Now when Haftwád was ware thereof his heart
Grew full of anguish and his head of sighs.
He came to repossess the hold. The king
Ascended to the walls in haste. Haftwád
Strove but to small result, for on the ramparts
There was a Lion's foot.*

The Íránian host
Came mountain-like, but halted seared and sore.*

Then Sháh Ardshír cried from the battlements:—
“O valiant lion-catcher!*

fall upon them,
For if Haftwád escapeth from our midst
Thou wilt have naught in hand but toil and wind.
I have given the molten metal to the Worm;
Gone is its luck, its fierce career abated.”
The troops all heard the Sháh's words, donned their

helms
And, grieved at past discomfiture, took heart,
And girt their loins for vengeance. Then the wind
Turned on the Worm's troops. Soon Haftwád was taken,
As was that knave Sháhwí—his eldest son
And general. Ardshír descended quickly;
Shahrgír met him afoot. They brought a steed
With golden trappings, and the famed king mounted;
Then ordered to set up beside the sea
Two lofty gibbets and suspended thence
His two opponents living and woke up
The heart of all his foes. As for the twain,
He came forth from the centre of the host,
And put them both to death with showers of arrows.
He gave the wealth to spoil and thus enriched
His troops. The servants brought down from the hold
All that there was. Such of the wealth as pleased him
He hurried off to Khurra-i-Ardshír.
The Sháh set up a Fire-fane on the mountain,
Restored Mihrgán and Sada, and bestowed
Upon his lucky hosts*

crown, throne, and province,
And thence departing, triumphing and glad,
Spread justice over Párs. When man and beast
Had rested he led on his host to Zúr,
Sent to Kirmán an army, and a man
Fit for the crown and throne, proceeded thence
To Taisafún and brought his foe's throne down.
Of this our whirling world it is the way
To keep concealed from thee its mystery.
Conform to it, 'twill not conform to thee,
Because its favour changeth every day.