When Sol, aweary of its veil of gloom,
Had bursten through it and come forth, Pírán,
The leader, reached Mount Hamáwan, and earth
Was hidden by the dust of troops. “Abide,”
Thus said he to Húmán, “here where thou art;
Set not the troops in motion for a while.
I will hold parley with the Íránian leader,
And say: ‘Why hast thou set up Káwa's standard?’
Who told him of Mount Hamáwan and now
When there what hopeth he?”

In hate and vengeance

He came anear the Íránian host and cried:—
“Illustrious Tús, the lord of elephant,

Of mace and kettledrum! five months have passed
Since thou provokedst war, and on the field
The noblest kinsmen of Gúdarz lie headless,
While thou hast fled, thy soldiers panting after,
And like a mountain-sheep hast taken refuge,
Full of revenge and rancour, in the heights!
But thou wilt surely come within the toils.”
Exalted Tús replied: “I mock thy falsehoods.
Thou didst set wreak afoot among the mighty
Throughout the world for Siyáwush. Hast thou
No shame of thy vain words? Hot though they be
They will not bring me to those toils of thine.
Ne'er may the world possess a paladin
Like thee among the men of might and name.
Thou by an oath didst ruin Siyáwush,
And wreek earth with his blood, thou madest him
Stay in Túrán; now war and vengeance stay
In earth through him. Alas! for that great prince
And noble man whose face once gladdened all!
Thou by this practice, such deceit and lies,
Wilt gain no lustre in a true man's sight.
We could not forage on the battlefield,
And therefore have I marched to Hamáwan.
News now hath reached the monarch of the world,
Who with his mighty men will come anon.
The great men of the host have gathered—Zál
And Rustam of the elephantine form;
And when the Sháh is fairly on the march
I will not leave Túrán field, fell, or crop.
Since thou art here behold a task for men:
This is no time for ruse and ambuscade.”
Pírán on that sent forward troops to seize
The approaches, and the army mountain-like
Moved, troop on troop, upon that mountain-skirt.
Pírán, when thus the foemen's foraging
Was straitened, laid his plans.

“We,” said Húmán,

“Must get possession of the mountain's foot,
And I will deal so that the Íránians
Shall never gird themselves for vengeance more.”
Pírán replied: “The wind is in our face,
And none would think of fighting with it so;
But as they have not room for foraging,
And nobody would guard a barren rock,
They will no longer heed their general;
With warlike eyes grown dim the troops will come
To seek not fight but quarter; 'tis a day
For grace and not for setting in array.”