Asfandiyár, on hearing Rustam's words,
Smiled and his heart began to beat with joy.
He answered: “I have listened to thy toils,
Thy pains, thy combats, and anxieties.
Now hearken to the gests that I have done,
Whereby I raised my head above the noble.
'Twas for the Faith that first I girt my loins,
And cleared the earth of idol-worshippers:
Our warriors could not see the world for slain.
Gushtásp was mine immediate ancestor,
Who was himself begotten by Luhrásp;
Luhrásp again was son of king Aurand,
Who at that time possessed both fame and rank.
Aurand was of the seed of Kai Pashín,
Blessed by his father who was Kai Kubád—
A Sháh of wisdom and of upright heart;
Pursue my race thus to Sháh Farídún,
The root of kings and glory of the throne.
My mother is, moreover, Cæsar's daughter,
Who is the crown upon the Rúmans' head
And sprung from Salm—a glorious lineage,
Instinct with justice, precedent, and Grace.
Salm was the son of valiant Farídún,
Who carried off the ball from all the kings

For valour. I assert what none gainsay,
Though many quit the way and few are in it,
That in the presence of mine own forebears,
Those mighty men devout and glorious,
Thou and thy grandsire were but servitors.
I do not seek to best thee but thou hadst
Thy kingship from the Sháhs, who were my sires,
For zealous service. Wait while I tell all,
Then if there be a falsehood point it out.
Since Sháh Luhrásp gave to Gushtásp the throne
I have been girt with valour and success,
And I have slain the perverts from the Faith
Upon the plains of Chín and of Túrán.
Then later on, when through Gurazm's words
My father bound and banned me from the feast,
Ill reached Luhrásp by reason of my bonds:
The Turkmans hid the earth. Then to the hold
Of Gumbadán the veteran Jámásp
Came with a message and in soldier's garb.
When he arrived and saw how I was bound,
Saw how my mind and heart were pierced by care,
He sent for blacksmiths to deliver me
Out of my heavy bondage, but their work
Was far too slow for me because my heart
Yearned for the scimitar. My heart was straitened
I shouted at them, wrenched me from their grasp,
Rose to my height from where I sat and brake
My bonds with mine own hands, then sought the field
Whereon the fortunes of Gushtásp were lost;
And when Arjásp fled with his famed array
Before me I girt up my loins with manhood,
And went like raging lion in pursuit.
As for the Seven Stages thou hast heard
Of mine adventures with the lions there
And with that Áhriman, and how I entered
The Brazen Hold by guile and quelled a world,
Hast heard about my doings in Túrán,
And all the toil and hardship that I bare.
Good sooth, no onager e'er hath endured
Such from a pard, nor maw of crocodile
From sailors' angle. On a mountain-top,
Sequestered by its height from all the throng,
There was a hold. I found the people all
Idolaters and dazed like men bemused.
Since Túr, the son of valiant Farídún,
No man had robbed the hold of its repute.
I took that fortress by my bravery,
I cast the images upon the ground,
And set alight the Fire there that Zarduhsht
Brought in a censer out of Paradise.*

Victorious through the just, the only God,
I came again in such case to Írán
That we had no foe left in all the world,
And not a Brahman in his idol-house.
In all my battles I have fought unaided;
No one hath shared with me the cares of war.
Now, seeing that we have so long converst,
Tilt up the wine-cup if thou art athirst.”