The king of kings heard what they said; the age,
Outworn, revived for him. He called a scribe,
Spake of the Khán at large, and bade indite
An answer couched in choice and gracious terms.
He first gave praises to almighty God,
“The World-lord, Conqueror, and Nourisher.
The world is 'stablished by His ordinance;
He is our Guide to good. He giveth worth
To whom He will and from abasement raiseth
Such to high heaven, the while another man
Is left in luckless case because unfavoured
By Him to Whom I own that thanks are due
For every blessing, and of Whom my heart
Is fearful when I do amiss. I would
That life should cease within my heart if I
E'er should desist from hope and fear in Him.
The worshipful ambassador hath come,
And brought a gracious message from the Khán.
Heard have I what was said about a league,
And of the virtuous daughters of his house:
My heart would joy to be allied to him,
And in especial through his own chaste child.
Lo! I have sent to thee a prudent man,
A man whose mind esteemeth wisdom dear.
On coming he will tell thee all my views
As touching this alliance first and last.
Be happy-hearted and our warm friend still.”
The writer, when the pen was out of work,
Embellished all the paper, rolled it up,
And, when the last tears of the pen were dry,
Affixed a seal of musk. The Sháh bestowed
A robe of honour on the ambassadors,
Such as amazed the company, and chose
A wise old chief, by name Mihrán Sitád,
And five score famed Íránian cavaliers,
All men renowned, discreet, and eloquent,
And said thus to Mihrán Sitád: “Go forth
Glad and triumphant, and with love and justice.
Be thine the fluent tongue of chiefs, be wisdom
Thy guide, thy heart all lovingkindliness.
Scan well the women's quarters of the Khán,
And throughly search out all their good and ill.
They must not fool thee with a mere display
Of countenance, of grace, and ornament.
The Khán hath many daughters stately, tall,
And crowned, behind his curtains, and of these
The offspring of his slaves are not for me,
Although they have a king to father them;
Look thou for one that is both meek and good,
Whose mother is descended from the Kháns.
If she hath gifts according to her birth
She will rejoice the world and live in joy.”
Mihrán Sitád, when he had heard, invoked
Much blessing on the crown and throne, and left
The portal of the world-illuming Sháh
At a propitious season on the day
Khurdád. News of his coming reached the Khán,
Who sent out troops to welcome him, and when
He reached the presence of the Khán he kissed
The ground and proffered praise. On seeing him
That world-aspiring king received him well,
Assigning him an honourable room,
But, being much concerned at the affair,
Withdrew to the apartments of the queen,
Declared to her the words of Núshírwán,
Spake of his treasures and his host, and “This
Sháh Núshírwán,” he told her, “is still young,
And wary, and his fortune is young also.
Fain am I to bestow on him a daughter
To magnify our worship in his sight.
One such I have, concealed behind the veil—
A Crown upon the head of lady-hood,
The fairest of the fair throughout the world,
And many a chief hath sought her at my hands.
I love her so that never would I cease
To gaze upon her face. I have four others—
The offspring of my slaves, themselves both slaves
And handmaids, clever girls—and one of them
Will I bestow on him, and rest from warfare,
And from dispute.”
“None in the world will oust thee, thou'rt so wise!”
In such discourse they passed the night away
Until the sun ascended o'er the mountains,
And then Mihrán Sitád arrived, drew near
The throne, and gave the letter. When the Khán
Had read he smiled upon the union
And goodly choice proposed, gave up the key
That oped his ladies' bower, and said: “Go look
On what is hidden there.”
Four trusty slaves
Came to accompany Mihrán Sitád,
Who, when he heard the Khán, went with the key
And them withal. He oped the doors. They entered,
The slaves protesting to him: “Never star
And sun and moon have seen the sight that thou
Art on thy way to see!”
The ladies' bower
Was Paradise adorned—all Suns and Moons
And goodly havings—while upon the throne
Five fay-faced maidens sat crowned and arrayed
In treasures, save the daughter of the queen,
Who wore no crown or bracelet, torque or jewel,
But only had on her a well-worn robe,
And for a crown her musky locks divine.
Her cheeks were made not up: she only wore
What God had given her—a Cypress she,
Surmounted by a new moon that diffused
A lustre o'er the new throne where she sat.
Now when Mihrán Sitád came and beheld
He saw none like to her, and, being shrewd
Of heart and counsel, knew that king and queen
Were fooling him. The damsel used her hands
As kerchief for her eyes. Mihrán Sitád
Grew wroth anew and told the slaves: “The Sháh
Hath many a bracelet, crown, and throne, and I
Choose her that lacketh crown and ornament,
For these will make her still more beautiful.
I came to show discretion in my choice;
I came not to procure brocade of Chín.”
The queen replied: “Old man! thou speakest not
One gracious word and art not well advised
If thou preferrest such a child as this
To these princesses who are gracious, fair,
And wise, have reached a marriageable age,
And kindle hearts—girls tall as cypress-trees,
With cheeks like spring and very well aware
Of all the worship that is due to kings.”
Mihrán Sitád said: “If the Khán shall act
Unfairly in this matter let him know
That Núshírwán, the monarch of the world,
Will term me an old knave. The one that sitteth,
All unadorned by bracelet, torque, and crown,
Upon the ivory throne best pleaseth me;
With your permission I will go my ways.”
The queen observed his words. His policy
And conduct made her muse. The crafty envoy
Then left her, went back to the Khán, and told
All that had passed. The Khán saw him perturbed,
And knew: “This shrewd old man is great and apt
For delicate affairs.”
The prudent king
Sat with his counsellors, put forth the throng,
And, when the place for conclave had been cleared,
The readers of the stars who bore in hand
Their Rúman astrolabes, the mighty men,
And all the chiefs, attended. Then the Khán
Commanded every loyal liege to mark
The aspect of the sky. The sages scanned
The stars to find out how the Khán should act,
And as to his alliance with the Sháh,
And at the last said thus: “Let not, O king!
Thy heart be vexed by evil any whit,
Because this matter can but end in good,
And time will count thy foemen's counsels ill.
This is the purpose of high heaven herein—
The horoscope and prosperous event—
That from the daughter of the Khán and from
The Sháh's loins a throne-gracing prince will come;
The country of Írán,354
the men of name
And worth in Chín, his praises shall proclaim.”
The Khán, on hearing this, was glad of heart,
Smiled too the sunlike queen. When they had purged
Their hearts of artifice they set the envoy
Before them and told all that he should know
About the queen's child kept secluded thus,
Whom from her sire Mihrán Sitád received
On the victorious king of kings' behalf.
The deputy received, the Khán bestowed,
The only daughter that the queen had borne.
The handmaids came with gifts, came joyfully
Before the king, and afterwards a treasure,
Comprising goods of all sorts, was prepared—
Dínárs, gems, torques, and crowns, a turquoise litter,
An ivory throne, and one of aloe-wood
From Hind, with gold and divers jewelry
A hundred horses and a hundred camels,
The horses saddled and the camels bearing
Brocade of Chín, and forty tapestries
Of cloth of gold enriched with emeralds.
Of carpets too he laid a hundred loads
On camels, and brought forth three hundred handmaids,
And saw that all were mounted for the journey,
Each with a flag in hand—the use in Chín.
The Khán, victorious of fortune, bade
To set up on an elephant a throne
Embossed with gold and silver all incrusted
With gems unworn, and rear a flaunting flag
That made the ground all viewless with brocade.
It took a hundred men to carry forth,
And raise, that standard skyward from the plain.
A litter tricked out with brocade and gold
Contained the maiden Gem. Three hundred hand-maids,
All blithe of heart and bright of countenance,
Accompanied that moon-faced one. He sent
His daughter to the Sháh with troops for escort,
And forty eunuchs to precede the slaves,
And march before her with rejoicing hearts.
The preparations over, came the scribe,
And brought with him rose-water, musk, and silk.
The Khán then wrote a letter like the Artang,355
All illustration, colour, scent, and beauty,
And first of all gave praises to the Maker,
Lord of the world, all-watchful and all-seeing:—
“He fashioned all things by divine decree
To guide His servants to predestined ends.
My crown is the Íránian king of kings.
Not for my daughter's sake have I desired
A league with him, but hearing from the wise,
The great men and the wary-hearted priests,
About his Grace, his majesty, and throne,
I sought for intercourse and league with him
Because so just a ruler girdeth not
His loins in all the world, or one so great
In manhood, victory, and mastery,
In Grace, mien, throne, and crown, while holy God
Sustaineth him with justice and with knowledge,
With Faith and wisdom. Lo! we have dispatched,
According to our rites, our very Eye
To Núshírwán the Sháh, commanding her
To serve him as his slave when she shall pass
Behind his curtains. From his Grace and insight
She will learn wisdom and acquire his ways
And usages. May wit and fortune guide thee,
Be majesty and knowledge thy supports.”
They set the seal upon that musk of Chín,
And gave the letter to the ambassador
A robe of honour past all precedent
As given by the great ones of the world
In public or in private to an envoy.
The Khán gave presents also to the suite,
And made them happy with dínárs and musk.
He travelled with his daughter and the goods,
The beasts and elephants caparisoned,
Until he reached the bank of the Jíhún,
And poured his heart's blood from his eyes the
while;
He thence betook him homeward with full heart
And, in his daughter's stead, had pain for comrade;
Howbeit he delayed till they had crossed,
And reached dry land upon the further side.
When tidings came about Mihrán Sitád357
The folk presented gifts and offerings,
And all with one consent called blessings down
Upon the Sháh and on the chief of Chín.
With hearts rejoiced with largess and with gifts,
And all disposed for hospitality
And amity, the folk decked road and city,
And showered drachms upon the royal bride.
Toward Ámwí and Marv's unwatered ways
All earth was like a pheasant's plumes, and thou
Hadst said of all the journey to Bastám,
And to Gurgán: “The earth saw not the sky
For decorations and triumphal arches
In waste and town wherethrough the progress lay.”
Men, women, children, from the palaces,
Met where that Idol brought from Chín would pass,
Showered on her escort drachms from overhead,
And sifted o'er them musk and ambergris.
The scents were mixed on salvers, and the world
Was full of din from trump and kettledrum.
The horses' manes were drenched with musk and
wine,
And sweets and drachms were scattered under-foot,
While through the din of rebeck, harp, and pipe,
There was no room on earth for rest and sleep.
Now when the Idol reached the royal bower,
And Núshírwán had looked within the litter,
He saw a Cypress with the orbéd moon
Above it and upon the moon a crown
Of ambergris. There was another too
Of musky coils joined chain-wise, link on link,
The links entrammelled, plaited daintily,
And curiously entwined like civet ring-work
Upon a rose's petal, while beneath
The ring-work shone the planet Jupiter.
Sháh Núshírwán was all astound thereat,
And o'er her oft invoked the name of God,
Assigned her a fit dwelling for her own,
And they made ready for that Moon a throne.
News reached the Khán of Chín, and of the joy
Wherewith his child had been received, and how
The alliance caused good cheer and happiness,
He gave up Sughd and Samarkand and Chách,
And sent his crown on to Káchár Báshí.
Now when the hosts of Chín had left these states
The Sháh sent marchlords thither. He renewed
The world by equity, and old and young
Could sleep upon their backs. All everywhere
Called blessings down on him with hands upraised
To heaven: “O Ruler over space and time!
Keep in Sháh Núshírwán this justice still,
And turn the ills of fortune from his life,
For by his Grace divine and majesty
Both public ills and private have been banned.
What time he reached Gurgán to hunt none saw
The Khán's face smile; the cavaliers of Chín
Forwent their food and sleep, and none off-saddled;
Three hundred thousand Turkman troops dispersed
Instead of striving and of combating;
There is no need to string the bow, for none
Of Chín, or small or great, remaineth here,
Such were the Grace divine and royal mien
Wherewith the savage Lion sought the chase;
Such were his reputation and his star
That fortune was the comrade of his throne.”
Then from the regions lying 'twixt Ámwí,
Chách, and Khutan, the nobles met and said:—
“These spacious regions full of pleasances,
Of riding-grounds, of palaces, and halls,
From Chách and the Tarak to Samarkand
And Sughd359
are wholly waste—the home of owls.
They of Chaghán, Shiknán, Khatlán, and Balkh,
Have all experienced dark and bitter days.
Great are our pain and sorrow when we name
Bukhárá and Kharazm, Ámwí and Zam.
Once none gat rest and sleep, so tyrannous
And cruel was Afrásiyáb! Howbeit
We found deliverance when Kai Khusrau
Came, and the world had peace from bickering.
Then when Arjásp gained lustihead these marches
Were filled with anguish and calamity,
But when Gushtásp marched from Írán to battle
Arjásp perceived no tarrying-place, and then
May heaven ne'er befriend him! Afterwards,
What time Narsí became the chief, these coasts
Were full of misery, but when Shápúr,
Son of Urmuzd, usurped, and when Narsí
Discerned not hand from foot, the world found justice,
And quiet, and the hand of Áhriman
Was stayed from evil. When the Khán bore off
The world from Yazdagird, and had acquired
Dexterity in ill, there came the world-lord,
Bahrám Gúr, to afflict and trouble him,
To make the states like Paradise with justice,
And scatter the unseemly and the foul.
So Khúshnawáz, what time Pírúz was Sháh,
Filled all the world with bloodshed, heat, and anguish,
And perish Faghánísh that son of his
With all his unjust kith and kin! And now
The world-lord Núshírwán hath occupied
Our marches and hath made us rich indeed!
For ever may his policy endure,
And may the whole world be at one with him.
Now that the earth beholdeth justice we
Will contemplate no travail, shed no blood.”360
Then from the Haitálians, Turkmans, and Khutan
The people met by the Gulzaryún
From every quarter where some shrewd priest lived,
Or other potentate good, learned, and wise,
While all the Turkmans that were well advised
Drew to the Sháh—a mighty company.
It was the policy of all these troops
To come before the Sháh with offerings,
And when they came before him, when they came,
All with one heart and tongue, the monarch's court
Was so fulfilled with people that they barred
The way to ant and gnat! All louted low,
Called praises down upon the Sháh, and said:—
“O Sháh! we are thy slaves and live to do
Thy bidding in the world. We all of us
Are nobles dight for war and rend the hides
Of leopards on the field.”
The king of kings
Received their gifts, and then they left the presence,
Their leader Faghánísh. Behind him came
A troop of youthful warriors. When thus
They had found favour in the monarch's sight
The chamberlain went to the palace-gate
With formal greetings and with compliments,
And lodged them through the city. Afterwards
The king of kings, that worshipper of God,
Passed from the audience-chamber to the dust,
And offered up thanksgivings to the Almighty:—
“O Thou above vicissitudes of fortune!
Thou gav'st me Grace, accomplishment, and counsel,
And art my Guide in all things good and ill,
The crown of majesty, but all submit
To be my lieges. None hath pluck to fight.
Birds on the mountains, fishes in the water,
Remain awake to watch what time I slumber;
All the wild creatures are my sentinels,
The mighty of the world mine underlings;
No abject he whom Thou dost choose who art
The world's sole Lord and giv'st me strength therein
That not an ant may sleep aggrieved by me.”
'Twas thus he spake with many tears to God:
Canst find within the world a king like him?
Then from his place of prayer he sought his throne,
And they prepared to quit Gurgán. The blast
Of trumpets and the din of brazen cymbals
Ascended from the court. He called to horse,
And loaded up, invoking the All-giver.
He took dínárs, brocade, crowns, belts, and treasures
Of drachms and gems, steeds, female slaves, and
crowns,
The turquoise litter and the ivory throne.
The heart-alluring handmaids and the thralls
Of all deseriptions mounted on the saddle.
The Sháh dispatched them all to Taisafún,
Preceded by the women-folk of Chín,
Who fared auspiciously and cheerfully
Surrounded by the eunuchs. As high priest,
Mihrán Sitád accompanied the queen,
The daughter of the Khán, and thus the treasures
And baggage went toward Taisafún. A band
Composed of warriors only—all the best
And noblest of the mighty men—approached
Afoot Ázar Ábádagán while troops
Came from each province, soldiers from Gílán
And Dílamán,362
the mountains of Balúch,
And deserts of Sarúch, and warriors
From Lúch, all came with gifts and offerings
Before the tent-enclosure of the king,
Whereat the famous chiefs rejoiced and thought:—
“The wolf's claws grow too short to reach the sheep!”
World without end strife with Balúch had raged,
And filled the cities with distress and anguish,
But by the Grace of Núshírwán the sky
Had changed its use and favour.362a
Wheresoever
The host was wont to pass it did not use
To harm a crop, to ask for bread and water,
But made its sleeping-quarters on its route.
The Sháh on this wise went about the world,
Surveying every place, both field and waste.
He saw that all the world was full of crops,
While sheep and oxen filled the hills and plains.
Where none had looked on sowing and on reaping,
He now surveyed and found it bearing fruit,
Found too a family in every house.
The trees were laden through the Grace divine
Of that victorious master of the world.
At one stage of the progress of the Sháh
The ambassador of Cæsar came with presents,
With silver and withal a throne of gold,
And Rúman jewels and brocade—a gift
That covered all the surface of the ground:
So great a tribute ne'er had come from Rúm.
Ten ox-hides had been filled up with dínárs—
The tribute and the taxes of three years—
And with the presents Cáesar had dispatched
A letter to the famous king. They set
The envoy in the presence, and the Sháh
Was all attention while they read the letter.
'Twas full of warm expressions of good will
About the gifts that had been sent to him:—
“Hereafter will I send thee greater gifts,
For these are merely meant for largessing.”
The Sháh received them, mounted on his steed,
And sought the temple of Ázargashasp.
When, still afar, he saw the place of worship
His cheeks were hidden by his tears. He lighted
Down from his steed and, sacred twigs363
in hand,
Made prayer with bated breath;363a
then drawing near
The Fire he worshipped and adored the Maker.
He gave the temple-bursar all the gold,
And all the many gems that he had brought,
And showered gold and silver on the archmages,
Bestowing on them likewise gems and raiment.
All were enriched by him and sought the Fire
To offer up their thanks in muttered tones,363b
And blessed withal the righteous judge of earth.
He parted thence for Taisafún; the host
Made earth a Mount Bístún. That righteous Sháh,
On reaching any city, used to give
Much gold and silver to the mendicants.
Through all the wealth that he disposed of thus
The realm was stuffed with treasure and with drachms.
From Taisafún he drew toward Madá'in,
For there he wont to keep his treasuries' key.
He took the Rose of Chín363c
and forty more
Withal. Mihrán Sitád fared on before.
When Núshírwán ascended to his throne
In pomp, with his good fortune for his mate,
The world was decked like Paradise with justice,
Inequity, and bloodshed, everywhere,
And was renewed by Grace divine. “They have,”
Thou wouldst have said, “bound both the hands of
evil.”
None knew of pillage, raid, or putting forth
The hand to ill; all came at his behest
From darkness and perverseness to the way.
If any dropped a drachm upon the road
A thief would shun that wealth! As for brocade
And for dínárs, on land and sea, by daylight,
And in the hours for sleep, the ill-disposed
Would look not to that quarter out of fear,
And through the justice of the Sháh, the world-lord.
The world was pargetted like Paradise,
And dale and desert were fulfilled with wealth.
Dispatches went to all the provinces,
To every man of name and potentate,
While from the Turkman merchants and from Chín,
Sakláb and every province, came such store
Of musk-bags and of silk of Chín, of trinkets
Of Rúm and of the land of Hind, as made
Írán like jocund Paradise; its dust
Was ambergris, its bricks were gold. The world
Turned toward Írán and rested from distress
And bickering. “The breezes shed rose-water,”
Thou wouldst have said, and men had peace from pain
And leech. The moisture showered upon the rose
In season, and the farmer was not sad
Through lack of rain. The world grew full of herbage
And cattle, plains and valleys were all flowers,
Rooftrees, and dwellings, all the streams seemed seas,
And roses Pleiad-like within the gardens.
Men learned to speak new tongues within Írán,
Illumed their souls with knowledge, and returned
Thanksgiving to their guide, the Sháh, for all
The traffickers that came from every march
And land, from Turkistán, Chín, Hind, and Rúm,
While cattle multiplied amid the herbage.
All learnéd men and ready speakers found
A place at court. The great, the men of lore,
And archimages were esteemed, the wicked
Shook fearful of calamity. What time
The sun adorned the world a proclamation
Would go up from the court: “All ye that are
The servants of the monarch of the world!
Keep not ill hidden, any one of you!
Whoe'er hath toiled at any task shall have
A treasure in proportion to his travail.
Prefer your claims before our chamberlain
That he may seek your recompense from us.
If any creditor shall come and ask
For payment from the poor, my treasurer
Will pay the debt because the destitute
Upon another's wife, and his accuser
Appeal to us, the offender shall see naught
But pit and gibbet, bondage in the pit,
And arrows on the gibbet. If men find
A horse at large, and any husbandman
Complain thereof at court, let it be slain
Upon that tilth, and he shall have the carcass
Who had the scath, the horseman shall be horseless,
And fare afoot before Ázargashasp
To tender his excuse, the muster-master
Shall strike his name off from the muster-roll,
They shall lay low his dwelling, and the offender,
Whate'er his rank may be, shall be degraded.
The Sháh can not be of one mind with such,
Will have the righteous only at his court,
And at our court God grant there never be
Those that approve not of our policy.”
One day the world-lord, as he sat rejoicing,
Gave audience to the mighty men of wisdom.
He spake with smiles and open countenance,
And seated Búzurjmihr upon the throne,
Who offered to the king such praise as made
His heart like jocund spring, and thus he said:—
“O righteous judge so fresh of visage! may
Fault-finders never find a fault in thee.
Blest king of kings, whose fortune prospereth,
The wise, triumphant master of the world!
I erst recorded in the olden tongue
Some thoughts upon a roll of royal paper,
Which I entrusted to thy treasurer
Till there might come a season when the Sháh
Would read it, but I see the mystery
Is one that laggard heaven will disclose not.
What though a man shall quit his seat at feasts,
And take his life within his hands in fight,
Shall sweep the earth of enemies and be
Secure against the toils of Áhrimans,
Shall be the great king over all the world,
And consummate his wishes one by one,
Shall win the wide world by his bravery,
Make rosary and pleasance, park and palace,
Shall lay up wealth, have sons surrounding him,
And reckon many days of happiness,
Shall bring together warriors and wealth,
Shall decorate his palaces and halls,
And, while the poor are toiling for his sake,
Amass on all sides treasure and renown,
His lifetime will not last a century.
He will be dust, his toils will bear no fruit
For him, and all his wealth will be his foe's.
No children, throne or crown or royal hall,
Or treasury or army will be his,
And when he ceaseth to pursue the wind
None in the world will give a thought to him.
Of all his doings when his time is over
A good name will be his memorial.
In this world there are two things that endure,
And only two, the rest will last with none—
Choice sayings and good doings: these will last
Until the world shall end, auspicious Sháh!
Time's course is such that fame and honest speech
Spoil not through sun and water, wind and dust.
The modest man and virtuous is blest.
Avoid, O king! with all thy might the faults
That shame the soul. Harm not but help; thus Faith
And precedent prescribe. I leave behind me
Words that, I ween, ne'er will grow obsolete.”
He oped the king's shrewd heart who questioned him
On many points: “Who is the glorious man,
Whose heart is glad, who sigheth not?”
He answered:—
“The innocent, the man whom Áhriman
Hath caused not to transgress.”
The Sháh then asked him
Concerning guile, the Dív's way, and the way
Of God, the world's Lord. Búzurjmihr replied:—
“To do God's will is best, for in both worlds
The Grace is His. The door of evil leadeth
To Áhriman who is the enemy
Of those that worship God. The high-souled man
Is blesséd in the world, for his adornments
Are holiness and modesty. Since knowledge
Safe-guardeth him his life is one of ease,
He hath nobility and righteousness,
And knocketh not upon the door of guile,
And loss. When he is dead his soul will be
A foe to what pertaineth to the body.
He is not negligent about them both,
But is concerned for either sword or scabbard.”368
What man attaineth to the highest standard?”
Said Búzurjmihr: “The man that hath most know-
ledge,
And most controlment over his desires.”
“Who is the man of knowledge,” said the Sháh,
“For knowledge is a matter hid in men?”
“The man that neither severeth heart from God,”
He answered, “at the bidding of the Dív,
Nor out of wantonness obeyeth one
That is the foe of souls and wisdom's snare.
Ten Áhrimans there are with lion's might,
Who lord it over wisdom and the soul.”
“What then are these ten dívs,” said Núshírwán,
“Since wisdom hath good reason to bewail them?”
He thus made answer, saying: “Greed and Need
Are two o'erweening dívs and puissant.368a
The rest are Anger, Envy, Strife, Revenge,
Backbiting, Treachery, and Faith Impure.
The tenth dív is Ingratitude to men
For benefits and Ignorance of God.”
The Sháh said: “Of these ten dívs, ruinous
And black, which Áhriman is lustiest?”
He answered Núshírwán thus, saying: “Greed
Is a tyrannic dív, the last to go.
Him never wilt thou see content in aught,
But ever labouring for something more.
All those that look on Need behold him blind,
And sallow with anxiety and pain.
The dív of Envy is the next, O king!
And is an ailment that no leech can cure.
His soul is pained to see one prosperous.
Strife is another dív and passionate,
For ever quick to put his hand to ill;
Revenge, another, wrathful, turbulent,
And instant to arouse the battle-cry
In men, unloving and ungenerous—
A dív malignant and with frowning face;
Another, Slander, knowing naught but lies,
And doing all his traffic in the dark;
Another, Treachery, with double face,
Who feareth not the Master of the world,
But flingeth strife and vengeance 'twixt two men,
And toileth to break up alliances:
The last, Ingratitude and Ignorance—
A witless dív unconscious of all good,
Contemptuous of rede and modesty,
And in whose sight both good and ill are one.”
The king then asked the sage: “How doth the
Dív.
Make war against the heart, and what hath God
Bestowed upon His servants so that they
May counteract the Dív?”
That man of Faith
Replied: “Wise, glorious Sháh! against the sword
Of dívs the coat of mail is wisdom; that
Illumineth the sage's heart and mind,
The soul with knowledge. Oh! may wisdom be
The guider of thy mind because the way
Is long before thee, and if wisdom prove
A second nature, as the saying is,
So that the heart is fearless of the Dív,
The good heart will find pleasure in the world,
And not frequent the portal of desire.
Now will I utter words of hope to guide
The heart to joy: the sage is always hopeful,
And seeth naught but happiness from time,
Not for a moment meditateth ill,
And chooseth not the bow's path but the arrow's.
Moreover one contented doth not stretch
His hand to treasure or fatigue himself;
He that despiseth drachm and treasury
Will fleet his sum of days in happiness.
Moreover one that is devote to God370
In all will turn not from His ordinance
For toil or treasure or the fear of man;
He hath no strain of evil in his nature,
And by that token he is virtuous too
Because he will sell not God's way for aught.”
Said Núshírwán: “Which is the royal way
Conducting us to good?”
He answered thus:—
“The way of wisdom doubtlessly surpasseth
All knowledge. Likewise being well disposed
Will keep a man in honour all his days;
While of the qualities the mightiest
Is in my view contentment with one's lot;
The most agreeable, which refresheth most
In travail, and the seemliest, is hope.
In greed I see the weariest of all,
For that is never satiate of wealth.”
The Sháh said: “Which accomplishment is best,
The one whereby aspirants win to greatness?”
He answered: “Knowledge, for the sage is greatest
Among the great as clutching not at treasure,
And holding of himself aloof from travail.”
The Sháh then asked him: “How shall we proceed
To overcome the might of enemies?”
“Ill-doing is the enemy,” he answered,
“Alike of wisdom and the soul serene.”
The righteous judge then asked the sage and said:—
“Is talent or is application better?”
The sage made answer, saying: “Application
Is more than natural ability,
For application furnisheth the mind,
While talent only maketh talking easy,
And, when untrained, is wretched, vile, and weak,
But application strengtheneth the soul.”
“How can the mind be polished,” said the Sháh,
“And what accomplishments commend the body?”
If thou wilt take it from me point by point:
Since wisdom is itself God's robe of honour
No thought can gain it and no evil touch it;
So one accomplished but withal conceited
Should have no credit for accomplishments,
While no wise man regardeth with disdain
The merest peasant well-disposed by nature,
And though a sage join bounty to high birth,
Join knowledge, conduct, equity, yet will
His greatness, his addition, and uprightness
All suffer if his natural bent be vicious.”
Then Núshírwán inquired: “Illustrious scholar!
Doth greatness come from toil or doth the world-lord
Get crown and throne from fortune?”
He replied:—
“The fortune and accomplishment of men
Are mates allied and joined like soul and body,
The body visible, the soul concealed.
The body is man's instrument for toil,
When wakeful fortune shall bestir itself,
But by his travail ne'er will he attain
To greatness if good fortune guide him not.
Again, the world is all deceit and wind,
Or memory of a dream that vanisheth
When one awaketh, whether he beheld
A pleasant vision or a painful one.”
A question then occurred to Núshírwán;
He asked the sage: “Who should be praised?”
He answered:—
“A king that doth adorn the throne and hath
His strength from fortune will, if he doth justly,
And is of fair repute, attain his end
In word and deed.”
“What man is sorrowful,”
The Sháh said, “luckless, and unprofitable?”
The sage replied: “The wicked mendicant,
Who loseth both this world and Paradise.”
“Who is the luckless one,” rejoined the Sháh,
“For whom we must weep always bitterly?”
And Búzurjmihr replied: “The man of know-
ledge,
Whose face is sallow through his evil deeds.”
The Sháh asked further: “Who is the contented,
And who is anxious to increase his store?”
He made response: “He that regardeth not
The revolutions of the turning sky.”
Then Núshírwán: “What man best suiteth us?”
And Búzurjmihr replied: “The gentlest man.”
“But who is gentle,” asked the Sháh, “for why
The hasty give us cause to weep?”
He answered:—
“Mark him that shunneth converse with fault-
finders;
That man hath modesty and gentleness,
With wisdom, counsel, and propriety.”
The famed king asked him: “Who is hopefullest
Of men?”
“Whose ears are open unto knowledge most.”
The monarch of the world inquired of him
Of privy rumour as to good and ill.
He thus returned reply: “It is the cause
Of ample chatter but an empty brain.
Say what they will the earth is still in place;
I know not how the other world doth fare.”
Then Núshírwán: “What land most prospereth,
And how have we contributed therein?”
“The justice of the world-lord,” he replied,
“Establisheth a land's prosperity.”
Then Núshírwán inquired: “Inform me this:
What man is shrewdest, most approved, and prudent
Within the world because the adept increaseth
One's lustre?”
He replied: “An ancient sage
That hath been mindful of experience.”
Said Núshírwán: “Who is the happy man
That liveth upright and right glad?”
He answered:—
“One free from apprehension and possessed
Of gold and silver?”
Núshírwán inquired:—
“Which of us best deserveth praise, and who
Is most approved by all?”
He answered thus:—
“He that can hide his need and can suppress
Strife, envy, greed, revenge, and jealousy:
That man will find approval in the world.”
The Sháh inquired of the long-suffering,
Whose crown is patience.
Búzurjmihr replied:—
“That is the man grown hopeless, with heart dark,
And yet his counsel is sun-bright, or else
The man that hath but little time to live,
And yet hath entered on some vast employ.”
The Sháh said: “Who hath grief so much at heart
That he is weary of his life through care?”
And Búzurjmihr made answer thus: “The man
Fall'n from a throne and desperate of fortune.”
The exalted king inquired of him and said:—
“Who of us hath his heart in sorry plight?”
The sage replied: “The man that is not wise,
And rich man childless.”
“Whose heart,” asked the Sháh,
“Is sad through trouble and calamity?”
He answered thus: “The upright man of know-
ledge
O'er whom besottedness is sovereign.”
The Sháh said: “Who is fullest of despair
Although possessing power and reputation?”
“The man that falleth from a lofty throne,”
He said, “retaining still his pride of birth.”
Sháh Núshírwán inquired of him and said:—
“O man of foresight and of ardent soul!
Whom knowest thou unfamed and lustreless,
And yet deserving both of love and pardon?”
He answered thus: “The man of many faults,
The culpable, the mendicant, and needy.”
Who is it that repenteth of the past?”
He said: “The great king who, when he shall put
The black cap on upon his dying-day,374
Repenteth with a heart all terror-stricken
Of all his life's ingratitude to God,
And he moreover who hath undergone
Abundant travail for ungrateful men.”
The Sháh inquired: “O sage that dost combine
All excellence! know'st thou of aught that maketh
The body profitable and is dear
To all men's hearts withal?”
He made reply:—
“In health the heart will seek but happiness,
But when through suffering the life is failing
The body's one desire is then for health.”
The Sháh rejoined: “Good man! expound to me
Which is the strongest of the appetites?”
Said Búzurjmihr: “The great are not exposed
To such solicitings and, since their bodies,
Which have no wish unsatisfied, fare well,
Have only need to seek their heart's desire.”
The Sháh then asked his guide: “What is the
heart's
Chief care?”
“The sage,” he answered, “would inform
His questioner that there are three chief cares—
First, apprehension of the evil day,
Lest ill then should befall the innocent;
Next, of the practice of a treacherous friend,
Who fain would have brain, life and blood and skin;
And thirdly, of a great but unjust king,
Who knoweth not the worthless from the good.
How happy is the course of time with him
That hath a prudent friend and counsellor!
A bright world and a great king who is just—
Thou'lt get from heaven no greater excellence.”
The Sháh next asked of Faith and right—the means
Of banning frand and falsehood. He replied:—
“Incline, O Sháh! to one of Faith whose mind
Is filled with thoughts of God—the man averse
From guile and from the Dív's way through his awe
Of holy God, the Master of the world,
And hearkening to His law. None such will barter
The Faith.”
The Sháh then asked concerning kings,
Whose rule is o'er the holy: “Which of them
Is of victorious fortune and throne-worthy?”
He answered thus: “The just possessed of
wisdom,
Of counsel,376
modesty, and excellence.”
The Sháh then questioned him about old friends,
Such as are one with us in ear and speech.
He made this answer: “Magnanimity
And generosity are good in them;
They will wish thee no ill to please another,
But aid and succour thee in thy distress.”
friends
That are to him as his own blood and skin?”
He thus gave answer: “Save the faithless man
All would be joined to him whose heart is good,
And all the more the kinder that he is,
The more obliging, and conformable.”
The Sháh inquired: “Who hath most enemies
And most antagonistic?”
Búzurjmihr
Returned him this reply: “The insolent,
For he incurreth many a malison,
And also any one that speaketh harshly,
Is ever frowning, and is close of fist.”
Then said the Sháh: “Who is the constant
friend,
One who will weep for pain of severance?”
He answered: “'Tis the friend that faileth not,
Is never vexed, and feareth not to suffer.”
“What lasteth,” said the Sháh, “and doth not
waste?”
He made reply: “A benefit conferred
Is ever present to a worthy friend.”
“What hath the chiefest lustre,” said the Sháh,
“And is a crown upon the head of all?”
He said: “The sage's mind which mastereth
His passions.”
Said the Sháh: “O lord of love!
What is there wider than the turning sky?”
He answered: “First, a king with open hand,
And next, the heart of one devote to God.”
The Sháh inquired: “What is the goodliest way
Wherein a wise man may exalt his head?”
“O great king! ne'er bestow,” he made reply,
“Thy treasure on unholy men. For thee
To deal with the unthankful is to fling
Bricks unbaked into water.”
Said the Sháh:—
“What toil diminisheth man's greed for treasure?”
Then Búzurjmihr replied: “O king! for ever
Be thy heart like young spring. For very travail
The servant of a king of evil nature
Will cease to care for person, life, and wealth.”
The Sháh inquired: “What wonder hast thou seen
Than which a greater cannot be conceived?”
And Búzurjmihr made answer to the Sháh:—
“The turning sky is always wonderful.
Thou seest one possessed of mastery,
With crown exalted to the darksome clouds,
Who cannot tell his left hand from his right,
Or fortune's gain from loss discriminate;
Another man will read the lofty sky,
And tell the why and the wherefore of the stars,
Yet heaven still will lead him into straits,
And evil fortune be his only lot!”
“What thing know'st thou, as heaviest,” asked the
Sháh?
He thus returned reply: “The weight of sin.”
The Sháh inquired: “Of matters most unseemly,
Including in the question words and deeds,
So that all folk pronounce it done amiss?”
He thus made answer: “Harshness in a king;
The persecution of the innocent;
The nearness practised by the man of wealth
That is a niggard as to dress and food;
In womankind the loud and strident voice
Of those whose modesty is forfeited;
The infamy of men that do oppression,
And are high-handed with the indigent;
While falsehood in a king or in a man
Of no account is ugly, foul, and vile.”
Of all things in the world, apert or secret,
“What is that goodly one,” said Núshírwán,
“Whereof the sage will fashion him a breastplate,
And therewithal illuminate his soul?”
The sage made answer: “Earnestness of Faith
Will have but approbation from the world,
And secondly thanksgiving unto God
Charactereth a wise and holy man.”
Said Núshírwán: “What is it best for kings
And mighty men to do and to avoid?
What is there better than to rule, possess,
And look on others as inferiors?
From what do we do wisely to refrain,
And what is good to seize upon and keep?”
The sage replied: “Safeguard thy wrath as
knowing
That other folk will keep their eyes on thee;
Next, lot thy soul be ever on the watch,
And do thine utmost to abstain from ill.
The soul of him that will forgo revenge,
And hope instead, will shine as doth the sun.
By means of sin thou wilt have many pleasures;
Reject such pleasures and avoid the sin.”
Thanks to the Master of the moon and sun
The parle of Búzurjmihr and Sháh is done.
The Rája of Hind sends an envoy to Núshírwán with the game of chess, proposing certain conditions which the Sháh accepts and, with the help of Búzurjmihr, carries out. Búzur-jmihr invents the game of nard, and the Sháh sends him with it to the Rája, proposing similar conditions. The poet then tells the legend of the invention of chess—how two sons of an Indian queen quarrelled about the succession to her throne, how one of them perished and how the other, to console his mother, invented the game. Lastly the poet tells how a prince tributary to Núshírwán was sent at his own request to Hind to find the herb that restores the dead to life, and returned bringing instead the Fables of Bidpai.
§§ 1-3. Here, as in the case of the Yátkár-i-Zarírán380
and the Kárnámak,380a
we are brought into contact with an extant Pahlaví Text—the Tshatrang Námak—which was undoubtedly one of Firdausí's indirect authorities. It was written, probably, about the seventh century A.D., and tells how the king of Hind— Déwasárm—sent an embassy to Núshírwán with gifts and the game of chess which he had invented. The chess-men were one half of emeralds and the other half of rubies. If the Íránians, he writes to Núshírwán, cannot explain the meaning of the game they must pay him tribute or vice versû. None can find the meaning till Búzurjmihr, who has been keeping himself in reserve, appears on the third day, expounds the principle of chess, and proceeds to win twelve games against Déwasárm's envoy. Búzurjmihr then invents nard, which is a form of backgammon, takes it to Hind, puzzles the sages there with it, and returns triumphant with double tribute. The similarity of the Pahlaví Text to the Sháhnáma therefore is obvious. Probably in the original story, no longer extant, the problem set was comparatively a simple one: “What did the board and pieces represent?” And the answer would be: “A battlefield.” The misplaced ingenuity of later redactors, however, has added impossible details. A clever man of the time might guess by what the game had been suggested, but the greatest that ever lived could not have evolved the method of play from his inner consciousness, assuming of course his complete previous ignorance of the game. The Pahlaví Text gives the answer correctly and then proceeds to make Búzurjmihr win twelve games right off! In the Sháhnáma the Indian envoy himself gives away the whole thing by stating what the game represents, and then Búzurjmihr in retirement discovers the powers of the various pieces and the way in which they are manipulated—an impossible achievement. It will be observed that Firdausí describes two forms of the game —that introduced into Persia for a board of sixty-four squares, and that, which he considers to be the original, for a board of one hundred squares. The powers of most of the pieces have altered since those days. The tethered minister has changed his sex, become the king's better half, and has acquired as much liberty and preponderance as the most emancipated lady could desire, but the knight's ingenious move has passed unchanged through all vicissitudes.
The Persian word “nard” means a tree-trunk, and it seems not unreasonable to imagine that the game got its name from the resemblance of the pieces on the board to tree-stumps. The author of the Tshatrang-Námak, however, tells us that the game was named after the founder of the Sásánian Dynasty, Nau-Ardshír, which became contracted into nard. Like chess it is symbolical and represents human life as swayed or moulded by fate or fortune whose decrees are written in the aspects of the stars and planets. Thus the board represents the earth, the thirty pieces the days of the month, the colour of the pieces the nights and days, &c. Each throw of the dice too had its proper symbolism. The first represented the Unity of Urmuzd, the second the duality of heaven and earth, the third the triad of Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds, the fourth the four temperaments—dry, damp, warm, and cold, and so forth. Later Arabic writers elaborated the symbolism considerably. The dice were taken to represent the heavens and their motions, and the markings on the dice the seven planets in as much as the numbers on the opposite sides added together always make up the number seven, one being opposite to six, two to five, and three to four. The result of a throw was the decree of fate, &c. Nard may be said therefore to surpass chess in sublimity of conception as much as chess surpasses nard in its demands upon the intellect.
Firdausí does not tell us how nard was played, and the introduction of the two kings, apparently on the analogy of those at chess, is quite beside the mark. The poet's whole story of the way in which chess was brought into Írán, and the invention of nard, is quite unhistorical. We have had already in this volume382
an instance of one king propounding hard questions to another, and in the next volume we shall have the problem of the mysterious box, on the elucidation of which a wager depends as in the present case. According to Mas'údí, nard was invented before chess and before the days of Porus, and chess in the time of one of that king's successors, but he also states that the invention of nard has been attributed to Ardshír Pápakán.382a
Elsewhere Mas'údí tells us that Núshírwán had the book of Kalíla and Dinma, chess, and a black hair-dye, brought from Hind.382b
§ 3. Sháhwí, Firdausí's authority for his story of the invention of chess, perhaps may be identified with the Máhwí who collaborated with four others in the work of putting the Bástán-náma into modern Persian in the tenth century A.D.382c
§ 4. Shádán, son of Barzín, was, it would seem, another of the five above-mentioned collaborators.382d
We appear to be here on much firmer historical ground than in the corresponding stories of the introduction of chess and the invention of nard. That the Fables of Bidpai were brought from Hind to Persia in the reign of Núshírwán, and translated from the Sanscrit into Pahlaví by Barzwí, seems to be admitted generally, though of course we need not accept all the details of Firdausí's version of the transaction. He is not very accurate in what he says with regard to the later literary history of the famous book. It was not translated into Arabic for the first time in the reign of the Khalífa Mámún (A.D. 813-833) but in the previous century by Ibn Mukaffa.383
Firdausí is correct, however, in stating that the Fables were translated into Persian verse by the first great modern Persian poet, Rúdagí, who enjoyed for many years the munificent patronage of the Sámánid prince, Nasr son of Ahmad (A.D. 914-943), and of the minister Abú-l Fazl, and died in A.D. 954. Unfortunately only fragments of Rúdagí's translation survive. The poet is said to have been blind.
To compare small things with great, the Fables of Bidpai rival the Romance cycle of Alexander in the extent of their diffusion. They are said to have been translated into thirty-eight languages.383a
It is not possible to enter into the subject here, but one illustration of the way in which the Fables passed from one language into another may be given. The earliest English version of them is that of Sir Thomas North—the translator of Plutarch's Lives, which Shakespeare put to such good account—and it was published in 1570 under the title of The Morall Philosophie of Doni. It comes to us as Sir Walter Blunt came to Henry IV,
through which it has passed, and its provenance is as follows: “It is the English version of an Italian adaptation of a Spanish translation of a Latin version of a Hebrew translation of an Arabic adaptation of the Pehlevi version of the Indian original.”383b
In Sir Thomas North's version, owing, it is said, to a misunderstanding of the letters when the Fables were translated from the Hebrew, Núshírwán appears as Anestres Castri.383c
It is interesting to find that the wish expressed to Núshirwán by Barzwí383d
has been gratified. After all the vicissitudes through which the book has passed his name and the story of his discovery of the Fables still survive. In the English version he appears as Berozias.383e
We may add that apparently the Fables themselves may be traced back to the Indian Játakas or Birth Stories of Buddha,383f
and that the Jewish race, to which the world is indebted for at least three religions, was the chief agent in the wide dissemination of the fables and the scientific study thereof.383g
Since this discourse, which so delighted thee,
Hath reached its end let chess our next theme be.
Thus said the archimage: The Sháh one day
Adorned his throne with the brocade of Rúm,
And hung the crown above the ivory throne—
A throne compact of teak and ivory.
The palace seemed all throne, the throne all Sháh,
And all his court an army. All the palace
Was occupied by marchlords and archmages
From Balkh, Bukhárá, and from every side.
The monarch of the world received these tidings,
Brought by his vigilant intelligencers:—
With elephants, with parasols, with horsemen
Of Sind and laden camels fifty score,
And seeketh to have access to the king.”
The watchful Sháh, on hearing this, forthwith
Sent certain troops to go and welcome him.
The envoy of that famed and puissant prince,
On coming to the great king's presence, did
Obeisance, as the use of nobles is,
With praises of the Maker of the world,
And gave the Sháh abundant gems as gifts,
With earrings, elephants, and parasols.
These Indian parasols were decked with gold
With many sorts of jewels set therein.
He oped the bales within the court itself,
And brought their whole contents before the Sháh.
There were much gold and silver in the bales
With musk, fresh aloe-wood, and ambergris,
Gems, diamonds, and burnished Indian swords;
The Rája had amassed from every hand
The products of Kannúj and Mái. They laid them
Before the throne. The prince of sleepless fortune
Viewed and dispatched to his own treasury
All that the Rája had so toiled for. Then
The envoy brought a letter which the Rája
Had written upon silk to Núshírwán,
And also, what had made a treasury void,
A chess-board wrought with cunning workmanship.
The man of Hind thus gave the Rája's message:—
“Mayst thou abide so long as heaven endureth!
Bid those much travailed in the quest for knowledge
To place this board, used in the game of chess,
Before them and set all their wits to work
To find out how that goodly game is played,
To find out what the name is of each piece,
The way to move it and its proper square,
To find out footman, elephant, and host,
Rukh, horse, and how to move wazír and king.
If they discover all this goodly game,
And prove themselves the betters of the wise,
Then, as the Sháh commandeth, I will send
Full tribute to his court with all good will;
But if the nobles of the Íránian folk
Have not the knowledge to resolve the point,
Then, since their knowledge is no match for ours,
Let them not seek for tax and tribute hence,
But rather pay a tribute unto us,
Since knowledge is of all famed things the best.”
Both heart and ear gave Núshírwán to him
That on this wise discharged his embassage.
They set the board and men before the Sháh,
Who looked upon the pieces for a while.
Half of the set was made of ivory
And bright, the other half of teak. The Sháh,
About the pieces' shapes and that fair board.
The envoy thus replied: “'Tis all, O king!
An emblem of the art of war, and thou
Wilt see, when thou hast found it out, the tactics,
The plan, and order of a battlefield.”
The Sháh said: “I require a se'nnight's space:
The eighth day we will play right willingly.”
They had a pleasant residence prepared
To lodge the ambassador, and then the chiefs
And archimages that were counsellors
All came before the Sháh and with the chess-board
In front of them considered it at large,
Examined it, tried every device,
And played with one another in all ways.
One spake and questioned, and another heard,
But none discovered how the game was played,
And all departed louring. Búzurjmihr
Came to the Sháh, perceived him vexed and
troubled,
And saw ere he began the task its end.
“O great king,” thus he spake to Núshírwán,
“World-lord and vigilant whose word is law!
I will discover all this goodly game,
Employing wisdom as my guide therein.”
The Sháh replied: “Be this affair thy task,
And thine moreover health and happiness,
Else now the Rája of Kannúj will say:—
‘The Sháh hath not a single counsellor,’
Which were a mighty slur upon the archmages,
Court, throne, and men of wisdom.”
Búzurjmihr
Then took away with him the board and men,
And sat down with his thoughts intent thereon.
He tried to play the game in every way,
And sought to find the place for every piece.
He found the game out in one day and night,
Then hastened from his palace to the Sháh,
And said: “O Sháh whose fortune triumpheth!
These pieces and this goodly board have I
Well studied and I understand it all,
Helped by the fortune of the world's great king.
'Tis fitting that the king of kings should be
The first to see it played. Thou wilt declare:—
‘It is indeed a battlefield!’ Then call
The Rája's envoy and spectators also.”
The king joyed at his words, saluted him
As prosperous and fortunate, then bade
The archimages, nobles, and famed sages
Attend. He called the envoy of the Rája,
And seated him before the famous throne.
Said Búzurjmihr, that man of eloquence:—
“Priest of the Rája of the sunlike face!
What were the words thy monarch said to thee
About those pieces? Wisdom be thy mate.”
Was quitting him said thus to me: ‘Convey
These teak and ivory pieces to the throne
Of him that is the master of the crown,
And say: “Assemble to thee thine archmages
And counsellors, and set before them these.
If they find how to play this clever game
In the approven way, and master it,
We will dispatch unto thee purses, slaves,
And tribute to the utmost of our powers.
The king's worth will arise from knowledge then,
Not from his treasures, men, and lofty throne;
But if he and his wise men fail herein,
As being dark of counsel, then must he
Demand no tribute from us and no treasure.
His knowing soul then will regret past toils,
Since, realising our shrewd hearts and counsel,
He will dispatch still greater wealth to us.”’”
Then Búzurjmihr brought and set up before
The throne of him whose fortune never slept
The board and men, and said to archimage
And chief: “Ye sages pure of heart and wise!
Heed well his words and his shrewd lord's proposal.”
The sage then fashioned him a battlefield,
Whereon he gave the kings the central place,
And drew their forces up to left and right,
The footmen eager for the fray in front.
Beside the king his prudent minister
Was posted to advise him in the fight.
The warrior-rukhs impetuous on their steeds
Were at the wings and fought on right and left.
Adjoining these the battle-chargers stood,
So that the great king proved the Rája's match,
And then the elephants of war arrayed
On either side both eager for the fight.
When Búzurjmihr had thus disposed the host
The whole assembly stood amazed thereat,
The ambassador of Hind was sorely vexed,
And marvelled at that man of sleepless fortune,
He marvelled at that warlock of a man,
And thus his musings ran while plunged in thought:—
“He never saw the board and game of chess,
Or heard about it from the adepts of Hind!
How hath he learned the fashion of the game?
None else could take his office.”
Núshírwán
So treated Búzurjmihr that thou hadst said
That fortune had unveiled its face before him.
The king thereafter gave commands to fill
A cup with royal gems. This and a purse,
Dínárs and steed with saddle on, gave he
To Búzurjmihr and praised him mightily.
Arranged a board and compasses before him,
Selecting first of all a darkened room
To make his wits more keen, then mused on chess
And Indian subtlety, and mustering all
His powers made wisdom wed his ardent heart,
And meditating thus invented nard.
He bade to make two dice of ivory
With dots the colour of teak-wood thereon,
Arrayed a field of battle as in chess,
And drew up the opposing hosts for war,
Arranging them in eight battalions,
All ready for pitch-battles or for sieges.
The ground was dark, the battlefield foursquare,
Two noble, clement kings were in command,
Who had a common movement on the field,
But neither sought the other's injury.
The troops arrayed beneath their leadership
For battle on both sides were keen for fight.
If two friends catch an unsupported foe,
The twain inflict defeat upon the one.
He made the two kings move about the field
In pomp surrounded by their several hosts,
Each wheeling round about upon the other,
And combating by turns on hill and plain.
On this wise till one side was overthrown
The armies of both monarchs kept the field.
'Twas thus that Búzurjmihr, as I have said,
Invented nard, then went and told the Sháh
How from the moves of those imperious kings
Came praise or blame, what powers the pieces had,
And how the armies fought; these he set forth,
And showed in detail to the Sháh whose heart
Was all astound; he needed all his wits,
And said: “O man of ardent soul! mayst thou,
And may thy fortune, still continue young.”
He bade the keeper of the camels bring
Two thousand to him and then loaded them
With contributions raised from Rúm and Chín,
The Haitálians, from Makrán, and from Írán,
And from the treasury of the king of kings.
The caravan departed from the court.
Whenas the camel-loads were all arranged,
And that concern was off the monarch's heart,
He called the Rája's envoy unto him,
And of his knowledge uttered many words.
Of learning, pleasantry, good sense, and counsel,
And in the first place gave great praise to God,
Who was his refuge from the lusty Dív,
Then “Rája, high renowned, of Hind,” he said,
“Down from the river of Kannúj390
to Sind!
Thy wise ambassador hath come to us
With parasols, with elephants, and escort,
With tribute and with chess, and I have heard
The Rája's embassage. The task is done.
We asked the Indian sage for time, we decked
Our soul with knowledge, and an archimage,
A very prudent sage of holy rede,
Hath sought and found out how the game is played.
Now that wise archimage hath come before
The exalted Rája at Kannúj and brought
Two thousand heavy camel-loads of things390a
Acceptable—a keepsake for thyself—
And we have substituted nard for chess.
What man now will adventure on this game?
There must be many a Brahman well advised,
Who by his learning can discover it.
The Rája may consign to treasury
The riches that have been the envoy's care,
But if the Rája and his counsellors
Shall try to find out nard, and fail therein,
He must according to our covenant
Load up as many camels as we sent,
And send them back with ours and all their loads;
Such is our pact and bargain.”
Búzurjmihr,
What time the sun was radiant in the sky,
Departed from the portal of the Sháh
With baggage,391
letter, and the game of nard,
His heart absorbed by thoughts of his campaign.
On coming to the Rája from Írán,
The Brahman acting willingly as guide,
He went before the Rája's throne, beheld
His head, his fortunes, and his diadem,
Praised him no little in the olden tongue,
Then gave the royal letter, and repeated
The verbal message of the king of kings.
The Indian Rája's face bloomed like a rose.
The message spake of chess, the Rája's pains,
His tribute, how the game of chess had fared,
The play, the pieces, and the king's right moves,
And those moreover of his counsellors.
It told withal the achievement of the sage,
Who had invented nard in rivalry,
And ended thus: “Now let the Rája read
The letter, act, and swerve not from the right.”
The Rája's face grew pallid at the words,
On hearing that account of chess and nard.
There came a great official and assigned
A fitting lodging to the ambassador.
They had a jocund residence prepared,
And called for wine and harp and minstrelsy.
And all the Lights of learning came to him.
He gathered all the elders of the realm,
And laid the game of nard before them there.
For one whole se'nnight all the shrewdest men
Among the nobles, whether old or young,
Sought to discover out of emulation,
For fame and triumph, how the game was played;
But to the Rája at the se'nnight's end
A sage said: “No one can make aught thereof,
And wisdom must be wedded to his soul,
Who from these pieces can invent a game.”
The Rája's heart was troubled at those sages,
His soul was sorrowful, his brow contracted.
Upon the ninth day Búzurjmihr arrived,
With eager heart and furrowed face, and said:—
“The Sháh accorded me no tarriance here,
And he must not be straitened in his heart.”
The learnéd magnates went aside and owned
Their ignorance, while Búzurjmihr, on hearing,
Sat down, and all the sages gave good heed
While he set out the board of nard before them,
And told the movements of the various pieces,
Displayed the leader and his warlike troops,
The king's power and the order of the fight.
The Rája and his counsellors were all
Astound, the company in wonderment,
At Búzurjmihr, the chiefs all lauded him,
And hailed him as a holy sage. The Rája
Interrogated him upon all lore,
And he in each case gave a fit response.
Then from the sages, from the searchers out
Of knowledge, and the scholars rose a cry:—
“Behold an eloquent and learnéd man,
Not merely skilled in games like chess and nard!”
The Rája had two thousand camels brought,
And laid on them the tribute of Kannúj,
Gold, camphor, ambergris, and aloe-wood,
As well as raiment, silver, pearls, and gems,
With one year's tribute, and dispatched it all
From his court to the portal of the Sháh.
The Rája had a coronet and robe,
That reached from head to foot, of his own wear
Brought from his treasury and then bestowed them
On Búzurjmihr, gave him much praise withal,
And to his retinue abundant gifts.
So from Kannúj departed Búzurjmihr
With head exalted to the turning sky,
With those two thousand camels brought by him,
And all the gifts and tribute in his charge.
No one had looked on such a caravan
Before, and never had been greater wealth.
He joyed at heart as bearing from the king
Of Hind a script in Indian characters
On silk: “The Rája and his mighty men
Attest for good will, not for fear, that none
Hath looked on any like Sháh Núshírwán,
Or met one wiser than his minister,
The treasurer of whose knowledge is the sky.
The tribute for the year was sent before,
And more shall be if thou demandest it,
While in the matter of the games the stakes
Have been sent likewise as agreed upon.”
Now when the Sháh gat tidings of his sage:—
“He hath arrived well satisfied and glad,”
He was rejoiced at that intelligence,
And bade the chiefs of city and of host,
With elephants and kettledrums and tymbals,
To sally forth to welcome Búzurjmihr.
That honoured sage's entry of the city
Resembled that of some great conquering king,
And when that man of lore approached the throne,
And proffered praise exceedingly, the Sháh,
Lord of the world, embraced him and inquired
About the Rája and the weary way,
While Búzurjmihr told his experiences,
His sleepless fortune and the love of heaven,
Then brought the conquering Rája's letter forth,
And laid it down before the throne. The Sháh
Then gave command for Yazdagird, the scribe,
To come before the knowledge-seeking king,
And when he read the Rája's letter all
The company were in astonishment
Both at the wit and rede of Búzurjmihr,
And at the fortune of his sun-faced Sháh,
Who spake on this wise, saying: “God be praised
That I have such a wise and holy sage.
The great are servants of my crown and throne,
And love of me hath filled their hearts and minds.”
Thanks to the Lord of sun and moon, for He
Bestoweth victory and mastery,
That which I next shall utter will appear
A tale more strange than that of Búzurjmihr,
Whom heaven with such intelligence did bless:
I tell the legend of Talhand and chess.
Thus spake Sháhwí, the ancient sage, so be
Attentive to the tale of old Sháhwí:—
Once on a time there lived a king in Hind,
One puissant in treasure, troops, and arms,
And everywhere renowned, Jamhúr by name,
And passing Fúr himself in fame for valour.
Such was this king, of such an ardent spirit,
So vigilant and prudent, that from Bust
The chieftains homaged him, and all the world
Was in his grasp, so mighty was his prowess.
He had his dwelling-place at Sandalí;
Here was his throne, his treasures, and his troops,
Here were his signet-ring and here his crown.
Jamhúr was worshipful, a man of lore,
Pre-eminent in knowledge and distinction,
And all his lieges, whether of his court
Or of his city, joyed alike in him.
He had a worthy wife, a prudent dame,
Accomplished, learned, and one that injured none.
One night a son was born to him just like
His sire, who when he saw the youthful prince
Bade call him Gav, but soon and suddenly
The monarch sickened, told the queen his will,
And died bequeathing unto Gav a world,
Where justice ruled, though yet he was unfit,
By reason of his infancy, for throne,
For crown and girdle. All the chieftains' heads
Were full of dust, their hearts were sorrowful
By reason of Jamhúr, and all the world
Still kept in mind the memory of his bounty,
His feasts, and justice. Troops and citizens—
Men, women, children—met and thus took counsel:—
“This little infant wotteth not of host,
Of justice, rigour, throne, and crown. The sway
Will suffer if the ruler be not great.”
The monarch had a brother who was wise,
And fitted for the throne: his name was Mái.
The dwelling-place of that idolater
Was at Dambar, and all the veteran chiefs,
In looking for a king, turned to Dambar
Their face from Sandalí, while of Kashmír
The potentates up to the march of Chín
Did homage to him as their sovereign.
The exalted Mái came from Dambar and set
His feet upon the throne of majesty,
Placed on his head the crown worn by Jamhúr,
And ruled with justice and with bounteousness.
He took to wife Gav's mother, cherished her,
And held her all as dear as his own life.
The fay-faced dame became with child by Mái,
And that illustrious lady bare a son,
Whom Mái, that mighty monarch, named Talhand,
And loved with all his soul. Now when the babe
Was two years old and Gav was seven, and grown
A lusty warrior dowered with Grace and stature,
Mái ailed, his glad heart was espoused to care.
He languished for two se'nnights' space, then died,
And passing left the world to other's hands.
And burned with pain of heart because of him.
They spent a month in mourning for the king,
And at the end thereof the whole host met,
The great men and the warriors of the state—
All that had part in wisdom. Much talk passed
In that assembly on all points. At length
A wise man thus addressed the counsellors:—
“This lady, who was once spouse to Jamhúr,
Hath kept herself at all times from ill-doing,
In both her marriages hath sought the right,
And followed after justice all her days.
The lady is of noble lineage,
Just, upright, and inspireth confidence.
'Tis best that she should be our queen, for she
Remaineth—the memorial of two kings.”
The assembly all assented thereunto,
And then the sage addressed the wise queen thus:—
“Take thou the throne of thy two sons, for this
Will make for greatness, and there is no choice.
When they grow worthy of the throne resign
To them the majesty, the wealth, and host,
And be from that time forth their counsellor,
Companion, minister, and best of friends.”
The lady—fortune's favourite—at these words
Gave lustre to the crown and graced the throne,
Grew kinder, more considerate, and just,
And all the realm rejoiced in her. She chose
Two men wise, holy, travelled, and accomplished,
And to their charge entrusted both her sons—
Those princes of high lineage and wise.
Withal she never left them for a day,
And found her happiness in seeing them.
Now as they grew in lustiness and lore,
Becoming mighty men in that regard,
One or the other used to come alone
To his good mother, ever and anon,
And ask: “Which is the fittest of us twain,
Most high of heart, most likely, and most shrewd?”
And thus the mother would reply to both:—
“That I may know which is more excellent,
Show prowess, counsel, self-control, and Faith,
Fair speech, and an ambition to be praised;
For wisdom, modesty, self-governance,
And justice, are required since ye are both
Of royal birth.”
When one of them would come
Alone at whiles before her and inquire:—
“Which of us twain will have the sovereignty,
Which of us have the treasure, throne, and crown?”
Then would she answer him: “The throne is thine,
For wisdom, counsel, fortune, are thine own.”
She said the same thing to the other also
Until the saying grew inveterate,
And thus she made the heart of each expectant
Of throne, wealth, host, fame, fortune. They attained,
To man's estate, and through their mutual envy
Both suffered, both were hot for crown and treasure,
The whole realm and the host were rent in twain,
While good men's hearts grew fearful. Both the sons,
Impassioned by their baleful tutors' talk,
Came to their mother, crying: “Which of us
Is best and meekest under good and ill?”
That prudent lady made them this reply:—
“First it is needful for you both to sit
In counsel with the sages pure of heart,
And solve this question in content and peace,
And after do ye and your tutors ask
The great men most renowned throughout the state,
All those possessed of counsel as their portion,
As to your right procedure in this case.
Whoever seeketh crown and throne hath need
Of wisdom, treasure, counsel, and a host,
For when a tyrant hath the sovereignty
He filleth all the world with heat and ruin.”
Shrewd Gav made answer to his mother thus:—
“Seek not to parry so my questioning.
If I am not the lustre of this realm,
Say so, but say not aught that is untrue.
Deliver to Talhand the throne and crown,
And I will be a loyal liege to him,
While if as older, wiser, and by birth
Sprung from Jamhúr, I am to be the king,
Forbid him in his folly to attempt
Strong measures for the sake of crown and throne.”
His mother answered: “Act not hastily:
Thou shouldst push not these matters to extremes.
Whoever sitteth on the throne must have
His two hands open and his girdle girt,
Must keep his pure soul guarded too from evil,
And walk with knowledge in the sage's way,
Must too be wary of the foe in fight,
And heed what maketh for his reputation.
The Master of the sun and moon will judge
His acts just and unjust to state and host,
And if the king oppresseth but a gnat
His spirit will be left to mourn in Hell.
The world is more obscure than night itself,
And hearts must be more subtle than a hair
To keep the soul and body399
free from evil,
And recognise that guile will profit not.
When one is crowned and sitteth on the throne
Of justice all the world will joy thereat,
Yet is his end a couch of brick and dust,
Or else cremation in the funeral pit.
Of such a stock as this Jamhúr was sprung,
Whose counsels were remote from deeds of ill.
He died before his natural time to die,
And left his younger brother as the heir
To all his world. Great Mái came from Dambar,
All Sandalí went out to welcome him
With full hearts and all eager for a king.
He came and sat upon the throne of power
With girdle girded and with open hands.
He sought me as his spouse, and we were wedded
That so state-secrets might be secrets still.
Now since thou art the elder of the twain,
The elder both in wisdom and in years,
Strive not to vex thy spirit for the sake
Of eminence, of treasure, and of crown.
If I choose one of you the other one
Will be fulfilled with pain and with revenge
At me. Shed no blood for the sake of crown
And treasure, for this Wayside Hostelry
Abideth not with any.”
When Talhand
Had heard his mother's words he liked them not,
And thus replied: “Thy sentence is for Gav,
Because he is the elder, but although
My brother is mine elder as to years
Still every elder is not better too.
Within this host and realm is many a man
As ancient as the vultures of the sky,
And yet such never sought for place or host,
Or diadem or treasure, throne or crown.
My father died when young and did not give
The throne of majesty to any. I see
Thy heart in foolishness disposed toward Gav,
And that thou wilt give him the preference,
Though I could make as good as him from clay!
God grant that ne'er I shame my father's name.”
His mother sware a solemn oath and said:—
“May I forgo the azure vault of heaven
If ever I desired of God to make
Gav king or ever set my heart thereon.
Think with all charity concerning this,
And rail not at the process of the sky,
Because it doeth good to whom it will:
So look to God alone and trust none other.
I have advised you to the best I could,
But if my counsel be of no avail
Consider what is better and that do:
Strive and make that the provand of your lives.”
The queen thereafter summoned all the wise,
And laid before them all that she proposed.
She brought the keys that oped the treasury
Belonging to those two kings wise and good,
Displayed the wealth therein reposited
Before those men of much experience,
Gave both her sons an equal share and sought
To satisfy the claims of both of them.
Thereafter Gav spake to Talhand and said:—
“Thou, good of heart but bent on novel schemes!
Jamhúr, as thou hast heard, was greater far
Than Mái, alike in counsel and in years.
Showed not the least ambition for the crown.
It was no shame to him to be a subject:
He sought no kind of lordship o'er the lords.
Mark if the just Judge will approve that I
Shall gird myself before my younger brother.
Our mother spake but justice, wherefore then
Should thy heart joy in that which is not just?
Now summon we the leaders of the host,
Wise men and well acquainted with the world,
And having listened to the sages' words,
Assent to their decision and advice;
We shall learn knowledge from them and illume
Our hearts with understanding.”
Those two sages—
Men of good counsel—met and much talk passed.
Gav's sage required that Gav should be the king
In Sandalí and take the foremost place;
The other, who was tutor to Talhand,
And wisest of the wise, spoke up for him;
They wrangled till the princes were at odds.
Within one hall two thrones were set whereon
Those princes of victorious fortune sat,
Each with his lusty sage upon his right,
And covetous of his inheritance.
They summoned all the nobles to the hall,
And seated them to right hand and to left.
Then those two sages loosed their tongues and said:—
“O ye illustrious and famous men!
Of these two chiefs of glorious lineage,
Who keep the customs of their sires in mind,
Which will ye have as ruler over you?
Which youth do ye esteem the holier?”
The priests, the nobles, and the wise men shrewd
Of heart, were lost in wonderment thereat.
The two young princes sat, each on his throne,
While those ill-omened sages both harangued,
And citizen and soldier knew full well
That only war and strife could come of it,
That all the empire would be rent asunder,
The wise man left in travail and dismay.
Then from the company one raised his head,
Rose to his feet, and said: “How dare we speak
What profiteth before two famous kings?
Assemble we to-morrow and discuss
The case among ourselves without reserve,
And then announce our sentence to them both:
It may be that they both will be content.”
They left the hall with murmurs and in dudgeon,
Sighs on their lips and sorrow in their souls,
And said: “This business hath grown troublesome
Beyond the handling of experienced men.
We never saw two kings confronted thus,
With two bad ministers upon the dais.”
And when the sun arose above the mountains
The great men of the state, the wise, assembled,
On all sides Sandalí was filled with clamour,
And every man spake that which liked him best.
One warrior was the partisan of Gav,
Another for Talhand was advocate.
Tongues tired of talking, there was no accord.
At length that great assembly was dissolved,
And citizens and soldiers went their ways,
One to give in adherence to Talhand,
And utter malisons on Gav, another
To go to Gav with mace and sword, and cry:—
“I will begrudge not life to serve the king.”
Confusion filled the realm of Sandalí
Through honest partisanship. Saith the sage:—
“When two command within one house 'twill fall.”
Then tidings came to Gav and to Talhand:—
“Each quarter hath a leader of its own,
Who layeth waste the city at his will:
The princes must not suffer it.”
The news
Filled both of them with fear, and they kept watch
Both night and day, and thus it came to pass,
One day, that both young princes chanced to meet
Without their paladins or any escort.
They set their tongues loose, each against the other,
Frowns on their brows and warlike thoughts within.
The noble Gav was full of lamentation,
The tidings moved him deeply, and he said
Thus to Talhand: “My brother! act not thus,
Because for us the thing hath passed all bounds,
But be content and follow not mad schemes,
For they have no allurement for the wise.
As thou hast heard, Mái, while Jamhúr still lived,
Was as a slave before him. When he died,
And left me still a miserable babe,
They could give not the throne to one so young.
The world had grown so just beneath his rule
That no one dared to seek to fill his place.
His brother was as body is to soul
To him, and all wished Mái to be their king.
If then I had been fitted for the throne
None ever would have looked at him. Let us
Ensue the precedents of kings of yore,
And hear the wise on points of right and wrong.
I am thy better both by years and father.
Thou sayest: ‘I am both the chief and better.’
But say not so. Seek not unworthily
The throne of kingship, or fulfil the realm
With strife.”
Talhand thus answered him: “Enough!
None ever compassed power by subtleties.
This crown and throne received I from my sire,
Received it as the seed that he had sown,
The host, and treasure, with the scimitar.
Prate not to me of Mái and of Jamhúr:
If thou wilt have the throne then fight for it.”
They turned away with heads fulfilled with strife,
And went within the city to prepare.
The soldiers and the citizens all keen
For war betook them to the princes' courts.
One faction was in favour of Talhand,
The other favoured Gav. The battle-cry
Rose at the princes' doors. No standing-room
Was left within the city for the throng.
Talhand was first to arm him for the fight,
Because his courage would brook no delay.
He oped the portal of his father's hoards,
And served out helm and mail to all his troops.
The state was rent asunder, and the wise
Were full of fear at heart, and thus they said:—
“What is the end that heaven purposeth,
And which of these young men will lose his life?”
News of both kings was bruited through the
realm,
And from all sides hosts gathered troop on troop.
Talhand was first to put his armour on,
And bathe his hands in blood. Gav also donned
His coat of mail and helmet, and invoked
The spirit of his sire. Embittered thus
They both took action, housed the elephants,
And saddled them. Thou wouldst have said: “The
earth
Is eager for the combat.” All the city
Was filled with din of gong and Indian bells,
All ears were charged with blare of clarions.
These two young kings departed to their camps,
And every one took his own life in hand.
That battlefield filled heaven with amaze,
And eyes were darkened by the dust of hosts.
The flourish of the trumpets and the clash
Of brazen cymbals went up from both lines.
The wings were drawn up to the right and left,
And thou hadst said: “Earth is all mountain-like.”
The armies' fronts extended o'er two miles.
Those two great kings rode each his elephant.
Their standards waved above their heads. One bore
A tiger, one an eagle, as device.
The footmen were in front equipped with spears
And bucklers, and all ready for the fight.
Gav looked upon the field and saw the air
Streaked like the markings on a savage pard.
Each throat405
was full of dust, the plain all blood,
And midst the dust the lances led the way.
Gav, though Talhand had angered him, and wisdom
Had stitched not up the lips of his ambition,
Yet chose him out a man of fluent speech—
The chiefest of his nobles—and thus said:—
“Go to Talhand and say to him: ‘Ensue not
War with thy brother in this unjust fashion,
For all the blood shed in this strife of ours.
Give ear to Gav's advice and err not thou
Through what an evil counsellor may say.
In this conjuncture ne'er must this reproach
Remain as our405a
memorial—that this realm
Of Hind is desolate, the lurking-place
Of lions and of pards. Forbear this war
And strife, and wantonly to shed this blood
Unjustly. Joy my heart with peace and save
Our necks by making use of wisdom's net.
Stretch out thy rod from this march unto Chín,
And let whate'er thou wilt of earth be thine.
I will esteem thy love as mine own soul,
And set thee as a crown upon my head.
Share we the kingship as we shared the wealth;
Throne and tiara are not worth such pains;
But if thus wholly thou art bent on strife,
Injustice, and the scattering of the flock,
Now gathered, in this world thou wilt be blamed,
And judged in that to come. Incline not, brother!
To wrong; it cannot stand against the right.’”
Now when the envoy came before Talhand,
Came with the prudent embassage of Gav,
Talhand returned this answer: “Say to him:—
‘Employ not so much subterfuge in warfare.
I call thee neither brother nor a friend;
Thou art not, brain or skin, akin to me,
And wilt but make the empire desolate
By thus assailing these my gallant troops.
The knaves are with thee and are thine Urmuzd
Upon Bahrám's day.406
Thou art guilty too
In God's sight as ill-famed, misgot, and curst.
For all blood shed by thee in fight henceforth
The curses will be thine, the blessings mine.
Thou said'st moreover: “Let us share the realm,
The land, the worship, and the ivory throne,”
But treasure, power, and kingship all are mine,
Mine from the sun down to the Fish's back.406a
As long as thou dost play the king, dost share
The land with me, and wouldest be my mate,
I wish my body and my soul may part
Or ever I shall look on throne and crown.
My host have I arrayed, and even now
The air is like brocade all shot with gold;
So many are the arrows, darts, and spearheads
That none can tell his stirrups from his reins.
Heads will I scatter on the battlefield,
Will bring a wail of woe from all Gav's troops,
And in such fashion lead my host to fight
That I will sate with war that Warrior-pard.
I will lead Gav himself with bounden hands,
His troops shall see the dust of overthrow,
Their wounded men shall writhe in misery,
For none of them from bondslaves up to prince
Shall don again his breastplate for the fight.’”
The prudent envoy having heard his answer,
Returned and gave it word for word. Gav's heart
Was sad at hearing it because he saw
No knowledge in Talhand, and full of care
Called his own sage, discoursed of the response
At large, and said: “Suggest a remedy,
Thou seeker after wisdom! for this case.
The desert is all blood and trunkless heads,
And souls pass to the Judge of all the world.
This battle must not bring, when all is done,
Ill fortune on us.”
Said the sage: “O king!
Thou needest not a teacher to teach thee,
But if thou wilt have mine advice herein…
In fighting with thy brother be not fierce,
And send him yet another messenger,
A man of high rank, learned, and eloquent,
To give yet one more message. He still may
Abate hostility. Resign to him
The treasures gathered by the toil of others,
Preferring thereunto thy brother's life.
Since both the crown and signet-ring are thine
Forbear to wrangle with him as to pelf,
For I have seen from heaven's processes
That his time endeth shortly, and that none
Of all the seven planets favoureth him.
Moreover he will perish on this field
Of strife. Thou hast no need to press him. Give him
Whatever he shall ask of steeds and wealth,
So that thou mayst repent not at his death,
The royal signet, crown, and throne excepted,
For fear the troops may call thee faint of heart;
But thou if king and fortune's favourite
Art versed yet more in heaven's purposes.”
The prince, when he had heard his tutor's words,
Made yet a new endeavour. With wet face,
Through anguish for his brother's sake, he chose
One favoured by the stars and eloquent,
And said to him: “Go to Talhand and say:—
‘Gav is fulfilled with trouble and with pain
As touching heaven's purpose and this fight,
And prayeth that the almighty Judge of all
Will stir up love and prudence in thy heart,
So that thou mayest yet renounce this strife
Against thy brother. If 'tis through thy sage,
Who haunteth thee, deceiving thy dark soul,
That thou art grown so fierce and quarrelsome
Still thou canst not escape the course of heaven.
Ask the twelve signs and seven planets how
And all the world is full of wicked men;
Moreover by the monarch of Kashmír,
And by Faghfúr of Chín, who even now
Are pressing on our realm, we shall be flouted
On two sides, and by other warrior-chiefs.
How they will say: “Why are Talhand and Gav
Contending for the sake of throne and crown?
Are they not then of common stock by birth,
Not each the offspring of a holy sire?
And yet when counsellors of evil heart
So prompt them they must put their hands to blood!”
If thou wilt leave thy host and visit me,
And so illume this darkened soul of mine,
I will bestow on thee dínars, brocade,
Steeds, treasure; I would have thee all untroubled.
Thou shalt have also jewels, province, signet,
And crown, with armlets and an ivory throne.
These from an elder brother are no shame,
And I desire not battle, but if thou
Wilt hearken not my rede thou wilt repent
At last.’”
The envoy, speeding torrent-like,
Came to Talhand, the dark of soul, and told
What Gav had said to him and added more
Concerning kingship, wealth, dínárs, and goods.
Whenas Talhand had heard the envoy's speech,
His wisdom, and his prudent policy,
He would assent not to his brother's words,
Because the heaven purposed otherwise,
But made this answer, saying: “Say to Gav:—
‘Be thou a schemer still, and may thy tongue
Be severed by the scimitar of ill,
Thy body burnt up in the Magians' fire!
Thy crude proposals have I heard and see
That all thy stock-in-trade is subterfuge.
How wilt thou give to me the royal treasure,
For who art thou amongst this mighty people?
Good sooth! thy life must be nigh o'er since thou
Displayest such prolonged anxiety!
The armies' ranks extend two miles, the world
Is full of men, of steeds, and elephants.
March forth and set the battle in array:
Thou camest forth to fight; why dally then?
Thou'lt see such prowess from me that the stars
Will have to tell the total of thy days.
Thou knowest naught but practice, craft, and lies,
Perceiving that thy downfall is at hand.
Thou art afar from counsel, crown, and throne,
And no wise man will call thee fortunate.’”
The envoy came charged with these blustering
words,
And told the prince's answer. Thus, until
Dark night displayed its face, the envoy fared
Between the twain who, camping on the field,
Dug out a trench before their several hosts.
night.
Now when Sol rose in Leo, making earth
As 'twere a sea of splendour, and, all golden,
Enrobed the dome of lapis-lazuli,
From both the camp-enclosures rose the blare
Of clarions and the roar of kettledrums,
The flags of both young princes were displayed,
And both the hosts deployed to right and left,
While at their centres those exalted princes
Were stationed, each with his sage minister.
Gav bade his to proclaim thus to the chiefs:—
“Raise ye your standards, every man of you!
Let every one draw forth his blue steel sword,
But not a warrior advance a step,
Or any of the foot-men quit his post,
For none is sober, wise, and well advised,
That is impetuous on the day of battle:
I would take note of how Talhand deployeth.
The counsel of all-holy God alone
Prevaileth from bright sun to darksome dust,
And I am hopeful that Almighty God
Will grant to us a glorious destiny.
Tried have we counsel and in loving fashion
Have pleaded, but Talhand is still averse.
If now our host shall be victorious,
And if the process of the sun and moon
Afford us fruit, shed ye not blood for spoil,
Because ye shall receive a treasure-hoard;
And if some famous warrior of our host,
Who chargeth on their centre, shall perchance
Confront Talhand in fight he must not cast
The dust upon him. Praying as we go,
And with our girdles girt, confront we now
Yon mighty elephants.”
The soldiers shouted:—
“We will perform thy bidding and will make
Thy counsel the adornment of our souls.”
Upon the other side Talhand harangued
His troops and said: “Ye warders of the throne!
That we may be victorious, and the star
Of our good fortune bring forth fruit for us,
Draw, all of ye, your swords, confide in God,
And slay the foe. When ye have ta'en Gav captive
Ye must not kill him or address him harshly,
But take him from yon raging elephant,
And bring him to me with his hands in bonds.”
Thereat the blaring of the clarions
Rose in the court before the royal tent.
At all the neighing of the steeds, the dust
Raised by the chiefs, and whirl of massive maces,
The hills and streams re-echoed. “Circling heaven
And crash of axes, “No one,” thou hadst said,
“Knew head from foot.” The sun withdrew its
skirt
From those bright arrow-heads and eagles' plumes.
Earth seemed a sea of blood where heads and hands
Were pebbles in its depths. The royal princes
Came from the centre, like huge elephants,
And from them both a shout arose: “Avoid
The wind of my two-headed javelin.
O brother! be not forward in the fight,
And guard thee from my sword.”
Thus shouted they,
Each to the other, while the earth seemed all
A sea of blood, The valiant swordsmen wheeled
About the field, and streams of blood and brains
Ran from the blows of those two warlike princes.
Thus till the sun had left the sky the strife
Surpassed all bounds. Then from the field a shout
Rose, and the voice of Gav cried: “Combatants,
And youthful warriors! exact not vengeance
On those that would have quarter at our hands.
Know that my brother shrinketh from the fray,
And may abide not, being left unaided.”
Then many chiefs asked quarter, many more
Were slaughtered on the field, Talhand's whole host
Was scattered, and the flock was shepherdless,
The shepherd flockless. When Talhand was left
Alone upon his elephant, Gav called
To him and said: “Go to thy palace, brother!
And have regard to that and thine own court.
Good sooth! thou shalt not suffer in thy person
From me or at the hands of this famed host
Of swordsmen. Know that all good is from God,
And give Him thanks so long as life shall last
That thou hast left this battlefield alive…
But 'tis no time for counsel or delay.”
Now when Talhand had heard his brother's words
He writhed with shame, his face ran tears, he left
The battlefield for Margh. Troops flocked to him
From every side. He oped his magazines,
And gave supplies. His host was well equipped,
Content, and glad. He gave a robe of honour
To each that in his eyes so merited.
When all the soldiers had received their pay,
And when his warlike heart was freed from dudgeon,
He sent to Gav a message: “Thou that art
To throne as weed to garden! thou shalt burn
Anon, thy spirit shall be stricken, thine eyes
Sewn up. Thou deem'st that I can harm thee not,
But girdle not thy heart with self-deceit.”
Affection for his brother from his soul.
His heart was filled with dudgeon, and he said
Thus to his sage: “Behold this monstrous thing!”
The sage replied: “O king! upon the throne
Thou art the memory of thy sire, more learned
Than seekers after lore, and mightiest
Of kings. I told my lord the truth, as vouched
By circling sun and shining moon, that till
This famous prince be overthrown, and snake-like
Writhe on the darksome dust, ne'er will he rest,
Or turn away from strife. In this contention
Thy policy is to affect delay.
Reply not harshly, seek the way for union
And peace with him. All his endeavouring
Is to work evil. What is he to do?
It is God's will. If he shall fight again,
We too will fight. He is in haste while we
Can wait.”
King Gav then called the messenger,
Held talk with him at large with courteousness,
And said to him: “Go to, say to my brother:—
‘Be not so brutal and so violent,
For violence becometh not a king.
Thy sire was noble; thou art noble likewise.
I see this clearly that thou dost reject
My counsels and alliance, yet am fain
To have thee fair renowned and well disposed.
Now will I show thee all my heart and tell
The matter that my mind is purposing.
Thine evil minister hath sundered thee
From quiet, good advice, and wisdom's way.
Speak not but what is just because the world,
My brother! is but mockery and wind.
Incline to peace that I may send thee all
The wealth in full and loyal lieges also
Forthwith, and thy misdoubting soul will see
That there is naught but justice in my heart.
May every one be joyful in thy life!
My purpose is according to my words,
If thou, self-willed one! wilt attend thereto.
Howbeit if thou art intent on war,
And overtures for peace and pact are vain,
I will array my warriors for battle,
And they suffice to occupy a realm.
Let us go forth beyond these peopled lands,
And lead our two hosts onward to the sea.
Dig we a trench about them there to shut
Our warriors in, then fill it with sea-water,
And urge them to the fray, so that the worsted
May not escape by reason of the trench,
Shall shed not blood upon that straitened spot,
But take the foemen captive. God forbid
That we should use our scimitars and arrows.’”
The envoy went his way and came like wind.
He told Talhand the words of Gav. The prince,
When he had listened to that embassage,
Bade summon to his presence all the men
Of leading in his host and seated them,
Each one in due accordance to his rank,
Repeated to them Gav's response, disclosed
The matter, and thus said: “What are your views
On this new-fangled battle by the sea
Proposed by Gav? How shall we deal therewith,
And shall we turn his fancy into fact?
If ye are one with me then not a man
Will draw back for a moment from the fight.
What matter whether it be sea or mountain
When we seek battle in the ranks of war?
If ye will be my comrades in the strife
The leopard shall fear not the fox's voice.
All those of us that seek for high renown
Shall win their chief ambition from the world.
The aspirant rather should be slain with fame
Than live to grace the triumph of the foe.
Whoe'er shall bear him stoutly in the fight,
His bearing shall not disadvantage him,
For such shall have of me unstinted wealth
With servants and with steeds caparisoned.
Then from Kashmír down to the sea of Chín
The folk in every state will homage us;
I will bestow their cities on my troops
Or ever kingship, crown, and throne are mine.”
In answer all the chieftains bowed their faces
Before him till they touched the ground, and said:—
“Our choice is fame, and thou, who art our king,
Shalt see a turn of fortune.”
Then a shout
Rose from the portal of Talhand, and all
The province was astir with troops. He led
His whole host toward the sea, the troops of Gav
Appeared on their side, and the two kings lighted,
Confronting, for they each would be avenged
Upon the other. Round the hosts they dug
A trench and, when 'twas deep, let in the water.
Both armies drew up face to face, and foam
Was on the horsemen's lips. The wings were ranged
To right and left, the baggage was bestowed
Anigh the sea, and those illustrious kings,
All dudgeon and vindictiveness, then saddled
Two elephants, each at his army's centre
Took up his station, and assumed command.
The earth grew pitch-like, heaven azure-dim
With all the spears and silken bannerets,
What with the trumpet's blare and tymbal's din
Thou wouldst have said: “The sea is all a-boil,
The crocodiles therein call out for blood!”
While at the thud of battle-ax, of mace,
And sword, a red reek went up from the deep,
And as that veil was drawn athwart the sun
The world's face vanished from the eyes of men.
Thou wouldst have said: “The air is raining
swords,
And planting tulips in the dust!” The world
Was heaped so with the fallen that the vulture
Durst fly not overhead. Some lay within
The trench, which ran with blood, while other some
Were flung down headless on the field. The sea
Rose with the wind, and still the hosts advanced,
Troop after troop, while all the plain was filled
With livers, brains, and hearts. The horses' hoofs
Were clogged with gory mire. Talhand looked forth
Upon his elephant and saw the earth
O'erflowing like the Nile; the wind withal
Was in his face, and he had need of meat
And drink, but saw no peace and no escape
From wind and sun and trenchant scimitar,
And, swooning, died upon his golden saddle,
Resigning all the realm of Hind to Gav.
When loss betideth one, whose eyes are set
On gain, how great his passion and regret!
And since both gain and loss must pass away
Enjoy, old sage! the pleasures of to-day,
For howsoever much may be thy gains
The world's whole treasure is not worth the pains.
Gav looking from the centre failed to spy
The prince's flag, so sent a cavalier
To wheel before the elephants, and search
The foemen's front for miles, to find out whither
Had gone the bright red banner that had shadowed
The horsemen's faces, “for the fight is stayed
Unless mine eyes are blinded by the dust.”
The horseman came, looked everywhere but saw
not
The standard of the chief, howbeit he saw
The foemen's centre all confuséd cries,
And all the horsemen looking for their prince.
Thereat he turned away, came quick as dust,
And told the news to Gav. That general
Alighted from his elephant and went
Two miles afoot and weeping bitterly.
Whenas he looked upon the dead Talhand,
And saw the soldiers' faces woebegone,
He keenly scanned the corpse from head to foot,
But saw not any wound on breast or skin.
Then that exalted monarch wailed aloud,
Sat grieved and heavy by the corpse, and said:—
“Alack! thou youthful warrior! thou hast gone
Fulfilled with anguish and with wounded soul,
Slain by the process of thine evil star,
Thou didst reject the counsel of thy teachers,
Hast gone, and darkened is thy mother's heart.
Much did I warn thee in all kindliness,
But yet my counsel could avail thee naught.”
Now when the sage of Gav arrived and saw
Talhand, the world-aspirant, dead, his brother
Bewailing him on that wide plain with cries
That pierced the sky, he likewise wailed and wallowed
Before Gav, saying: “Woe for thee, young world-
lord!”
Addressing then his lips to give advice
He said to Gav: “Exalted king! what profit
This grief and mourning? He hath passed away;
What was to be hath been. Thou mayst thank God
In one regard—that thy hand slew him not.
I told my lord all that would be as vouched
By Mars and Saturn, sun and moon: ‘This youth
Will bear him so in fight that he will end
His days,’ and now his work is as the wind,
And he hath gone through ignorance and haste,
While all this mighty host is full of grief
And anger, and all eyes are fixed on thee.
Content thyself, make us contented too,
And thus contenting do what wisdom would;
For when the soldiers shall behold their king
Afoot and weeping on the way for grief,
His lustre will be minished in their eyes,
And e'en the basest will wax insolent
Toward him, for the king is like a cup
Filled with rose-water: may the blast not strike him!”
Gav hearkened to that prudent sage's rede.
A proclamation went forth from the host:—
“Ye men of name and warriors of the king!
Let no one tarry on the battlefield,
For yon host is disjoined not now from this;
Both must be one in act and in acclaim.
Be all 'neath my protection and preserve
For me the memory of my high-souled brother.”
Then called he all the chiefs, on his eyelashes
Let fall his own heart's blood, made for Talhand
A narrow coffin out of ivory
And gold, of turquoise and teak-wood, and swathed
His brother's face with glossy silk of Chín.
Thus passed away that famous chief of Hind.
They sealed the coffin-lid with gums and pitch,
With musk and camphor. Then Gav marched away
In haste and tarried at no stage for long.
The princes' mother slept not, rested not,
And fasted after they had chosen their field
Of battle. Ever on the road she kept
A watch and passed each day in bitterness.
The wakeful watchman saw it from the look-out,
And thence too saw the flag of Gav appear,
While all the realm's face was o'erspread with troops.
He gazed from two miles off in hope to see
The elephant and standard of Talhand,
But failed to recognise them mid the host.
He hurried off a horseman from the look-out
To say: “The army cometh from the mountains,
And Gav is there with all his company,
But I see not Talhand, his elephant,
Or flag, or yet his chiefs with golden boots.”
His mother poured down blood, which drenched her
breast,
From her eyelashes. When news came: “That Light
Of empire is bedimmed, the atheling,
Talhand, hath died on saddle-back and left
To Gav his seat upon the throne of kingship,”
She hurried to the palace of Talhand,
And ofttimes dashed her head against its walls.
She rent her raiment, tore her cheeks, flung fire
On hall and treasury, and burnt up all
The palace and the throne of majesty.
Thereafter she upreared a mighty pyre
To burn herself, as is the use of Hind,
And by her sorrow illustrate its Faith.
When tidings of his mother came to Gav
He urged his speedy charger on and came,
Embraced her closely, and entreated her,
With blood upon his eyelids, saying thus:—
“O loving mother! hearken to my words,
Because we have transgressed not in this fight.
It was not I or my companions,
Or warrior of this noble host, that slew him.
None durst breathe harshly on him: he was slain
Beneath the process of his evil star.”
His mother answered him: “Thou wicked man!
On thee will come high heaven's malison;
Thy brother hast thou slain for crown and throne,
And no good man will call thee fortunate.”
“O loving mother!” thus he answered her,
“Thou oughtest not to think such ill of me,
But be content and I will tell thee all
The case of king and host and battlefield,
For who would dare to go to fight with him?
Who ever contemplated such dispute?
Now by the Judge that fashioned sun and moon,
Night, day, and all the process of the sky,
The signet-ring and throne, the steed and mace,
The sword and crown, shall see me never more
Unless I clear this matter up, and turn
Thy heart from harshness into tenderness,
By proving to thy clear soul that the hand
Of none hath put a period to his life.
What man in all the world can 'scape from death,
Though he be clad upon with steel and helm?
For when the bright lamp faileth none may count
If what I prove to thee content thee not,
By God, the Lord of all, my purpose is
To burn my body in the fire and gladden
My foemen's souls.”
On hearing this, his mother
Had ruth upon his form majestical,
Lest that young hero should consume in fire
His body barely handselled of its soul,
And therefore said to him: “Show me the way
That prince Talhand died on his elephant.
Unless the matter be made clear to me
My fond heart still will burn.”
Gav sought his palace
In sorrow, summoned his experienced sage,
Told what had passed and how his mother's words
Had angered him until he swore to burn.
They sat down and took counsel by themselves.
The sage spake thus: “My gracious sovereign!
We cannot by ourselves achieve thy wish.
Call we the famed and wise, both old and young,
Among the shrewdest seekers of the way
From every side—Kashmír, Dambar, Margh, Mái.”
Gav sent off cavaliers to every quarter,421
Wherever there was any sage of leading.
They all came to the portal of the king,
Came to that famous court. He held a session
Of wise men and of magnates learned and shrewd.
Gav's sage described the battlefield and how
The prince and host had fought. They all conversed
With that sharp-witted man about the sea,
About the trench and letting in the water.
That darksome night not one among them slept,
But all held talk together. When the din
Of kettledrum ascended from the plain
Those men of wisdom called for ebony,
And two of them—ingenious councillors—
Constructed of that wood a board foursquare
To represent the trench and battlefield,
And with both armies drawn up face to face.
A hundred squares were traced upon the board,
So that the kings and soldiers might manœuvre.
Two hosts were carved of teak and ivory,
And two proud kings with crowns and Grace divine.
Both horse and foot were represented there,
And drawn up in two ranks in war-array,
The steeds, the elephants, the ministers,
And warriors charging at the enemy,
All combating as is the use in war,
One in offence, another in defence.
The king was posted at the army's centre,
With at one hand his loyal minister.
Supporting thrones the hue of indigo.
Next to the elephants two camels stood,
Whereon two men of holy counsel sat.
Next to the camels there were placed two steeds,
With riders valiant on the day of battle,
And each wing ended in a warrior-rukh,
His liver's blood a-foam upon his lips.
The footman's move was always to advance,
That he might be of aidance in the fray,
Till, having passed across the battlefield,
He sat—a minister—beside the king;
The minister might quit not too in battle
His king by more than by a single square,
While o'er three squares the noble elephant
Could move and for two miles survey the field.
The camel likewise moved three squares and raged
And snorted on the field of fight. The horse
Made too a three squares' move, but in the move
Alighted on a square of diverse hue.
The warrior-rukh might traverse every way,
And charge across the battle at his will.
They all contended in their proper lists,
And each observed the limits of his move.
When one of them beheld the king in fight,
Then would he shout and say: “Avaunt, O king!”
Whereat the king would change his square till he
Was straitened where he stood. When rukh and horse,
And minister and elephant and troops,
Had blocked the way for him on every side
The king would look forth o'er that field foursquare,
And see his men o'erthrown, their faces lined,
Escape cut off by water and by trench,
With foes to right and left and front and rear,
And being moveless and fordone would die,423
For so the process of the heaven decreed.
King Gav, the great and good, affected much
The game of chess suggested through Talhand;
His mother studied it. Her heart was filled
With anguish for that prince. Both night and day
She sat possessed by passion and by pain,
With both her eyes intent upon the game.
Her whole desire and purpose centred there;
Her mind was full of anguish for Talhand.
She kept for ever shedding tears of blood,
With chess to medicine her sufferings,
And thus she fared and neither ate nor stirred
Until her life had reached its period.
So now my tale is done that I heard told
With other stories of the days of old.
A matter that till then had been concealed:—
When Núshírwán was king of kings, and may
His fame endure throughout eternity,
He sought for sages learnéd in all lore
To give a greater lustre to his court.
The whole world was beneath his sovereign rule—
The great men and the much experienced chiefs,
The doctors, with the eloquent and brave,
The interpreters, proved leaders, and withal424
A famous chief, the wearer of a crown.
This was Barzwí, the eloquent physician,
An orator and stricken well in years,
A man proficient in each branch of learning,
And for each branch acclaimed throughout the world.
One day Barzwí at audience-time drew near
The famous king, and said: “O Sháh, the friend
Of knowledge, apt to seek it and retain!
I scanned with heed an Indian scroll to-day,
And there within 'twas written: ‘On the mountains
Of Hind there is a herb like Rúman silk,
Which if the expert shall collect, prepare
According unto knowledge, and then strew
Upon the body of one dead, the corpse,
Good sooth, forthwith will speak.’ Now if the king
Permit I will adventure this hard journey,
And, with much lore to guide me on my way,
Achieve perchance this wondrous enterprise.
'Tis fitting that the dead should come to life
When Núshírwán is monarch of the world.”
The Sháh made answer: “Hardly this may be,
But ne'er the less the endeavour should be made.
Convey my letter thither to the Rája,
And look upon the attractions of that land.
Seek for a comrade in the enterprise,
As well as wakeful fortune's comradeship.
Thou wilt reveal some wonder to the world,
Because the words are enigmatical.
Bear to the Rája worthy offerings,
For doubtless he must furnish thee with guides.”
Then Núshírwán unlocked his treasury,
And of the havings that are fit for kings425
—
Dínárs, brocade, silks, beaver-skins, and signets,
With royal jewelry, and torques and earrings—
He had three hundred camel-loads made ready.
The envoy left the presence and, on reaching
The Rája, gave the letter, and unpacked
The bales before him, who, when he had read
The letter of the Sháh, said thus: “Good sir!
Hath not my wealth been given by Núshírwán?
Our persons, troops, and royal treasuries
Are one. 'Twere not strange if the pious world-lord,
By reason of his justice, throne, and Grace,
His splendid fortune and his high achievement,
Should raise the dead. The Brahmans on the moun-
tains
Are all at thy dispose. My minister,
An idol-worshipper of high degree,
My noble treasurer and hoarded wealth,
With Hindústán and all its good and ill,
And all my power o'er great and small, are thine.”
They lodged the envoy with magnificence
Hard by the Rája as his rank required,
Providing him with provand, tapestries,
With dainty raiment and with carpetings.
All night the Rája held talk with the priests,
The great men of Kannúj and with the sages,
And when the daylight showed above the hills,
And when the world-illuming Lamp appeared,
He called the learned physicians and all those
Best qualified by knowledge to advise,
And bade them wait upon the learned Barzwí
To hear his statement. All the erudite,
Adept in leechcraft, went to him and, when
He set forth to the mountains, fared with him.
Barzwí roamed all the mountain-tops afoot,
Companioned by his learnéd guides, and culled
The divers herbs—the dry, the succulent,
The withered, and the flourishing, He brayed
Herbs succulent and dry of every kind,
And spread them on the dead, but none revived
For any herb, and verily it seemed
That all the virtue had gone out of them.
The company roamed all the heights afoot,
But had no fruit from travail, and Barzwí
Then understood: “This task is for the King
That liveth and that reigneth evermore.”
Thoughts of the Sháh, of those illustrious chiefs,
And that long journey, moved his heart to shame.
He thought too of the wealth that he had brought,
And was concerned at all his senseless talk.
He was chagrined about the scroll and said:—
“Why did that ignorant and stupid man
Write in his folly and his levity
That which produceth travail and foul words?”
“Ye chiefs experienced and worshipful!
Know ye of one more learnéd than yourselves,
One eminent in every company?”
The troop of sages said with one accord:—
“There dwelleth here a very ancient man,426
Surpassing us in wisdom and in years,
And in his knowledge besting every chief.”
Thereat Barzwí said to those men of Hind:—
“Ye men of high renown and ardent soul!
Exert yourselves yet more on my behalf,
And point me out the way to him. Perchance
That eloquent old sage may succour me
In this affair.”
They led Barzwí to him,
Full of solicitude, with much to say.
Now when Barzwí, that man of eloquence,
Approached the sage and told all his own toils,
About the writing that he had discovered,
And of the experts' words, the ancient sage
Replied, informing him at large, and said:—
“We in those writings found the selfsame thing,
We too were instant in the same desire.
Now will I tell thee our discovery:
The noble heart must hear to understand.
The herb then is the sage, the mountain know-
ledge,
As being ever distant from the throng;
The corpse the man whose knowledge is to seek,
Because the unwise are kill-joys everywhere.
In sooth 'tis knowledge that doth make men live;
Blest is the constant toiler for its sake.
When men are stupefied through ignorance427
Kalíla427a
is the herb, and understanding
The mountain. In the monarch's treasury,
On making quest there, thou wilt find a book
Of knowledge that will point thee out the way.”
Barzwí, when he had heard, rejoiced thereat,
And all his travail seemed like wind to him.
He blessed the sage and sped back to the king,
Like fire. Arrived he praised the Rája, saying:—
“Live thou while Hind shall last. There is a
book,
O potent Rája! that in Indian
Is called Kalíla.427b
It is under seal,
And fondly treasured in the monarch's hoards—
A guide-book both to knowledge and to counsel.
Kalíla is the herb in mystic parlance;
So now, O king of Hind! be thou mine aid,
And, if I be not troublesome, command
Thy treasurer to hand the book to me.”
The Rája's soul was sad at that request,
He writhed upon his throne and answered thus
Barzwí: “No one has sought of us this thing
In times of yore or in these latter days.
However if the world-lord Núshírwán
Shall ask of me my body or my soul
In being whether high or low; albeit
Thou shalt peruse it not save in my presence,
That spirits ill-disposed to me may say not
Within their hearts: ‘Some one hath copied it.’
So read and learn and mark it every way.”
Barzwí made answer thus and said: “O king!
Thou hast expressed my whole intent herein.”
The Rája's minister then brought Kalíla;
Barzwí perused it with a sage's help,
And, as he read each chapter of the book,
He spent the day in learning it by heart,
For, having read as much as he could learn,
He read no further till the morrow came,
But, writing to the monarch of the world,
Sent privily a chapter of Kalíla.
The Indians' book by this expedient
Was introduced to royal Núshírwán,
What while Barzwí continued hale and happy,
By laving thus his ardent soul in knowledge,
Until the answer to his letters came:—
“The Sea of Lore hath come to hand for us.”
Then from his palace he approached the Rája
To ask for leave to go. At that request
The Rája graciously entreated him,
And had prepared an Indian robe of honour—
Two valuable armlets and two earrings,
A torque of jewels worthy of a king,
An Indian turban and an Indian sword,
Whereof the blade was watered steel. Barzwí
Came from Kannúj, rejoicing, having gained
Much knowledge there. On his return to court
He went before the Sháh and did obeisance,
Then told about his converse with the Rája,
How knowledge had been found instead of herbs.
The Sháh replied: “O man approved in all!
Kalíla hath restored my soul to life.
Take from my treasurer my treasury's key,
And make thy choice according to thy needs.”
So to the treasury the sage departed,
But gave small trouble to the treasurer.429
There drachms and jewels lay to left and right,
And yet he chose him but a royal robe,
Put on that costly raiment and went forth
Back to the court of Núshírwán in haste.
When he approached the throne he did obeisance,
And praised the king, who said: “O man of toils!
Why hast thou left the treasury and brought
No purses with thee and no royal gems,
For treasure is the meed of them that travail?”
Barzwí replied: “O thou whose crown is higher
Than sun and moon! the wearer of king's
raiment
Hath access to the crown and throne of might,
Mine own unworthy self in royal robes,
My foes' hearts will be strait and overcast,
My friends' cheeks keep their lustre and their
bloom.
Still there is somewhat I would ask the king
That I may leave my memory in the world—
Let Búzurjmihr, when copying the book,
Show favour to Barzwí's endeavourment,
And give account of me in Chapter One,
By order of the conquering king, that so,
When I am dead, my travailing may be
Forgot not by the sages in the world.”
“A great thing this to ask!” the Sháh replied,
“And one beyond the licence of a liege,
And yet thy labour hath deserved as much,
Although thy standing warranteth it not.”
Then said the Sháh to Búzurjmihr: “This wish
Of his is not to be ignored.”
So when
The fashioning of pen from kex was done
The scribe wrote of Barzwí in Chapter One.
As for the royal book which thus was writ
'Twas in the script of bygone centuries;
Among the royal hoards men treasured it,
But 'twas beheld not by unworthy eyes.
It was perused not, till the people took
To Arabic, save in the ancient tongue;
But when Mámún had made earth fresh and young
He dealt in other fashion with the book,
For he had clerkly lore, was politic
In kingly wise, and learned in every way.
'Twas then translated into Arabic,
Just as thou mayest hear it read to-day.
In Arabic, till Nasr was king, it stayed;
Then noble Abú'l Fazl, his minister
And, in respect to lore, his treasurer,
Gave orders, which were readily obeyed,430
For folk to speak in Persian and Darí.430a
Thereafter precedent and policy
Conducted Nasr in wisdom's way when he
Was fain by whatsoever means might be
To leave within the world his memory.
They held a session with interpreters,
Who read the whole book out to Rúdagí.431
That poet linked the scattered words in verse,
And threaded431a
thus those pregnant pearls, that he
Who is a scholar might new graces find,
And one unlearnéd more facility,
For words in prose escape us, but combined
In metric guise possess the brain and mind.
Life to Mahmúd, the world's great potentate!
May earth and time as slaves before him wait,
How it would joy the heart if but the bad
From Sháh Mahmúd less free allowance had!
Yet be not thou concerned thereat. Anon,
Since life is far advanced, thou must be gone.
At whiles assistance and at whiles dismay;
But neither of them will for aye remain
With thee; the hope of tarriance here is vain.
ABBREVIATIONS, list of, xvi
Abú'l Fazl, minister under the
Sámánids and father of
the Persian translator of
Tabarí, 383, 430
patron of Rúdagí, 383
Achshunwar. See Akhshunwar.
Afrásiyáb, ruler of Túrán, 330,
334, 335, 337, 359
the Khán of Chín descended
from, 334
Ahmad, son of Ismá'íl, Sámánid,
383
Áhriman, the Evil Principle, 89,
233, 265, 271, 290, 312, 323,
334, 359, 366, 367, 369
Ahwáz, city in Khuzistán (Susi-
ana), 197, 198, 201, 214,
224
Akhshunwar (Achshunwar), Hai-
tálian king, 160
Aláns (Alani), people, x, 216
Núshírwán's dealings with,
216, 239 seq.
Alburz, Mount, 177
Aleppo (Chalybon-Beroea), city,
218
Alexander, the Great, 383
Amida (Diarbekr), city on the
upper Tigris, 187
Ámul, city in Mázandarán, 89,
237
Ámwí, place on the Oxus, 91 and
note, 331, 357, 359
Anestres Castri = Núshírwán,
383
Antákiya (Antioch), city on the
Orontes, xi, 218
taken by Núshírwán, 218, 258
seq.
Antioch. See Antákiya.
New, 218, 259
Apothegms, 17, 18, 42, 270, 277,
296, 301, 403
Apprentice, a merchant's, enter-
tains, and finds favour
with, Bahrám Gúr, 40 seq.
Arab, Arabs, 10, 107, 201, 218,
244, 245, 247
sage, quoted, 277
Arabian Nights, The, 3, 317
provenance of, 3
Arabic, 381
Fables of Bidpai (Kalíla and
Dimna) translated into,
382, 430
Aragán (Rámkubád), town, 188
Arash, city. See Hulwán.
Áráyish-i-Rúm (Hierapolis), city
west of the Euphrates and
north of Aleppo, 217, 218,
254, 255
taken by Núshírwán, 255
Ard, day, 112
Ardabíl, city in Ázarbáiján, 89,
163, 224
Ardshír, high priest temp. Pírúz,
179 seq.
released by Khúshnawáz, 180
Ardshír, high priest temp. Núshír-
wán, 304, 333, 337, 342
discourse of, 305
questions Búzurjmihr, 308
Ardshír Khurra (Khurra-i-Ard-
shír), city, now Fírúzábád,
and district in Farsistán,
206
Ardshír Pápakán, Sháh, 79, 185,
212
his failure to conquer Balú-
chistán, 242
the invention of nard attri-
buted to, 382
Arish, Íránian archer, 234 and note
Arjásp, king of Túrán, 330, 334,
335, 337, 359
the Khán of Chín descended
from, 334
Arman, Armenia, or a district in
Ázarbáiján, 263
Armenia, 153, 224
Roman, 187
Arsacid, Arsacids, 156, 185, 212
Artang, Mání's house, 355 and
note
Arzhang. See Artang.
Árzú, daughter of Máhiyár, 59
referred to, 55, 59
sings to Bahrám Gúr, 60
asked in marriage by, and
married to, Bahrám Gúr,
61 seq.
meaning of, 65 note
Ashemaogha, 188
Astrologer, astrologers, 144
foretell Bahrám Gúr's term
of life, 144
birth of Hurmuzd, 354
death of Talhand, 408, 413,
418
Athens, city, 280
schools of, closed by Justi-
nian, 280
Ázád Sarv, archimage, 283
goes to Marv, 283
discovers Búzurjmihr, 283
returns with Búzurjmihr to
court, 283
Ázar=Ázargashasp, q.v.
Ázar Ábádagán, Fire-temple at
Shíz, 86, 224, 362
visited by Bahrám Gúr, 86,
94
visited by Núshírwán, 250
Ázarbáiján, 160, 214
Ázargashasp, spirit of the light-
ning, 21, 79, 232
fire-temple at Shíz, 89, 317,
365
visited by Bahrám Gúr,
86, 139
high priest of, converts
Sapínúd to Zoroastri-
anism, 139
visited by Núshírwán,
363
BÁBAK, muster-master of Núshír-
wán, x, 230
bidden to enroll the host, 230
insists on Núshírwán's at-
tendance for enrolment,
231
asks pardon of the Sháh, 232
Bábar, Emperor, on wine-drink-
ing, 75 note
Bádán Pírúz (Shahrám-Pírúz),
city built by Pírúz in Ázar-
báiján, ix, 160, 163
Baghdád, city, viii, 83 and note
Bahman, Íránian magnate, 312
Bahman, month and day, 31 and
note
Bahman Yasht, Pahlaví Text, 188
Bahrám, son of Pírúz, Íránian
warrior, 85
Bahrám, Íránian chief, 251, 262
Bahrám, genius, 406 and note
Bahrám Gúr, Sháh (Varahran V),
vii seq. 3 seq., 160, 164,
165, 170 and note, 174, 178,
187, 334, 359
Reign of, 3 seq.
Note on, 3 seq.
length of, 3
largely legendary, 3
character of, 3
resembles James V of
Scotland, 3
ministers of, 4
his war with Rúm, 4, 5
adventures of, vii seq., 4,
12 seq.
his historical defeat of the
Haitálians 4, 5
his alleged reduction of taxa-
tion in consequence, 5
accession of, 7
holds his court for eight
days, 7 seq.
summons Jawánwí, 8
holds three days' festivities,
10
rewards Nu'mán and Munzir,
10
honours Khusrau, 10
makes Narsí captain of the
host, 11
burns the registers of taxes,
11
applauded by the folk, 11
restores the nobles exiled by
his father to their honours,
11
makes proclamation to the
people, 12, 79, 82
forbids wine-drinking, 23
allows wine-drinking again,
25
his whip, 47, 54, 63, 64
his equipage for the chase,
48, 76
loses and finds his tughral,
49, 50
his visit to Barzín, 49 seq.
Bahrám Gúr, marries Barzín's
daughters, 53
hunting-feats of, 54, 55, 77,
80, 81
visits a jeweller, 56 seq.
his course of life bewailed by
Rúzbih, 56
his many wives, 56
asks and obtains Árzú in
marriage, 61 seq.
his visit to Farshídward,
68 seq.
goo?? hunting, 76 seq.
forbids all plundering, 79
ear-marks and brands ona-
gors, 81
remits the tribute of Barkúh
and Jaz, 82
visits Baghdád, 83
holds revel at Baghdád, 83
goes to Istakhr, 83, 95
reproaches Rúzbih for parsi-
mony, 83
reported to be given up to
pleasure, 84
reproached by his chiefs, 84
his secret preparations against
the Khán, 85
summons his chiefs, 85
levies a host, 86
makes Narsí regent, 86
goes to Ázar Ábádagán, 86,
94
his march to Marv against
the Khán, 89
defeats the Khán at Kashmi-
han, 90, 170 note
marches on Bukhárá, 90
defeats the Turkmans, 91
grants peace to the Turkmans,
91
his boundary-pillar, 92, 160,
161, 164
makes Shahra ruler of Túrán,
92
makes gifts of treasure, 95,
96
Bahrám Gúr, deposits the Khán's
crown in a Fire-temple, 95
goes to Taisafún, 95
welcomed by Narsí and the
chiefs, 96
remits taxes for seven years,
97
happiness of the world under,
99
bestows Khurásán on Narsí,
99
inquires about Cæsar's en-
voy, 100
gives audience to Cæsar's
envoy, 101
Cæsar's questions to, 102
his parting gifts to Cæsar's
envoy, 106
addresses the archmages,
106
a wazír complains of Shangul
to, 109
writes to Shangul, 110
his visit to Hind, 5, 112
seq.
motive of, 5
fabulous, 6
bears his own letter to Hind,
112
his audience with Shangul,
112
entertained by Shangul, 116
wrestles before Shangul, 117
displays his marksmanship
before Shangul, 118
calls himself Barzwí, 121
slays monsters, 121 seq.
offered a daughter and great
advancement by Shangul,
127
takes to wife one of Shangul's
daughters, 128
receives an invitation from
Faghfúr, 129
his reply, 130
tells Sapínúd of his wish to
quit Hind, 131
Bahrám Gúr, meets some Íránian
merchants and pledges
them to secrecy, 133
feigns sickness, 134
escapes with Sapínúd, 134
reproached by Shangul, 135
makes a league with Shangul,
137
his welcome on his return,
137
addresses the nobles, 138
praised by the nobles, 139
makes a new treaty with
Shaugul, 140
entertains Shangul and seven
other kings, 140 seq.
appointed Shangul's heir, 143
his parting gifts to Shangul,
144
takes account of his treasures,
144
his term of life foretold by
the astrologers, 144
resolves to levy no more
taxes, 145
his unsuccessful attempts to
benefit his subjects, 146 seq.
his introduction of the Gipsies
into Írán, 6, 149
appoints Yazdagird his suc-
cessor, 150
death of, 6, 150
Firdausí's reflections on, 150
mourning for, 151
Baigand (Kuhandizh, Kunduz),
a city in Afghán Turkistán,
176
Bakhtagán, the father of Búzurj-
mihr, 279
Bal'amí, compiler of the Persian
Tabarí, 5
Balas (Balásh), Sásánian king, 170
Balásh (Balas), Sháh, ix, 169 seq.
appointed regent by Pírúz,
164
hears of the overthrow of
Pírúz, 169
Balásh, Reign of, 170 seq.
Note on, 170
character of, 171
introduces public baths, 171
end of, 171
title of, 171
accession of, 171
Súfarai's letter to, 173
welcomes Súfarai on his re-
turn from Túrán, 181
dethroned, 182
Balkh, city, 94, 331, 359, 384
Balúch (Balúchistán), x, 242, 340,
362
Ardshír Pápakán's ill success
with, 242
Balúchís, people, 217
Núshírwán and the, 217, 241
seq.
Bámdát, father of Mazdak, 188
Bandwí, Íránian chief, 207
Banquets, the seven, of Núshír-
wán, 280
possible origin of, 280
Baráhám, a Jew, vii, 13
entertains Bahrám Gúr scur-
vily, 16 seq.
his goods confiscated, 20
Barbar, town and country (British
Somaliland), 327
Barda', city on the borders of
Ázarbáiján and Armenia,
341
Barkúh, city in Persian 'Irák,
79, 80, 82
tribute of, remitted, 82
Barzín, Íránian noble, viii, 50 seq.
visited by Bahrám Gúr 49
and his daughters entertain
Bahrám Gúr, 50 seq.
gives his daughters to Bahrám
Gúr in marriage, 53
Barzín, bower of, 83
Barzín, Íránian chief, 86
Barzín, father of Ustád, 251
Barzín, father of Shádán, 382,
423
Barzwí, nonce-name assumed by
Bahrám Gúr, 121, 134
Barzwí, Íránian sage, xiii, 382,
383, 424 seq.
introduces into Persia, and
translates, the Fables of
Bidpai, 382
goes on a mission to Hind,
424
consults a sage, 427
hears of the book of Kalíla
and Dimna, 427
transcribes and sends it to
Núshírwán, 428
returns to Núshírwán and
asks a boon, 429
Bastám, city, 357
Bástán-náma, 382
Baths, public, introduction of,
by Balásh, 171
Belisarius, Roman general, 186,
187, 217, 218
Berozias=Barzwí, 383
Bidpai, Indian sage, 213, 382,
383
introduction of his Fables
(Book of Kalíla and
Dimna) into Persia, xiii
213, 382
Bihbihán, town, 188
Bihrúz, a scribe, 72
Bihzád, Íránian chief, 85
Bihzád, Íránian noble, 207
Bisá, city, 89
Bishop, receives Núshzád's last
requests, 275
Bístún, mountain, 61, 363
Boundary-pillar, Bahrám Gúr's,
92, 160, 161, 164
Brahman, 425
Bramble-grubber, a. See Dilá-
frúz.
Buddha, 383
Bukhárá, city, 90, 94, 331, 348,
359, 384
Búkhtakán. See Bakhtagán
Bull, mythological, 245
Buráza, father of Mihr Narsí, 4
Burrus, Prætorian prefect, 279
Burzmihr, Íránian warrior, 86
bears Narsí's letter to Bahrám
Gùr, 94
Bust, fortress and district in
Sistán, 173, 395
Búzurjmihr, counsellor of Nú-
shírwán, xi seq., 5, 278 seq.
associated with the Persian
Wisdom-literature, 278
a semi-mythical personage,
280
found by Azád Sarv at Marv,
283
undertakes to interpret Nú-
shírwán's droam, 283
goes with Ázád Sarv to
court, 283
his adventure with a snake,
284
interprets Núshírwán's dream,
284
rewarded and honoured by
Núshírwán, 286, 289, 304,
311, 315, 388
his accomplishments, 286
his discourses at the Seven
Banquets of Núshírwán,
287 seq.
on fate and fortune, 291
on the attainment of great-
ness, 291, 296
on what is worthiest, 291
on sages, 288, 291, 292, 294,
296 seq., 309
on fools, 297, 298, 306
on conduct, 288, 291 seq.,
299, 309
on kings, 290, 294, 295, 301,
312
on the wise administrator,
294
on sons, 295, 303, 311
on riches and poverty, 295
questioned by Ardshír and
Yazdagird, 308
Búzurjmihr, on scribes, 311
on loyalty, 312
a discourse of, 366
questioned by Núshírwán,
367 seq.
expounds the game of chess,
380, 388
invents the game of nard,
381, 389
welcomed on his return from
Hind by Núshírwán, 393
Byzantine title, 218
CÆSAR, viii, xi, 5, 100, 163, 244
seq., 258 seq., 269, 273
his embassage to Bahrám
Gúr, 5, 100
marches on Írán, 84
propounds questions to Bah-
rám Gúr, 102
his envoy questioned by the
high priest, 104
his reply to Núshírwán con-
cerning Munzir, 245
his treasures taken by Nú-
shírwán, 255, 258
sues to Núshírwán for peace,
261
sends tribute to Núshírwán,
362
Callinicus. See Kálíniyús.
Camel, piece in chess, 422
position of, 422
move of, 422
Cancer, constellation, 257
Castle of Oblivion, 184
Caucasus, 153, 214, 217
passes in, fortified, 153, 187,
216, 239
Mas'údí's account of, 215
Chách (Táshkand), city in Túrán,
167, 329, 334, 340, 343,
348, 358, 359
Chách, daughter of governor of,
285
her intrigue, 285
put to death, 286
Chaghán, place or city in Túrán,
94, 157, 333, 359
ceded by Kubád to the
Haitálians, 198
monarch of=Faghánísh, 333
Chalybon-Beroea (Aleppo), 218
Champions, The twelve, 156
Characteristics of a Happy Man,
Pahlaví text, 279
Charjui, place on the Oxus, 91
note
Chase, the, equipage for, 48,
76
Chess, game of, xiii, 5, 14 and
note, 280, 385 seq.
Note on, 380
sent by the Rája of Hind
to Núshírwán, 5, 380, 384
seq.
expounded by Búzurjmihr,
380, 388
symbolism of, 381
two forms of, 381, 388, 422
changes in the powers of the
pieces in, 381
Mas'údí on, 382
invention of, Story of the, 394
seq.
Chess-board, 14, 385, 388
Chess-men, 14, 380, 388
Chín, country (often=Túrán),
viii, ix, 33, 37, 78, 80, 84,
90 and passim
Khán of. See Khán.
rarities of, 49
silk of, 73, 92, 347, 364, 418
ware of, 78
king of=Khán, 87
= Faghfúr, 131
brocade of, 329, 353, 355
sea of, 343
Rose of=daughter of the
Khán, 363 and note
Chosrau, Chosroes I (Kisrá Núsh-
írwán), Sásánian king, 212,
281
Christ, 207, 249, 264, 270, 273,
274, 276
Christian, Christians, 153, 171,
254, 270, 276
persecution of, 153
Firdausí's view of, 219
wife of Núshírwán, xi, 263,
274
mother of Núshzád, 263
helps Núshzád in his re-
volt, 266
laments for Núshzád,
276
support Núshzád, 266, 272
Christianity, polemics against,
219, 270, 273
Colic, cure for, 39
Commons, King of the, 3
Communists (Mazdakites), 185
Constantinople, 316
Contents, Table of, vii
Cordwainer, the Rúman, and
Núshírwán, 260
Corn-land, taxes on, 215
Cross, the, 249, 270, 276
DÁD, Íránian warrior, 86
Dái Marj, 6
Dambar, city in Hind, 396, 399,
421
Dáráb, Sháh, 215
Darband, town and pass between
the Caucasus and the Cas-
pian, 213, 215
Mas'údí's account of the for-
tifications at, 215
Darí, 430 and note
Date-palms, taxes on, 215, 225
Déwasárm, king of Hind, 380,
381
sends the game of chess to
Núshírwán, 380
Dice (used in the game of nard),
389
Diláfrúz, a bramble-grubber, viii,
70 seq.
employed by Bahrám Gúr,
70 seq.
Dílam, city in Gílán, 243, 244,
362 and note
Dílamán. See Dílam.
Dimna, Kalíla and. See Fables
of Bidpai.
Díná-í Maínóg-í Khirad, Pahlaví
text, 279
quoted, 279
Dínawarí, historian, 6, 156, 186,
214
Dív (Daéva), demon, 115, 154,
174, 368 seq.
= Áhriman, 93, 107, 109, 117,
143, 154, 206, 227, 268, 289,
303, 304, 323, 332, 368 seq.,
376, 390
Mazdak's five, 205
Búzurjmihr's ten, 368
Doni, The Morall Philosophie of,
383
Dragon, vii, ix
slain by Bahrám Gúr, 42, 123
seq.
described, 43, 123
Dreams, Firdausí on, 281
Drought, 159, 201
measures to alleviate, 159,
162
breaking of, described, 163
Mazdak's parable concerning,
201
ECLIPSE of sun, total, 159
Elephant, piece in chess, 385, 422,
423
position of, 388, 422
move of, 422
Endless peace, the, 217
Esdras, 207, 264
Euphrates, river, 217
FABLES of Bidpai (Book of Ka-
líla and Dimna), xiii, 213,
427 seq.
introduction of, into Persia,
213, 382
translations of, 382, 383
Firdausí's account of,
430
vogue of, 383
origin of, 383
Núshírwán's acquisition of,
423 seq.
Faghánísh (I), king of the Hai-
tálians, 157
helps Pírúz for a considera-
tion, 157
(II), xii, 350
made king instead of Ghát-
kar, 333
Núshírwán takes counsel
about, 333
his descent from Bahrám
Gúr, 334
Núshírwán writes to, 337
makes submission to Núshír-
wán, 360
Faghfúr, the dynastic title of the
princes of Chín and Má-
chín, ix, 115, 129, 340, 343,
408
his daughter the wife of
Shangul, 115
hears of Bahrám Gúr's ex-
ploits in Hind, 129
invites Bahrám Gúr to visit
him, 129
Bahrám Gúr's reply to, 130
Failakús, Philip II of Macedon,
215
Falátún (Plato), 100
Falconry, 48 seq.
Farab, city and desert, 91, 92
Fará'in, Íránian chief, 207
Farának, daughter of Barzín, 53
married to Bahrám Gúr, 53
Farfúriyús, Rúman general, xi,
218
defeated by Núshírwán, 256
makes report to Cæsar, 260
Farhád, Íránian general, 251
commands Núshírwán's left
wing, 251
Farídún, Sháh, 37, 38, 60, 62, 73,
79, 101, 120, 199, 207,
his capital, 215, 238
Fárikín (Maiyáfárikín), city in
Mesopotamia, 200
taken by Kubád, 200
Farshídward, a miser, viii, 67
seq.
Bahrám Gúr visits, 68 seq.
his miserly habits, 68 seq.
his wealth described, 70, 72,
73
Farwardín, month and day,
163
Firdausí, 3, 4, 6, 153, 156, 159,
185, 186, 188, 213, 214, 217
seq., 317, 380 seq.
bewails his misfortunes, 152
his opinion of Christianity,
219 and note
bewails the advent of old age,
220
and Persian Wisdom-litera-
ture, 278
on dreams, 281
his authorities for chess, 380
Fish, mythological, 341 and note,
406
Footman (pawn), piece in chess,
385, 388, 422
position of, 388
move of, 422
promotion of, 422
Funj, leader of the Khán's host,
330
Fúr (Porus), 395
GAIÚMART, Sháh, 53
rites of, 53
Faith of, 273
Garíb, surface-measure, 215 and
note
Garshasp, Íránian general, 251
put in charge of Núshírwán's
baggage-train, 251
Gav, king of Hind, xiii, 395 seq.
mother of, 395 seq.
her two marriages, 395, 396
her two sons, 395, 396
becomes queen, 397
tries to keep peace between
her sons, 397 seq.
hears of the death of
Talhand, 419
reproaches Gav, 420
chess invented to appease,
421
death of, 423
birth of, 395
tutor of, 397, 398, 401, 402,
407, 408, 410, 413, 417, 421
rivalry between Talhand and,
397 seq.
war between Talhand and,
404 seq.
his attempts at accommoda-
tion with Talhand, 405,
408, 413
defeats Talhand, 412
proposes a decisive battle to
Talhand, 414
victory of, 416
invents chess to console his
mother for the death of
Talhand, 421
Germanus, 218
Gharchís, Georgians, 94
Ghátkar, ruler of the Haitálians,
xii, 330 seq., 334, 335
hears of, and destroys, the
Khán's embassy to Núshír-
wán, 330
Ghátkar, prepares to oppose the
Khán, 330
defeated, 332
Ghaznín, city in Kábulistán, 173
Gíl, Gílán, region on the south-
western shores of the
Caspian, x, 216, 224, 340,
362
Núshírwán's dealings with,
216, 242 seq.
captives from, settled at
Súrsán, 328
Gipsies, the, ix, 6
their introduction into Írán, 6
Nöldeke on, 6
their language, 6
brought into Írán by Bahrám
Gúr, 149
Glory. See Grace.
Good Thoughts, Words, and
Deeds, 317, 318
symbolised in the game of
nard, 381
Grace, or Glory, the divine, 9, 23,
31, 38, 53, and passim
Grapes, bunch of, Story of the,
183 note
Greek, Greeks, 280
philosophers, entertained by
Núshírwán, 280
Gulgún, Bahrám Gúr's steed, 57
Gulzaryún, river (the Jaxartes ?),
329, 340, 360
Gund-i-Shápúr, city, 219, 276
Núshzád imprisoned at, 264
and note
Gúr, nickname of Bahrám, son of
Yazdagird, 6
Nöldeke on, 6
Gurgán, city and region in eastern
Mázandarán, xii, 89, 237,
337, 338, 357, 358, 361
Gushasp, nonce-name assumed by
Bahrám Gúr, 59 seq.
Gushasp, the chief scribe, 11
bidden to remit the arrears
of taxes, 11
Gushtásp, Sháh, 254, 359
his sojourn at Shúráb, 254
Gustaham, Bahrám Gúr's com-
mander-in-chief, 85
HAITÁL, Haitálians (White
Huns), x, xii, 4, 6, 153,
161, 164, 171, 174, 181, 187,
197, 330 seq., 340, 342, 390
confused with the Turks, 4
Bahrám Gúr's defeat of, 4
help Pírúz, 156, 157
Pírúz's expedition against,
159, 164 seq.
tradition of, 160
king, 160, 184
helps Kubád, 198
Kubád's flight to, 170, 184,
198
the alliance of Núshírwán
with the Khán against, 317
war of the Khán with, 328 seq.
destroy the Khán's embassy
to Núshírwán, 330
host of, levied to oppose the
Khán, 331
defeated, 332
decide to seek help of Núshír-
wán, 332
make Faghánísh king, 333
Núshírwán takes counsel
about, 333, 334
make submission to Núshír-
wán, 360
Hamadán, city, 6
Hárith bin Jabala, prince of the
Ghassánians, 217
protected by Justinian, 217
his war with Munzir, 217
Hauz, 50 and note
Hawking. See Falconry.
Heroes, Vale of, 6
Hierapolis (Áráyish-i-Rúm), city,
217, 218
Hind, Hindústán, viii, ix, xiii,
5, 84, 110 seq., 114 seq.,
118 and passim
Rája of. See Rája.
Bahrám Gúr's visit to, 5,
110 seq.
motive of, 5
fabulous, 6
king of, entertained by Bah-
rám Gúr, 140 seq.
=Shangul, 113, 119, 126,
128
Núshírwán goes to, 241
Hindíyá, city of Rúm, 200
taken by Kubád, 200
Hindústání, language, 6
Gipsy a corruption of, 6
Híra, city in western 'Irák, 217
Horse (steed, knight), piece in
chess, 385, 422, 423
position of, 388, 422
move of, 422
Hulwán (Arash), city, 187, 201
Humái, Íránian chief, 87, 88
goes as envoy to the Khán,
87
Huns, the, 153
White. See Haitálians.
Húr, father of Bihrúz, 72
Hurmuz, minister of Bahrám
Gúr, 26
Hurmuz (Hormisdas), Sháh, ix,
153, 186
appointed by Yazdagird to
succeed him, 155
Reign of, 156
Note on, 156
defeated by Pírúz, 157
his pardon by Pírúz, 156, 158
leads the van in the war
with the Turkmans (Hai-
tálians), 164
perishes in battle, 168
Hurmuzd, priest, 188
assists Núshírwán in his
disputation with Mazdak,
188, 206
Hurmuzd, Íránian general, 251
commands the outposts in
Núshírwán's army, 251
Hurmuzd, Sháh, 279
son of the Khán's daughter,
317
sent against the Turks, 317
Húshang, Sháh, 37, 273
rites of, 53
IBN Mukaffa, 161
translates the Fables of
Bidpai (the Book of Kalíla
and Dimna) into Arabic,
383
Imeritia, 215
Indian, Indians, 118, 135, 146
king of=Shangul, 118
tongue, 117, 143
Indus, river, 241
Íraj, son of Farídún, 73
'Irák (Babylonia), 214, 224
Iram, 235 and note
Írán, viii seq., 5, 11, 12, and
passim
Rúm's tribute to, explained,
187
Íránian, Íránians, vii, ix, x, 7,
13, 89, 110, 122, 130, 151,
160, 171, 198, 224
ask Munzir to intercede
with Bahrám Gúr for
them, 9
their arrears of taxes can-
celled, 11
levied by Bahrám Gúr, 86
resolve to submit to the
Khán, 87
send Humái as envoy to the
Khán, 87
their letter to the Khán, 87
ask for Narsí's good offices
with Bahrám Gúr, 93
lament for the death of
Pírúz, 169
Iránians, revolt against Kubád,
195
make Jámásp Sháh, 195
put Kubád in fetters, 195
ask pardon of Kubád, 200
pardoned by Kubád, 200
Isdigerd II (Yazdagird, son of
Bahrám Gúr), Sásánian
king, 153
Ispahán, city, 6, 84, 214, 224
Istakhr (Persepolis), viii, 83, 95,
188
Italy, 218
JAHRAM (Chahram), city in Párs,
185
Jam, son of Kubád, 316
conspires against Núshírwán,
316
Jámásp, son of Pírúz, x, 184
supersedes Kubád temporar-
ily, 184, 195
title of, 186
fate of, 186, 200
James V, of Scotland, 3
Bahrám Gúr's resemblance
to, 3
Jamhúr, king of Hind, 395, 396,
398, 399, 401, 403
Jamshíd, Sháh, vii, 36 seq., 107,
162, 173, 211
treasure of, found by Bah-
rám Gúr, 36
described, 36
Jandal, city in Hind, 140
monarch of, entertained by
Bahrám Gúr, 140 seq.
Játakas, 383
Jats, Indian people, 6
fabulous origin of, 6
Jawánwí, Íránian magnate and
minister of Bahrám Gúr,
8, 10, 11
bidden to remit the arrears
of taxes, 11
Jaz, Mesopotamia, 76, 79, 80, 82
tribute of, remitted, 82
Jew, Jews, vii, xii, 13, 273
Bahrám Gúr's adventure
with a, 16 seq.
persecution of, 153
Zúrán's plot with a, against
Mahbúd, 320 seq.
bewitches Núshírwán's food,
321
makes confession to Núshír-
wán, 325
and the Fables of Bidpai,
383
Jeweller, a. See Máhiyár.
Jíhún, river (the Oxus), 92, 165,
166, 180, 329, 338, 340
Jupiter, planet, 49, 248, 357
Justin I, Emperor, 316
Justin II, Emperor, 212
Justinian, Emperor, 212, 219, 317
his bargains with Núshír-
wán, 214, 216 seq.
his protection of Hárith bin
Jabala, 217
leads to war with Nú-
shírwán, 217
his successes in the West,
217
and the school of Athens,
280
KÁBUL, Kábulistán, 140, 173
monarch of, entertained by
Bahrám Gúr, 140 seq.
Káchár Báshí, city in Túrán, 330,
358
Kai Káús, Sháh, 74, 107, 115
Kai Khusrau, Sháh, 120, 173, 359
Kai Kubád, Sháh, 37, 74, 115,
120, 173
Kaiwán, Íránian statistician, 11
calculates the arrears of
taxes, 11
Kalíla and Dimna, Book of. See
Fables of Bidpai.
Kálíniyús (Callinicus), city, xi,
218
taken by Núshírwán, 218,
257
Kand-i-Shápúr. See Gund-i-Shá-
púr.
Kannúj, city in India, 112, 115,
119, 123, 128, 129, 134, 137,
385, 386, 390, 393, 425
river of, 112 and note, 390
monarch of=Shangul, 140
Bahrám Gúr appointed heir
to, 143
Káran, Íránian family and war-
rior, 86, 90, 171, 185
glorification of, 170
origin of, 185
rivalry of, with Mihrán, 185
Kárnámak, Pahlaví text, 380
Kashán, city and region in
Túrán, 331, 334
Kashmíhan, place near Marv, 89,
90
Bahrám Gúr's victory at,
90
Súfarai's victory at, 170 note,
176
Kashmír, 140, 395, 396, 421
monarch of, 140 seq.
entertained by Bahrám
Gúr, 140 seq.
Káús, Sháh. See Kaí Káús.
Káús, son of Kubád, 316
Káwa, the smith, 185
flag of, 250
Khalaj, a Turkman horde, or city,
92
Khán of Chín, viii, xii seq., 49,
91, 93, 97, 101, 111, 186,
328 seq.
fate of, in war with Bahrám
Gúr, 5
invades Írán, 84
responds graciously to the
Íránians' embassage, 88
Khán of Chín, gives himself up to
pleasure at Marv, 88
defeated and taken prisoner
by Bahrám Gúr, 90
his crown placed in a Fire-
temple, 95
his son Khúshnawáz, 165
his daughter's marriage to
Núshírwán, 213, 357
historically ruler of the
Turks, 317
his relations with Núshír-
wán, 317
the Haitálians, 317, 328
seq.
his embassy to Núshírwán,
329
hears of the destruction of
his embassy by the Hai-
tálians, 330
leads forth his troops, 330
defeats the Haitálians, 332
Núshírwán takes counsel
about, 333, 334
his descent from Afrásiyáb
and Arjásp, 334
Núshírwán writes to, 337
purposes to invade Írán, 337
hears of Núshírwán's ad-
vance, 338
takes counsel, 338
sends embassy to Núshírwán,
339
hears his envoy's account of
Núshírwán, 344
offers to make affinity with
Núshírwán, 345
attempts to outwit Núshír-
wán, 351
gives audience to Mihrán
Sitád, 351
invites Mihrán Sitád to
choose a wife for Núshír-
wán, 352
consults the astrologers, 354
entrusts his daughter to
Mihrán Sitád, 354
Khán of Chin, gives presents to
Mihrán Sitád, 356
parts with his daughter at
the Jíhún, 356
his daughter described,
357
evacuates territory, 358
Kharazm (Khiva), 238, 359
Kharrád, bower of, 83
Kharrád, Íránian chief, 85, 207,
251
Kharzarwán, king of Gílán, 85
takes the Khán prisoner,
90
Khatlán, district in Badakhshán,
94, 331, 359
Khátún, consort of the Khán, 5
fate of, in war with Bahrám
Gúr, 5
Khazar, district and people north
of the Caucasus, 83, 214,
224
Khurásán, 99, 100, 214, 224, 237,
335
Narsí made ruler of, 99
Khurdád, month and day, 112,
225, 351
Khurra-i-Ardshír. See Ardshír
Khurra.
Khúshnawáz, son of the Khán
and ruler of the Haitálians,
ix, 164 seq., 174 seq., 194,
198, 359
Pírúz advances against, 164
writes to Pírúz, 165
appeals to Bahrám Gúr's
treaty, 166
his prayer to God, 167
digs a trench, 167
defeats Pírúz by a feint,
168
his correspondence with Sú-
farai, 174 seq.
defeated by Súfarai, 177
takes refuge in Kuhandizh,
177
sues for peace, 178
Khúshnawáz, releases Kubád,
Ardshír, and other cap-
tives, and gives up the
spoil, 180
Khusrau, Sháh. See Kai Khus-
rau.
Khusrau, Íránian noble, 11
honoured by Bahrám Gúr,
10
Khutan, city and district in
Turkistán, 84, 115, 330,
334, 359
people of, make submission
to Núshírwán, 360
King of the Commons, 3
King (piece in chess), 382, 385,
422
position of, 388, 422
check to, 422
mate to, 423
King (piece in nard), 382, 389
Kirmán, region in southern Írán,
214
Kirmánsháh, city, 187
Kírwí, Íránian noble, 23
Story of, 22
Kisrá. See Núshírwán.
Kobad (Kubád), Sásánian king,
183
Kubád (Kobad), Sháh, ix, x, 160,
168 seq., 179 seq. and note,
226, 247
his captivity among the Hai-
tálians, 160
leads the rearguard in the
war with the Turkmans
(Haitálians), 164
taken prisoner, 168
his flight to the Haitálians,
170, 184, 186
released by Khúshnawáz, 180
made Sháh in the place of
Balásh, 182
Reign of, 183 seq.
Note on, 183 seq.
historical sketch of, 183
title of, 183
Kubád, his reform of taxation, 183
note, 215
his conversion to Mazdakism,
184, 204
dethroned, 184
imprisoned, 184
escapes, 184
his marriage, 184, 186
regains the throne, 184
puts Súfarai to death, 184
his massacre of the Mazda-
kites, 185
his first war with Rúm, 187,
200
reason for, 187
makes peace, 187
his second war with Rúm,
187
accession of, 188
summons Shápúr of Rai to
overthrow Súfarai, 191
his conference with Shápúr,
192
sends Shápúr to Shíráz to
arrest Súfarai, 193
confiscates Súfarai's goods,
194
adopts the archmage's advice
concerning Súfarai, 194
the Íránians revolt against,
195
helped to escape by Rizmihr,
196 seq.
his marriage, 197
gives his wife a signet ring,
198
cedes Chaghán to the Haitá-
lians in return for their
help, 198
marches on Taisafún, 199
pardons the Íránians and
Jámásp, 200
regains the throne, 200
makes Rizmihr chief minister,
200
takes cities from Rúm, 200
fixes his seat at Madá'in, 201
Kubád, builds cities and a hospi-
tal, 201
Mazdak's influence over, 201
drought in the reign of, 201
Mazdak's parable to, 201
his reply, 202
presides over the disputation
between Núshírwán and
Mazdak, 207
gives judgment against Maz-
dak, 208
hands over Mazdak and his
followers to Núshírwán, 208
repentance of, 209
testament of, 210, 316
his age, 210
his death, 210
his sons, 316
Kubád, son of Jam, son of Kubád,
316
plot to make, Sháh, 316
Kuhandizh (Kunduz, Baigand),
city in Afghán Turkistán,
177
Khúshnawáz takes refuge in,
177
Kum, city between Ispahán
and Tihrán, 214, 224
LAMBAK, a water-carrier, vii,
13
entertains Bahrám Gúr, 13
seq.
rewarded by Bahrám Gúr, 20
Land-tax, 225
Lazica, 215
Leo, constellation, 410
Lions, slain by Bahrám Gúr, vii,
viii, 55, 77
Lucerne (Medicago sativa), taxes
on, 215
Lúch, region, 328, 362
captives from, settled at
Súrsán, 328
MADÁ'IN, Ctesiphon (Taisafún),
and the neigh bouring cities,
xi, 201, 244, 266, 272, 337,
363
Núshírwán sends his Rúman
captives to, 259
Magi, 171, 184
Magian, Magians, 60
chant, 60
fire, 409
Máh Áfríd, daughter of Barzín,
53
married to Bahrám Gúr, 53
Mahbúd (Mebodes), minister of
Kubád, xii, 213, 316 seq.
instrumental in making Nú-
shírwán Sháh, 316
fall of, 317, 322
Núshírwán's repentance with
regard to, 317, 325
Núshírwán's treasurer, 319
his sons, 319
serve Núshírwán's meals,
319, 321
his wife prepares Núshírwán's
food, 321, 222
envied by Zúrán, 319
Máhiyár, Íránian noble, 38
praises Bahrám Gúr, 38
Máhiyár, a jeweller, viii, 55 seq.
his daughter. See Árzú.
and his daughter entertain
Bahrám Gúr, 59 seq.
Mahmúd, Sultán, 277, 431
Máhwí (= Sháhwí?), one of Fir-
dausí's authorities, 382
Mái, city between the Oxus and
Bukhárá? 91, 331, 385,
421
Mái, king of Hind, 395, 396, 399,
401, 403, 404
Makrán (Gedrosia, Balúchistán),
390
Malcolm, Sir John, 6
Mámún, Khalífa, 382, 430
Mání, heresiarch, 188
Mansúr, son of Núh, Sámánid, 5
Margh, city between the Oxus
and Bukhárá? 91, 331, 412,
421
Mars, planet, 92, 252, 418
Marv, city and district, 88 seq.,
174, 357
as rhyme-word, 88 note
the Khán reaches, 88
Bahrám Gúr marches on,
89
Azád Sarv finds Búzurjmihr
at, 283
Mas'údí, historian, 3, 4, 6, 153,
280
his account of the fortifica-
tions at Darband, 215
on the game of nard, 382
chess, 382
Mázandarán, 215
Mazdak, heresiarch, x, 184, 185,
188
his disputation with Núshír-
wán, 188, 206 seq.
account of, 188, 201
becomes chief minister to
Kubád, 201
his influence over Kubád,
201
his parable to Kúbad in
time of drought, 201
his practical application of
Kubád's reply, 202
converts Kubád, 204
his preaching and practice,
204
his attempt to convert Nú-
shirwán, 205
Kubád decides against, 208
and his followers executed
by Núshírwán, 208
Mazdakism, 184
Mazdakites, 184
massacre of, 185, 208
great assembly of, 205
Mebodes. See Mahbúd.
Media, 6
Magna, 214
Merchant, a, vii
entertains and displeases
Bahrám Gúr, 39
made the slave of his own
apprentice, 42
Merchants, Íránian, made ac-
cessories to Bahrám Gúr's
flight from Hind, 133, 134
Mihrak, Tribal King, 185, 192
Mihrán, family, 156
proverb on, 185
account of, 185
rivalry of, with Káran, 185
men of mark among the, 186,
187
Mihrán, Íránian general, 251
commands the centre of Nú-
shírwán's host, 251
Mihrán Sitád, Íránian high priest
and envoy, xii, 186, 350,
361, 363
the Khán's attempt to out-
wit, 352
takes charge of the Khán's
daughter, 354
receives gifts from the Khán,
356
welcomed on his return, 357
Mihrás, Cæsar's envoy, 261
negotiates peace with Nú-
shírwán, 261
Mihr Ázar, priest, 188
assists Núshírwán in his dis-
putation with Mazdak,
188, 206
Mihr Barzín, Íránian warrior, 85
Mihr Bídád, Íránian magnate, 21
entertains Bahrám Gúr, 22
Mihr-i-Núsh, Persian sage, 270
quoted, 270
Mihr Narsí, chief minister of
Bahrám Gúr, and of his
son Yazdagird, 4, 153
his sons, 4
Mihr Pírúz, Íránian warrior, 85
Military obsequies, in the time
of Núshírwán, 252
Milk, easily “turned,” 317, 324
bane of, 125 and note, 324
Miller, a, vii
becomes Bahrám Gúr's fa-
ther-in-law, 34
dignified by Bahrám Gúr, 34
Mingrelia, 215
Minister (piece in chess). See
Wazír.
Mír Khánd, historian, 3, 4, 6,
156, 159, 171, 183, 186
Mohl, Jules, on Wisdom-litera-
ture, 280
Muhammad, Prophet, 213
birth of, 213
Mukaffa. See Ibn Mukaffa.
Múltán, city in the Punjáb, 140
monarch of, entertained by
Bahrám Gúr, 140 seq.
Munzir, prince of Híra, vii, 9
intercedes with Bahrám Gúr
for the Íránians, 10
rewarded by Bahrám Gúr, 10
Munzir, xi, son of Nu'mán,
prince of Híra, 217, 244 seq.
protected by Núshírwán, 217
his war with Hárith bin
Jabala, 217
sent by Núshírwán to invade
Rúm, 246
Mushkináb, a miller's daughter,
32 and note
taken to wife by Bahrám
Gúr, 33
Mushkinak, a miller's daughter,
32 and note
taken to wife by Bahrám
Gúr, 33
NAHRAWÁN, a city below Bagh-
dád, east of the Tigris; also
a canal on the east bank
of that river, quitting it
about 100 miles above, and
rejoining it about 100 miles
below, Baghdád, 141
Nard, game of, xiii, 5, 389 seq.
invention of, 280, 381, 382,
389
sent by Núshírwán to the
Rája of Hind, 5, 381
meaning of, 381
symbolism of, 381
Mas'údí on, 382
described, 389
Narsí, brother of Bahrám Gúr,
viii, 4, 95, 100
made captain of the host, 11
regent, 86
fails to persuade the Íránians
to resist the Khán, 87
Bahrám Gúr's letter to, 92
writes to Bahrám Gúr on
behalf of the Íránians, 94
goes with the chiefs to
welcome Bahrám Gúr, 96
made ruler of Khurásán, 99
welcomes his brother on his
return from Hind, 137
Narsí, Sháh, 359
Nasr, son of Ahmad, Sámánid,
383, 430
patron of Rúdagí, 383
Nau-Ardshír=Nard, 381
Naudar, Sháh, 37, 171
Náztáb, a miller's daughter, 32
and note
taken to wife by Bahrám
Gúr, 33
Nero, Emperor, 279
Nestorian Metropolitan, 219
Patriarch, 219
Nile, river, 48, 250, 344, 416
Nímrúz,450
327
Nisá, city in Khurásán, 89
Nöldeke, Professor, 6
on the Gipsies, 6
on Súfarai, 171, 185
Nöldeke, on Wisdom-literature,
281
North, Sir Thomas, 383
his version of the Fables of
Bidpai, 383
Note on Pronunciation, xviii
Prefatory, v
Núh, son of Nasr, Sámánid, 5
Nu'mán, prince of Híra, vii, 10
rewarded by Bahrám Gúr,
10
Núshírwán (Kisrá, Chosroes I),
Sháh, x seq., 4, 199, 200,
220, 273 seq., 279 seq., 320,
423 seq.
origin of name, 185, 211 and
note
birth of, stories of, 186, 197
seq.
his assistants against Maz-
dak, 188, 206
upbringing of, 200
Mazdak's attempt to convert,
205
his disputation with Mazdak,
206 seq.
Kubád decides in favour of,
208
executes Mazdak and his
followers, 208
Kubád's testament in favour
of, 210, 316
Reign of, 212 seq.
Notes on, 212 seq., 279
seq., 316 seq., 380 seq.
Roman Emperors contempo-
rary with, 212
historical events of his reign
in the Sháhnáma, 213
his marriage with the daugh-
ter of the Khán, 213, 317,
347 seq.
his wars with Rúm, 213, 217
first campaign of, 217,
218, 249
Núshírwán, conspiracy against,
214, 316
his division of his empire,
214, 224
his bargains with Justinian,
214, 216 seq.
his reform of taxation, 215,
224
his wall in the Caucasus, 215,
239
Mas'údí's account of, 215
his dealings with the Aláus,
216
Gílán, 216
Balúchís, 217
his support of Munzir, 217,
244
leads to war with Rúm,
217, 244 seq.
jealous of Justinian's suc-
cesses in the West, 217
accession of, 221
promises to rule justly, 221
seq.
attends muster at the insis-
tance of Bábak, 231
approves of Bábak's conduct,
232
his method of raising troops,
233
his message to Cæsar on
Munzir's behalf, 245
supplies Munzir with troops
for the invasion of Rúm,
246
goes to Ázar Ábádagán, 250
his disposition of his host, 251
addresses his troops, 251
proclamations of, 252, 365
his burial of dead soldiers, 252
his policy with enemies, 253
takes Shúráb, 254
Áráyish-i-Rúm, 255
Cæsar's treasures, 255,
258
defeats Farfúriyús, 256
takes Antákiya, 258
Núshírwán, disposes of the Rúman
captives, 259, 327
and the Rúman cordwainer,
260
envoy from Cæsar comes to,
261
grants peace to Cæsar, 262
appoints Shírwí to receive
the Rúman tribute, 262
Christian wife of, 263
mother of Núshzád, 263,
274
helps Núshzád, 266
laments for Núshzád, 276
imprisons Núshzád, 264
illness and reported death of,
264, 265
hears of Núshzád's revolt,
266
instructs Rám Barzín how to
act, 267 seq.
Seven Banquets of, 280, 287
seq.
possible origin of, 280
Búzurjmihr's discourses
at, 287 seq.
dream of, 282
consults the archmages, 282
seeks for a dream-inter-
preter, 282
his dream interpreted by
Búzurjmihr, 284
rewards and honours Búzur-
jmihr, 286, 289, 304, 311,
315
his relations with Sinjibú,
317
the Haitálians, 317
with Mahbúd and his
sons, 319 seq.
suspects Zúrán, 324
greatness of, 327
his buildings, 327
the Khán's embassy to, 329
consults the chiefs as to
Faghánísh, the Khán, and
the Haitálians, 333
Núshírwán, the chiefs' reply to,
334
his rejoinder to the chiefs,
336
prepares for war with the
Khán, 337
writes to his chiefs, the
Khán, and Faghánísh,
337
marches from Madá'in, 337
goes to Gurgán, 337
receives embassy from the
Khán, 339
holds a court, 340
displays his prowess before
the assembly, 341
dismisses the Khán's envoy
with a letter, 344
the Khán's offer of affinity
to, 347
his reply, 349
occupies territory evacuated
by the Khán, 358
Haitálians and others bring
gifts to, 360, 362
gives praise to God, 361
receives the tribute from
Rúm, 362
goes to the temple of Ázar-
gashasp, 363
the greatness of, 364
questions Búzurjmihr, 367
seq.
receives the game of chess
from Hind, 380, 385
the Rája of Hind's embassy
to, 384
rewards Búzurjmihr for dis-
covering how to play
chess, 388
sends Búzurjmihr with pre-
sents and the game of
nard to Hind, 390
proposes wager with the
Rája, 391
welcomes Búzurjmihr on his
return from Hind, 393
Núshírwán, acquires the Book of
Kalíla and Dimna, 423 seq.
sends gifts to the Rája, 425
rewards Barzwí, 429
Núshzád, son of Núshírwán, xi,
213, 265 seq.
historical account of, 219
Firdausí's account of, 263
seq.
education of, 264
imprisonment of, 264
hears report of Núshírwán's
death, 264, 265
revolts, 266
helped by his mother, 266
writes to Cæsar, 266
goes to fight with Rám
Barzín, 272
exhorted to yield by Pírúz,
273
his reply to Pírúz, 274
wounded, 275
repents, 275
sends message to his mother,
275
dies, 275
lamentation for, 276
Firdausí's reflections on, 276
OBLIVION, Castle of, 184
Obsequies, military, in the time
of Núshírwán, 252
Olives, taxes on, 215, 225
Oxus (Jíhún), river, 156, 317
PAHLAVÍ, 6, 113, 188, 380 seq.
Fables of Bidpai translated
into, 382
Paidáwasí, coin, 95 and note
Palmyra, city in Syrian desert,
217
Pandnámak-í Vadshórg-Mitró-í
Búkhtakán, Pahlaví text,
279
Parable, Mazdak's, 201
Párs, 86, 90, 95, 190, 194, 201,
206, 214, 224
Parthian, Parthians, 156
Perozes (Pírúz), Sásánian king, 159
Persia, 118, 129, 213, 381
Fables of Bidpai brought to,
213, 423 seq.
Chess brought to, 380, 384 seq.
Persian, Persians, 6, 11, 48, 107,
136, 165, 187, 218
language, 134, 140, 143, 430
swords, 135
bard, quoted, 265
wisdom-literature, 278 seq.
verse, 383
Fables of Bidpai trans-
lated into, 383
Philosophers, Greek, entertained
by Núshírwán, 280
Pillar, Bahrám Gúr's, 92, 160,
161, 164
Pírúz (Perozes), Sháh, ix, 4, 153,
156 seq., 173 seq., 178 seq.,
335, 359
passed over in the succession
by Yazdagird, 155
helped by the Haitálians,
156, 157
defeats Hurmuz, 157
his pardon of Hurmuz, 156,
158
Reign of, 159 seq.
Note on, 159 seq.
calamities of, 159
title of, 159
relic of, 159
his measures against drought,
159, 162
his cities, 159, 163
his expedition against the
Haitálians, 159 seq., 164 seq.
tradition of, 160
in mythical story, 161
Pírúz, and Bahrám Gúr's pillar,
161
his daughter taken prisoner,
161
her child the wife of
Kubád, 161, 184
accession of, 161
advances against Khúshna-
wáz, 164
gives the van to Hurmuz,
164
rear to Kubád, 164
regency to Balásh,
164
makes Sarkhán (Súfarai)
minister to Balásh, 164
and note
replies to the appeal of
Khúshnawáz, 165, 167
defeated by Khúshnawáz,
168
death of, 168
Íránian tradition of the re-
venge for, 170
Súfarai determines to avenge,
173
Pírúz, Íránian chief, 85
Pírúz, Íránian general, 187
Pírúz, Íránian warrior, 219, 273
seq.
exhorts Núshzád to yield,
273
Pírúz - Rám (Rám - Pírúz), city
built by Pírúz, ix, 159,
163
Pisces, constellation, 245
Pishdádian, 161, 171
Planets, the seven, 382, 408
symbolised in the game of
nard, 382
Plato (Falátún), 100 note
Pleiads, constellation, 365
Poll-taxes, 215
Prefatory Note, v
Procopius, historian, 187
Pronunciation, Note on, xviii
Proverb, 185
QUESTIONS, hard, 102 seq.
RÁD, ruler of Zábulistán, 86
Rái. See Rája.
Rai, city and district near
Tihrán, 84, 160, 184
Shápúr of, 184, 185, 191, 192
Rája (Rái) of Hind, xiii, 140 and
note, 143, 385 seq., 424,
425
sends game of chess to
Núshírwán, 5, 385
proposes wager to Núshír-
wán, 385, 387
receives game of nard from
Núshírwán, 5, 381, 389
seq.
fails to discover how to play
the game, 392
pays forfeit to Núshírwán,
393
receives Núshírwán's gifts
from Barzwí, 425
assists Barzwí in his mission
to Hind, 425, 428
Rám Barzín, high priest and
general, xi, 210, 272, 275
has charge of Kubád's testa-
ment, 210
Núshírwán's instructions to,
concerning Núshzád, 267
seq.
goes to fight with Núshzád,
272
hears of Núshzád's last
wishes, 276
Rámkubád (Aragán), town, 188
Rám-Pírúz. See Pírúz-Rám.
Rizmihr (Zarmihr), son of Sú-
farai, x, 185, 207
identical with Súfarai, 185
goes with Kubád to the
Haitálians, 186
fate of, 186
Rizmihr, his loyalty to Kubád, 196
helps Kubád to escape from
prison, 196 seq.
negotiates a marriage for
Kubád, 197
made chief minister, 200
Roman, Romans, 187, 214
neglect the defences in the
Caucasus, 187
their so-called tribute to
Persia, 187
their treatment of Munzir, 217
leads to war with Núshír-
wán, 217
Rúdagí, Persian poet, 383, 431
versifies the Fables of Bidpai,
383, 431
Ruhhám, king of Rai, 85
Ruhhám, Íránian hero, 156
Ruhhám, Íránian warrior, 156
helps Pírúz to gain the
throne, 156, 186
Rukh (castle), piece in chess, 385,
422, 423
position of, 388, 422
move of, 422
Rúm, the Eastern Roman Empire,
xi, 5 37, 57, 78, 79, 83, 84,
100, 151, 153, 199, 213 and
passim
Bahrám Gúr's war with, 4,
5, 84
brocade of, 64, 67, 276, 384
its tribute to Írán explained,
187
Núshírwán's wars with, 213
Rúman, Rúmans, xi, 48, 107,
244, 246, 256 seq., 329
slaves, 54
eunuchs, 67
pen, 73
helmet, 89, 272, 274
tongue, 256, 261
captives, Núshírwán's, 259,
327
bishop, 275, 276
silk, 424
Rúmiya (New Antioch), 218
Rúshan Pírúz, city, 160
Rustam, Íránian hero, 151
Rúzbih, Bahrám Gúr's high
priest, vii, 26 seq., 54, 67
bewails Bahrám Gúr's course
of life, 56
reproached by Bahrám Gúr
for his parsimony, 83
SADA, feast of, 11, 94, 200
Sáda, Íránian noble, 312
Sakláb (Slavonia), 112, 115, 364
Salm, son of Farídún, 101
Sám, Íránian hero, 74
Sámánid, Sámánids, 5, 383
Samarkand (Sughd), city and
district in Turkistán, 167,
358, 359
Sandal, Sandalí, city in Hind, 140,
395, 396, 401 seq.
king of, entertained by Bah-
rám Gúr, 140 seq.
Sanscrit, 382
Sapínúd, daughter of Shangul,
128 seq., 144
married to Bahrám Gúr, 128
finds out who her husband
is, 131
plans Bahrám Gúr's flight
from Hind, 132
reproached by Shangul, 135
converted to Zoroastrianism,
139
visited by Shangul, 142
Sarí, city in Mázandarán, 237
Sar-i-pul-i-Zohab, place, 187
Sarkhán. See Súfarai.
Sarúch, desert in Kirmán, 362
Sásánian, Sásánians, 85, 185, 212,
237, 381
dynasty, vii, 1 seq.
Saturn, planet 92, 151, 252, 267,
346, 418
Seneca, the younger, Nero's tutor,
279
Seoses, Persian commander-in-
chief, 187
Seven, favourite number in Per-
sian story, 186, 280
Banquets of Núshírwán, 280
possible origin of, 280
planets, 382, 408
symbolised in the game
of nard, 382
Shabdíz, Bahrám Gúr's steed, 37,
80
Shabrang, Bahrám Gúr's steed,
55
Shádán, one of Firdausí's autho-
rities, 382, 423
Sháhnáma, 5, 156, 184, 185, 215,
217, 317, 381
Wisdom-literature in, 278
seq.
Shahra, chief, viii, 92
made king of Túrán by
Bahrám Gúr, 92
Shahrám-Pírúz. See Bádán Pírúz.
Shahrívar, month and day, 76
Sháhwí (= Máhwí?), one of Fir-
dausí's authorities, 382,
394
Shakespeare, 383
quoted, 383
Shambalíd, daughter of Barzín,
53
married to Bahrám Gúr, 53
Shammás, Núshzád's general,
219, 272
Shangul, king of Hind, viii, ix,
109 seq.
his border-raids, 110
gives audience to the Íránian
envoy (Bahrám Gúr), 112
his state described, 112
his brother, 113
his son, 113, 115
on his own greatness, 114
his wife the daughter of the
Faghfúr, 115
Shangul entertains Bahrám Gúr,
116
Bahrám Gúr wrestles before,
117
plays at polo, 118
Bahrám Gúr displays his
marksmanship before, 118
tries to find out who the
Persían envoy (Bahrám
Gúr) is, 118 seq.
takes counsel with his sages,
126
offers a daughter and great
advancement to Bahrám
Gúr, 127
marries Sapínúd to Bahrám
Gúr, 128 seq.
goes to a festival, 134
hears of Bahrám Gúr's flight,
135
reproaches Sapínúd, 135
makes a league with Bahrám
Gúr, 137
bids farewell to Sapínúd, 137
makes a new treaty with
Bahrám Gúr, 140
and seven other kings en-
tertained by Bahrám Gúr,
140 seq.
visits his daughter Sapínúd,
142
farewells Sapínúd, 143
makes Bahrám Gúr his heir,
143
Bahrám Gúr's parting gifts
to, 144
sends Gipsies to Írán, 149
Shápúr, son of Shápúr, Sháh, 171,
186
Shápúr, son of Urmuzd, Sháh,
359
Shápúr, of Rai, Kubád's com-
mander-in-chief, 184, 185
summoned to overthrow Sú-
farai, 191
Shápúr, of Rai, his conference
with Kubád, 192
goes to Shíráz and arrests
Súfarai, 193
conveys Súfarai to Sháh
Kubád, 194
Shápúr, Íránian noble, 304,
333
Shiknán, place, 359
Shíráz, city, x, 6, 173, 190, 193,
194
Shírwí, Núshírwán's commander-
in-chief, 251
appointed to receive the
Rúman tribute, 262
Shírzád, herald in Núshírwán's
host, 252
Shíz (Takht-i-Sulaimán), in Ázar-
báiján, 5
Fire-temple at, 5
Khátún sent to, 5
Shoemaker, young, vii, 24
Story of, 24
Shúráb (Sura), city, 217
place of Gushtásp's exile,
254
taken by Núshírwán, 217,
254
Signs, the Twelve (Zodiac), 408
Sikandar (Iskandar, Alexander
the Great), 79, 248
Sásánian view of, 79 and
note
Sind, region and river (Indus),
110, 112, 390
king of, entertained by Bah-
rám Gúr, 140 seq.
Sindian, 126
Sinjibú, first historical Khán of
the Turks, 317
his relations with Núshír-
wán, 317
and the Haitálians, 317
Sístán,456
214
Steed (piece in chess). See Horse.
Súfarai (Sarkhán, Sukhrá, Seo-
see ?), ix, x, 170 and note,
171, 173 seq.
appointed minister to the
regent Balásh, 164
glorification of, in Íránian
tradition, 170
account of, 173, 184, 185
resolves to avenge Pírúz, 173
writes to Balásh, 173
marches on Marv, 174
his correspondence with
Khúshnawáz, 174 seq.
defeats Khúshnawáz, 177
gives the spoil to the troops,
177
Khúshnawáz sues for peace
to, 178
consults his troops, 178
resolves to make peace, 179
replies to Khúshnawáz, 179
returns to Írán in triumph,
180
welcomed by Balásh and the
chiefs, 181
his greatness, 181, 190
dethrones Balásh and makes
Kúbád Sháh, 182
proverb concerning, 185
identical with Rizmihr, 185
fall of, 190 seq.
Kubád's letter to, 193
arrest of, 193
his property confiscated, 194
conveyed to Sháh Kubád, 194
executed, 195
his son, Rizmihr, 196
Sughd, district and city, (Sa-
markand), 331, 337, 358,
359
Súkhrá. See Súfarai.
Sun, total eclipse of, 159
Sura. See Shúráb.
Súrsán, city, xii, 317, 327, 328
Surúsh, angel, 38
Súsanak, a miller's daughter, 32
and note
Súsanak, taken to wife by Bahrám
Gúr, 33
Susiana (Khuzistán), 184
TABARÍ, historian, 3 seq., 156,
159, 160, 170, 171, 185, 186,
217
the Persian, 5
story from, concerning
Kubád, 183 note
his account of Kubád and
Núshírwán's reform of the
taxation, 183 note, 215
on the Turks, 317
Table of Contents, vii
Tahmúras, Sháh, 9 and note, 273
Taisafún (Ctesiphon), xii, 188,
194, 361, 363
Talhand, Indian prince, xiii, 394,
396 seq.
Story of Gav and, 394 seq.
mother of. See Gav.
birth of, 396
tutor of, 397, 398, 401, 402,
408, 410, 414
rivalry between Gav and,
397 seq.
war between Gav and, 404
seq.
rejects Gav's offers of ac-
commodation, 406, 409
his death foretold, 408, 413,
418
defeated by Gav, 412
accepts Gav's proposal for a
decisive battle, 415
defeat and death of, 416
Tálikán, city and stronghold
between Marv and Balkh,
156
ceded by Pírúz to the
Haitálians, 156, 160
importance of, 156
Tarak, river, 164, 165, 359
Taurus, constellation, 282
Taxation, vii, ix, 224
Kubád's reform of, 183 note,
215, 225
Núshírwán's reform of, 215,
225 seq.
Temperaments, the four, 381
symbolised in the game of
nard, 381
Theodosiopolis, city, 187
Theodosius, the younger, Roman
Emperor, 187
Tiberius II, Eastern Roman Em-
peror, 212
Tirmid, place where the route
from Balkh to Samarkand
crosses the Oxus (Jíhún),
156, 157, 331
Treasure, hidden, discovery of,
vii, 36
Tribute, Rúm's to Írán, 214, 215,
248, 262, 333, 338, 362
Tshatrang-Námak, Pahlaví text,
380, 381
Tughral, a species of falcon, 49
described, 48
Bahrám Gúr's, 48 seq.
Túr, son of Farídún, 73
Túrán, viii seq., 43, 92, 136,
156, 178
Túránians, viii
Turkistán, 84, 92, 118, 334, 365
Turkman, Turkmans, 48, 88, 92,
97, 177, 179, 238, 239, 334,
364
defeated by Bahrám Gúr,
90, 91
sue for peace, 91
war of Pírúz with, 164 seq.
their inroads through the
Caucasus, 238
make submission to Núshír-
wán, 360
Turks, 4
confused with the Haitá-
lians, 4
historical appearance of, 317
Turks, Tabarí on, 317
defeat the Haitálians, 332
described, 332
Twelve Champions, the, 156
Signs (Zodiac), 408
URMUZD, the Good Principle,
228, 406 and note
Unity of, symbolised in the
game of nard, 381
Urmuzd, son of Narsí, (Hor-
misdas II), Sháh, 359
Ustád, Íránian general, 251
commands Núshírwán's right
wing, 251
VALE of Heroes, 6
Varahran V (Bahrám Gúr), 3
Vega, star, 245
Vendídád, Nask, 188
reference to Mazdak in, 188
Venus, planet, 53, 151, 263
Vineyards, taxes on, 215, 225
Vologeses, 170
WALNUTS, taxes on, 225
Wazír (minister), piece in chess,
385, 422, 423
position of, 388, 422
move of, 422
Whip, Bahrám Gúr's, 47, 54, 63,
64
an object of reverence, 47,
54, 63
White Huns. See Haitálians.
Wine-drinking, forbidden by
Bahrám Gúr, 23
again permitted, 25
Wisdom, praise of, Firdausí's,
278
Wisdom-literature, Persian, 278
seq.
Mohl on, 280
Nöldeke on, 281
Wízagird, city in Túrán, 157, 331
Wizard-land, 120 and note
Wolf, viii, 121 seq. and note
slain by Bahrám Gúr, 123
YAMAN, 262
Yasht XXII, metrical para-
phrase of, 318
Yátkár-i-Zarírán, Pahlaví text,
380
Yazdagird, son of Shápúr, (Isde-
gird I), Sháh, 4, 10, 109,
119, 171, 185, 359
referred to, 74
Yazdagird, son of Bahrám Gúr,
(Isdegird II), Sháh, ix, 4,
152, 156, 160, 187
welcomes his father on his
return from Hind, 137
appointed by Bahrám Gúr to
succeed him, 150
Reign of, 153 seq.
Note on, 153
a blank in Sháhnáma,
153
historically important,
153
wars of, 153
fortifies passes in the Cau-
casus, 153, 187
his title, 153
his sons, 153
appoints Hurmuz to succeed
him, 155
Yazdagird, dies, 155
Yazdagird, chief scribe temp.
Núshírwán, 304, 307, 312,
333, 337, 339, 394
discourse of, 305
questions Búzurjmihr,
308
Yokel, a, vii
entertains Bahrám Gúr, 43
seq.
wife of, her converse with
Bahrám Gúr, 45
her presage, 46
rewarded by Bahrám Gúr, 48
ZÁBULISTÁN,459
173, 174, 193
Zahhak, Sháh, 185, 199
Zam, river and city (between
Tirmid and Ámwí?), 359
Zandavasta, 200, 207, 283, 302
passage from, metrically
paraphrased, 318
Zarduhsht (Zarathushtra, Zoro-
aster), 9, 207, 264, 318
Fire-fane of, 139
high priest of, converts
Sapínúd, 139
Zarmihr. See Rizmihr.
Zíb-i-Khusrau, city, xi, 259
Zirih, son of Sháh Pírúz, 170
Zoroastrianism, 188, 317
Zúrán, Núshírwán's chamberlain,
xii, 319 seq.
envies Mahbúd, 319
plots with a Jew against
Mahbúd, 320 seq.
makes confession to Núshír-
wán, 324