They summoned archimages and made ready;
Their retinue was like the starry sky,
All men of name with sunlike countenances.
Sarv, hearing of their coming, decked his host

Like pheasant's plumes, and sent to welcome them
A goodly band of kinsfolk and of magnates.
As those three noble princes reached Yaman
Both men and women met them on their way,
Bestrewing saffron mixed with precious jewels
And mingling musk with wine. The horses' manes
Were drenched therewith, and underneath their feet
Gold coins were flung. A palace was prepared
Like Paradise itself; they overlaid
The bricks with gold and silver; all the hangings
Were of brocade of Rúm—a mass of wealth.
There Sarv disposed his guests and by the morn
Had put thom at their ease. He brought his daughters,
As Farídún had said, out of their bowers,
Like shining moons too dazzling for the eye,
And ranged them just as Farídún foretold.
Sarv asked the eldest prince: “Which is the youngest
Of these three Stars, which is the mid in age,
And which the eldest? Thus distinguish them.”
They answered as they had been taught, and so
Sewed up the eyelids of his craft, while he
And all his warriors were lost in wonder.
He saw that his inversion naught availed
And answered, “Yea,” and paired the pairs aright.
The introduction ended in betrothal.
The three princesses, blushing for their father,
Went from the presence of the three young princes
In sweet confusion, blushes on their cheek
And many a word of tenderness to speak.