmúda and king Sáwa came
A marvel such as none within the world
Had seen, and though we bare much toil ourselves
We left them neither elephants nor treasure.
The Sháh hath laid up wealth anew, grown rich,
And yet he is enraged against the host
Though all the business hath been done for him,
And he is franchised through no toil of his!
* In such a coil what shift shall I employ
To set my head at ease? Do ye too all
Shift for yourselves. What is your remedy
For such a wound? I have discharged my heart,
And freed my soul. Respecting weal or woe
If ye are ware of any means now speak.”
He proved with these words, for he feared, the host.
Behind his curtains that famed paladin
Possessed a sister, one of ardent soul,
And that wise lady's name was Gurdya,
Of fairy-visage and his heart's delight.
Now she, on hearing from behind the veil
Her brother's words, was angered; her heart flared.
With much to say and full of instances
She came forth to that conclave, and her brother
Kept silence, when he heard her voice, from word
And answer, and the Íránians too were silent
For fear of harm. Thus Gurdya addressed
The troops: “Illustrious men who seek for guidance!
Why do ye hold your peace and check your spleen?
Ye are the warrior-chieftains of Írán,
Wise, prescient lords. What see ye in this matter?
What game play ye upon this scene of blood?”
Then said Ízid Gashasp, the cavalier:—
“Memorial of the mighty! were our tongues
Sharp swords they would take flight before the sea
Of thine advice. Thine acts are all of God,
Brave, learned, and wise. We need not fight like pards
With all the world. Let no one seek my counsel
Henceforth because my lore hath reached its bound.
If ye will fight I too will bear a hand,
And cavalierly counter cavaliers,
While if the paladin is pleased with me
Methinketh that I shall be young for ever.”
Bahrám Chúbína, hearing him thus speak,
Saw that he dealt with both sides. Then he marked
Yalán-sína and said: “What thinkest thou?”
Quoth he: “Brave chief! the walker in God's way
Will be wise, famed, and learned, will have his will
In all and, winning victory and Grace,
Will haste not to do ill for that would turn
A blessing to a curse and circling heaven
Be vengeful towards him. God hath given thee
Grace, fortune, troops withal, wealth, prowess, throne;
If thou art grateful He will send thee more,
But through ingratitude the heart will ache.”
Then said Bahrám Chúbína to Bahrám:—
“Wise friend and prudent mate! what sayest thou
About this seeking after throne and treasure?
Will majesty result or pain and grief?”
He laughed that such a case should be discussed,
Then tossing up his finger-ring replied:—
“As long as this remaineth in the air
So long shall it be servant to the Sháh;
Yet he is great; despise him not for none
Should under-estimate the diadem.”
Said to Kandá Gashasp* Bahrám Chúbína:—
“O thou sword-wielding and steed-spurring Lion!
What seest and sayst thou touching this affair
Of ours? Do we deserve the royal throne?”
That cavalier replied: “O thou that art
The memory of heroes in the world!
There was an archimage at Rai who said:—
‘The wise and lucky man to whom 'tis given
Once to be king his soul will soar to heaven.’
So aiming at the treasure of the king
Is better than to be long years a slave.”
Then to the archscribe said Bahrám Chúbína:—
“Old wolf! unclose thy lips.”

The archscribe kept

His lips still shut awhile and sat amid
A crowd of thoughts, then said: “Whoe'er shall seek
His wish in fitting fashion will attain it,
For time's stretched hand is long. Know that no pains
Can shun whatever God will have to be.”
Then said the chieftain to Hamdán Gashasp:—
“O thou well versed in fortune's rise and fall!
Whatever thou shalt utter in our presence
Shall be as wind and, like wind, hurt thee not.
Advise us in this case, this test of good
And evil fortune.”

Great Hamdán Gashasp

Thus spake: “Prized by the great! why dost thou dread
Ills not yet come and question of the crown
Of kingship? Act and leave the rest to God.
Why reach out for the date if thou dost fear

The thorn? A people's Head hath never rest;
His mind is fearful and his body weary.”
The sister of the captain of the host
Writhed at their words and grew o'ercast of soul,
Yet spake she naught in this debate from eve
Till midnight. Then Bahrám Chúbína said:—
“What thinkest thou of this assembly's words,
Fair lady?”

Gurdya made no reply;

The counsels of the chief displeasured her.
Thereafter she addressed the archscribe thus:—
“O man maleficent like some old wolf!
So thou conceivest that the crown and throne,
Host and addition and the might of fortune
Were in the world no objects of desire
To any famous chiefs of generous bent
Though kingship easier is than servitude!
Such sentiments as thine demand our tears.
Take we the precedents of former Sháhs,
And hear the sayings of those greater ones.”
The archscribe made response: “If rede of mine
Obtain not with thee speak and do whatever
Thou art advised and follow thy heart's lead.”
Then likewise to self-willed Bahrám Chúbína
His sister spake and said: “They are not good,
Thy knowledge and thy counsel, and thy steps
Are tending toward deceit. Full many a time
Hath the Sháh's throne been void and yet no chief
Cast any look upon it. It was theirs
To guard the world by valour, not to have
An eye upon the throne. They did not aim
Thereat but girt their loins to serve. They sought
Their sovereigns' weal and rendered hearty service.
They were no strangers to the throne and crown,
But worthy of their greatness by descent.
I speak first of the case of Sháh Káús,
* Who would have searched the mysteries of God,
Have summed the stars and trod heaven's circling dome,
But fell despised and wretched at Sarí
Through his perverseness and ill bent, and yet
Gúdarz and Rustam, who was paladin,
Did not take dudgeon, and thereafter when
Káús went to Hámávarán,* and folk
Bound him in heavy fetters, none essayed
The throne but manifested warm regret.
So when the Íránians said to Rustam: ‘Thou
Art worthy of the throne,’* he cried against
The speaker: ‘Be thy mate the narrow charnel!
Shall I be on the throne of gold, the Sháh
Bound? Perish kingship rather! Perish crown!’

He chose out of Írán twelve thousand men,
* World-taking cavaliers on barded steeds,
And freed Káús and Gív, Gúdarz and Tús,
From that captivity. Then when Pírúz
Was slain and for the Íránians all was lost,
* While Khúshnawáz emboldened by affairs
Was seated on the alluring throne in peace,
Came Súfarai, the scion of Káran,
In order to restore the throne of power.
When his success was manifest the nobles
Went from Írán to hail him as their Sháh,
And make a subject monarch of the earth.
He told them: ‘'Tis unseemly. Majesty
And crown are for the Sháh. Although Kubád
Is little he will grow; we may not put
The wolf within the lion's wood. To make
A Sháh without blood royal is to give
His kindred to the winds.’ Now when Kubád
Reached manhood he perceived that Súfarai
Deserved the crown and, led by miscreants' words,
Slew him who was the backbone of the state.
The folk thereafter put Kubád in fetters,
That horseman bold, that hero of the race
Of kings, and gave him to Zarmihr, the low-born,
That he might take revenge for his own sire.
Zarmihr saw none else worthy of the crown
And throne of kingship, so he freed Kubád
In order that he might assert his claim
Without delay. No subject dared aspire
Though many were entitled by their birth.
When from the Turks one hight ‘King Sáwa’ came
To seek the seal and crown the glorious Maker
Ordained that he should perish in Írán.
Since by God's Grace and by thy hand so great
An action was by thine own thumbstall wrought
Thou wouldest have the empire! Know that thou
Wilt lose thy life. Yalán-sína curvetteth,
Exclaiming: ‘I will set up a new king—
Bahrám Chúbína, offspring of Gashasp—
And make my name remembered.’ Núshírwán,
The understanding Sháh, found in old age
His lost youth in Hurmuzd whom all the magnates
Of this our realm support. Support, say I?
Are all his bondslaves and his underlings.
He hath three hundred thousand cavaliers,
All paladins, all famed, and all his slaves,
Obedient to his will, yet chose he thee
By virtue of his high prerogative,
Ennobled all thine ancestors and granted
Revenge upon their foes. Wilt thou repay
His good with ill? Know 'twill recoil on thee.
Design not evil, brother! It will bring
Ill on thine own head. Make not greed the lord
O'er wisdom else the sages will not call thee
A man of piety. Although a woman,
Far younger than my brother, yet I give
A man's advice. Oh! fling not to the wind
Thy fathers' deeds and mayst thou not recall
My words to mind.”

The assembly marvelled at her,

The chieftain bit his lips as well aware
That what she said was just and that she sought
The path of right. Yalán-sína replied:—
“O noble lady! in this company
Forbear to treat of Sháhs because Hurmuzd
Will soon pass and the paladin enjoy
The throne of majesty. Now since the Sháh
Is what he is in prowess count thy brother
Already as the monarch of Írán,
And if Hurmuzd affect* the royal crown
Why sendeth he a distaff as a gift?
The paladin is such a lion-man
That at the terror of his sword earth quaketh,
And had his sword remained undrawn Hurmuzd,
Írán and Shám had perished, and to send him
The present of a distaff and of cotton!
Fie on a king so faithless! Talk no more
About Turk-born Hurmuzd. May all that race
No longer be! To count from Kai Kubád
This stock hath had the crown and throne of gold
A thousand years. Now it is at an end,
So name them not or give Khusrau Parwíz
A thought; his mention is not worth a mite,
And those that are the princes at his court
Will be thy brother's subjects who will place
At his word their lord's feet in heavy bonds.”
“The Black Dív spreadeth out,” said Gurdya
A net upon thy path. Destroy us* not,
Both soul and body. I perceive in thee
But wind and vapouring. Our sire was march-lord
At Rai and thou wouldst have us seek the throne.
Now thine incitement of Bahrám Chúbína,
And putting into tumult all our kindred,
Will give our race's travail to the wind,
And through thy words, thou base-born underling!
Yea! lead him on and fill our quiet times
With turbulence!”

She spake and then withdrew

In tears with heart grown alien from her brother,

While all those present said: “This saintly lady,
Our eloquent, clear-minded counsellor,
Hath spoken, thou wouldst say, just like a book,
And is in wisdom greater than Jámásp.”
Howbeit the thing displeased Bahrám Chúbína,
Who was in dudgeon at his sister's words,
And through long musing his distempered heart
Showed him the throne of kingship in his dreams.
He said: “By toil alone aspirants win
This fleeting world.”

He bade to spread the board,

And call for wine and harp and minstrelsy.
He told the minstrels: “Let your song to-day
Be of heroic deeds. I will not hear
Aught but the story of the Seven Stages;
So while we revel sing the part wherein
Asfandiyár went to the Brazen Hold,
And of the game he played in that campaign.”
* They drank much wine to him and cried: “May Rai
Be prosperous since such a chief as thou
Ariseth thence, and may God fashion more
Like thee.”

At night they went their several ways;

The heads of all those topers were a-daze.