Two weeks he tarried and, when rested, marched.
He set forth eastward, having seen the west;
His purpose in the world was wayfaring.
Now as he went he saw a noble city;
“No wind or dust passed o'er it,” thou wouldst say.
Whenas the drums beat on the elephants
The chiefs came out two miles to welcome him.
The Sháh, on seeing them, received them well,
Exalting them o'er circling Sol, and asked:—
“What matchless marvels have ye in these parts?”
They loosed their tongues and thus bewailed their
fortune:—
“A very grievous case confronteth us,
And we will tell it to the conquering Sháh.
By reason of this cloud-capt mountain-range
Our hearts are full of anguish, toil, and grief.
Since for resistance we are powerless
Yájúj there and Májúj give us no sleep,
For when a portion of them reach our city
Our portion is all misery and travail.
Their faces all resemble those of beasts,
Their tongues are black, their eyes like blood, their
faces
Are black, their teeth are like wild boars'! Who dareth

Draw nigh to them? Their bodies all are clad
With hair, the hue of indigo, their breasts,
Their bosoms, and their ears resemble those
Of elephants. They sleep upon one ear,
And use the other as a coverlet.*

The mothers have a thousand children each,
And who can reckon them? They herd like beasts,
They go apace and run like onagers.
In spring, when clouds roar and the green sea heaveth,
The clouds draw up great monsters from the waves,
While air is roaring like a mighty lion,
And pour them down in masses: then these folk
Come troop on troop and batten year by year
Upon these monsters and thereby grow lusty
In limbs and body. Afterward they feed
On herbage, scattering to gather it.
In winter they are pale and thin, their voices
Like doves'; but through those monsters in the spring
They are as wolves and roar right lustily.
Now if the great Sháh could devise a means
To liberate our hearts from this distress,
He will receive the praise of every one,
And will prolong his sojourn in the world.
Exert thy power and do this work for us,
For thou too needest help from holy God.”
Sikandar mused at them, grew grave, and pondered,
Then answered thus: “I will defray the cost;
Your city must provide both aid and labour.
By help of God, our Guide and Succourer,
I will reduce this way of theirs to reason.”
All cried: “May fortune's ills be far from thee,
O Sháh! We are the slaves of thy good pleasure,
Thy lifelong servitors. We will supply
All that thou need'st, for we have no concern
More urgent.”

So Sikandar came and viewed

The heights, and took with him a troop of sages.
He ordered to bring blacksmiths, copper, brass,
And heavy hammers, mortar, stone, and fire-wood
Past reckoning, bring all things requisite.
They brought him everything that he demanded
In measureless supplies. When all was ready,
And planned, the masons and the smiths, all those
Of mastery in their trade throughout the world,
Assembled to Sikandar to assist him
In that most needful work. From every province
The experts mustered, and he built two walls
Across the mountain-pass from base to crest,
One hundred royal cubits broad, one cubit

Of charcoal, one of iron, in between
Strewed copper, and showered sulphur in the midst,
Such is the craft and subtlety of kings!
He laid thus his materials course on course,
And when from top to bottom all was set,
They mixed much ghee and naphtha, poured it over
Those substances, and on the top shot charcoal
In ass-loads. Then the Sháh bade fire the whole,
And five score thousand smiths blew up the flames,
As bidden by that king victorious.
A sound of blowing went up from the mountain,
The stars were frighted at the glowing fire.
Thus passed a season with the fire in blast,
And smiths a-toil. They ran the substances
Together, fusing them in that fierce blaze.
Thus was the world delivered from Yájúj
And from Májúj, and earth grew habitable,
For by Sikandar's famous barrier
The world escaped the misery of strife.
It was five hundred cubits high, about
One hundred broad. The nobles blessed the Sháh,
And said: “May neither time nor earth lack thee.”
They brought before him in abundant store
Whatever was the produce of those parts.
He would accept of naught and went his ways;
His doings filled the whole world with amaze.