III
TAHMÚRAS
TAHMÚRAS, THE BINDER OF THE DÍV, REIGNED THIRTY YEARS
ARGUMENT

Tahmúras, the son of Húshang, continues his father's work as a culture-hero, in the domestication of animals, the invention of weaving, &c., conquers and enslaves Áhriman, and defeats the dívs, whose lives he spares on condition that they shall teach him the art of writing.

NOTE

According to the Bundahish, Tahmúras—the Takhma Urupa of the Zandavasta—was the great grandson of Húshang, and the brother of Jamshíd, who, however, is represented as his son in the poem. The legend of the binding of Áhriman by Tahmúras is several times mentioned in the Zandavasta, where he is re­presented as praying that he may conquer all demons and men, all sorcerers and fairies, and ride Áhriman, turned into the shape of a horse, all around the earth for thirty years.* From other sources we learn that Áhriman, while kept as a charger by Tahmúras, persuaded the latter's wife to reveal her husband's secrets, and acting on the information thus gained threw off Tahmúras and swallowed him while he was riding down Mount Alburz. Yim (Jamshíd), hearing of his brother's misfortune, suc­ceeded in dragging the corpse from the entrails of the fiend, and thus restored the culture of the world which had perished with Tahmúras.*

The reader will note the reappearance of the Black Dív in this reign after his apparently complete destruction by Húshang. The explanation of course is that the aim of the poet is to follow his authorities, not to make consistent stories. He is here deal­ing with another legend, so the Black Dív reappears.*