Observe God's dealings with Zahhák when he
Had forty years to live. One longsome night
He slumbered in the arms of Arnawáz,
And saw a vision of three warriors—
Boughs of the tree of kings. The youngest one,
Who held the middle place, was cypress tall,
In face, in armour, and in mien a king.
He rushed with ox-head mace to fight Zahhák,
Smote him upon the head, stripped off his skin,
And used it as a rope to bind his hands
Firm as a rock,* placed on his neck a yoke,
Then casting earth and dust upon his head
Dragged him before the crowd in shame and anguish
Toward Mount Damáwand.

The tyrant writhed:

Thou wouldst have said: “His liver split with fright.”
He yelled. The palace of the hundred columns
Shook, and the sun-faced ladies left their couches,
While Arnawáz said to him: “Sháh! what was it?
Confide in me; thou wast asleep in peace
At home! What saw'st thou? Say what came to thee?
The world is at thy will, beast, dív, and man

Watch o'er thee and the seven climes are thine—
All 'twixt the moon and Fish.* What made thee start?
O master of the world! Oh! answer me.”
The chief replied: “I may not tell, or else
Ye will despair my life.”

Then Arnawáz:—

“Be pleased to tell us; we perchance may find
A cure, no ill is irremediable.”
He told them every whit, then said the Fair:—
“Neglect it not but seek a remedy.
Thy throne's seat is the signet of the age,
Thy famous fortune brighteneth the world,
Beneath thy finger-ring thou hast the earth
With all its fairies, dívs, beasts, fowls, and men.
Call both the archmages and astrologers—
The wisest of each realm—and tell them all.
See if the hand that threateneth thy life
Is that of fairy, dív, or man. This known
Act vigorously; quail not before thy foes.”
The lady's counsel pleased the Sháh.

Night then

Was dark as raven's plumes, but when at length
The Lamp showed o'er the hills, and thou hadst said,
“Strewed yellow gems upon the azure vault,”
Zahhák brought archimages shrewd of heart
And told to them the dream that pierced his liver.

He said: “Expound this dream without delay,
And make my soul a pathway toward the light.”
He asked them privily about the future,
Demanding: “What will be my latter end,
And who succeed me? Tell or hide your heads
In shame.”

They talked together sad at heart,

With parched lips and with sallow countenances:
They said: “If we tell truly what is fated
We shall be tortured, haply lose our lives;
And if we do not act straightforwardly
As well wash hands of life.”

None dared to speak:

Their fortune was in jeopardy three days.
Upon the fourth the Sháh was wroth, exclaiming:—
“Foretell the future or be hung alive.”
They drooped their heads, their hearts were rent, their eyes
Wept tears of blood. Among them was a man,
Wise, honest, prescient, by name Zirak—
The chief of all the band of archimages.
Concerned but fearless he addressed Zahhák:—
“Indulge no vapouring for none is born
Except to die. There have been kings ere thee
Fit for the throne of power. Both griefs and joys
Enough they reckoned up yet their time came.
If thou wert standing there— an iron wall—
Yon heaven would grind thee, thou wouldst not endure.
One will hereafter take thy throne and fling
Thy fortune to the ground. His name is Farídún,
And he will be a royal heaven to earth.

As yet he is not born, thy time of woe
Hath not arrived, but when his honoured mother
Hath borne him he will be a fruitful tree.
At man's estate his head will reach the moon
And he will seek thy belt, crown, throne, and casque.
In stature a tall cypress, he will shoulder
A mace of steel, will smite thy head therewith
And drag thee from the palace to the street
In bonds.”

“Why bind me,” said the impious king,

“In vengeance?”

Then Zirak: “Wert thou but wise …!

But all make pretexts for injurious acts.
Thy hand will slay his father and that wrong
Will fill the son's brains with revengeful thoughts:
Besides the nurse of this young atheling—
The cow, Birmáya hight—will perish too
By thy hand; so in vengeance he will brandish
An ox-head mace.”

Zahhák heard anxiously,

And swooned upon his throne. The noble archmage
Turned him and fled away in dread of ill.
The Sháh recovered and resumed his seat.
He diligently sought throughout the world
For traces faint or clear of Farídún;
No food, no slumber, or repose took he,
His daylight turned to lapislazuli.