Then unto Shída said Afrásiyáb:—
“Imperious son! ne'er be mishap thy lot.
Though thou wouldst fight with Kai Khusrau thyself
Take not this present matter in ill part:
Go forth and be the Maker thine ally,
And may thy foemen's heads be overturned.
Convey a message unto Kai Khusrau
For me and say: ‘The world is changed indeed!
The grandson waging war upon his grandsire
Must have a head all guile and wickedness.
Was it the Maker's aim to fill the world
With fight and feud? When Siyáwush was slain
The fault was his for heeding not advisers;

But if the blame was mine what had Pírán,
What had Rúín, Lahhák, and Farshídward,
Done that they should be bound to horses' backs,
Blood-boltered, and like maddened elephants?
Now if thou say'st: “Thou art a miscreant,
A villain of the seed of Áhriman,”
Behold thou art descended from my seed,
And castest an aspersion on thyself.
Leave fighting to Gúdarz and Kai Káús,
And let them come against me with their troops.
I have not spoken thus as fearing thee,
Or as grown recreant in mine old age.
My troops are as the sand upon the shore,
Brave warriors and Lions all prepared
At my command upon the day of battle
To make Mount Gang an ocean, O my son!
Still I am fearful of the Omnipotent,
Of bloodshed, and calamities to come,
For many an innocent and noble head
Will be dissevered on this battlefield.
If thou renouncest not this strife with me,
Good sooth, thine own disgrace will come of it;
But if thou wilt agree with me by oath,
And keep it, I will point thee out a way
Whereby thy troops and treasure may be saved:
When thou shalt have forgotten Siyáwush,
And made another Siyáwush of me,
Then Jahn and valiant Shída, who in battle
Turn Mount Gang to a sea, shall be thy brothers,
And I will bid the Turkmans to withdraw
From all tracts that thou claimest for Irán,
And such ancestral treasures as I have—
Dínárs, crowns, horses, thrones, and battle-gear,
Left to me by my father's sire Zádsham,
Crowns for grandees, thrones, coronets, and all
That thou requirest to supply thy troops—
Will I dispatch just as they are to thee.
My son shall be thy paladin, his sire
Thy kinsman; then both hosts shall rest from strife,
And this our fight shall issue in a feast:
But now if Áhriman shall so pervert
Thy mind that thou wilt don thy winding-sheet,
Wilt make thine only object war and bloodshed,
My good advice not rooming in thy brain,
Come forth in presence of thy host, and I
Will likewise come forth from my station here;
Let us encounter while our troops repose.
If I shall perish all the world is thine,
My soldiers are thy slaves, my sons thy kin,
While if I slay thee I will injure none
Among thy folk, thy soldiers shall have quarter,
And be my chiefs and comrades. Furthermore
If thou wilt not come forth but art unwilling
To struggle with the veteran Crocodile,
Then Shída shall oppose thee girt for fight,
So be no laggard when he challengeth.
The sire is old; his substitute is young—
A youth of prudence and of ardent soul.
He will contend with thee upon the field,
And bring a lion's heart and leopard's claws.
Then shall we see whom fortune favoureth,
And whom it crowneth with a crown of love;
While if thou willest not to fight with him,
Preferring action of another sort,
Wait that the troops may rest them for the night.
Then when the mountains don their golden crowns,
And when the dark night, drawing back its skirt,
Shall hide its head beneath a veil of hair,
Let us make choice of warriors from the host—
Men of exalted rank with massive maces—
Make earth the colour of brocade with blood,
And give our foes their bodies' length of earth.
The second day at cock-crow let us bind
The kettledrums upon the elephants,
Bring forth a reinforcement of the chiefs,
And make blood run like water down the streams.
The third day we will bring forth both the hosts,
In mass like mountains, for revenge and strife,
And find out who is loved and who rejected
By heaven above.’ If he refuse to hear
My counsel given, challenge him thyself
To single combat in some distant spot
Beyond the sight of either of our hosts.”
Then Shída chose him of the wise men four
Experienced much in this world's heat and cold,
Did reverence, and went forth. The father's heart
Was full, his eyelids overflowed with tears.
A thousand of the troops escorted Shída—
Men of discretion well equipped for fight—
And presently the Íránian scouts descried
The flag and lances of the prince of Túr.
Anon the Turkmans that were in the van—
Young cavaliers and inexperienced—
Fell on the Íránian outposts and shed blood
In Shída's absence and against his wishes.
There were some wounded on the Íránian side,
And still the conflict was continuing,
When Shída came himself upon the spot,
And saw the Íránian outpost-guards. His heart
Was sorely grieved, he called his warriors back,
And said to the Íránians: “Dispatch
A horseman in due form to Kai Khusrau
To say: ‘An ardent spirit, Shída hight,
Hath brought a message from the king of Chín—
The father of the mother of the Sháh.’”
A horseman galloped from the Íránian outpost,
Approached Khusrau in haste, and said to him:—
“An envoy from the monarch of Túrán—
A noble hero with a sable flag,
Who saith: ‘My name is Shída’—doth demand
Permission to discharge his embassage.”
The Sháh's heart filled with shame, and as he wept
Hot tears he said: “This is my mother's brother,
My peer in height and valour.”

Looking round

He saw none but Káran of Káwa's race,
And said: “Go thou to Shída with good cheer,
Greet him from us and hear the embassage.”
Whenas Káran approached the company
He caught sight of the waving sable flag,
Came up to Shída and gave greeting, adding
That of the Sháh and of the Íránians.
The young man's answer was in honied tones,
For he was shrewd of heart and bright of mind,
Delivering what Afrásiyáb had said
Concerning peace and feast and war and strife,
And when Káran had heard the goodly words
He came and told the monarch of Írán,
For wisdom and that message were well paired.*

When Kai Khusrau heard this he called to mind
Old times and, laughing at his grandsire's action,
His machinations and diplomacy,
Exclaimed: “Afrásiyáb repenteth crossing
The stream, and though dry-eyed hath much to say;
But my heart is fulfilled with ancient griefs.
May be he striveth to affect my mind,
And fright me with the greatness of his host,
Unwitting that high heaven turneth not
As we desire when evil days are toward.
Mine only course is to encounter him
With vengeful heart upon the battlefield,
And, when I should be striving, dally not.”
The wise men and the captains of the host
All spake out, saying: “This must never be:
Afrásiyáb is wise and veteran,
And never dreameth but of stratagems;
He knoweth naught but sorcery, black arts,
Deceit, malignity, and wickedness.

Now he hath chosen Shída from the host
Because he saw therein the key to loose
The bonds of bale. He challengeth the Sháh
To fight that he may fill our day with dust.
Adventure not thyself against his rage,
Or weary of Írán and of the crown.
Engage not rashly in a fight with him,
And let us not be left in grief and anguish.
If Shída now shall perish by thy hand
Their host will merely lose one man of name,
But if thou perishest in some lone spot
The darksome dust will go up from Írán,
And none among us will be left alive:
Írán will perish—city, field, and fell.
We have none other of the Kaian race
To gird himself to execute revenge.
Thy grandsire is an old experienced man
Of high repute in both Túrán and Chín,
Who offereth excuses for ill done,
And will not fight unless he be compelled;
He will, he saith, transfer the steeds, the treasure,
And drachms which Túr erst hoarded for Zádsham,
Besides the golden throne, the princes' crowns,
The golden girdles, and the massive maces,
To thee, if so he may avert this trouble.
He will abandon too all lands which thou
Lay'st claim to as belonging to Írán;
Let us withdraw glad and victorious,
Dismissing bygones from our memory.”
So spake both old and young, save famous Rustam,
Who wished revenge not peace in that he grieved
For Siyáwush. The monarch bit his lip,
And turned a troubled look toward the speakers;
Anon he said: “'Tis not for us to quit
This battlefield and march back to Írán.
Where now are all the counsels and the oaths
Whereby we pledged ourselves to Kai Káús?
What while Afrásiyáb is on the throne
He will not cease to devastate Írán.
How can we look upon Káús, and how
Excuse ourselves before him? Ye have heard
Of what befell illustrious Íraj
From Túr all for the sake of crown and state;
And how Afrásiyáb dealt with Naudar
In murderous haste; and further how he slew
The noble Siyáwush, though innocent,
And still because of treasure, throne, and crown.
A crafty Turkman out of yonder host
Hath formally approached and challenged me
To single combat. Why are ye so pale?
I marvel at it thus affecting you
While making me still keener after vengeance.
I never thought: ‘The Íránians will unbind
The girdle of revenge.’ I have not seen
One of Írán o'erthrown so that the rest
Should be so anxious to avoid the fight
For mere words spoken by Afrásiyáb.”
The Íránians, sorry for their fault, excused
Themselves and said to him: “We are but slaves
And speak as love dictateth. High renown
Is all the object of the king of kings,
The noble outcome of his enterprises:
Let not the worldlord, the supreme, reproach us
Since no Íránian cavalier, they say,
Is able to contend against this man.
The troops are shouting on the battlefield
That none can do this brave deed save their Sháh,
Who, as the archmages' king, will not consent
That we shall be disgraced for evermore.”
Khusrau replied: “Know, counselling archmages!
That Shída on the day of battle holdeth
His father as no man. Afrásiyáb
Made armour for his son by magic arts
Perversely, darkly, and malignantly.
The arms which ye possess are not sufficient
To pierce that breastplate and that helm of steel.
The charger is of demon pedigree
With lion's action and the speed of wind.
A man that is not dowered with Grace from God
Would lose both head and feet in fighting Shída;
Besides he cometh not to fight with you,
For that would shame his Grace and birth. The
scions
Of Farídún and of Kubád are twain
As warriors, but one in heart and habit,
And I will burn his father's gloomy soul
As he burnt Kai Káús for Siyáwush.”
Those lion-horsemen of Írán 'gan call
Down blessings on their monarch, one and all.