I heard a story from the nightingale,
Which it reciteth from the lays of old,
How, when Asfandiyár bemused with wine
Came forth in dudgeon from the royal palace,
His mother, Cæsar's daughter, Katáyún,
Took him to her embrace. When midnight came
He wakened from his drowse, called for the wine-cup,
And babbled to his mother, saying thus:—
“The Sháh is treating me injuriously.
He said: ‘When by thy valour thou shalt take
Revenge on king Arjásp for Sháh Luhrásp,
Shalt free thy sisters from captivity,
And win us high renown throughout the world,
Shalt weed it utterly of malcontents,
And renovate it by thy labours, then
The whole realm and the army shall be thine,
And therewithal the treasure, throne, and crown.’
Now when the sky shall bring again the sun,
And when the Sháh shall wake, I will recall

His words to him; my rights must be asserted.
If he shall give to me the crown of kingship
I will adore him to idolatry;
But if he will not and his face shall frown
I swear by God, who stayeth up the sky,
That I will place the crown on mine own head,
And give the land and treasure to the people,
Will make thee lady of Írán and do
The deeds of lions with my strength and courage.”
His mother sorrowed at his words. The silk
Upon her turned to thorns. The famous Sháh,
She knew, would give him not throne, crown, and treasure,
And said to him: “What would thy princely heart
Require yet of the world, my toil-worn son?
The treasure, rule, and conduct of the host
Thou hast already: seek for nothing more!
Thy sire, my son! hath nothing but the crown,
While thou hast all the troops and all the realm.
How better were it for the savage Lion
To stand before his sire with girded loins!
When he departeth crown and throne are thine,
Thine greatness, fortune, state.”

Asfandiyár

Replied: “How goodly was the sage's saw!
‘Thy secret unto women ne'er confide,
For thou wilt find it in the street outside;
Moreover do not as she biddeth thee,
For woman good at rede thou ne'er wilt see.’”
With frowning face and all abashed his mother
Repented of her words. Asfandiyár,
Howbeit, went not to Gushtásp but spent
His time with minstrelsy and boon-companions.

He drained the wine-cup for two nights and days,
And took his ease among his moon-faced dames.
Gushtásp upon the third day was informed
About his son's pretension to the state,
That he was growing more resolved and needs
Must have the Kaian crown and throne. Forthwith
He called Jámásp and all Luhrásp's diviners.
They came, their tablets on their breasts, and he
Inquired about the brave Asfandiyár:—
“Is he to have long life? Will he abide
In peace, prosperity, and all delights?
Is he to wear the crown of king of kings,
And will the good and great rely on him?”
The wise man of Írán,*

on hearing this,
Looked at his ancient astrologic tablets,
While sorrow filled the lashes of his eyes
With tears, and knowledge all his brow with frowns.
He said: “Ill are my days and ill my stars,
And knowledge bringeth ill upon my head.
Would fate had cast me to the lion's claws,
Preventing glorious Zarír; then I
Had not beheld him flung upon the ground,
All dust and blood; or would that mine own sire
Had slain me ere ill fortune reached Jámásp!
Although Asfandiyár in combat now
May rend a lion's heart by his attack;
Though he hath cleared the world of enemies,
And knoweth neither fear nor dread in fight;
Though he hath made the world to fear no foe,
And cloven the dragon's form in twain, hereafter
We shall have reason to lament for him,
And taste enough of woe and bitterness.”
The Sháh exclaimed: “O admirable man!
Speak out and turn not from the path of knowledge.
If he shall fare as did the chief Zarír
To live will be henceforth an ill to me.

Come tell me instantly, for bitterness
Hath come upon me from my questioning,
Whose hand will slay him and so cause the pang
For which I needs must weep?”

Jámásp replied:—

“Will not ill fortune reach me too, O king?
His death will be within Zábulistán,
And at the hands of Zál's heroic son!”
The Sháh replied: “Give this affair due weight.
If I resign to him the imperial throne,
The treasure, and the crown of majesty,
He will not even see Zábulistán,
And none will know him in Kábulistán;
He will be safe from every turn of fortune,
And favouring stars will be his monitors.”
The astrologer rejoined: “Who can escape
The process of the sky? None can avoid
By courage or by might the sharp-clawed Dragon
Above our heads. What is to be will be
Past doubt, the when the wise seek not to know,
Although Surúsh be lying at his feet
The prince will perish by a great man's hand!”
The monarch mused, his mind a brake of thoughts;
He pondered on the processes of time,
Which in their turn instructed him in crime.