Within a little while the monarch's fortune
Grew bright. He went to hunt at dawn one day
With wise Shápúr. The horsemen ranged around,
And cleared the plain of game. A spacious seat
Appeared afar with garth, park, hall, and palace.
Shápúr rode on until he reached the village,
And halted at the mansion of the chief.
There was a pleasant garth inside the walls,
A verdant spot, and when the youth went in
He saw a maiden like the moon, who plied
A wheel and bucket at a well. Now when
She saw Shápúr she came and showered blessings:—
“Be happy, smiles and joy be thine, and all
Thy years unscathed! Thy courser is athirst,
No doubt, and all the water in the village
Is brackish, but in this well cold and sweet.
With thy permission I will water him.”
Shápúr replied: “What words are these, fair
maid!
I have attendants; they shall draw the water.”
The maiden turned her back upon the youth;
She went apart and sat beside a stream.
He bade a servant: “Bring a bowl and draw.”
The attendant heard and ran; rope, wheel, and
He took the rope himself,
But found the work severe. Discovering
The bucket's weight he praised that fair-cheeked
maid,
And said: “good sooth, she is of royal race
To raise a bucket of such weight as this!”
When he had drawn the bucket up the damsel
Came and saluted him most graciously,
And said: “Live happily while time endureth.
May wisdom ever be thy monitor.
The virtue of Shápúr, son of Ardshír,
Could doubtless turn the water in the well
To milk!”
He said to that sweet-spoken maid:—
“How know'st thou, moon-face! that I am Shápúr?”
She answered him: “Full often have I heard
This saying from the lips of truthful men:—
‘The brave Shápúr is like an elephant
In strength, as bounteous as the river Nile,
In height a cypress, with a frame of brass,
And like Bahman in all.’”*
He said: “O moon-face!
Tell truly what I ask. Declare thy stock,
Because thy mien is royal.”
She replied:—
“The daughter of the village-chieftain I,
From whom I get my comeliness and strength.”
“Lies never pass with princes,” he rejoined,
“A tiller of the soil would not possess
A moon-faced daughter, fair, all scent and hue.”
“O prince,” she said, “when life is guaranteed me,
I will inform thee fully of my birth,
Safe from the anger of the king of kings.”
He said: “Revenge on friends is not a plant
That groweth in our garden, so say on,
And fear not me or our just, noble Sháh.”
“The very truth is that I am,” she said,
“The daughter of Mihrak, son of Núshzád.
A pious person brought me as a child,
And gave me to this worthy village-chief;
So now, for fear of the illustrious Sháh,
I draw the water and do other chars.”
Shápúr took up his lodging there and, when
The village-chief was waiting on him, said:—