How the Khán sent his Brother to Gurdya, the Sister of Bahrám Chúbína, with a Letter touching her Brother's Death and asking her in Marriage as his Queen, and her Answer

Now when the Khán's heart was relieved and Chín
Was all like clay with gore he said one day:—
“Weak men, weak deeds! but I was well content
And gladdened through Bahrám Chúbína's prowess.
Now why have I allowed the hero's kin
To bide in so much weakness and contempt?

I shall be blamed by all that hear thereof,
And in the future none will trust mine oath.
I have not soothed his little son's distress
Or have concerned me for his kin although
He was related to me through my daughter,
And heart and soul compact of love and wisdom.”
He bade his brother come and spake at large:—
“E‘en as a pheasant flieth in a garden
Betake thyself to Marv, look on the kin
Of brave Bahrám Chúbína, greet them well,
And say: ‘By God and by the throne of greatness
I had no knowledge of this villainy.
I too am stricken to the heart and wrapped
In grief while I shall live, and in revenge
Have bathed the surface of the land in gore.
The cities curse, but bless Bahrám Chúbína.
Although I should take vengeance for this hurt,
And bring the heaven down, one in a hundred
Would not avenge so famed a hero's blood;
But no one, as all wise men know, can 'scape
From God's decree. This was assigned to him,
And all through the perverse Dív's sorcery.
I hold to my first pledge and will keep faith.’
Convey a separate letter to Gurdya:—
‘O holy lady of unsullied skirt!
Thou art all uprightness and kindliness,
Of lofty nature, far from all defect.
Long have I mused upon thy state, while wisdom
Hath been in secret session with my heart,
And have found no lord fitter than myself
For thee, so grace my curtains by thy counsel;
Thee will I hold as mine own soul and body,
And do mine utmost to keep faith with thee.
Then all in this state shall be thine to bid,
And I will pledge my heart to do thy will.
Now gather all thy friends, discuss the matter
Before the wise and see what seemeth best
To thy bright mind when thou hast wisely weighed.
Let wisdom rule thy words and then inform me.’”
That atheling, his brother, heard and like
A turtle-dove from cypress sped to Marv,
And to Bahrám Chúbína's kindred bare
The letter and good will, told what the Khán
Had said and how he passioned to avenge
The slain, then added: “Sages and archmages
Approven well and vigilant of heart!
Herein may much good tidings come to you,
And may the almighty Judge befriend the dead.
This sudden death—no trifle—was a thing
That none expected.”

Then he gave the sister,

But privily, the letter and the message
Sent by the Khán. He spake of their connexion,
Her counsel and fair words, of past and present,
And of the purity and piety
Of women that both counsel and console.
The young man spake, the lady of the skirt
Unsullied heard him but made choice of silence.
Thereafter, when she had perused the letter,
And all the words of the imperious Khán,
She made her wisdom and her knowledge mates,
Thought out her answer and informed the brother:—
“I have perused this letter and held session
With wisdom. Just what kings, experienced folk,
And potentates would do the Khán hath done.
Oh! may our eyes be bright upon the man
That seeketh thus to avenge us! May the world
Ne'er lack the Khán, and may the crown of greatness
Rejoice in him. May care ne'er wound his heart,
And may he ne'er despair. We sat in counsel.
I read thy letter over, every whit,
And all the men of wisdom and of might
Agree to entertain this wish of thine.
Howbeit all my family are now
In sorrow and the subject is ill-timed.
When mourning for so great a chief is over
The Khán's commandment shall not be transgressed.
I purpose not to go back to Írán.
Naught can be better for a virtuous dame
Than to be married, but if I shall come
In haste what will the wise king say of me?
If in the midst of grief I aim at joy
I shall not act with virtue or respect;
The wise will say that I lack modesty,
The Khán himself will think me indiscreet.
When four months of this mourning have elapsed
I will dispatch a horseman to the king.
Meanwhile hear will I what I ought to hear—.
All that my counsellors may have to urge—
And state it in a letter to the king
When mine adviser goeth unto him.
As for the present, fare rejoicing hence,
And tell the Khán the message that I send.”
She gave the envoy many gifts, and he,
A man experienced, left Marv joyfully.