Thus many days passed o'er Asfandiyár,
The while Gushtásp departed to Sístán
To make the Zandavasta current there,
And archimages testify thereto.
As soon as the illustrious Sháh arrived
There went to him the captain of the host,
The ruler of Nímrúz, whose name was Rustam,
A veteran cavalier, another Sám,
In company with agèd Zál, his sire,
With mighty men and those about the court.
They carried minstrels in their train withal,
And posted them with harps along the route.
Thus went they forth to greet the glorious Sháh
Right jubilantly, and it liked him well.
They brought him to Zábul to be their guest,
And stood before his presence as his slaves.
From him they learned about the Zandavasta,
Adopted it, and lighted sacred Fires.
Two years passed thus in hospitality;
Gushtásp kept feasting with the son of Zál.
Throughout the world, wherever there were kings
That heard about the doings of the Sháh:—
“He hath confined Asfandiyár in bonds,
Hath galled his elephantine form with iron,
And gone to preach the gospel in Zábul
To blast the idols with the Cult of Fire,”
They one and all refused to do his bidding,
And brake with him completely.

When Bahman

Heard that his sire was prisoned by the Sháh,
And for no fault, Asfandiyár's brave meiny
Came grieving to him with the Kaian princes,
Fulfilled with tribulation and dismay,
And raised his spirits with their minstrelsy,
Not letting him be lonesome in his prison.
Then tidings reached the king of Chín: “The Moon
Hath fallen from the Archer into ambush.
The Sháh, wroth with Asfandiyár, dispatched him,
Dishonoured, to the hold of Gumbadán,
And started for Zábulistán himself
From Balkh to stay with Rustam, son of Zál,
Whose guest he now is at Zábul, and thus
Two years have passed away. Of all the Íránians
And soldiery none, saving Sháh Luhrásp
With seven hundred devotees of Fire,
Is left at Balkh.”

The monarch of Chigil

Called out his chiefs and heartened them to fall
Upon Luhrásp. “Know ye,” 'twas thus he spake,
“That Sháh Gushtásp hath marched with all his host
Sístán-ward and abideth at Zábul:
No cavalier is left in all his realm.
Now is the time for us to seek revenge;
We must take order and prepare ourselves.
His son, illustrious Asfandiyár,

Is fast in heavy bonds. What man is there—
A searcher out of mysteries—prepared
To undertake the long and arduous road,
And, choosing bypaths, shunning public ways,
Obtain full tidings of the Íránians?”
There was a sorcerer, by name Sitúh,
A rover and explorer. “I,” he said,
“Am one of tact and used to travelling.
What shall I do? Command me as thou wilt.”
The king of Chín said: “Go thou to Írán,
Take heedful note, and roam through all the land.”
The spy set forth upon his way and went
To chosen Balkh, the dwelling of the Sháh.
He saw not Sháh Gushtásp therein but found
Luhrásp, the devotee; he thereupon
Returned and, having done the Khán obeisance,
Told all. Arjásp grew joyful at the news,
And freed from longsome care, called all his chiefs,
And said: “Go, muster our disbanded host.”
The chieftains of the army went their way
To mountains, desert-tracts, and pasture-lands,
And summoned to the king his soldiery,
The chosen horsemen of his sovereignty.