Then there arose a man by name Mazdak,
Learned, eloquent, judicious, and commanding,
Of noble birth, a trafficker in knowledge,
And brave Kubád gave ear to him. This man
Became the king of kings' chief minister,
The treasurer and the guardian of the treasure.
Then famine visited the world through drought,
A famine that afflicted great and small;
No sign of snow appeared upon the sky,
And none saw snow or rain-fall in Írán.
At length the nobles of the world begged bread
And water at the portal of Kubád.
Mazdak returned them this reply: “The Sháh
Will manifest to you a way of hope,”
Then came himself in haste before the king,
And said to him: “O upright Sháh! I fain
Would question thee upon a point if thou
Wilt condescend to answer.”

Eloquent

Kubád replied: “Say on and make my lustre
Fresh in the world.”

“A man,” Mazdak rejoined,

“Is bitten by a snake; his life is passing;
Another man hath got the antidote
Whereof the bitten can obtain no share.
What then should be the guerdon of the man
That hath it? Money will not purchase it.”
The Sháh replied: “He is a murderer,
And should be slain to avenge the other's blood
Before my gate whenever the pursuer
Shall take him.”

Hearing this Mazdak went forth

To those petitioners and told them thus:—
“I have discussed the matter with the Sháh.
Wait till the dawn, and I will show you how
To right yourselves.”

They went away, returning

At dawn with stricken hearts in deep affliction.
Mazdak, when he beheld those chiefs from far,
Ran from the portal to the Sháh and said:—
“O thou victorious Sháh and eloquent,
Unsleeping, and the glory of the throne!
Thou gavest me an answer, when I spake,
And by that answer oped my bolted door,
So now with thy permission I will speak
A word to guide thee.”

“Speak,” the Sháh replied,

“Lock not thy lips because thy words will help me.”
Mazdak said: “Noble king! suppose a man,
Whom thou hast bound, but they withhold from him
All food until he dieth, thus perforce
Surrendering sweet life. Now how should one
Be punished who had bread yet left that captive
In destitution? Will the great king say:—
‘This man was wise and holy?’”

Said the Sháh:—

“Rend such to pieces, for through his neglect
He is a murderer.”

On hearing this

Mazdak, when he had kissed the ground, went forth,
And from the portal thus harangued the crowd:—
“Go to the magazines where grain is stored,
And help yourselves while if the owners ask
Its value give them gold.”

His own possessions

Within that city he gave up to pillage
In order that all folk might have their share.
Then all the hungry rabble fared in haste
To plunder every magazine of corn,
Owned by the citizens or by Kubád,
Who had none left to bless themselves withal.
The officers, when they perceived this, went
Before the watchful world-lord and thus said:—
“The mob have sacked the Sháh's own granaries,
But all the fault recoileth on Mazdak.”
Kubád bade call that man of eloquence,
And talked with him about the pillaging.
Mazdak replied: “Mayst thou be fortunate,
And may thy words be wisdom's daily food.
I only told the wretched market-folk
The words which I had heard the monarch speak.
I asked the Sháh about the snake and poison,
And of the man who had the antidote.
The Sháh returned this answer to his servant
Concerning him that had and him that sought it:—
‘If any die of snake-bite in the city,
Unhelped by one who hath the remedy,
For such they shall require that niggard's blood.’
The Sháh's authority must not be slighted.
Bread is the antidote for hungry men—
An antidote not wanted by the full.
If thou art one that judgest right, O Sháh!
Shall not the corn in store be put to use?

To hunger have a multitude succumbed,
Whose deaths are due to idle granaries.”
Kubád was much affected by the words:
These righteous words aroused his brain to action.
Then, questioning Mazdak and hearing him,
The Sháh perceived him learned in heart and brain
In all things that the prophets, the archmages—
Those righteous dealers—and the great had spoken.
The teaching of Mazdak perverted him,
And exercised unbounded influence.
The multitude came thronging to Mazdak—
The many that had wandered from the way:
He said to them: “The man of empty hand
Is equal to the man possessed of wealth.
No one should have a superfluity,
The wealthy is the warp, the poor the woof;
To right the world all men must have sufficient;
The rich man's plenty is abominable;
The women, goods, and houses are for all;
The empty-handed and the rich are one.
I will take order that the holy Faith
Be manifest, the lofty from the low.
Whoever is of other Faith than this,
The malison of God is on that dív.”
He treated mendicants, both old and young,
As though they were the equals of himself,
He took from this man and bestowed on that;
The archmages were astonied at his doings.
Kubád himself gave ear and was converted,
And of all things was joyful in his words.
He set Mazdak at his right hand although
An archimage unknown to all the host,
And unto him the mendicants resorted
With those that earned a living by their toil;
His Faith began to flourish in the world,
And no one dared to seek revenge on him,
The rich renounced the things that made them glad,
And gave to mendicants what wealth they had.