Šāh-nāmah - The Šahnama of Firdausi, Volume 8

á as in “water”
í as in “pique”
ú as in “rude”
a as in “servant”
i as in “sin”
u as in “foot”
ai as in “time”
au as in “cloud”
g is always hard as in “give”
kh as ch in the German “buch”
zh as z in “azure”

Búzurjmihr, while in attendance upon the Sháh during a hunting-expedition, has a premonition of coming trouble and immediately afterwards falls under the Sháh's displeasure, and is disgraced. Conscious of his own rectitude he refuses to own that he is in fault and is treated with increasing rigour till the Sháh has need of his services to expound a problem proposed by Cæsar, but with his sight greatly impaired by his sufferings.

The rest of the Part is taken up with an account of the wisdom of Núshírwán as shown in his replies to questioners and in his letter of advice to his son Hurmuzd.

§ 2. We have other instances of such problems and “hard questions.” See Vol. vii., p. 5.

§§ 3 and 5. On Persian Wisdom-literature see Vol. vii., p. 278 seq.

§ 4. It is manifest from the account in the Sháhnáma, and it is probably true historically, that Núshírwán did his best to provide himself with a worthy successor.³ In addition to this letter of counsel we have in Part VI. the account of the examination that his son Hurmuzd had to pass,^3a and some final exhortations.^3b Unfortunately

“The best laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft a-gley.”

Consider now the case of Búzurjmihr,
Who from the dust rose to the circling sphere,
Which will exalt one to the clouds on high,
Then bring him down in sorry dust to lie!
⁴ It happened in those days that Núshírwán
Went forth from Madá'in to hunt. He chased
Along the wilderness the mountain-sheep
And the gazelles. The mountain-sheep dispersed.
The Sháh was left behind with Búzurjmihr,
Who followed both from duty and from love.
Then from the waste the monarch reached a meadow,
And saw trees, grass, and shade. The weary Sháh
Alighted from his steed to rest his eyes
Upon the grass. He saw no followers;
The one of goodly face remained, no more.
The Sháh reposed awhile upon the mead,
His head right lovingly upon the lap
Of Búzurjmihr. It was that wise king's wont
To wear a jewelled armlet. As it chanced
This clinging armlet snapped upon his arm,
And fell beside his couch. A sable bird
Swooped from the clouds to where he lay, looked round,
Beheld that armlet, brake the thread whereon
The gems were strung, then ate them each in turn,
The lustrous pearls and topazes alike,
Flew from the monarch's couch, and disappeared.
At that adventure Búzurjmihr aghast
Mused at the process of the turning sky.
He understood: “My fall, my day of wrath,
My season of dismay, are hard at hand!”
The Sháh awoke, marked how he bit his lips,
Scanned his own arm, beheld the jewels gone,
And seeing no one of his escort there
⁵ Conceived that while he slumbered Búzurjmihr
^5a Had gulped the armlet down, and said to him:—
“Thou dog! who said to thee: ‘'Tis possible
To hide one's natural bent?’”^5b

But Núshírwán

Fatigued with many words his tongue in vain;
He got no answer but a deep, cold sigh,
While Búzurjmihr stood withered by the Sháh,
And by the process of revolving heaven.
That wise man marked at once the ominous sign
Of downfall and remained struck dumb by fear.
The escort of the Sháh had gone about
The mead while Núshírwán was in its midst.
He mounted on his charger's back in wrath,
And noticed no one on his journey home,
But bit his lip at Búzurjmihr the while,
And muttering much alighted from his steed,
Bade smite the sage's face as 'twere an anvil,
And to imprison him in his own palace.
So Búzurjmihr abode there and beheld
A frowning sky. He had a kinsman, brave
And young, attending on Sháh Núshírwán
Within the palace day and night on terms
Of intimacy. Búzurjmihr one day
Asked that dependant of the sun-faced Sháh:—
“How dost thou wait upon him? Let me know
So that thou mayest be more serviceable.”
“Chief of archmages!” said the servitor,
“It chanced this very day that Núshírwán
Looked so on me, his bondslave, that I said:—
‘There is an end for me of food and sleep!’
I poured the water for him after meat,
Transgressing with the basin in the act,
And when the world-lord was offended at me
I let the basin fall.”

Then said the sage:—

“Arise! Fetch hither water and pour out
As thou wouldst pour it o'er the Sháh's own hands.”
The young man brought warm water which he poured
Upon the sage's hands with gentleness,
Who said: “Pour thus when he requireth it,
Avoiding any awkwardness, and when
The water shall perfume the basin's brim
Forbear to pour.”

The servitor took heed,

And on the next occasion, when he brought
The salver, poured the water as the sage
Enjoined with neither tardiness nor haste.
“O thou whose love increaseth!” said the Sháh,
“Who told thee this?”

He answered: “Búzurjmihr,

For he it was that taught to me the mode
Marked by the Sháh, the master of the world.”
The Sháh said: “Go and say thus to the sage:—
‘With all that high estate of thine and lustre
Why didst thou seek the worse and not the better
Through thine ill nature and misgovernance?’”
The attendant heard and coming quickly sought
The palace eagerly with stricken soul,
Gave Búzurjmihr the message of the Sháh,
And privily received this answer back:—

Now when the man

Returned with this reply the Sháh's face grew
All livid at the words. Out of the palace
He chose a truthful man and capable
Of comprehending what the sage should say,
Dispatched too with the messenger a swordsman,
Who acted as the exccutioner,
And said: “Go to this bad, ill-fortuned man,
And say: ‘If thy reply give pleasure, well;
If not the deathsman with his trenchant sword
Shall show thee Doomsday in that thou hast said
That jail and nails and cage, and pit and bonds
Are better than the throne of Núshírwán.’”
The envoy came apace to him and told
The words of Núshírwán. Said Búzurjmihr
To that good envoy: “Fortune ne'er hath shown us
Its face. None of us is exempt from change,
And verily all good and ill will end.
Enthroned and rich or grievously oppressed,
We have no choice, we all must pack and part.
To pass from durance is an easy thing;
The quaking is for them that wear the crown.”
That wise man and the executioner
Returned and, coming to the exalted Sháh,
Narrated everything that they had heard.
The fear of evil fortune came upon him.
They bore that righteous guide from that strait cage
Back to his palace with the Sháh's consent,

How the Ambassador of Cæsar came to Núshírwán with a locked Casket and how Búzurjmihr was set at large to declare its Contents

Now in those days it chanced that Cæsar sent
An envoy with a letter to the Sháh,
With gifts, with presents, and a padlocked casket,
And said: “O king of warriors and chiefs!
Thou hast no lack of holy archimages,
So let them tell, not tampering with the lock,
What is concealed therein. If they say right
We will send tribute and our wonted gifts;
But if thy clever archimages' hearts
Fail in this knowledge indispensable
The Sháh must not ask tribute at our hands,
Nor send an army to invade our realm.
Such is the message that hath come from Cæsar:
Make answer as it seemeth good to thee.”
The monarch of the world said to the envoy:—
“This thing is not a mystery to God,
And by His Grace divine I will achieve it,
Convoking holy men to give me aid.
Abide here for a se'nnight, cheered with wine,
Make merry in thy heart and be at ease.”
The matter proved perplexing to the Sháh:
He called to him the great men and the wise,
Who all examined it in every way
To find a means whereby to loose that coil,
Examined, as did all the archimages,
That casket and that lock whose key was lacking,
But could not tell and owned their ignorance.
Now when that concourse proved of no avail
The heart of Núshírwán, the Sháh, was grieved.
He said: “The intellect of Búzurjmihr
Will search this secret of the turning sky.”
The king of kings, in sore embarrassment,
Gave orders to his treasurer to provide
A change of raiment from the treasury,
And had a choice steed saddled royal wise.
He sent them to the sage. “Thou must forget,”
He said, “the hardships that thou hast endured
Because high heaven above us so ordained
That thou shouldst have affliction at our hands.

Said the lady:—

“I have a spouse and child withal at home.”
The sage on his white roadster, when he heard
Her answer, started. Then another woman
Appeared and, seeing her, his agent asked:—
“O woman hast thou got a child and spouse,
Or, being single, only wind in hand?”
“I have a husband if no child,” she said,
“Thou hast mine answer, suffer me to pass.”
Just then another woman came—the third.
Her too the friend approached. “My Fair!” said he,
“What mate hast thou who hast such goodly carriage
And daintiness?”

“I never had a husband,”

She said, “I would not one should see my face.”
Now mark the inference of Búzurjmihr
On hearing these replies. He hurried on

Thus was it at the time of Núshírwán:
He was at once the Sháh and paladin,
At once a warrior and archimage,
The Fire-priest and the captain of the host.
He had his emissaries everywhere,
And trusted not the world to ministers.

Another said:—

“Live happy evermore with archimages
To sit, to banquet, and repose with thee!
There is a famous chieftain present here,
Whose treasure passeth thine!”

The Sháh replied:—

“Yea, rightly, for he is our empire's crown.
I tender both his treasures and his life,
And toil to magnify him.”

Said another:—

“Great king! live ever and unscathed by ill!
Among the captives carried off from Rúm
Are many babes unweaned.”

He gave this sentence:—

“The little ones must not be reckoned captives.
We will dispatch them glad and in good case
To their own mothers.”

People wrote to him:—

“A hundred wealthy Rúmans offer ransom.”
“If they are doing it through fear,” he said,
“Sell each chief for a cup of wine and ask
No more because we do not lack their goods.
I will require their jewels, purses, slaves,
And gold and silver with the scimitar.”
They told him: “Of the rich men of the city
There are two merchants and they keep folk waking
The best part of the night with shouts of revel,
And twanging of the rebeck and the harp.”
He made them this reply: “No hardship this,
And do ye others that are wealthy too
Live like these twain in mirth and jollity;
Be inoffensive and live unaggrieved.”

Said the Sháh:—

“This is not well, so let the seller keep
Both price and land.”

“O Sháh,” another said,

“Imperious, far from blame and from reproach!
Thy heart was gentle once: why hath it grown
So overbearing and so choleric?”
He thus made answer: “I had no teeth then,
And fed on milk because I could no other,
But since my teeth came, and my back grew straight,
My quest is flesh because I have grown strong.”
Another said: “I own that thou art mighty,
Our better both in counsel and in knowledge,
But how hast thou surpassed the kings of kings,
And made the whole world watch thy policy?”
“My wisdom is a thing,” he thus replied,
“That is beyond their ken. Sense, knowledge, counsel—
These are my ministers, my treasury
Is earth, my treasurer thought.”

Another said:—

“O king! thy hawk in chase hath bound an eagle!”
Thus said he: “Beat its back; why should it fall
Upon its better? Gibbet it on high
To suffer in its turn, for e'en in fight
The subject may not seek to conquer kings.”
Another chief—one of the emissaries—
Said thus: “O monarch of the world! Barzín
At morn departed with the host and met
A reader of the stars who prophesied:—
‘None will behold again this haughty chief,
This mighty army, and its equipage,
When once their backs are turned upon the king!’”
The Sháh replied: “Revolving heaven hath shown
Barzín's designs a loving countenance,
And stars and sun and moon will not destroy
That chieftain with his treasure and his host.”
Another archmage said: “The king, one day,
Bade choose a man, illustrious by birth,
To make the circuit of the sovereignty
Both for the sake of justice and to send

One said:—

“The chief cook hath a grievance 'gainst the Sháh
And chiefs, and saith: ‘I dress his favourite meats,
And serve them at cross roads. He savoureth not,
Nor toucheth, them!’ That loyal servant quaketh.”
“Too much food may disgust,” the Sháh replied.
Another said: “All thoughtful people blame
The king of kings because he goeth forth
Without an ample escort, and the hearts
Of all his friends are full on that account
For fear some enemy with ill designs
May suppliant-wise contrive to get at him.”
He made this answer: “Equity and wisdom
Protect the great king's person. Right sufficeth
To guard the just judge though he be alone.”
Another said: “O wisdom's mate! the prince
Of Khurásán said on the riding-ground:—
‘I know not why the king recalled Garshásp.’”
The Sháh made answer: “He hath left undone
My bidding and ignored my purposes:
I ordered him to ope for good or ill
My treasury's portal to deserving folk.
The man that is a niggard in his gifts
Concealeth all the monarch's Grace divine.”
Another said: “The great king is a magnate
With all men, and munificent and holy.
What hath Mihrak, that ancient servant, done
To have his pay reduced, his visage wan?”
The Sháh replied: “Mihrak hath grown too bold,
Relying on his former services.
He came to court and took his seat bemused,
And he was never save with wine in hand.”
An archmage of the intelligencers said:—
“The Sháh, when marching to encounter Cæsar,
Called only the Iránians to the war,
And so Írán became hard pressed by Rúm.”
He answered: “This hostility is innate,
'Tis war with Áhriman.”

Another time

One ventured to observe: “The Sháh selecteth
Troops differing from those of former Sháhs.
What look'st thou for in charger-riding Lions,
Expert of hand, upon the day of battle?”

The king,

On hearing how the archimages claimed
The money from the officer, commanded:—
“Press not for what is spent: give him too somewhat
Out of the treasury.”

Another said:—

“A gallant cavalier was hurt and long
Disabled. Cured he charged the ranks of Rúm,
Fell, and hath left behind him little ones.”
The Sháh commanded: “Be four thousand drachms
Assigned to them out of the treasury,
Because when any one is slain in war,
And leaveth babes as his memorial,
Whene'er the scribe shall read out from the roll
His name, his children must have drachms, so pay
A thousand thus to them four times a year.”
Another said: “Be happy all thy days.
At Marv the captain of the host hath gathered
Much wealth in money but he spendeth not,
And people are abandoning the march.”
He thus made answer: “Give that wealth—the cause
Whereby the land is made depopulate—
Back to the folk from whom it hath been taken.
Make proclamation of the fact in Marv,
And bid erect a gibbet at his door,
In sight of all his province and his troops,
And hang alive the tyrant on the gallows,
Head-downward, that hereafter nobody
Among our paladins may turn aside
In heart and spirit from our ordinance.
Why must he bleed the poor to get him wealth,
And joy his body to his soul's destruction?”
Another said: “God-fearing Sháh! thy subjects
Throng in thy court, extol thine equity,
And praise the Maker for thee.”

He replied:—

“Thank God that we inspire alarm in none.
Be it ours to tender yet more carefully
Both innocent and guilty.”

Said another:—

“O Sháh endowed with Grace and understanding!
The world is full of joy, delight, and sweets,

“In us,” he answered,

“May small and great rejoice throughout the world.”
Another said: “O Sháh of power supreme!
Detractors speak with blame of thee and say:—
‘He squandereth vast treasures but he never
Hath felt the labour of amassing them.’”
He thus returned reply: “If I withhold
The wealth laid up within my treasury
From those deserving of it all my gain
Will turn to loss at last.”

Another said:—

“O thou exalted king! God grant that scath
May never come upon that soul of thine!
The Jews and Christians are thine enemies,
Are double-faced, and worship Áhriman.”
He answered thus: “A brave Sháh is not great
Save he be tolerant.”

“Mardwí²¹ hath spent,”

Another said, “three hundred thousand drachms,
Famed king! out of thy treasury and more
On mendicants, and chiefly on himself.”
He said thus: “Such withal is our command:
‘'Tis well for thee to give to the deserving.’”
Another said: “O Sháh that toilest not!
Much largess hath made void thy treasury.”
He thus returned reply: “The open hand
Doth start a man afresh, both leaf and bough.
The world-lord, when a worshipper of God,
Hath at his disposition all the world,
But we have seen it niggard to the mean,
And greed and harshness tempt not me.”

“O king!”

An archmage said, “shrewd Kurákhán hath wrung
From famous Balkh three hundred thousand drachms,
And handed them to us who laid them up
Among thy treasures.”

“We,” he made reply,

“Require not drachms through others' sufferings,
So give them back to those from whom they came,
With somewhat also from the treasury,
Because the world-lord that adoreth God
Hath no desire to vex his subjects' hearts.
Raze Kurákhán's fine palace and enrich
His roofs with clay. His palace shall be waste,
His profit toil and, after toil, distress
And malison. Take from our roll his name,
And hold of no account his likes at court.”
Another said: “O Sháh of glorious race!
Thy converse turneth greatly on Jamshíd
And on Káús.”

Thus Núshírwán replied:—

“Oh! may our knowledge keep them ever young!
I speak of them that mine own head and crown
May be remembered after I am dead.”
“Why hideth,” asked another man, “the Sháh
His secrets from the illustrious Bahman?”

“O Sháh

Of joyous nature! thou hast oft observed,”
One said, “before the chiefs: ‘What time the throne
Is destitute of king then Faith and wisdom
Are worthless.’ Once thou saidest: ‘I am fortune,
And fortune's pretext both for good and ill,
And when one uttereth praises in the world
The crop in secret cometh back to me.’”
He answered: “Yea, 'tis well. The great king's head
Is fortune's crown. The world is as the body;
Kings are its head and crowned accordingly.”
Another said: “O Sháh, the people's friend!
Be thine the sovereignty and length of days!
Five days have passed, O lustre of the soul!
Since last the high priest came before thy presence.”
He answered: “I am not concerned thereat,
For he is occupied on mine affairs.”
One said: “O Sháh of sunlike Grace to whom
Time will bring forth no peer! we see a suitor
Attending court each morn, and that affairs
Are wrong with him, but wot not of his grievance.”
He answered: “In Hijáz²⁴ thieves plundered him
Of countless goods. That he may not be troubled
I have replaced them from the treasury,
And keep him at the court on this account
To see if he can recognise the thieves.”
Another said: “O Sháh of glorious birth,
The lord of bounty and the lord of justice!

Now read the letter of Sháh Núshírwán,
And muse upon it in thine ardent soul.
He said: “This letter grateful to the heart,
Instructed, learned, well counselled, and abstruse,
Is from the Sháh exalted and sun-faced.
Great is he, heaven inclineth to his wish,
The world-lord he, just and beneficent,
Without reproach, the lavisher of treasure,
Increaser of Kubád's renown and throne,
Transmitter of the crown of state and justice,
Possessed of Grace and stature, fame and conduct,
And all that he could wish for from the crown
Of greatness, to Hurmuzd, our own pure son,
Who heartily accepteth all our counsels,
And is through God glad and victorious,
For evermore a world-lord crowned and throned.
This lucky month upon the day Khurdád,
With fair stars and world-brightening presages,
We set upon thy head the crown of gold,
As we ourselves received it from our sire,
And give thee too the blessings which Kubád,
The glorious, bestowed upon our crown.
Be vigilant and master of the world,
Be wise and noble and without offence,
Increase in knowledge and incline to God,
Because He is the Guider of thy soul.
We have inquired of one of good discourse,
One ancient both in wisdom and in years:—
‘What man of us approacheth nearest God?
Who goeth by the straitest path to Him?’
He gave reply: ‘Choose knowledge as thou wouldst
That people should bless thee because the sage

He placed the letter,

When written, in the treasury and abode
With fear and trembling in this Wayside Inn.

A king of kings well counselled, wise, and just,
Will strive to make his modesty unite
With strength of hand and gallantry in fight,
Be of pure Faith and put in God his trust.

See what man of these virtues is possest
And, seeing, him his meed of praise prefer,
Seek one that is as bright as Jupiter,
Aspiring, armed with sword, with mail on breast;

Who taketh from idolaters the sway,
Who with brocade of Faith his heart hath bound.
Yea verily the man himself is found:
Mahmúd is monarch of the world to-day.

The quest of battle and of banqueting
Are one to this world's lord. Abú'l Kásim!
God grant the age joy in the sight of him,
That open-handed and victorious king.

There was an elder versed in our old speech,
And antiquate with action and discourse,
Who from a volume in the ancient tongue
Saith that an archmage asked of Núshírwán:—
“In what way should the worshipper invoke
In secret prayer the Master of the world
That He may give an answer and bestow
Withal fair fortune on his suppliant?
A man, with arms outstretched toward the sky,
May make request before the Lord of time,

The archimage inquired:—

“Is knowledge better than the Grace of kings,
For Grace and majesty adorn the throne?”
“A sage possessed of Grace,” replied the Sháh,
Will take the whole world underneath his wing.
Thou needest wisdom, Grace, renown, and birth;
With these four heaven will keep thee still in mind.”
“In kingship who illustrateth the throne?”
The archmage said. “Who is unfortunate?”
And Núshírwán made answer: “One that seeketh
First for the aidance of the King, the World-lord,
³⁰ For bounty, knowledge, and right usages
Will make him tender toward the suppliant.
Next let him give authority to those,
Who merit such distinction by their worth.
Then let him see that nothing in the world
For good or evil is concealed from him.
He should distinguish, fourthly, foe from friend:
'Tis well that kings should be without offence.
When he hath Grace and wisdom, Faith and fortune,
Then he is worthy of the crown and graceth
The throne, while if thou findest such things lacking
Good sooth! thou wilt behold him lustreless;
He after death will leave an evil name,
And win not jocund Paradise at last.”
^30a

Thus the Sháh

Replied: “Can treasure satiate a man
Until he lieth underneath the dust?
The way of knowledge is more glorious
Than wealth, more precious in the sage's eyes.
Our words remain as our memorial:
Compare not wealth with knowledge.”

Said the archmage:—

“What with their learning and remembering
The sages cannot be but ancient men.”
The Sháh replied: “Although the man be old
His knowledge faileth not to keep him young.
Thou wilt prefer him to the foolish youth,
Whose dust is only valued for its tomb.”
The archmage asked: “It was thy wont to speak
About the fortune of the kings of kings
Before the Great,³² and more than ever now
Thou namest them but with a deep cold sigh?”
The Sháh said: “It was never in my heart
That I should praise a process such as this—
To govern this world with the scimitar
Of justice, then pass on and vilely die.”

Núshírwán

Made answer saying: “I have talked enough,
And now I purpose to depend on deeds.”
The archmage said: “Thy prayers in former times
Before the Fire were not so long as now.
Thy praises too are longer than they were,
Thy plaints and supplications more profuse.”
He gave this answer saying: “Holy God
Exalteth from the dust His worshipper,
Doth favourably dispose the sky toward him,
And maketh all the world to be his slave.
If this slave faileth to appreciate,
Let him not scape from hardship and distress.”
The archmage asked: “Since thou becamest king
What greater cause for thankfulness hast thou
Toward thy Maker? Hath that eminence
Increased thy joy and filled thy foemen's hearts
With blood?”

He answered thus: “Thanks be to God,

Our fortune hath been good. None in my presence
Hath ever sought for the supremacy,
But at my chastening washed his hands of ill.
My foemen have grown feeble in the fight
When they beheld mine onset and my mace.”
The priest went on: “When warring in the West
Thou wast both quick of clutch and valorous,
But when thou wast campaigning in the East
Thou wast long-suffering and deliberate.”
And Núshírwán made answer thus: “The youth
Accounteth not of pain and toil of mind,
But when a man hath come to sixty years
He must assume a gentler attitude.
Thanks to the World-lord who is all-providing,
The Author of the good and ill of fortune,
That I had prowess in my youthful days,
And recked not if my luck were good or bad.
Now knowledge, treasure, generosity,
And rede, accompany my days of age,
The world is 'neath my rule and usages,
And circling heaven my breastplate in the fight.”
Said the archmage: “The Sháhs of long ago
Desired to hold discourse on all affairs;
Thy words are briefer and thy secrets more,
Yet thou surpassest those famed men of old.”
He made this answer, saying: “Every king,
That doth believe in Him who giveth all,
Is not concerned about himself for He,
Who made the world, still watcheth over it.”
“I see the kings who should be glad of heart,”
The archmage said, “most anxious in our times.”
And Núshírwán replied: “The man of sense
Hath ever at his heart the fear of loss.”
The archimage rejoined: “The Sháhs of old
Allowed not care and fight to mar their feasts.”

“Which of us,”

Inquired the archmage, “hath most store of treasure?”
The Sháh made answer: “He that hath least toil.”
The archmage asked: “Which is the foulest fault,
One alien most from worth and Paradise?”
The Sháh made answer: “In the case of women
A strident voice and lack of modesty;
But, in the case of men, to be a fool,
And thus to spend a lifetime as in prison.”
The archmage asked: “Who hath most confidence?”
“He that hath least remorse,” replied the Sháh,
“And goeth soiled in body, and with heart
Black with iniquity, before his God.”
The archmage said: “Who is the upright man,
Whose heart is proven by his soul and wisdom?”
The Sháh thus answered: “He that toileth on
Through gain and loss and compasseth no ill.”
The archmage asked: “Who is the best of men,
The crown upon the head of all mankind?”
“The meek to whom a crown availeth naught,”
The Sháh replied; “not one intent on profit,
Not even though he be of lofty aims;
Next, he whose greatness is its own reward—
The generous man whose heart is purged from darkness—
And, thirdly, he that hath a zeal divine,
Proceeding from integrity and wisdom.”
“What,” said the archmage, “is the heart's chief dread?”
“The troubles that we bring upon ourselves,”
The Sháh replied.

“What giving is the best,”

The archmage said, “so that the man who giveth
May be exalt and great?”

“In gain and loss,”

The Sháh rejoined, “keep naught from the deserving.”
The archmage asked concerning this world's doings:—
“Declare its process open and concealed.
Whate'er the manner of that action be,
For loss or profit, shall we acquiesce?”

The poet tells of the last war of Núshírwán against Rúm and of the Sháh's transaction with a shoemaker, the appointment of his son Hurmuzd as his successor after that prince had been questioned by Búzurjmihr, the Sháh's testament and last counsels to his son, his dream of the advent of Muhammad, and the death of the Sháh and of Búzurjmihr.

§§ 1–3. After ten years of peace war again broke out between the Persian and Roman empires in A.D. 572. The Sháhnáma is correct in representing that the latter was to blame for the renewal of hostilities. The Emperor Justin II., who had succeeded his uncle Justinian in A.D. 565, wanted war. The scene of operations covered much the same ground as on the previous occasion. The Persians made a raid into Syria, recorded in the Sháhnáma by the mention of Halab (Chalybon-Beroea, Aleppo), and an unsuccessful attack on Antioch. The Romans, under Marcian (Bátarún), the prefect of the East, besieged Nisibis, held by the Persians ever since its cession to Shápúr, son of Urmuzd (Sapor II.), by Jovian in A.D. 363. Núshírwán raised the siege, drove the Romans into the stronghold of Dárá on the foot-hills of Mount Masius, and besieged them there. After a gallant defence the fortress fell late in A.D. 573.⁴¹ Mount Masius seems to be the Mount Sakíla of the Sháhnáma, the scene of one of Gushtásp's exploits during his exile in Rúm.^41a Justin on this resigned the direction of affairs to Tiberius who to gain time purchased a temporary suspension of hostilities from the Persians. This is represented in the Sháhnáma as the conclusion of peace and as a triumph for Núshírwán but historically the war was still in progress at the time of his death four years later, and the Great King, shortly before the end of his reign, had to make a somewhat hasty and ignominious retirement to Ctesiphon.⁴²

§ 2. We have already met with the cobbler or shoemaker, introduced as characteristic of a type, in the Sháhnáma.^42a

§§ 4–6. See p. 3.

§ 7. P. omits this section which of course comes from Muhammadan sources. Though interpolated into Persian story it does not seem to be an interpolation in Firdausí's Sháhnáma for there appears to be no good reason for supposing that the passage was written by a hand other than that poet's. A similar account appears both in the Persian and Arabic Tabarí.^42b

The ascent of two score degrees is intended to indicate that Muhammad was forty years old when he received his “call.”

Muhammad, having been challenged by idolaters to divide the moon in twain, is said to have pointed his finger at it, on which it was at once divided into two parts, one of which remained stationary while the other was concealed behind a mountain. Another tradition says that Mount Hirá intervened between the two halves. Travellers from a distance when questioned reported that they had observed the same phenomenon.^42c The passage in the Kurán on which the traditions are based runs as follows:—“The hour hath approached and the MOON hath been cleft:

But whenever they see a miracle they turn aside and say, This is well-devised magic.”^42d

The Súra in which the quotation occurs is known as “THE MOON.”

It is recorded in the ancient book
From the recital of a truthful sage
That when news came from Rúm to this fair land
For Núshírwán, the world-lord: “Mayst thou live,
For Cæsar is no more and to another
Hath yielded time and earth,” death filled his soul
With care; his ruddy countenance became
Like yellow leaves. He chose out of Írán
An envoy of experience and high birth,
And then dispatched him unto Cæsar's son,
Dispatched him to that fresh and fruitful Bough,
First charging him with many kindly words,
And saying: “'Tis an evil none can 'scape.”
He wrote a letter in distress and grief,
With eyes all tearful and cheeks sallow, thus:—
“God grant thee life and loving-kindliness
Now that thy sire is dead. No living thing
Is born unless to die. A Wayside Inn
Is this and we pass on. Although we handle
The crown or helm and casque we find no quittance
From death's clutch. What is Cæsar or the Khán
When his time cometh and all suddenly
Shall lay his head in dust? Mayst thou receive
No lack of joyful tidings of thy sire;
May Christ befriend his soul. Now I have heard
That thou art seated on his famous throne,
And hast adorned the fortune that was his.
Require of us such strength as thou dost need
Of steeds, of arms, of treasure, and of troops.”
The ambassador went forth from Núshírwán;
He made the journey in all haste to Cæsar,
And, when he reached the court, they gave him entry;
The envoy of the Sháh approached the state.
When Cæsar saw the title on the scroll
His heart swelled at the pride of Núshírwán.
He was a hasty youth, new to the throne,
Showed himself overbearing to the envoy,
Saluted him in an unseemly fashion,
With lax observance and discourtesy,

The priest replied:—

“Thy liege am I and will obey the world-lord.”
So all the bishops, priests, and counsellors
Assembled by themselves apart and then
Wrote with all speed a letter in response,
As Cæsar bade, and first they praised the Maker,
And based their praise on wisdom, then they said:—
“Was such a letter worthy of the Sháh,
A letter graceless and malevolent?
Thou dost amiss for Cæsar is but young,
But lately crowned, our king in right of birth.
Forbear to press the youth for this one year
With haughty superscriptions, tax and toll.
The youth hath written in befitting terms
To all the lieges and the potentates,
As the illustrious emperor of Rúm,
To whom the mountain-tops are so much wax.
The envoy of the Sháh hath come to us,
And he will tell the Sháh what he hath seen
With us—our words of grief and joy alike:
Our weal and woe shall not remain concealed.
One Cæsar hath departed but another
Succeeded who exalteth o'er all chiefs
His head without regard to any king
Among the underlords and overlords.”
When they were ready with that Rúman letter
They summoned the ambassador to court.
That sage, on hearing that they were advised,
Came to the court and asked for the response.
They made him ready an unworthy robe
Of honour and put strangers from the hall.
Then Cæsar said to him: “No slave am I,
The inferior of the Haitálians and Chín.
One should not lightly treat a potentate
Although thy Sháh be Great King in the world.
He that hath many enemies is great,
And I have foes and friends upon my skirts.
Why dost thou scant me of my majesty,
And cloud my sun? Thou, when such need is mine,
Shalt be my king, my father's memory.
Make fair report of thine experience here,
And seek no foul intent in my response.”
They put the robe of honour on the sage,
And called the marchlord's roadster to the door.
He parted hastily and, tarrying not

When tidings came to Cæsar of the Sháh:—
“He hath marched forth in anger from Írán,”
He set forth from 'Ammúriya^46b to Halab;
The world was filled with tumult, bruit, and din.
Three hundred thousand horsemen of Írán
Besieged the fortress of Halab. Troops gathered
From every side and tarried not from strife.
The warrior-prelates of the Rúman host
Set up their catapults on every side.
⁴⁷ The Íránians took the stronghold of Sakíla,
For from that region they would fain attack;
Halab became as 'twere a sea of blood,
And all the host of Bátarún sought quarter;

That emissary,

Fair-spoken, young in years but old in wisdom
And shrewd, came to a neighbouring town and asked
A loan of money for the king's affairs,
And round him gathered many of the rich.
A certain man, who made and vended shoes,
Attended closely to the envoy's words,
And asked: “How much?”

The gallant envoy told,

And said: “O man of wisdom and of wealth!
The sum amounteth to four million drachms.”
Said that shoemaker: “I will furnish them
And earn the treasurer's praise.”

He brought his balance,

Weights, and the drachms, but asked no bond in writing.
He weighed the coin, the envoy's task was done.
Then that shoemaker said: “O fair of face!
Be good enough to say to Búzurjmihr:—
‘I have but one child only in this world,
For whom my heart is all anxiety.’
Then add: ‘The monarch of the world perchance
Will grant a private favour to myself,
And let me place my boy among his sages,
For he hath wealth and intellect therefor.’”
“With pleasure,” was the messenger's reply,
“For thou hast cut my quest for treasure short.”
⁴⁹ So Búzurjmihr came to the Sháh rejoicing,
Whose face cleared when he saw that wealth.
Thereafter
He said: “Thanks be to God, whom I have known
Through all my years of life, that in our realm
There is a manufacturer of shoes,
Blessed in this manner and illustrious.
God grant that we may never injure one
That is possessed of such a store of wealth.
Discover for me what his wishes are,
That this good will of his to us may last,
And when thou payest the debt bestow upon him
A hundred thousand drachms that he may not
Forget us.”

Búzurjmihr said to the world-lord:—

“O well-starred Sháh of goodly countenance!
God grant that no king who is tyrannous
Be happy on his throne and fortunate.
Thy subjects all are men of wealth, aspire,
And are possessed of thrones and diadems.
Now this boot-seller, if the Sháh will hear,
Made one request. He said, for so the envoy
Reporteth: ‘May the world-lord mate with wisdom.
I have a son grown up who is desirous
Of one to teach him learning, and if now
The Sháh is willing to assist therein,
So that my good son may become a scribe,
Then for the Sháh's life will I pray God, saying:—
“May this throne-worthy live eternally.”’”
The Sháh made answer saying: “O wise man!
How hath the Dív perplexed thy vision! Go,
And lead the camels back, for God forbid
That we ask him for silver and for pearls.
How should the merchant's son become a scribe,
Accomplished, learned, and mindful though he be?
Our son when he shall sit upon the throne
Will need a scribe whose fortune will prevail.

Whenas from Pisces Sol displayed its crown,
And flung a robe of ivory o'er the earth,
The scouts returning from the trench-edge came
Before the exalted Sháh and said to him:—
“An embassage from Cæsar hath arrived
In tribulation to excuse his faults.”
The ambassador approached immediately
With benedictions upon Núshírwán,
On seeing whose head and crown the Rúman heaved
A cold sigh, thinking: “Lo! a Sháh exalted
With kingship, manhood, and a mighty host!”
Two score pilosophers of Rúm, whose tongues
Were full of utterance and their hearts of sighs,
Brought, each one, thirty thousand in dínárs
As offerings to the king. When they beheld
His comely countenance they came lamenting,
And writhing serpent-like. The king of kings,
On seeing them, received them graciously,
Assigning them the customary seats,
And then their spokesman thus addressed him: “Cæsar,
O Sháh! is young and hath but just acceded;
His sire is dead, the world is new to him,
And he is unacquainted with affairs.
Now we are all of us thy tributaries,
And servants, and are under thy protection.
For thee Rúm is Írán, Írán is Rúm;
Why then distinguish them? The king of kings
Hath all the age's wisdom for his own,
And straighteneth Cæsar's back. The Khán of Chín,
The king of Hind, are glad in him and help

Smiling at the envoy's words

Said Núshírwán: “Although the boy be noble
His speech hath little wisdom. What is Cæsar?
What Bátarún, the insensate one, whose tongue
Hath caused his soul's abasement? All the wise
Born of Sikandar's stock have proved triumphant,
And eminent, yet if one doeth not
Our bidding but rejecteth our advice
And our alliance, from his peopled realm
Will we send up the dust and will not fear
His treasures and his troops.”

The envoys kissed

The ground, as courtiers use, and made reply:—
“O Sháh that art victorious and supreme!
Blame not the past. We are thy travail's dust,
The warders of thy treasure. When the king
Shall take us into favour we shall cease
Both from misfortune and from discontent.
The toils that here the king of kings hath borne
Are no small matter in the Rúmans' eyes,
And we will pay, by way of toll and tax,
His treasury ten ox-hides of dínárs.
'Tis thine to bid us pay thee less or more,
And to accept it though it be unworthy.”
“As touching treasure,” thus the Sháh replied,
“The matter resteth with my minister.”
Then all the Rúmans went before that archmage,
Went with loud lamentations and ill-starred,
Used every plea at large, told Cæsar's purpose,
Informed him of the ox-hides and dínárs,
And matters that concerned the peace of Rúm.
The archmage answered thus: “Ye give the gold,
But what brocade will ye present as well?
What time the king returneth he will need
A thousand pieces of gold-woven brocade,
For he is constantly concerned with gifts
Of robes of honour for his lords and lieges.”
The Rúmans gave consent thereto and then
Returning did obeisance to the Sháh.
He tarried on the battlefield awhile.
Then when the king and host had taken rest
He chose among the troops a warrior—
One of ability in ciphering—
⁵³ And gave him soldiers that he might demand
The Rúman tribute and convey it home.

The high-souled minstrel, who instructeth me,
What said he of time's mutability?
“No prudent sage will set his mind and heart
Upon this Hostel whence we must depart,
For we arise and fall from day to day,
And alternate our joyance with dismay.
Dark earth will be our final resting-place,
This with high honour, that with deep disgrace,
And after they depart they tell us not
If wakeful joy or slumber be their lot;
Still if they flourish not that pass our ken
At least they will not strive with death again.
In contemplation of that day of awe
What are five years and twenty or five score,
Passed by one man in pleasure and delight,
Passed by another in penurious plight?
None have I seen that had a wish to die
Among the upright or the waywardly,
But all are shocked at death—the pious one,
Just as the idol-serving Áhriman.”
Old man! when three score years and one have past,
Wine, cup, and rest grow savourless at last,
Yet wine for one that readieth to die
Is as a wool-coat when 'tis winterly,
⁵⁵ When body freezeth in the midst of vice,
And soul hath lost its way to Paradise.
Full many a friend hath lagged or passed away,
But in the waste the cup with thee will stay.

The archimages, the investigators,
And counsellors assembled, called to them
Hurmuzd, the atheling, and seated him
Among the chiefs. Then Búzurjmihr began:—
“O prince fair-starred and fair to look upon!
What know'st thou that will brighten the pure soul
And wisdom, and be fruitful for the body?”
He answered: “Knowledge is the best, for great
Among the great is one of understanding.
In knowledge is man's safety; it restraineth
The hands of Áhriman from ill, and next
Come patience and munificence whereby
The body gaineth fame and ease.”

The sage

Then asked: “What showeth virtue to advantage,
And what will raise a man to high estate?”
Hurmuzd replied: “First, to be courteous
To all in good and ill; next, to endeavour
To grieve as little as one can the hearts
Of every one; and, thirdly, to deal justly
Within the world and so gain self-content.”
On that pure-hearted prince of goodly mien
Gazed Búzurjmihr, the questioner, and said:—
“Now will I speak concerning needful topics.
Count them upon thy hands, remember all
That I shall ask, and make a just response
To them in that same order. Bring to bear
High-mindedness and justice for, if thou
Art heedful of such matters, of a truth
Heaven's gate is oped to thee since I will question
At large that I may have response in full.
The Master of the world instruct thee! May
Thy wit be bright, good fortune by thy mate.
Now will I question thee of what I know
With fairness. Answer as thy knowledge is.
The wise man is discerned by his replies,
And compasseth his will in everything.

Then by the Sháh's command they wrote a patent
That gave Hurmuzd the throne and crown, and when
The wind had dried that paper wrought in Chín
They set a seal of musk thereon. The Sháh,
In presence of the magnates and shrewd sages,
Charged the high priest therewith. I, by the grace
Of the victorious monarch of the world,
Put into verse this act of Núshírwán's.
The world in practice doth belie its show;
Beneath 'tis naught but dolour and chagrin,
But, whether thou hast crown or toil and woe,
Thou ne'ertheless must quit this Wayside Inn.
Peruse a letter of the kings of yore,
And see if Núshírwán hath any peer
For justice, rede, festivity, and war,
Yet, his day done, he found no tarriance here.
So turn from feast and pleasure, and be wise,
Thou agéd dotard and impenitent!
The world may still look freshly to thine eyes
When in thy cups thou scornest to repent;
Yet still, if thou be wise, repent anon;
The man of Faith is well advised for aye;
The seasons of thine age will soon be gone,
Spring, Summer-tide, and Autumn pass away!
Then when thy body is in dust below
Think whither that pure soul of thine will go!
What was it that the agéd chronicler
Said of the testament of Núshírwán?

How Núshírwán had a Dream and how Búzurjmihr interpreted it as signifying the Appearance of Muhammad

In that year Núshírwán upon a night
Amidst his prayers and praises had a dream,
Wherein his lucid spirit saw in sleep
A Sun rise in the night and therewithal
Was an ascent that had two score degrees,
Whose summit reached to Saturn in the ascendant.
From the Hijáz in stately pomp and joy
That Sun ascended that ascent, fulfilling
The world with brilliancy from Káf to Káf,
⁶⁶ And everywhere converting grief to mirth,
While all the horizons, whether far or near,
Took lustre from its glory everywhere,
And everywhere light entered save the hall
Of Núshírwán which still abode in gloom.
The Sháh rose from his sleep for half the night,
And oped his lips to none on that affair,
But when the sun unveiled its countenance
He summoned to his presence Búzurjmihr.
The king of kings in private to that sage
Related what he had beheld in sleep,
And Búzurjmihr, possessed of all the case,
Considered all the dream from end to end,
And thus replied: “O king of power supreme!
In truth there is a mystery herein.”
The king said: “Speak the truth because my life
Is failing in my body for suspense.”
Then Búzurjmihr spake thus: “O thou whose rede
Is higher than moon and sun! this dream have I
Well studied: mark the marvel of its meaning.
From this day forth for forty years and more
Among the Arabs one will rise to power,
Who will adopt the way of righteousness,

The Sháh's heart straitened

Because of it; he sighed continually.
Then Búzurjmihr: “O Sháh! why mourn therefor?
What matter this world's griefs and joys to thee
When thou art gone and parted far by time?”
The Sháh survived not this event for long.
He died: the world bewailed him. Búzurjmihr

Hurmuzd, on succeeding to the throne, makes fair promises but soon belies them and puts to death his father's ministers. Afterwards, perturbed by a prophecy, he repents, and two stories are told of his even-handed justice. War breaks out and Bahrám Chúbína comes upon the scene. He is appointed commander-in-chief and defeats the Turks under King Sáwa and his son Parmúda, but after having been shamefully insulted by the Sháh he rebels—a course strongly opposed by his sister Gurdya. He contrives to make Hurmuzd suspicious of his own son Khusrau Parwíz who escapes. Hurmuzd is dethroned and blinded, and Khusrau Parwíz returns.

Hurmuzd (Hormisdas IV., A.D. 578-590) may not have been so black as he has been painted but his reign, to say the least of it, stands in melancholy contrast to that of his father whose precepts he disregarded, whose system of administration he did his best to overturn, whose trusted ministers he put to death, and whose practice of personally leading his troops he made no attempt to emulate.^70a He had the good fortune to possess a general at once brave, able, and apparently quite loyal whom he treated with the basest and most insolent ingratitude, wrecking his own reign thereby and inflicting many wounds upon his country. The romantic history of that general, as told in the Sháh-náma, is one of the finest passages in the poem, and the poet was fortunate in having such to lay before his readers as he was nearing the end of his great undertaking.⁷¹

§ 2. Mákh, the marchlord of Harát, who seems to have been known as Khurásání in accordance to Persian custom in such matters, appears to be the father of, or identical with, one of the four compilers of the prose Sháhnáma for Abú Mansúr which Firdausí used as his chief authority. In the Introduction to the present Translation the name of this particular compiler is given, in accordance to the text of C., as Táj son of Khurásání of Harát^71a but according to Nöldeke^71b the Táj is quite uncertain.

§ 3. Núshírwán had based his system of administration upon the nobility. We have seen in a characteristic anecdote how he refused to consult his own convenience by accepting a loan of money from a shoemaker.^71c Hurmuzd, not having his father's ability, found the system irksome and consequently was inclined to favour the lower at the expense of the higher orders. Accordingly later on we have two stories of his even-handed justice.^71d A justice, however, which is said to have put to death 13,600 of the nobility and priesthood, and imprisoned or degraded many others in the course of a few years is somewhat suspect.^71e

Burzmihr seems to be identical with Búzurjmihr who, we were told at the end of the last reign,^71f died within a month of Núshírwán. According to Mas'údí Búzurjmihr survived to be the chief minister of Khusrau Parwíz who after thirteen years of reign disgraced him and treated him even worse than Núshírwán is said to have done on one occasion,^71g the two accounts no doubt being variants of the same story. Firdausí tells us that one of the three scribes was young,^71h and that Búzurjmihr was a youth at his lessons when he first attracted Núshírwán's attention,⁷¹ⁱ He need not have been an old man at the time of that Sháh's death. The probability is, however, that he was executed along with other ministers by Hurmuzd as the text seems to imply.

§ 5. The account in the Sháhnáma and in Oriental historians of these wars seems much exaggerated. The war with Rúm was nothing new; it had been going on from the days of Núshírwán and was not specially active at the moment. The Arab and Khazar invasions require further confirmation and the latter, it may be suggested, was merely a patriotic invention to cover up an unfortunate incident that befell the Persians South of the Caucasus after the conclusion of the war with the Turks (p. 76). This last war has generally been taken to have been waged between the Persians and the Khán who was a relation by marriage of Hurmuzd and would be certain to bring great forces into the field. It appears, however, that Sáwa is merely the Persian form of “Chao-wou”—the name given in Chinese official reports of the period to the princes of small states on the Oxus that were more or less subject to the Khán who does not appear to have been concerned in the matter at all.⁷²

§ 6. In the story of Mihrán Sitád's embassage as given in the Sháhnáma the prophecy is limited to the outcome of the marriage of Núshírwán with the Khán‘s daughter.^72a It afforded, however, a convenient starting-point for the Romance that gathered round the heroic personality of Bahrám Chúbína and the reference to him was interpolated accordingly.

§ 7. Bahrám Chúbîna, whose story and that of his sister Gurdya extend through the rest of this and far into the succeeding reign, had been marchlord of Rai and governor of the North, apparently, under Núshírwán.^72b He continued to hold the same posts under Hurmuzd.^72c He was a native of Rai, sprung from a race of marchlords and army-chiefs, a Mihrán, and is said to have been descended from Gurgín^72d —all important indications to the student of the Sháhnáma. Rai was the traditional seat of Arsacid power.^72e Shápúr of Rai, an army-chief, who was called in by Kubád to overthrow Súfarai of the race of Káwa, also was a Mihrán and descended from Mihrak.^72f The Mihrán clan played an important part in Sásánian times and the name often recurs.^72g Gurgín, son of Mílád, was the villain of the story of Bízhan and Manízha.⁷³ The point is this. The words Mílád, Mihrak, and Mihrán are closely allied, probably mere variants, are reminiscent of Parthian times and under the Sásánian Dynasty represent the vanquished Arsacid element.^73a That element recovered sufficiently to exercise much political power as in the case of the Mihráns.

A Ruhhám of that stock is said to have been influential in placing Pírúz upon the throne.^73b If they could not be kings themselves they aspired to be king-makers and ministers. There was rivalry between them and families of purer Íránian stock, and the Sháhs, as in the instance given above, availed themselves of it to serve their own ends. Such rivalry, however, was a subsidiary matter; the great antagonism between Arsacid and Sásánian, though latent, still persisted and is indicated plainly enough in the course of the story of Bahrám Chúbína.

Nöldeke's account of that story, which is a blend of history and romance, is briefly as follows. It was compiled in Pahlaví shortly before the end of the Sásánian Dynasty, about the beginning of the reign of Yazdagird III., A.D. 632, and was translated into Arabic by a certain Jabala bin Sálim of whom nothing more is known save that he was “the writer of Hishám” who can be no other than the Arabic historian Hishám Ibn Al-Kalbí. Hishám died about A.D. 820. The story thus became known to the Muham-madans and was woven into the general presentment of Sásánian history.^73c We may add that Tabarí, who was born some eighteen years after Hishám's death and died A.D. 923, gives the historical nucleus of the story in his history. The redactor of his work into Persian (A.D. 963) states that as his Arabic authority has not given the life of Bahrám Chúbína in its entirety he gives it from the book of the history of Persia where he found it more complete. ^73d This version agrees very closely with Firdausí's. Both are derived from the Persian Book of Kings in one or another of its later forms. Which the redactor of Tabarí used we cannot say, but Firdausí, we may assume, used the modern Persian prose Sháhnáma of Abú Mansúr^73e for which a new translation of the story had been made from the original Pahlaví.⁷⁴ This may account for the difference in some of the proper names that exists between Firdausí's version and that in the Persian Tabarí. In this and some other respects the latter is of decided help to the understanding of the former. Attention will be called to such matters in subsequent notes.

It is evident that the redactors of the Pahlaví original into Arabic or Persian took good care to leave little repugnant to Muhammadan Faith or morals. Even the statement in Tabarí and its Persian version that Gurdya was the wife as well as the sister of Bahrám Chúbína^74a disappears in Firdausí.

Yalán-sína—a prominent character in the Romance—is called Mardánsháh in the Persian Tabarí. He was the brother^74b and a firm supporter of Bahrám Chúbína. Another brother—Gurdwí—took the opposite side and remained loyal to Khusrau Parwíz. The sympathies of Gurdya, Bahrám Chúbína‘s sister, though she associated with him till his death, were also legitimist.

§ 8. Here we have another instance of a Mihrán in high office.^74c Probably he was the successor of Ízid Gashasp, the scribe, who had been put to death by Hurmuzd early in his reign^74d and is to be carefully distinguished from the general of the same name in Bahrám Chúbína's army, which is not always done in the text of C.^74e

In the Persian Tabarí the purveyor of sheep's heads is said to have been naked and Bahrám Chúbína to have speared two of the heads one of which fell back into the tray. The interpretation was that he would have to deal with two kings of whom one would be killed while the other would be restored to his royalty. The nudity signified that Bahrám Chúbína would revolt.^74f

According to the Persian Tabarí, Hurmuzd, on hearing of the invasion of Sáwa Sháh, sent Kharrád, son of Barzín, with an escort to him to delay his advance while the expedition under the command of Bahrám Chúbína was being got ready. The envoy managed to keep Sáwa at Balkh for a whole year.^74g

Faghfúr, or Faghfúr of Chín, hitherto in the Sháhnáma a dynastic title, here appears as the name of the younger son of Sáwa perhaps to add to the latter‘s importance. In the Persian Tabarí the governor of Khurásán takes the part here played by Faghfúr.⁷⁵

§ 12. In the Persian Tabarí Bahrám Chúbína has the dream while dozing on horseback after having been engaged in arraying the troops all night, and in the same authority bars the road of retreat with five hundred horse,^75a while the only sorcery is in connexion with the dream.

According to Tabarí^75b the shot that slew king Sáwa was one of three that gave renown to archers in Persian story. The others were that of Árish^75c and that of Súfaraí who in the war undertaken to avenge Pírúz shot at a chief in the vanguard of Khúshnawáz and pierced his horse's head with an arrow. The chief was taken prisoner by Súfarai who sent him back to Khúshnawáz with instructions to report the matter, and Khúshnawaz was so impressed that he sued for peace.^75d Neither of these instances is mentioned in the Sháhnáma though it celebrates in a famous passage Rustam's shot in the fight with Ashkabús^75e and Bahrám Gúr's skill in archery.^75f

Bahrám, the son of Siyáwúsh, had married a niece of Bahrám Chúbína.^75g

§ 14. The episode of the garden is not in the Persian Tabarí.

§ 17. The above remark applies to the quarrel between Bahrám Chúbína and Parmúda, and to the former's retention of some of the booty.

The Persian Tabarí makes Mardánsháh (Yalán-síná), not Ízid Gashasp, conduct the Khán, the other prisoners, and the booty to Írán.^75h

§ 18. The Sháhnáma here seems to confuse Ízid Gashasp with the scribe of that name executed by Hurmuzd.⁷⁵ⁱ It is clear from the Persian Tabarí^75j that the person consulted by the Sháh about Bahrám Chúbína was his confidant and minister Áyín Gashasp who in the Persian Tabarí is named Yazdánbakhsh. Ízid and Yazdán both mean God which also caused confusion and when it became hopeless the form Áyín Gashasp was adopted to get out of the difficulty.

§§ 19-21. The definite accusation of withholding some of the booty made by the archscribe (Mihrán) against Bahrám Chúbína is absent in the Persian Tabarí which merely gives the vague insinuation of the minister Yazdánbaksh which rouses suspicion in Hurmuzd's mind and causes him to send Mardánsháh back to the commander-in-chief with a chain, distaff-case and cotton, and an insulting letter.⁷⁶ A similar insult is recorded to have been offered by the Empress Sophia to the exarch Narses when he was superseded and bidden return to his place among the maidens of the palace where a distaff should again be placed in his hand.^76a

The treatment of Bahrám Chúbína by Hurmuzd, though foolish enough in any circumstances, was not quite so unreasonable and motiveless as it appears to be in the accounts of oriental writers. In A.D. 589 after the successful conclusion of Bahrám Chúbína's expedition Hurmuzd conceived the idea of renewing the Lazic war which his father had abandoned in A.D. 562,^76b and sent Bahrám Chúbína to conduct the campaign. That chief, however, was defeated by the Romans in a battle on the Araxes and his disgrace followed.^76c

§ 22. Here for once the Sháhnáma seems to join hands with Western Romance. The Adventure, mutatis mutandis, reads as if it had been taken bodily from some mediæval romance of chivalry.

According to the Persian Tabarí both Kharrád, son of Barzín, and the archscribe were present on the occasion.^76d

§ 23. Here again there seems to be some confusion in connexion with Ízid Gashasp. He is identified with the archscribe in the heading. Moreover he is pursued, captured, and brought back to Bahrám Chúbína, who lets him off very easily, because he is wanted for service with that paladin. In the Persian Tabari both the fugitives make good their escape to Hurmuzd.^76e That version does not know of Ízid Gashasp, who is mentioned, however, in Tabarí.^76f

§ 24. In the Persian Tabarí Bahrám Chúbina sends Hur-muzd twelve thousand hangers with bent points to represent all his twelve thousand troops.^76g

Bahrám Chúbína is here described as the son of Gashasp. Tabarí makes him the son of Bahrám-Gushnasp,⁷⁷ the Persian version of Bahrám,^77a and Mas'údí of the nickname—Chúbín.^77b

§ 25. Ízid Gashasp is regarded as dealing with both sides because of the malicious speech that he is represented to have made about Bahrám Chúbína.^77c

The debate is not in the Persian Tabarí.

§ 26. The letter to the Khán is not in the Persian Tabarí.

Historically Bahrám Chúbína issued coins in his own name but apparently not in that of Khusrau Parwiz.^77d

§ 27. The authorities differ as to whether Gustaham was imprisoned as well as Bandwí. The Oriental say both, the Greek Bandwí only,^77e which makes the revolt more intelligible.