Upon the fourth day when the strain was great
The valiant Shída came before his sire,
And said to him: “O famed throughout the world,
And most exalted of all potentates!
No monarch under heaven hath Grace like thine,
And neither sun nor moon opposeth thee;
An iron mount would run as 'twere a river
If it should hear the name Afrásiyáb.

Earth is not able to sustain thy host,
Or yon resplendent sun thy casque. Of all
The kings none fronteth thee save Kai Khusrau,
Thy kinsman but a base-born miscreant.
Thou didst hold Siyáwush as son, didst bear
A father's pains and love for him, beteeming
No noxious blast from heaven to visit him.
Thou didst distaste him when assured that he
Aimed at thy crown, thy throne, and diadem,
And if the king of earth had spared his life
The crown and signet both would have been his.
The man that now hath come to fight with thee
Shall not have long of this world. Father-like
Thou didst encourage this black reprobate,
Forbearing to consign him to the dust;
Thou didst support him till he spread his wings,
Fit through thy favour for the throne of gold,
And bird-like flew Íránward from Túrán;
Thou wouldst have said: ‘He never saw his grandsire.’
Look at Pírán's own deeds of kindliness
Toward that faithless and unworthy man;
Yet he forgot Pírán's love and fullfilled
His heart with vengeance and his head with strife,
And when he caught Pírán as he desired
He put that kindly paladin to death.
Now hath he issued from Írán with troops
To make a fierce attack upon his grandsire.
He seeketh not dínárs or diadem,
Not treasures, horses, scimitars, or soldiers,
But aimeth at the lives of his own kindred,
And that is all the burden of his talk.
My father is a king, a most wise monarch,
And will bear witness that my words are true.
What need have armies for astrologers?
The brave seek honour with their scimitars.
The horsemen on the right are all for battle,
And, if the king permitteth, I will leave
The foe no cavaliers, but pin their helmets
Upon their heads with shafts in spite of fosse
And reservoir.”

Afrásiyáb replied:—

“Be not impetuous. What thou say'st is true,
And never should one listen save to truth;
Yet, as thou know'st, the warrior Pírán
In this world trod the path of excellence;
There was no fraud or falsehood in his heart,
He sought for nothing but the good and right,
He was an elephant in strength in battle,
He had a sea-like heart and sunny face:
Húmán his brother was a warrior-leopard,
So was the brave Lahhák, so Farshídward.
A hundred thousand Turkman cavaliers,
Ambitious men accoutred for the fight,
Departed hence all seething for the fray,
Though I in secret sorrowed and bewailed.
They perished on the battlefield; the ground.
Whereon they lay was puddled with their gore.
The marches of Túrán are broken-hearted
With sorrow, all men dream of dead Pírán,
And no one speaketh of Afrásiyáb;
So let us tarry till our men of name,
Our great men of the host, our cavaliers,
Have gazed awhile upon the Íránians,
And have not hearts impassioned, grieved, and sore.
The Íránians too will see this mighty host
With all its treasures, thrones, and diadems.
It is not good for us to fight in force;
Defeat will come and we shall grasp the wind,
But warriors will I send dispersedly,
And fill the wastes with our foes' blood.”

Then Shída:—

“Sire! fight not thus. First of our warriors
Am I—a brazen-bodied cavalier—
And have seen none who in the battle-day
Could scatter wind-borne dust upon my steed.

I passion for a combat with Khusrau
Because he is the new king of the world,
And if he shall encounter me, as I
Doubt not, withal he shall not scape my clutch,
The Íránians shall be broken—heart and back—
And all their projects marred, while if another
Come forth I soon will lay his head in dust.”
The king replied: “O inexperienced one!
How should the king of kings encounter thee?
If he would fight I am his opposite,
'Tis mine to trample on his name and person,
And if we meet thus on the field both hosts
Will rest from strife.”

“Experienced one,” said Shída,

“Inured to this world's heat and cold! thou hast
Five sons before thee still. We will not suffer
These thoughts of fight. No worshipper of God,
Nor army even, could approve that thou
Shouldst go in person to confront Khusrau.”