The monarch of the world in grave concern
Went instantly to Húm who, when he saw
The crowned heads of the two Sháhs, offered them
The reverence that was due, while they invoked
God's blessing on him. Then said Sháh Káús:—
“Thanks be to God in whom our refuge is
That I have seen the face of this good man,
This man of knowledge, power, and mastery.”
Húm answered: “Through thy justice may the land
Be prosperous, may the days of this young Sháh
Be bright, and thy foes' hearts be rooted out.
I offered prayer upon this mountain-top,
What time the Sháh was passing to Gang-dizh,
That He who made the world would prosper earth
Through him. When he returned I laughed for joy,

And sought God's presence, offering my praises.
At night-time suddenly the blest Surúsh
Made that which had been secret known to me:
A cry went up from yon unfathomed cave;
I heard it and attended to the voice.
One bitterly lamented ivory throne,
Realm, army, state, and crown. Down from the peak
To that strait cave I came and grasped a lasso—
My girdle. I beheld the head and ears
Of him that sojourned there—Afrásiyáb.
I used my lasso as a cord and tied him
Firm as a rock, then haled him forth all helpless.
He bitterly complained of those tight knots,
And said in anguish: ‘O beloved of fortune!
Relax for me the tightness of these bonds.’
But when I did so he escaped my grasp,
Plunged, and is hidden in the water there!
We must cut off his foothold from the world.

If he be still as heaven fashioned him
His blood will stir with love for Garsíwaz
What time the exalted Sháh shall give command
To bring that brother with his feet in fetters,
And sew him to the neck in raw ox-hide,
Depriving him of power to help himself.
Afrásiyáb, when he shall hear the voice
Of Garsíwaz, will come forth from the lake.”
The Sháh bade those who mounted guard that day
To go with swords and bucklers of Gílán,
And fetch the miserable Garsíwaz—
The cause of all the trouble in the land.
The monarch bade the executioner:—
“Drag him along and show him no respect.”
They put him in an ox-hide to the neck
So that he could not stir. His skin burst on him,
He begged for mercy, and asked God for aid.
Afrásiyáb, whenas he heard that voice,
Rose quickly to the surface of the lake,
And swimming onward with his hands and feet
Came to a spot that was within his depth,
And listening to his brother's cries on shore
Saw what was worse to him than death itself.
When Garsíwaz beheld him in the water,
With eyes fulfilled with blood and troubled heart,
He cried and said: “O monarch of the world,
The head of nobles and the crown of chiefs!
Where are thy customs, state, and policy?
Where are thy head and treasure, crown and host?
Where all thy knowledge and thy might of hand?
Where are the mighty men that were thy lieges?
Where are thy glory and thy fame in war?
Where are thy joys in goblet and in feast
Since thou hast need to hide thee in the lake,
And such ill fortune hath befallen thee?”
Afrásiyáb thereat shed tears of blood,
And answered: “I have roamed the world at large
Both publicly and privily withal
If haply I might 'scape mine evil lot,
But ill and worse than ill befalleth me!
Now is my life grown loathsome and my soul
Fulfilled with anguish for thy sake that one
Sprung from Pashang and Farídún erewhile
Thus should be netted by the Crocodile!”