Now when Bahman was drawing nigh the Hírmund
He choose him out an envoy, one of rank,
Entrusted to him various messages,
And sent him on to Zál, the son of Sám,
To say: “My lot is bitter in the world
Through what hath happened to Asfandiyár,
And through the vengeance owing for Núsh Zád*

And Núsh Ázar—two loved and high-born princes.
I mean to ease my heart of this old grudge,
And make the rivers of Zábul run blood.”
The messenger arrived and gave the message
To Zál, whose heart grew wed to pain and grief,
And he returned this answer: “If the Sháh
Is thus concerned about Asfandiyár,
Then let him know that what was was to be,
And that the matter filled my heart with anguish.
Thou wast thyself exposed to good and ill,
And hadst from me all profit and no loss.
Now Rustam swerved not from thy sire's commands,
But, as thou sawest, bare a loyal heart.
Thy sire, that great and noble prince, was fey,
And thereupon waxed over-bold. The lion
And dragon of the wood can not escape
The clutch of Fate. Thou must have heard, good sooth,
What deeds of valour Sám, the cavalier,
Accomplished in the past, and thus persèvered
Down to the days of Rustam, who then drew
The trenchant scimitar and wrought with valour
Before thine ancestors in times of strife.*

Withal he was the humblest of thy nurses
As well as of the mightiest of thy host.
Now miserably hath he passed away,
And all Zábulistán is full of tumult.
If now thou wilt forbear to war with us,
Wilt think upon our case considerately,
Wilt come and, putting vengeance from thy heart,
Enchant our land with lovingkindliness,
I will present to thee upon thy coming
Sám's wealth, brocade, dínárs, his golden girdles,
And golden harness, for thou art the Sháh;
The nobles are thy flock.”

He gave the envoy

A steed, dínárs, and many other gifts.
Now when the noble envoy reached Bahman,
He told what he had heard and seen with Zál.
Bahman, the fortune-favoured, when he heard,
Rejected the excuse, was very wroth,
And reached the city with an aching heart,
With vengeful thoughts and sighs upon his lips.
Then Zál, the son of Sám the cavalier,
Attended meanly by two horsemen, went
To meet Bahman and, coming to the presence,
Alighted from his roadster, did obeisance,
And spake thus, saying: “Wise and prudent Sháh!
Deign to regard us with the eye of wisdom.
By all the services that we have paid,
And by our care for thee when thou wast young,
Forgive us, speak no more about the past,
Be great and seek not vengeance for the slain.”
Enraged with Zál, whose hopes were foiled, Bahman
Put him forthwith in fetters, heeding not
What minister or treasurer might say.
Then from the halls of Zál, the son of Sám
The cavalier, they loaded up the camels

With money and with jewels in the rough,
With thrones and tapestries, whate'er there was,
With golden tissue and with golden crowns,
With silvern tissue and with belts and earrings.
They took the Arab horses trapped with gold,
The Indian scimitars with golden sheaths,
The prisoners and sacks of drachms, of musk,
And camphor, and the treasures more or less
That Rustam had collected by his toil
From Sháhs and chiefs. Bahman delivered all
Zábulistán to pillaging and then
Gave crowns and purses to his mighty men.