Victorious she drew toward Írán,
She drew toward the monarch of the brave,
But halted for a short time at Ámwí
With questionings increasing in her heart.
She wrote thence to her brother, telling him
In sorrow all that occurred, and said:—
“What time the brave Bahrám Chúbína died,
All care and grief fraternal, to us both
He proffered much good counsel. May we never
Distress his spirit! Furthermore he said:—
‘Inform the exalted monarch of the counsels
That thou hast heard from me.’ A mighty host,
All men of name and warriors, pursued us,
But I have so entreated them in fight
That never more will they see fight or feast.
With me are many famous chiefs, and harm
Must not be theirs. Till my good star convey
A hoped response I pause upon the way.”
From that time forth the Sháh sat undisturbed,
Since brave Bahrám Chúbína was no more,
And found no chieftain hostile and disposed
To counter him in fight. One day he thus
Addressed his upright minister: “How long
Shall I conceal my thoughts? Shall my sire's slayer
For ever be about me as a kinsman?
Now that I have the power and feel aggrieved
What should result?”
They spread the board and quaffed,
And put Bandwí in fetters that same day.
The Sháh thereafter bade his minister:—
‘Cut off his hands and feet; he will not then
Gird up his loins to shed the blood of kings.”
They lopped him and he died forthwith, resigning
His blood-stained life up to Khusrau Parwíz.
The Sháh then sent a man to Khurásán
With strict injunctions: “Hold thy tongue and go
Hence to the marchlord's court. Bid Gustaham:—
‘When thou hast read my letter come forthwith.’”
The envoy reached in Khurásán the court
Of one at ease and gave the Sháh's behest,
That youthful Sháh who poured out blood with zest.
How Gustaham rebelled against Khusrau Parwíz and took Gurdya to Wife
When Gustaham heard this he summoned all
His scattered troops, set forth upon the march,
And passing by Sarí and by Ámul
Came to Gurgán—the country of the Great—
Heard that the Sháh had grown severe and slain
Bandwí, his brother, unexpectedly,
Whereat he gnawed his hands, gat from his steed,
Rent all his raiment as a paladin,
And wailing poured the dust upon his head,
Perceiving that the world-lord would avenge
Hurmuzd on him. He turned back sorrowing,
And, thou hadst said: “Companioning the wind.”
Collecting all his scattered troops he marched
Toward the forest of Nárwan and, when
He reached the mountains of Ámul, drew up
His army in that forest, thence made raids,
And thus began a system of revenge.
And where he heard that royal troops were camped
Descended on them and destroyed them all.
Now when Gurdwí arrived he told the Sháh
All that his sister with her warriors
Had done against the marchlords of the Khán,
And how she made their dust go up at Marv,
While Gustaham, on his side, was informed
That brave Bahrám Chúbína's days were done,
And that Gurdya with many troops had fled
That fierce chief,356 that a host had followed her
To take revenge, and how she had entreated
Those famous men of Chín. He called to horse,
And from that forest led his troops like wind
To meet her. When Gurdya was ware she went
Forth with her chiefs and nobles. Gustaham,
On seeing them, rode out before his troops.
He met Gurdya and was o'ercome by pain
And much remorse about Bahrám Chúbína,
Spake also of his sorrow for Bandwí,
And wiped blood from his eyelids with his sleeve.
He lighted weeping from his steed at sight
Of Yalán-sína and Ízid Gashasp,
356a And said: “The Sháh hath slain Bandwí; his day
Is over and thou wouldst have said: ‘The Sháh
Was not his sister's son. Bandwí bled not
For him who used to pour his very soul
Out at Bandwí's feet and lamented him
When absent!’ Now upon the earliest chance
The Sháh, true to the instincts of his race,
Hath severed from Bandwí both hands and feet!
So now what hope can ye have in the Sháh,
For never came fruit from the willow's bough?
He will entreat your kindred even worse,
And make meat in the city cheap enough.
E'en at a distance he will rage to see,
And plan new vengeance on, Yalán-sína,
Thou being Bahrám Chúbína's general,
And having power through him. Let each that knoweth
The Sháh be ware or better cut his throat!
If ye will stay with us we will consult
On all things great and small.”
The hearers took
His counsel; they all shunned destruction's path.
He spake in earnest to Gurdya, recounting
Bahrám Chúbína's acts. She was o'ercome
By what he said, and felt that he was right.
All joined him and his clouded counsels cleared.
“This lady talk of marriage and desire
Its honours?”
He replied: “Wait till I speak,
And by long converse ascertain her will.”
He said to her: “O lady! I have seen thee
Act as adviser. Thou didst well to flee
The Khán, preferring wisely thine own race.
What sayest thou to the Sháh's maternal uncle,
The valiant and the wealthy Gustaham,
The captain and the leader of a host?”
She said: “A spouse that cometh from Írán
Ne'er will despoil my kindred.”
So Yalán-sína
Gave her to Gustaham—a gallant hero
Of royal lineage—who tended her
Like a fresh apple, for he saw in this
His exaltation nothing of a fall.
The armies sent forth by Khusrau Parwíz
Found their old fortune altogether changed,
And Gustaham, on seeing a host o'erthrown,
Would spare the troops and take them for his own.
How Khusrau Parwíz took Counsel with Gurdwí concerning Gustaham and how Gurdya, prompted by Gurdwí, slew him
Time passed; the Sháh's soul grieved at Gustaham.
One day he said in anger to Gurdwí:—
“So Gustaham hath got Gurdya to wife,
And those great companies resort, methinketh,
To him by her advice. A spy of mine
Hath come back from Ámul and all is clear.”
He spake thus till it darkened, and the eyes
Of warriors failed, then while the slaves brought lights
And wine they sent all strangers from the hall,
And holding conclave with Gurdwí the Sháh
Discussed affairs and said: “I have dispatched
Great forces to Ámul to take revenge,
And all have come back wounded and in bonds,
358
Have come back full of sorrow and dismay.
There is one plan—a trifle when compared
With crown and throne. Although Bahrám Chúbína
Erred yet Gurdya was ever on our side,
And I have got a scheme, but keep it close.
A letter must be written to Gurdya,
Like wine-streams in the garth of Paradise,
To say: ‘Thou hast been friendly and hast helped me
In all things everywhere. Much time hath passed
While my heart's secret was not on my tongue,
Because Gurdwí is as myself to me.
359 Look out for some expedient to abate
This foul affliction and put Gustaham
Beneath the stones; then both my heart and home
Are thine. This done, thy troops and partizans
Shall find protection with me everywhere,
Be nowhere treated with contempt, and I
Will give a province unto whom thou wilt
That they may act as rulers, and do thou
Come to the golden palace of my wives,
And thou shalt put an end to my revenge.
Thus will I pledge myself with many oaths,
And add to these yet more assurances.’”
Gurdwí replied: “May the king live for ever,
And be as Venus in the Sign of Virgo.
Thou know'st that I regard my children's lives,
My fruitful lands and all my family,
However precious I account them all,
As worthless when contrasted with thy head.
I will send one to her on this affair
To give her light thereon. I shall require
A letter, written by the Sháh and sealed
With his own signet, like a shining moon.
This will I send my sister by my wife,
And thus put off all our antagonists,
For this is woman's work and specially
For one that is discreet. In mine opinion
Thy words should reach my sister, and the matter
Soon end as thou wouldst wish. The plan is perfect.”
Khusrau Parwíz, on hearing this, rejoiced,
And thought his cares wind, asked his treasurer
For paper, chose words redolent of musk,
And wrote a letter like a garden full
Of roses like the cheeks of the beloved,
Replete with pledges, oaths, and promises,
And manifold advice and flattery.
Whenas the ink of the inscription dried
They sealed the letter with a seal of musk.
Gurdwí wrote counsel too, and much besides,
Reciting first Bahrám Chúbína's deeds
Disgracing all his family and land,
And adding: “God forgive him! May his wrangling
Cause no remorse in him! Those void of wisdom
Heed not the consequences of their acts.
Well, he hath gone and we shall follow him,
Confiding in the justice of our God.
My wife, on coming, will enlighten thee.
Thy fortune's visage wan.”
He put the letter
Writ by the Sháh inside his own and wrapped
Them both in painted silk. The wary wife
Took them and heard those peremptory words.
She hasted for the forest of Narwán—
A woman sent as envoy to a woman.
Thereat Gurdya became like jocund Spring
With cheeks all grace and colour and perfume.
They talked at large about Bahrám Chúbína,
And wept. Then privily Gurdwí's wife gave
Gurdya the letter and made plain the path.
That lion-woman saw the Sháh's dispatch
And, thou hadst said, looked down upon the moon.
She laughed and said: “None with five friends would
think
This matter difficult.”
She called her five,
And stationed them by Gustaham's bed-chamber.
She read to them the letter of the Sháh,
But kept it from the chiefs in general.
When she had said her say she quickly made
A compact with them and shook hands thereon.
At night she put the lights out and at once
Pressed with her hands upon her husband's mouth;
Some of the five too came to give her aid,
Came to the couch of that illustrious one.
She struggled greatly with the drunken man,
And silenced him at last. The general
Died in the darkness and bequeathed both night
And shining day to others. There arose
Within the city shouts and cries for help,
In every quarter tempest rose and fire,
And when the dauntless lady heard the din
She clothed her in a Rúman coat of mail.
That night she called the Íránians, spake at large
About the murdered man, showed the Sháh's letter,
And so emboldened them. They blessed the event,
And showered jewels on the document.
That dauntless lady called for pen and inkstand,
And sat at ease among her counsellors.
She wrote a letter to the Sháh concerning
His friends and foes, first praised those that eschew
Hath been obeyed as loyal hearts would wish,
And through the fortune of the valiant world-lord
That great host hath dispersed. What further orders
Hast thou to give? What further wilt thou hang
On thy slave's earring?”
When the letter reached
Khusrau Parwíz he joyed in her the more.
The mighty Lion sought a messenger,
High-starred, an honest man and shrewd of soul,
And wrote a letter like the Artang of Chín,
362
With many blessings in it, summoning
The noble lady to the court, and in it
Called her the Diadem upon the moon.
The envoy came dust-swift to her and told
All that the Sháh had said. The lion-lady
Became like radiant roses in the Spring-tide
By reason of that letter, called and paid
Her troops, and loaded up when it was day.
As she approached the city of the Sháh
An army met her; when she reached the court
The Sháh received her, and she found him kind.
Thereafter she produced great offerings,
As did the chieftains in her company,
Exhibited the goods and all the wealth,
Then gave them to the royal treasurer—
Dínárs and kingly jewels past compute,
Gold-woven brocade, crowns, girdles, golden thrones,
And golden shields. Khusrau-Parwíz beheld
That noble Cypress-tree with cheeks like Spring,
And pheasant's gait, with countenance like day,
And locks like night, while pearls, thou wouldst have
said,
Rained from her lips. He sent her to his bower,
Gave her precedence there, sent to her brother—
His own resourceful minister—to ask her
In marriage, took and held her dear as life,
While robes of honour, coin, and much beside
He showered upon the comrades of his bride.
Two se'nnights passed away. “By sun and moon,
By throne and casque,” he said to her, “narrate
Thy battle with the soldiers of the Khán,
And gird thy loins as thou wast girded then.”
“O Sháh!” she thus made answer, “live for ever,
And be souls nourished by the sight of thee.
A saddle and choice lasso and a bow,
A spear and helmet and a warrior's mail,
Besides a quiver filled with poplar arrows.”
The Sháh then bade the servitors: “Prepare
A place within the pleasance.”
Heedfully
Those slaves from Rúm and Turkistán attended.
Twelve hundred Beauties of Khusrau Parwíz
(Thou wouldst have said: “The garden hath not
room,”)
Arrived preceded by sunlike Shírín
In height a silver column as she walked.
Gurdya approached the Sháh and bade a slave
Bring coat of mail and Rúman casque. She quitted
Her seat and came forth with her loins girt up
And spear in hand.363
That all-accomplished dame
Drew nigh a black steed by the Sháh's command,
Set on the ground the butt-end of her spear,
And vaulted to the saddle swift as wind.
She chose her field of action in the pleasance,
Wheeled her about on all sides right and left,
And pierced the dark clouds with her battle-cries.
She told the Sháh: “What time I fought Tuwurg
I was an angry Wolf as I am now.”
Shírín said: “Wilt thou arm thy foes, O king,
For she is thinking of her brother's death,
And will, I fear, consign thee to the wind?
Thou wearest but a robe upon the throne
Of gold, and she can reach thee any time!”
He laughed and answered: “Then provoke her
not.”
The moon-faced lady wheeled amid the dust.
She was a heroine in love and war,
And said: “Would that a foeman of the Sháh's
Were here before me on the battlefield.
I would unhorse him as I did Tuwurg
Here in the Great King's presence.”
He was all
Astound, she had such stature, thews, and limbs.
He said to her: “Thou wilt not have to rail
At fortune. Let me see if thou art quelled
By wine or unaffected.”
Then she took—
That lady-paladin—a goblet filled
With royal wine, which Áhriman himself
Would have declined, and in the sight of all
Quaffed to the Sháh and drained it at a draught;
She knocked the dust out of that golden stream!
The Sháh in wonder said: “O warrior-moon!
Who have it in command to guard my life.
Each hath twelve thousand men—Íránians
And valiant cavaliers. I have withal
Within my golden bower and room of gems
Twelve thousand slaves, all pure, with torques and earrings.
Henceforth thou art their overseer for thou
Dost toil and care for what is thine, I wish
To hear no word of them from any one,
Or young or old, save thee.”
Gurdya rejoiced
On hearing this; the slanders of her foes
Had harmed her not. She swept earth with her face,
And called down blessings on her sovereign's Grace.
A long time passed; meanwhile the monarch's star
Sought only the ascendant, but one night,
As he was drinking wine among his sages,
His magnates and experienced officers,
There was a cup in use among the guests,
Graved with the name Bahrám.365
The Sháh bade
throw
The cup away whereat they all began
To curse Bahrám, the cup, and him that wrought it.
Thus said the Sháh: “Now let the elephants
Of war tread down the fields and fells of Rai,
Expel the folk and turn it to a waste.”
The noble minister addressed him thus:—
“O thou memorial of mighty kings!
Consider that the state of Rai is large,
Not one for elephants to trample on,
For God and all good folk would disapprove.”
The king replied: “I want one ill-disposed
And of low birth to act as marchlord there,
One who is coarse of speech and ignorant.”
“Do thou, O king!” the minister rejoined,
“Charácterize the wretch, and I will seek,
And bring him, otherwise we have no guide.”
Khusrau Parwíz replied: “I want a gabbler,
Ill-starred, red-haired, foul and with nose askew,
With sallow face, malicious, squat, and soured,
Green-eyed and squinting, with projecting teeth,
And humped like wolf in gait.”
The archimages
Were all amazed that he should speak of such,
And all made search about the world, amidst
The cities, and among the great and small.
One day a man brought one such to the Sháh,
366
Who said: “Tell thine ill deeds in fitting terms.”
The man replied: “I cease not to do ill,
I have no wisdom and I say one thing
And do another, and snub all that greet me.
My stock is lies; I never help the right;
I break my pledge and fling nobility,
Both root and stem, to earth.”
Khusrau Parwíz
Made answer: “May thine evil star ne'er change.”
They gave him Rai by patent, so the wretch
Grew great by turpitude. They gave to him
Troops that had been dismissed. He left the court,
Famed for depravity. The miscreant,
When he arrived at Rai, put off all fear
Of God, and bade the gutters of the roofs
Be torn away: this gave him much delight,
And afterward he had all cats destroyed,
Which gave great umbrage to the householders.
Where'er he went he took with him a guide,
While in the front of them a herald walked,
Proclaiming: “If I see a gutter left,
Or cat within a house, I will set fire
To house and field, and stone the inmates' heads.”
He would turn out a place to find one drachm,
And vex its owner. All the people left
Their homes in terror and gave up their lands.
There were no gutters when the rain came down,
No watchman in the city. Through the foul
And ill-conditioned miscreant that came
From court to Rai that city was laid waste.
The sun beat down upon the people's heads,
The place was full of pain and wretchedness,
And not a soul regarded their distress.
How Gurdya made Sport before Khusrau Parwíz and how he gave Rai to her
Thus was it till the month of Farwardín,
And rose-leaves decked the surface of the earth,
Until the clouds' tears grew as large as hail,
And tulips filled the valleys and the plains,
Till all the dales were dappled like a pard,
And earth was coloured like brocade of Rúm.
The chieftains came to sport within the garths,
And to the uplands flocked all sheep and deer.
Khusrau perceived the garden's open gates,
The water-birds disporting on its streams,
And bade the trumpets sound. They carried thither
Jars of perfumes, sat down upon the grass,
Called out for wine and decked their souls with joy.
A man from Rai approached Gurdwí and told
All that had happened. He was grieved at heart,
And sought in his concern a remedy.
He told his sister: “Thou must tell the Sháh.
See if thou canst devise a scheme to make
His heart indifferent in this regard.”
Anon Gurdya produced a kitten, clad
As 'twere a child, upon a courser trapped
With gold and jewels. In the kitten's ears
Were earrings and its claws were tulip-hued,
Its eyes were pitch-like, languishing like those
Of folk bemused, its cheeks were like the Spring.
It rode about the garden like a child
With saddle-flaps of gold. The Sháh laughed out,
And laughter took possession of the court.
“What,” said he to Gurdya, “is thy desire,
My gracious lady?”
That resourceful dame
At once did reverence. “Exalted Sháh!”
She said, “grant Rai to me, be wise again,
Release the hearts of woeful folk from grief,
Recall that wretched mannikin from Rai,
And term him miscreant and malefactor,
For he doth ban the cats and wreck all gutters!”
Khusrau Parwíz laughed out at his wife's words,
And said: “Thou saucy shatterer of hosts!
I give to thee the city and the lands.
Send thither presently some upright man,
Like Áhriman, that loathly infidel.”
The lady's fortune waxed continually
Beneath that royal and illustrious Tree.
Thereafter when the Sháh's hand was extended,
When all folk wished him well, when other kings
Were subject to him, and his other lieges
Had been enriched, he chose out of Írán
Four times twelve thousand warlike cavaliers,
Brave and experienced, oped the ancient hoards
Filled by Pírúz and glorious Kubád,
Partitioned out the world in four and made
Appointments to the governments. He sent
Twelve thousand out of those illustrious men,
Shrewd cavaliers, deft wielders of the sword,
Toward the Rúman marches to safe-guard
That populous and glorious coast that troops
From Rúm might not attack Írán and lay
The country waste or any one encroach,
But be content with his own rank and fortune.
He chose moreover of the men of name
Out of Írán twelve thousand warlike horsemen
That they might march forth to Zábulistán
(They left a rose-garth for a gloomy land)
369
And said to them: “If any one shall turn
Out of the way, not keeping his own place,
Restore him to the path with courteousness,
But in worse cases use the chain and pit.
Send spies about to keep you well apprised;
Ye will have need of outposts day and night,
And sleep not in your tents without a guard.”
Out of the host he called twelve thousand others,
All magnates valorous and fond of fight,
And having given to them much advice
Dispatched them to the route of the Aláns,
And charged them with the gate-way of the West
369a
So that no enemy might pass thereby.
He bade the chiefs: “Be watchful and God guard
you.”
He chose and sent twelve thousand warriors more,
Such as were fit, to Khurásán, exhorting,
And greatly charging: “From Haitál to Chín
Let none set foot upon our land save those,
Devoted and attached to me, that are
Admitted with my knowledge and command.
Available to all. When ye have need
Ask and live happy, prudent and secure.”
He oped his treasuries' doors and seeing drachms
With the inscription of Hurmuzd he wept,
And gave them to the poor with further gifts
When they were clothed. He cut the heads off all
The adherents of Bandwí and intimates
Of foul-mouthed Gustaham who had rejoiced
O'er his sire's murder. Having made an end
Of cursing and revenge he wisely took
A new departure, portioning in four
The night and day, which make revolving time.
At one of these four seasons an archmage
Of goodly speech attended to inform
The Sháh about the host and world's affairs,
Who, if he noticed anything amiss
Among the people or the warriors,
Would ply forthwith the skirt of justice, learn
The facts, and find a way. Another time
Was given up to song and minstrelsy,
And quiet, careless session with his lords
As mighty men should do. The third was set
Apart for prayer and praising God, the fourth
For study of the starry sky above,
Its character, its nature, and its host.
The readers of the stars then stood before him
Because they were his guides to understanding;
But during half of this night-period
He sat among the Idols of Taráz.
He also made division of each month
In four parts that life might be pleasurable:
One for the riding-ground, for archery,
And polo with some noble to record;
Or for the chase among the hills and plains
To keep himself in health, and when he left
The chase by day or night the affluent
Would decorate his route. The second part
Was given up to chess and nard and tales
Of battle, while the third was for the sages,
The scribes and story-tellers, who in turn
Narrated to him stories of the past,
While in the fourth the Sháh received the envoys
Of other potentates and wrote his answers
The envoys, gratified and satisfied,
Would set forth from the court and journey home.
On that day too for all the provinces
He used to write out patents and bestow them
On all the chiefs. When the New Year began
At Farwardín, and sunshine in men's hearts
Relumed the Faith, he laid a treasure by,
Unknown to all his subjects, secretly.
How Shírwí, the Son of Khusrau Parwíz, was born of Maryam with bad Auspices and how Khusrau Parwíz informed Cæsar
When he had reigned five years he had no peer,
And in the sixth year Cæsar's daughter bare him
An infant like the moon. 'Twas not the custom
To give the call to prayers371
in infants' ears
If delicately nurtured. Fathers spake
One name into their ears—a private one372
—
The other name was publicly announced.
The Sháh in private called his son Kubád,
But publicly Shírwí of glorious race.
When of that night of birth there had elapsed
Three watches the astrologers approached
Khusrau Parwíz who asked: “What have all those
Who read the stars observed, what will result,
And what is this young world-lord's horoscope?”
They said: “Thou canst not scape the sky's decree.
The earth will be in turmoil through this child;
His army will not bless him. He withal
Will quit God's path. What need we further say?”
The upshot of their travail and those words
Unseemly grieved the Sháh's heart, and he said
Thus to the sages: “Take a better view.
Be careful that ye speak no word thereof
Before the Íránian chiefs.”
He took good heed
Of that ill horoscope and laid it up
When he had sealed it with his royal signet.
The matter filled him with concern; he gave
No audience for a se'nnight and refrained
From chase and wine. None saw him for a space.
The chieftains all resorted to the archmage,
And held discourse at large to ascertain
What had befallen the illustrious Sháh,
And why he gave not audience to his lieges.
And told the army's words. He answered thus:—
“Fate troubleth me, and I am all concern
About the process of the turning sky
Through what the astrologers have said.”
He bade
The treasurer: “Bring forth the painted silk
With script therein.”
The treasurer produced,
The archmage scanned heart-straitened, and was
mute,
But in the end said: “God is all in all,
For He surpasseth all men's understanding.
Now if the blindly turning sky presenteth
An altered aspect to the questioner
How can concernment make it turn from ill?
Why then should any sage suggest such things?
May naught but joy be thine. Heed not their talk.
We reap as heaven soweth and perforce
Must trust thereto. While heaven itself shall last
At whiles will love and justice and at whiles
Strife and revenge prevail. From it the body
Hath gain and loss. The understanding soul
Is not afraid. The Maker be thy stay
And comforter, and fortune's head be laid
Upon thy lap.”
Thereat Khusrau Parwíz
Smiled and then gave his mind to other things.
He called a trusty scribe, instructed him
At large, and bade him write to Cæsar thus:—
“Put on a crown fit for a king to wear,
For in the night Maryam hath borne a son,
Whose like thou ne'er hast seen. He needs must be
Both wise and fortunate, and through his virtues
Both worthy of the throne and bountiful.
So, as I do myself, live happily,
For joy and high estate pertain to thee.”
How Cæsar wrote a Letter to Khusrau Parwíz, sent Gifts, and asked for the Cross of Christ
Now Cæsar, when the letter reached him, saw
The superscription of Khusrau Parwíz,
And bade to blow the trumpet at his gate;
The realm resounded. They adorned the wastes
And ways in honour of Shírwí the son
Ot Sháh Khusrau Parwíz; the voice of minstrels
Rose from the state of Rúm from end to end.
Folk went with many Crosses to the court,
The scent of roses and sweet perfumes rose.
Thus for seven days they joyed with harp and wine
Bade drivers with their caravans attend.
He loaded up with drachms a hundred camels,
And fifty with dínárs by way of largess,
Two hundred with gold-woven brocade of Rúm,
Thou wouldst have said: “The fabric is all gold,”
With forty golden tables made with feet
Of coral, fitting for the use of kings,
With gold and silver effigies of beasts
With gems for eyes,374 with robes of beaver-skins,
With silk from Chín, and with a golden laver
Adorned with emeralds. He sent Maryam
A peacock made of gold, and many gems.
He sent as tribute also forty million
Dínárs of Rúm with forty watchful Rúmans
To guard it led by Khánagí—a man
Unmatched in wisdom. Thus with cameleers
Ten caravans went laden with dínárs.
When tidings reached the conquering Sháh: “An envoy
From Cæsar draweth nigh,” he bade Farrukh,
A loyal marchlord, ruler of Nímrúz,
High-born, a warrior, and the army's Lustre,
To mount. With him went horsemen of the Sháh
With golden helms. When Khánagí descried
Those troops afar he boldly rode ahead
Until they reached the Sháh and that famed court.
On seeing his fair face and splendid throne
All louted to the ground and homaged him.
Then Khánagí, his face in dust, exclaimed:—
“O lord of justice, holy man! may God,
The All-conquering, bless thee, mayst thou ever be
The Sháh and glad.”
The chiefs arose and made
Room for him near the Sháh to whom he said:—
“Whose wisdom is like thine? Thou art more bright
Than Sol in heaven, more lasting than the soul
Of eloquence. May this world never lack
A king like thee, and may time bear him fruit.
May none behold the day whereon thy will
Is frustrate; be thy name writ on the sun.
May this world never lack thy head and crown,
This land thy host. From Cæsar salutation,
From us praise to this famous king of earth.
In his alliance. We have come from Rúm
With gifts and tribute to this famous land,
Come with philosophers withal lest any
Should feel aggrieved at us. Let him accept
From Cæsar goods and tribute and moreover
His blessing.”
Smiled the Sháh upon that man
Of worship and they set for him a seat.
Khusrau Parwíz sent to the treasury
The gifts and said to him: “There needed not
Such pains;” then to Kharrád, son of Barzín:—
“Read out this letter to the company.”
The scribe, an eloquent and heedful man,
Scanned the address and said: “'Tis ‘to the great,
Exalt Khusrau Parwíz, that man of God,
The watchful ruler of a lovely land,
Whose crown and wisdom are God's gifts to him,
The world-lord and the son of Sháh Hurmuzd,
The glory of the crown and throne, from Cæsar,
The father of the mother of the prince
Of lion-name,376
and may his fame and power
Endure. Be his height, Grace, and victory,
And may his days be all a New Year's Day.
May he rule o'er Írán and o'er Túrán,
In sovereignty without competitor,
For ever glad in heart and bright in soul,
For ever old in wit and young in fortune.
The noble monarchy of Gaiúmart,
The offspring of Húshang and Tahmúras,
Sire after sire, son after son, God grant
The stock ne'er fail. May holy God bless these,
The Mighty both in kingship and in Faith.
No horseman and no Spring is like to thee,
Like thee there is no picture in the halls;
Thou hast all manliness and uprightness,
And may thy spirit look not on defeat.
In all Írán, Túrán, and Hindústán
From Turkistán to Rúm, the sorcerers' land,
God hath giv'n thee high birth with purity:
No holy mother e'er bare such a son.
When Farídún gave to Íraj Írán,
And took supremacy from Rúm and Chín,
376a
He from the first acclaimed Íraj and purged
His heart from guile and gloom. Thou hast no want,
Thy fortune prospereth, and thou wouldst say
That God bestoweth majesty and charm
And manhood upon thee and robbeth others
Of their renown for manliness. As patrons
Of virtue, noble, bountiful, no member
Of their race e'er saw trouble. Tax and tribute
They laid on foes, and their ill-wishers bare,
As oxen do, their burdens. Since the days
For evermore!), whose peer hath never been,
And ne'er will be, as Sháh—the prudent king
By whom was reared a bulwark from the deep,
377 So that they freed the whole wood of Nárwan
From Turkmans and the folk reposed, so freed
A vast expanse from enemies amid
The benisons of lords and underlings,
While Arabs, Indians, and Íránians
Girt up their loins before him—from the sea
Of Chín up to the land of the Khazars,
And from Armenia to the Eastern377a gate,
The nobles of Haitál, Chách, Turkistán,
And Samarkand, although possessed of crowns,
Of Grace and splendour, all have been your lieges
Admittedly because the Sháhs were sprung
From Farídún and others had no right.
By this affinity that I have now
Contracted with thee, and increased thereby
My greatness by my wisdom, I rejoice
As those athirst, or herbs sun-parched, at water.
Let the shrewd world-lord make me glorious,
And answer me this day. I ask the king
To grant a wish of mine. It is a matter
Of no account to him. Among thy treasures
There is the Cross of Christ: observe and ye
Will find it so. It hath been there for long.
Now let the Sháh restore it and so doing
Confer a favour on us great and small;
Then all the world will bless him, saying thus:—
‘Let time and earth without him be no more.’
'Twill be a favour to me; I will pray
All day and three fourths of the night for him.
Let him accept the tribute, toll, and gifts
Sent by me to his folk, and in return
I will accept the Cross by way of thanks.
Ne'er may the wicked look upon thy face!
Our feasts and ritual will prove glorious,
Our Faith become resplendent in the world,
As will our holy day, our Sunday, God
Will everywhere be worshipped, and the sad
Will kiss the Cross and burn thereto much incense.
That time will be delightful to my heart,
For ye will purge your hearts of all the vengeance
That hath come down to us from Farídún,
And privily possessed both Salm and Túr;
Our realm will rest from forays and all feuds.
Our wives and children have been carried off,
In every way our hearts have been distressed,
And all insensate passions are appeased.
May the Creator bless thee and thy land.”
The Sháh heard Cæsar's letter to the end
With secret joy; the days of mighty kings
Had been restored in him. He gave great praise
To Khánagí and said: “Be thou no more
A stranger.”
They made ready for that worthy,
That man both shrewd and brave, as dwelling-place
Two halls delightsome, and provided him
With all things needful. Khánagí first viewed
The appointed dwelling, then rejoined the Sháh,
And companied that worshipper of God
At feast and entertainment, wine and chase.
On this wise with the Sháh a month they spent
In all good fellowship and much content.
Khusrau Parwíz wrote when the month had passed
A letter couched in wise and happy terms,
Beginning thus: “The blessings of the Great
Be on the man who keepeth pure within,
Who seeth God's work both in good and ill,
And feareth none beside but praiseth Him—
The Master of the sun—who thus sustaineth
The heavenly sphere: and first, thy praises of me,
As instanced in thy letter, I acknowledge,
And I am gratified that they proceed
From sages eminent. I have received
Thy splendid379
treasure sent and only wish
That thou hadst less concerned thyself. Since God,
The holy Ruler of the world, hath raised
Thy realm o'er Spica, so as to outprize
Hind and Sakláb, Chín and Khazar, what manhood,
What knowledge, virtue, and what Faith are thine,
And with God's blessing! When I was in trouble
Thou didst assist me and remove my griefs
Most wisely. Now I am more gratified
In thine affinity and virtuous daughter
Than any other chief in child, in land,
And virtuous kin. The other chiefs all turned
Their backs on me and passed me by as vile,
But thou didst take the place of sire to me,
A father noble and benevolent.
Next, what thou sayest of the holy Faith.
About your Sundays, fastings, and thanksgivings,
The scribe hath read to me. The words are both
Apt and acceptable, but still I shame not
For mine old Faith—Húshang's—than which the world
Hath seen naught better, teaching as it doth
All justice, goodness, reverence, and love,
With observation of the stars of heaven.
Sure am I that God is and ever strive
To follow justice. We do not allow
That God hath any partner, son, and consort.
He is and ever will be manifest,
Not comprehended by our thoughts but still
To me the warrant of His own existence.
Now as for these old tales recalled by thee
About the Cross of Christ: a well based Faith
Hath reason for its guide. Concerning those
Who, as thou say'st, are sad because their Prophet
Was crucified yet call Him ‘Son of God,’
And say that on the Cross He laughed, if He
Was son He hath but gone back to his Father;
Be not concerned about some rotten wood.
If foolish utterances proceed from Cæsar
His letter will be laughed at by the old.
The Cross of Jesus, which Ardshír the Sháh
Put in his treasury, is not worth the pains,
And if I send it from Írán to Rúm
The land will laugh at me, the archimages
Think that I have turned Christian and a priest
Upon Maryam's account! Demand of me
Whatever else thou wilt: the way is open.
I look with admiration on thy gifts,
For which thou hast encountered so much toil,
And have bestowed them on Shírwí that so
I might inaugurate his treasury.
I am concerned about Írán and Rúm,
My thoughts all night are like a wood, I fear
That when Shírwí is grown mishap will come
Upon both lands. Beginning with great Salm,
Prolonged by that old vengeful Wolf Sikandar,
What with new feuds and old, the whole affair
Will be revived. In all things that thy daughter
Hath said to me know that she hath restored
Thy crown to youth. She is a Christian still,
And heedeth not my words. She is at ease
And joyful, triumphing in this young Tree
Of royalty. The World-lord help thee ever;
May fortune's head be always on thy lap.”
Kharrád, son of Barzín, took charge thereof,
And then they oped the doors of treasure-hoards
Collected by the Sháh for many a day,
And in the first place eight score money-bags,
For coins which Persians call “paidáwasís,”
381 They filled till they were hard as stones with jewels,
Then sealed them tightly. Every bag was worth,
According to the reckoning on the roll,
One hundred thousand drachms. There were besides
Of pieces of brocade from Chín one hundred
And forty thousand, some of cloth of gold
With jewelled patterns, and five hundred pearls
Of purest water and like water-drops,
With eight score jewels like pomegranate-seeds,
Such as a skilful jeweller would prize,
While of the native produce of each land,
Of Hindústán and Chín, Barbar and Misr,
And raiment from Shustar—all that the chiefs
Esteem—he sent three hundred camel-loads
To noble Cæsar. He gave Khánagí
A grander robe of honour than he gave
To strangers or his kin, with garments, steeds,
Thrones, trappings, and all kinds of noted stuffs.
In this way too he made up camel-loads,
Ten out of them consisting of dínárs
To give to the philosophers of Rúm.
The embassy went on its way rejoicing,
While all the mighty men called down upon
That prowest king of earth their benison.
Now will I tell again old histories
About Shírín and Sháh Khusrau Parwíz.
The book containing them is antiquate,
But that same story bring I up to date
To serve as a memorial of the Great.
Six times ten thousand couplets there will be,
Well ordered, banishers of misery.
For thrice a thousand couplets one may look
In vain as yet in any Persian book,
And if one were to cancel each false strain
In sooth five hundred barely would remain.
That one—a bounteous king and of such worth
And lustre mid the monarchs of the earth—
Should disregard these histories is due
To slanderers and mine ill fortune too.
They envied this my work and with the king
They have prevailed to spoil my marketing;
My pleasant histories with all good heed
I shall be gladdened by his treasures here,
And may no ill from foe approach him near.
My book may then recall me to his mind,
The seed of mine endeavours fruitage find.
Be his the crown and throne while time shall run,
And may his destiny outshine the sun.
A rustic minstrel wise and old once said:—
“To know is that which giveth man most aid;
The tale of grief and joy he needs must tell,
Taste all the bitter and the salt as well,
For youths though knowing and of noble birth
Can only by experience compass worth.”383
How Khusrau Parwíz loved Shírín, how they parted, how he met her again while hunting and sent her to his Bower383a
Khusrau Parwíz like other paladins,
While yet his father lived, was young and bold,
And had for mate Shírín who was to him
As his bright eyes. He cared for none beside
Among the fair and daughters of the night,
383b
But parted from her for a while when he
Came to be king and had to roam the world
Unrestingly, for all his work was then
To fight Bahrám Chúbína while the Fair
Wept day and night o'er his defect in love.
384
It was so that one day he willed to hunt,
And all things were prepared as in the times
Of former Sháhs. They took three hundred steeds,
Caparisoned with gold, for that famed King,
While of his loyal servitors there fared
Afoot a thousand and eight score, and carried
Two-headed darts. A thousand and two score
Bare scimitars and wore brocade above
Their coats of mail. Seven hundred falconers
Came next with royal falcons, sparrow-hawks,
And gos-hawks, while behind them mounted men—
Three hundred keepers of the cheetahs—fared,
And pards and lions chained three score and ten,
All harnessed with brocade of Chín, all trained,
And furnished with gold muzzles. For the deer-hunt
There were eight hundred hounds with golden leashes.
Behind them came, to harp on hunting-days,
And crowned with gold. Five hundred camels went
Ahead, and 'twas their special task to bear
The seats, pavilions, and tent-enclosures,
The tents and shielings for the quadrupeds.
There were two hundred slaves to kindle censers,
And to burn aloe-wood and ambergris
Therein. Before the Sháh two hundred youths
Of those attending on him went with posies
Of saffron and narcissus that the scent
Might meet him from all quarters as he came,
Preceded by a hundred water-bearers
To sprinkle all the road, and thou hadst said:—
“They pour rose-water over ambergris”
Lest any sudden blast might scatter dust
Upon that Sháh of glorious lineage.
Three hundred youthful princes rode with him,
Arrayed in yellow, red, and violet.
The king of kings had with him Káwa's standard,
Wore crown and earrings, royal cloth of gold,
A golden girdle, armlets, and a torque,
And jewelled buttons.
Now Shírín, on hearing:—
“The host, preceded by the mighty Sháh,
Hath come,” put on a yellow vest musk-scented,
And made her visage like pomegranate-blooms.
She wore a red robe of brocade from Rúm
With patterns jewelled on a ground of gold,
And placed upon her head a royal crown
Set with the jewels of a paladin.
She left her jocund hall, went on the roof,
And in her day of youth showed naught of joy,
But waited till Khusrau Parwíz arrived,
Then let the tear-drops fall upon her cheeks.
At sight of him she rose, showed all her height,
And spake to him with sweetness of the past.
The twin Narcissi bathed the Cercis-bloom,
The first all languishment, the last all health.
All tears385
and beauty, eagerly she cried
Thus in the olden tongue: “O Sháh! Great Lion!
O framed to be leader of the host!
O blesséd hero, lion-conqueror!
Where is that love of thine? Where are the tears
Of blood once stanched by looking on Shírín?
Where all those days which once we turned to nights,
Tears in our hearts and eyes, smiles on our lips?
Where are our loves, our troth, our bonds, our oaths?”
E'en as she spake she shed blood-drops of gall
Upon her guise of lapis-lazuli,
385a
He wept for her, his face hued like the sun.
He sent a led horse all betrapped with gold,
And forty honest eunuchs, men of Rúm,
To bear her to his golden bower, his house
Begemmed, then went to hunt with hawks and cheetahs.
When he had had enough of hill and plain
He went back to the city joyfully.
They decked it and the roads because the Sháh
Was coming from the chase; the trumpet-calls,
And sounds of singing, ravelled all the air,
And thus the royal Fruit of that tall Bough
386 Passed through the city to his lofty home,
While from his bower Shírín came forth and kissed
His feet and hands and head. At that time spake
The Sháh to the high priest: “Indulge no thoughts
Save good concerning us, bestow on me
This fair-cheeked lady as my lawful wife,
And publish the glad tidings to the world.”
So he espoused her in the ancient way
With all the rites and sanctions of his day.
How the Nobles heard that Shírín had come to the Bower of Khusrau Parwíz and how they advised him and were satisfied with his Answer
Now when these tidings of Khusrau Parwíz
Came to the nobles and the host: “Shírín
Is in the Sháh's bower and the old affair
Hath been revived,” the city was aggrieved,
And full of care, distress, and malisons.
For three days none approached him. On the fourth,
When the world's Lustre shone, he sent and called
The chiefs and set them on the nobles' seats.
He said to them: “For days I have not seen you,
And grieve thereat. I am concerned for fear
Of your concernment and solicitous
About your dealings.”
Thus he spake but none
Replied; they simply held their tongues, but those
Aggrieved and angry looked at the high priest,
Who seeing this rose to his feet and thus
Addressed Khusrau Parwíz: “O righteous judge!
Thou hast in youth's day come to be the king,
Hast seen from fortune much of good and ill,
Ariseth from the deeds of those in power;
How when a noble race hath been defiled
Defiled too are the mighty sprung therefrom.
Know this, that never hath a noble son
Laid hands upon his father's life387 unless
His mother had befouled the seed and smirched
Her offspring. Thus Zahhák, the Arab, slew
His sire and brought ill on Jamshíd's head, thus
Sikandar, who poured out Dárá's blood, brought
So great a fire of feud upon ourselves
Although his father called Dárá his brother,
While Failakús was wont to call him son.
387a When sire is pure and mother virtueless
Know that no holy son will come to birth.
None seeketh for uprightness in perverseness
If he is fain to fill his sleeves with right.
Our hearts are sad because a potent dív
Is now the great king's mate, for had there been
No other woman in Írán e'en then
How could Khusrau Parwíz thus honour her?
If but Shírín were absent from his bower
His face would be resplendent everywhere.
Thine ancestors, those wise and upright men,
Ne'er would have thought of this.”
When he had spoken
At great length, and the king of kings returned
No answer, he said thus: “At dawn to-morrow
We will assemble here and haply have
The Sháh's reply; our talk was long to-day.”
Next day they rose at dawn and went to offer
Their service to the Sháh, and some one said:—
“It is not right to speak such words,” another:—
“The words were wisdom's mates,” a third: “He will
Reply to-day, and what he saith should make
For happiness.”
The archimages all
Set forward and with stately steps approached
The Sháh. The magnates took their seats and then
A man came with a bowl all furbished bright
As Sol and passed before the chiefs in turn.
Now warm blood had been poured therein. He set
It gently by the Sháh. All turned away
Their faces and the assembly was all talk.
Khusrau Parwíz looked on them and they quaked.
He said to the Íránians: “Whose blood
Is this and wherefore is it set before me?”
“'Tis noisome blood,” the archimage replied,
“And so polluteth him that seeth it.”
When he had spoken thus men took the bowl,
And scoured it out with water and with sand.
Then when that noisome bowl had been made bright
And clean, the washer filled it full of wine,
And sprinkled it with musk and with rose-water.
The bowl shone out sun-bright. Khusrau Parwíz
Said to the archmage: “Verily the bowl
Appeareth otherwise!”
The archmage said:—
“Live ever more! Good hath appeared from ill.
Thy bidding hath turned Hell to Paradise,
And from ill-doing good is manifest.”
“Shírín,” Khusrau Parwíz said, “to this city
Was e'en as this disgustful bowl of bane,
But in my bower she is a bowl of wine,
And savoureth as we. She first obtained
Her ill repute through me; she did not court
The friendship of the Great.”
All blessed him, saying:—
“May earth ne'er lack thy crown and throne. They
grow
In goodness whom thou makest good, and mighty
Are those whom thou hast made so in the world,
For to be Sháh, archmage, and chief is thine,
And have withal on earth the Grace divine.”
How Shírín murdered Maryam and how Khusrau Parwíz put Shírwí in Bonds
Thenceforth the greatness of the Sháh increased,
And what had been a moon became a sun.
His days were spent with Cæsar's daughter; she
Was chief within his bower. Because of her
Shírín was sore, her cheeks were ever wan
With envy till at last she gave her bane,
And Cæsar's lovely daughter ceased to be.
None wotted of the trick because Shírín
Kept her own counsel, and Khusrau Parwíz
Gave her the gilded chamber when Maryam
Had been deceased one year.
Now when Shírwí
Was sixteen years of age, and in his stature
O'ertopped the men of thirty, his sire brought
The erudite to educate the prince,
While by command an archimage maintained
A kindly watch upon him day and night.
It happened that the archimage one morn
Went to his patron's and returning found
Shírwí as usual occupied in sport,
Saw that he had in front of him Kalíla
And Dimna390
but that the fierce youth was holding
In his left hand a wolf's claw cut and dried,
He beat together as the humour took him.
Such actions, pastime, and behaviour
Vexed the archmage's heart who boded ill
From that wolf's claw, the buffalo's horn, and manners
Of that rude youth, and was in great concern
At what might happen through that ill-disposed
And luckless prince in times to come for he
Had seen the horoscope and made inquiries
Of minister and treasurer. He sought
The high-priest and reported thus to him:—
“This youth is wholly given up to play.”
The high-priest went at once and told the Sháh,
Who kept a careful eye upon his son,
On whose account his ruddy cheeks grew pale
In trouble for the future of the world.
His heart was full of pain, his liver ached
At what the readers of the stars had told him.
He said: “I wait the Lord of Heaven's will.”
When twenty-three years of the reign had passed,
And when Shírwí had gotten stalwart limbs,
The Great King was displeased because the child
Was lusty grown but not as he desired.
The monarch's mind, which else had been all smiles,
Was pained thereat, and he confined the youth
To his own palace with a foster-brother,
Disgraced on his account, and all that were
Attached to him or went to him for counsel:
There were above three thousand more or less.
Their palaces, connected each with each,
Were as a whole the prison of Shírwí.
They decked, draped, carpeted, and furnished them
With provand and the means of giving largess,
With male and female slaves, with wine and minstrels.
The place was all dínárs. The inmates passed
Their time in song and feast while forty men
Kept guard.
And now as episodes recite
Tales told by men who thought and spake aright.
Of that throne which thou knowest as Tákdís,
And which Khusrau Parwíz set up within
The hippodrome, the origin occurred
Beneath Zahhák—that loathly infidel—
For when heroic Farídún came forth,
And from the Arabs carried off the style
Of kingship, on Mount Damáwand there dwelt
A man who was distinguished by the Sháh.
Within the realm, and for that Sháh renowned
He made a throne and studded it with gems,
So that Sháh Farídún rejoiced o'er him
When that grand throne was finished, and bestowed
Drachms thirty thousand with a golden crown,
And pair of earrings on him, and had written
On his behalf a patent for Sarí,
And for Ámul. The coast-lands thus assigned
Resembled Paradise.392 When Farídún
Bestowed Írán upon Íraj—the youngest
Of his illustrious sons—he gave withal
Three things—this very throne, the ox-head mace
To serve as his memorial in the world,
And thirdly what the just Sháh used to term
“The Seven Founts”—a jewel. When Íraj
Departed these were left and Minúchihr
Had joy thereof. Each wearer of the crown
Made some addition to that throne, and when
It came to Kai Khusrau, the fortunate,
He added greatly to its height. It passed
In due succession to Luhrásp and so
On to Gushtásp who, when he saw it, cried:—
“The work of mighty men must not be hidden,”
And to Jámásp that man of worship said:—
What canst thou add to this achievement? Scan
It everywhere and see what supplement
Thereto will win us praises after death.”
Jámásp beheld the throne and saw therein
A key wherewith to open wisdom's door.
Upon it he inscribed the heavenly host,
Which hold the secrets of futurity,
And there portrayed by order of the Sháh
The planet-forms from Saturn to the moon.
The throne thus reached the era of Sikandar,
Each Sháh that looked upon it adding somewhat—
Gold, silver, ivory, and ebony—
Until through ignorance at one fell swoop
Sikandar broke it up; howbeit the nobles
Concealed and handed down full many a shard.
Thus was it till Ardshír began his reign,
And then the name e'en had grown obsolete.
He found no traces and so made another,
Not as he would, and had small joy therein.
He died and left it as thereafter did
Those that succeeded. When Khusrau Parwíz
Sat on the throne and all the chiefs were loyal
And its past history. Thus said the Sháh:—
“Ye chiefs! I ask a favour of my lieges
So that I may remake that throne renowned
To keep my name in mind. I need the plan
Drawn by Jámásp—the favourite of the sky—
The one adopted by Gushtásp, the Sháh,
Assisted by Jámásp's advice and skill.”
An archimagus reproduced the plan
Whereat the exalt Khusrau Parwíz was glad,
And, this obtained, made haste to reconstruct
With joy the throne, brought forth that of Ardshír,
And gathered all the craftsmen of Írán.
So in the days of that victorious Sháh
They reconstructed that resplendent throne.
The artificers came out of Rúm and Chín,
Makrán, Baghdád, and from Írán itself.
Of craftsmen there were one and sixty score,
Intent upon the fashioning thereof,
And each had thirty workers under him—
Men out of Rúm, Párs, and Baghdád. The Sháh
Commanded all to labour earnestly
To have the throne completed in two years,
And when it was set up high fortune shone.
The height thereof was five score royal cubits
393 If thou wilt add thereto three score and ten;
The breadth six score for 'twas less broad than high.
A different carpet was laid down each morning
Throughout the month,393a and seven score thousand plaques
Of gold with patterns fashioned of turquoise
Were set upon the throne, while every nail
And clamp were solid silver; each of them
Weighed sixty-six miskáls. When Sol displayed
Its lamp in Aries the desert lay
Behind the throne which fronted garden-wards,
But when Sol raged in Leo then the back
Was turned toward it;394 in the month of Tír—
The time for fruit and festival—the throne
Stood fronting toward the garden and the fruits
To catch their scents; in Winter, in the days
Of wind and wet, none felt them seated thus;
The top was all shut in right royally
With beaver-skins and sables. A thousand balls
Withal of gold and silver glowed like brands
394a Upon the fire, each five and twenty score
Miskáls in weight and coral-hued with heat.
Was turned towards the noble warriors.
The host of heaven, planets, Zodiac,
The bright moon in whatever Sign soe'er,
And all the bodies, fixed or wandering,
Were visible to the astronomer,
Who saw what portion of dark night had passed,
And how much sky had moved athwart the earth.
Among these tables some were made of gold,
And what a wealth of jewels was therein!
Not e'en an expert could compute their tale.
The cheapest ran to some three score dínárs
And ten; seven hundred would not purchase some,
So strike an average. Full many a ruby
Was there whose value none could estimate:
They lit the night like Venus in the sky.
Upon the throne-steps were three rows of seats
Enriched with gems. From one row to the next
There were four steps of gold inlaid with jewels.
One row, whose ornaments were shaped like heads
Of rams, took thence its name; the next above
Was known as “Lapis-lazuli” as higher
Than wind or dust-clouds, while the third was all
Turquoise, and every one that saw it burned
With longing. Rural chiefs and underlings
Sat on the Rams' Heads' row while cavaliers—
Men un-affeared upon the day of battle—
Sat on the cirque of lapis-lazuli.
The turquoise seat was for the minister
That was engaged in governing the realm,
And he that sat there must be wise and loyal.
A fabric was spread out of cloth of gold
Two score and seventeen cubits long, its fringe
All strung with jewels held by golden threads.
A map of heaven was inscribed thereon
Where Saturn, Mars, Sol, Jupiter,395 and Venus,
With Mercury and shining Luna, showed
The fortunes of the Sháh; there too appeared
The Seven Climes, and peers of Párs and Rúm;
395a The seven and forty Sháhs,395b their faces, thrones,
And crowns, were shown, those of the kings of kings,
Of woven gold. The fabric was unique.
A man of Chín, unrivalled in such work,
Had given seven years to weaving it.
One New Year at Urmuzd of Farwardín
He came before the monarch of Írán,
The nobles let him pass. He laid it down
On New Year's Day. The Sháh's joy was complete.
That carpet gave an opportunity
For mirth: they called for wine and minstrelsy.
There was a minstrel who was named Sarkash—
An expert—who acclaimed the king of kings
With all felicitations on the harp,
While nobles showered jewels over him,
And hailed him as the Grace of majesty,
What while the Sháh grew greater year by year.
Now in the nine and twentieth of his kingship,
When none fared ill at court, Bárbad heard tell
Thereof, for all folk said to him: “The world-lord
Affecteth minstrelsy in private life,
And thou, if thou wert introduced to him,
Wouldst overtop Sarkash.”
Thereat the man
Became ambitious and though well to do
Departed to the Sháh's court from his province,
And noted all the minstrels there. Sarkash,
On hearing him perform, was vexed at heart,
And, all confounded at such minstrelsy,
Approached the audience-chamberlain, bestowed
A present on him of dínárs and drachms,
And said: “There is a minstrel at the gate,
Who is my better both in years and skill.
He must not come before Khusrau Parwíz
For I am waxing old and he is young.”
The keeper of the door, on hearing this,
Refused the new musician audience,
And so Bárbad, whenever he approached,
Found his employment and his profit nil.
When he despaired of being heard he sought
The royal pleasance with his harp. The gardener,
A man by name Mardwí, revived his hopes,
Because at the New Year the Sháh was wont
To hold a two weeks' feast within that pleasance.
Bárbad approached Mardwí forthwith, became
Friends that same day and said: “Thou wouldest say
That we are soul and body. I desire
A boon—the merest trifle. When the world-lord
Shall come to revel hither give to me
The means of seeing him, myself unseen.”
397
Shall oust reflection.”
When the Sháh took order
For visiting the garth the gardener's heart
Was like a shining lamp. He went and told
Bárbad: “The Sháh is coming to the pleasance.”
Bárbad dressed all in green and took his harp,
Prepared to sing of glory and of war,
And went to where the Sháh would be who had
Each Spring a fresh spot for his festival.
There was a verdant cypress full397a
of leaf,
Whose branches, like the battle of Pashan,
Extended far and wide. With harp on breast
The minstrel climbed it and abode until
The king came from his palace to the pleasance:
The gardener had the spot in readiness.
There came a fay-faced reveller with wine
While in the monarch's hand there was a cup;
The world-lord took the liquor from the youth;
Its crimson made the crystal disappear.
Now when the sun turned sallow, but abode
Until night turned to lapis-lazuli,
The minstrel in that cypress took his harp,
And sang a royal ditty. In that tree
He sang a lay so charming that the Sháh,
That man of wakeful fortune, was amazed.
The melody which that sweet voice gave forth
Was that which now thou callest Dádáfríd.
398
The company were in astonishment,
And everyone had his own view thereon.
The playing made Sarkash like one insane;
He recognised the source, but held his peace,
And thought: “None but Bárbad can play like this,
Or knoweth thus the song of paladins.”
The Sháh gave orders to his lords: “Search all
The pleasance.”
They searched long and came again,
While shrewd Sarkash observed: “No marvel 'tis,
So fortune-favoured is the Sháh, that rose
And cypress-tree should serve him as musicians.
For ever may his head and crown endure.”
Then the cup-bearer brought another cup,
And as the king received it from the youth,
So fair of face, the minstrel preluded
In other fashion and forthwith began
A different song—that called Paikar-i-Gurd,
398a
A name suggested by the words. The minstrel
Sang and the Sháh gave ear, drank to the voice,
And bade: “Produce this man and all within
The garden.”
So they searched the garden through,
And carried lights beneath the trees, but saw
And pheasants pacing underneath the rose.
The king of kings called for another cup,
And raised his head to hear the voice. Again
There came the singing to another tune
Upon the harp—the tune called Sabz dar sabz,
399 A melody employed in magic arts.
On hearing it Khusrau Parwíz arose,
And that adorner of the garth demanded
A cup of wine that held a man.399a He drank
The sparkling wine off at a draught and cried:—
“An angel this, all musk and ambergris,
For if he were a dív he would not sing,
Or know to play the harp!399b Find out the player.
Search all the garden and the flower-beds
To left and right, for I will fill his mouth
And lap with gems, and he shall be chief minstrel.”
Now when the singer heard the monarch's voice,
And speech so kind and welcome, he descended
The branches of the straight-stemmed cypress, fared
Glad and triumphant, came and laid bis face
Upon the dust. Khusrau Parwíz said: “Speak.
What man art thou?”
“O Sháh! a slave am I,”
He answered, “and live only by thy voice.”
He told all that had happened from the first,
And who had been his friend. The king rejoiced,
Like roses in the Spring-tide to behold him,
Then spake thus to Sarkash: “Unskilful one,
Like colocynth while he is sugar-like!
Why didst thou bar his access to me thus?
Thy harp is banished from this company.”
Then while Bárbad sang on the monarch quaffed,
And drained the jewelled cup until his head
Inclined to sleep, whereat with watered pearls
He filled the singer's mouth. Bárbad became
Chief minstrel and renowned among the great.
The epoch of Bárbad hath past and gone:
May ill be never thy companion,
For since the day will pass alike of chief,
And underling, why should the sage eat grief?
Full many have gone—both chief and underling—
And I from slumber wish no wakening.
When six and sixty years have passed of life
It is not good for one to be at strife.
When I have ended these my famous lays
The country-side will echo with my praise.
Thenceforth for me not death but life shall last,
For I have flung the seed of words broad-cast,
And all of Faith, of counsel, and sound lore
Will sing my praise when I shall be no more.
I will retell the tale of Madá'in,
Tell of the palace of Khusrau Parwíz.
A Persian shrewd of heart, o'er whom had passed
Years four times thirty, said: Khusrau Parwíz
Sent men to Rúm, Hind, Chín, and other lands
Inhabited, and from all climes there came
Three thousand famed artificers, of whom
He chose two hundred—masters of their craft,
Who knew the use of bricks and mortar well—
Out of Írán, Ahwáz, and from the Rúmans.
Of these he next chose thirty and from them
Two Rúmans and one Persian, from which three
They chose a Rúman matchless in the world.
That expert came before Khusrau Parwíz,
And held discourse of plan and elevation.
That Rúman worshipful, that scientist
Surpassed in speech the Persian. Said the Sháh:—
“Accept this contract at my hands and heed
These mine instructions: I require a building
Such that although my sons and race shall dwell
Therein for many a year it will not fall
To ruin through the rain or snow or sun.”
The expert undertook the Sháh's commission,
And said: “For this thing I am competent.”
Ten royal cubits deep he excavated,
(A royal cubit is five common ones)
401
And laid foundations made of stone and mortar
To form a solid basis. When the walls
Belonging to the palace had been reared
He came before the master of the world,
And said: “Let now the Sháh appoint a man,
Exceeding wise and well advanced in years,
And send out to the works this man approved
Together with some trusty archimages.”
The Sháh appointed men as he was asked,
Who went and made inspection of the walls.
The artist brought silk which the company
Turned to a slender cord by twisting it.
Then from the wall-top of the royal palace
He measured to the level of the ground,
And after measuring the twisted cord
In presence of the Sháh's commissioners
He took it to the royal treasury,
And having sealed it gave it to the keeper;
Then going to the court said to the Sháh:—
“The palace-walls have risen to the moon,
The work for forty days but let it settle.
The Sháh selected me, and when the time
Is ripe the palace-wall shall be as Saturn.
Let not the Sháh's wrath aggravate my toils.”
Khusrau Parwíz replied: “Why askest thou
Such a delay from me, thou malcontent?
Thou must not stop the work but shalt not want
For gold or silver.”
By the Sháh's command
They gave the artist thirty thousand drachms
Lest he should take it ill. That honest workman
Knew that experts would blame him when he built
The palace hastily and, if it fell,
That he himself would lose his livelihood.
That night he disappeared; none saw him more.
Khusrau Parwíz when told: “Farghán hath fled,”
Poured out upon the speaker all his wrath,
And said: “How could a dullard give himself
Such airs before me?”
Then he bade: “Survey
The work and put in prison all the Rúmans.”
He said moreover: “Bring artificers,
And gather mortar, stones, and massive bricks.”
Albeit those that viewed the walls took flight
Both from the Sháh and realm, and he was forced
To leave the work alone and turned his thoughts
Upon Ahwáz if haply he might find
An architect that such an enterprise
Might not continue headless very long.
He sought for one for three years but they found
None of surpassing worth, and people still
Talked much about the former architect,
Who in the fourth year reappeared. A man
Of prudence and of Grace divine informed
Khusrau Parwíz and presently the Rúman
Himself came swift as dust.
“Thou criminal!”
The Sháh said, “say what disability
Was in the work to make thee lose both wealth
And Paradise?”
The Rúman said: “If now
The king will send me with a trusty man
I will explain to him about my doings,
And pardon will ensue on explanation.”
The Sháh dispatched them and they left the palace,
The noble artist and king's confidant.
The clever Rúman took the measuring-line,
And with the Sháh's own representative
Tried the wall's height and found that it had sunk
Seven cubits. Then they carried to the Sháh
The line. The expert's comrade made report.
The buildings to their height no wall, O Sháh!
No vaulting and no work had stood, and I
Could not have stayed at court.”
Khusrau Parwíz
Saw that he spake, as all should do, the truth,
Freed those in prison, whether ill-disposed
Or innocent, and gave the architect
Ten purses of dínárs and to the imprisoned
Full many a gift. Thus much time passed away.
The Sháh was eager for the work's completion,
And after seven years it was achieved,
And was approved by wise Khusrau Parwíz,
Who gave the architect much honour, land,
Dínárs and drachms and praise. All went to view
That palace, and the Sháh was wont to spend
His New Year there. None ever saw a structure
Like that or heard from famous architects
Of such. A ring of gold cast for the purpose
Hung from the ceiling of the cupola,
And from the ring a chain of ruddy gold
With jewelled links. Whene'er the king of kings
Ascended to his throne of ivory
They used to hang the crown upon this chain,
And when he took his seat on New Year's Day
The nearest were the favoured archimages,
The next below the chiefs, the mighty men,
And commissaries, lower down the merchants
And other traders, lower still the poor,
And those that laboured for their daily bread,
And, lowest, many maimed in hand or foot,
Or cast down mangled at the palace-gate.
Then from the hall would proclamation come
That used to stir all hearts: “All ye that are
The subjects of the monarch of the world!
Be not heart-darkened and dispirited.
The cares of all that look up to this height
Shall end, but look beyond the royal throne,
And take ye all the lieges in account.”
Then no one, whether innocent or not,
Was still retained in bondage by the Sháh,
Who used to clothe his prisoners withal
From head to foot and give to them dínárs
And gifts of all kinds, while all mendicants
Within the city that received no share
On New Year's Day he seated at his gate,
And flung drachms to them from the treasury.
Ill-doers used to fear him, drowsiheads
Grew vigilant while proclamation issued,
Whenas the time for leaving had arrived:—
Your first concern should be your health and safety.
Consider what ye do and ne'er distress
The diffident, reflect then act, and heed
The sayings of the wise. Regard inferiors,
For those of luckless lives demand our tears.
A man may slumber at my very throne
Unharmed by me if he shall keep the path,
But those that clutch at others' goods, on all
That do such things our anger shall befall.”
The greatness of the Sháh I next display,
And give new freshness to a bygone day,
Such majesty that mid the small and great
There is no memory of equal state.
Well may the reader of the roll of kings
Shake from his skirts all transitory things,
And well may I too say a word for I
Am well assured of sages' sympathy.
Be not at home in this world for its bane
Is greater than its antidote; refrain
From greed and strife; make not life's stage to be
Thy home, 'tis but a wayside inn for thee.
Fare on. Thou agest and the young anon
Arrive; this cometh, that one passeth on:
Awhile they strut or batten and are gone,
For lion's head and elephant's both must,
The signal given, come alike to dust.
When thou hast heard from me the wondrous tale
About Khusrau Parwíz keep it in mind.
He had such puissance and eminence,
Such majesty, such Grace, such throne and crown,
That, though thou ask of experts, thou wilt hear
Of no one greater. From Túrán and Hind,
From Chín and Rúm and every peopled clime
They brought him tribute night and day alike—
Boy-slaves and girl-slaves out of every court,
And pearls and gems. His treasures and dínárs
Were infinite; there was no king like him.
The wingéd eagle, royal falcon, hawk,
Pard, lion, and stream-haunting crocodile
Submitted to him willingly: his mind
Amassed from Chín, Bulghár, from Rúm, and Rús,
Was called “'Arús”;406 the next of watered pearls,
And in an edifice a bowshot high,
Was named “Khazrá”406a by chiefs and Arab sages;
The next was known as “Bár”406b and lord and liege
Have never looked upon its like; the next
Was great Shádward406c which minstrels celebrate;
The next was that which men called “Bád Áwar”;
406d They strove to estimate it but they failed.
The next whereof thou hearest speak thou callest
“Díba-i-Khusrauí,”406e and next the famed
Hoard of Afrásiyáb; none hath possessed
Its like by sea or land; another hoard
Was that entitled “Súkhta”406f and its lustre
Illumed the realm. Sarkash was of his minstrels;
So was Bárbad; that market never failed
Khusrau Parwíz, and in his golden bower
There were twelve thousand girls like jocund Spring.
He had twelve hundred elephants of war;
Thou wouldst have said: “Earth hath not room for them.”
The war-steeds in the stables of the king
Were six and forty thousand, while of camels
Red-haired406g there were ten thousand, and none then
Possessed one like to them. Twelve thousand more
Were beasts of burden, sixty-six were swift
For litter-bearing; none had seen or heard
Of such from white-haired veterans. Of troopers
There were a thousand thousand—men of Rúm,
Of Chín and Turkistán. He had withal
Shabdíz, the charger that ne'er failed in fight,
While in his women's bower there was Shírín
To add her lustre to his Rosary.
Since he was ruined by a servitor
Be not solicitous in quest for more,
But rather choose a life exempt from care
If thou wouldst have just praises for thy share,
For good and evil pass away with death,
And time is counting up our every breath.
What though thou gainest as thy portion here
Throne, crown, and treasury, though thy career
Be ever so laborious, yet at last
Thy lot among the bricks and dust is cast,
So sow but seed of good. Khusrau Parwíz
Should furnish thee with ample instances:
When thou shalt read the roll 'twill startle thee.
The famous throne, the seat of sovereignty,
Might and the diadem of empiry,
Were not sufficient for him but he must
Raise from Írán and from Túrán the dust!
The Sháh, who had been just, became unjust,
Joyed in the injustice of his underlings,
Robbed all men of their goods and stirred up strife
'Twixt man and man. That which had been a
blessing
Turned to a curse because the Ram grew like
A tyrannous Wolf. He undertook new toils,
His one desire was to increase his hoards,
Until the folk, who lacked both bread and water,
And had not e'en their bodies for their own,
Betook them to the country of the foe;
The oppressed although unwilling left the land.
There was a worthless man by name Guráz,
Through whom the Sháh enjoyed both ease and
pleasure.
He kept a constant surveillance o'er Rúm,
And was dív-headed, tyrannous, accursed.
Now when the once just Sháh became unjust
This man was first to turn against Írán.
Another was the favourite, Farrukhzád;
None could approach Khusrau Parwíz unless
Through him, and as the king of kings drew near
His end this man too grew corrupt. He came,
This offspring of Ázar Makán, a man
Of louring face and gruff with underlings,
And grew confederate with old Guráz
Till province after province was involved.
Guráz, who was the general, wrote to Cæsar,
And stirred him up to mischief, saying thus:—
“Arise and seize Írán. I will be first
In aiding thee.”
Then Cæsar mustered troops
For battle, beat the tymbals, paid his host,
And marched like wind toward the Íránian coast.
How Cæsar withdrew through an Expedient of Khusrau Parwíz and how the Chiefs released Shírwí from Bonds
The king, on hearing, took this grave case lightly.
He recognised the practice of Guráz
But he excused himself and disregarded
The royal letter, for the villain feared
Khusrau Parwíz, the court, and all the chiefs.
The king of kings sat with the Great and all
That were the men of leading in Írán.
He plunged his heart in thought and sought at large
Among all manner of expedients,
And when a bright thought came to him he wrote
Thus to Guráz: “I quite approve thy conduct,
And have commended thee before the lords.
This artifice surpasseth all, for thou
Hast caused the fall of Cæsar. When they bring thee
This letter set thy sharpest wits to work,
Wait till I make a move, then move thyself
That Cæsar being placed between our hosts
May have his purpose foiled. We will convey him,
And all his Rúmans, captives to Írán.”
Then from his court he chose one of resource,
Informed and eloquent, as there was need,
And said: “Convey this letter secretly,
As if thou wert a spy, but so contrive
That Rúmans may observe thee on the road,
Interrogate and carry thee to Cæsar,
Or else before the captain of the host.
He will inquire: ‘Whence art thou? Speak.’ Reply:—
‘A subject and in straits. I have been facing
Toil and the longsome road to bear Guráz
A letter.’ Have this bound to thy right hand,
And if he take it from thee it is well.”
The courier went forth from Khusrau Parwíz,
And made the letter fast to his right arm.
A scout descried him as he drew anear,
And carried him to Cæsar with his head
All dust, with wan cheeks, and with livid lips.
Then Cæsar asked: “Where is Khusrau Parwíz?
Thou must declare the truth.”
The embarrassed liege,
O'erwhelmed with fear, replied with favour changed.
Said Cæsar: “Search this wretch malevolent,
Ill-purposed and ill-faced.”
Shrewd, skilful men
Searched him and took the letter from his arm,
Then sought a learned chieftain of that march,
One who could read aright the ancient tongue.
Now when that scribe had read the letter over
The monarch's countenance became like pitch,
And thus he said in private to his troops:—
“Guráz intended to destroy us all!
And treasure, and three hundred thousand men,
Was minded to involve me in his net:
God grant his heart and policy be darkened!”
He dropped his purpose and withdrew his host.
Guráz, informed that Cæsar had returned
To Rúm, grew pale and sorrowful. He chose
A horseman from his troops and wrote this letter
With sighs and loud complainings: “Why is Cæsar
Displeased with me? Say wherefore hast thou quitted
Írán and made me shift thus for myself?
The king of kings, informed of what I did,
In pain and vengeance is estranged from me.”
When Cæsar was aware of this and saw
That letter he selected from his host
A noble and dispatched him to Guráz
In haste to say: “Hath God so furnished thee
That thou shouldst desolate my crown and throne,
And burn my troops with fire? Thy former letter,
Thou miscreant! came but to consign to wind
My treasure, and the purpose was to give me
Up to Khusrau Parwíz. May good estate
And greatness ne'er be thine! Thou shouldst have known
That while they see a Sháh of royal race
The Íránians will desire no alien,
None born of Cæsar, none however wise.”
Guráz protested unto Cæsar much,
But failed to gain an acccess to his ear.
Khusrau Parwíz then chose as messenger
A Persian who was learned and eloquent,
And sent him with this letter to Guráz:—
“Thou worthless villain, worker for the Dív!
These many times I summon thee to Court,
But thou art far from loyalty and right.
Now all the army that thou hast with thee,
For many years thy fortune's fosterers,
Are backing Cæsar both in heart and will,
And privily are not as they appear.
Dispatch to me the disaffected rebels.”
When this arrived the wary chieftain mused.
He chose twelve thousand valiant cavaliers,
And thus addressed them: “Be ye one in heart,
And heed ye not what any one may say.
Abide awhile on this side of the stream,
And hurry not at all upon the march.
If ye are one in tongue and confidence
Ye may uproot a mountain.”
Young and old
Advanced as far as Khurra-i-Ardshír,
412
Expectant of the bidding of the king,
Who, hearing, was not anxious to behold them,
But ordered Farrukhzád to go and say:—
“Till now ye have been loyal; wherefore then
Allowed ye Cæsar to invade us thus?
Who hath transgressed the way of God and quitted
The path of duty and of loyalty?”
The faces of the soldiers at that message,
Sent by Khusrau Parwíz, grew dark with fear.
None dared to speak but tarried pained and pale.
The messenger was with Guráz at heart,
But kept his secret both from wind and dust.
He then approached the leaders privily,
And threw some light upon their darkened minds.
“Fear not,” he said, “ye chieftains! for the Sháh
Hath not detected you in open fault.
Be of one heart and tongue, and say to him:—
‘What disaffected person is with us?
And if there be one cloak is over all;
We stand by one another lustily.’”
The chiefs all heard him, understood, rose up,
And framed their answer on the lines proposed.
Then Farrukhzád returned like flying dust,
And told the Sháh their words, who said: “Go back,
And say: ‘Which of you seeketh his own hurt?
The man that hath been duped by luckless Cæsar
With gifts of treasures, weapons, crowns, and thrones,
That man is guilty in respect to us—
A traitor to this crown and majesty.
Dispatch ye to my court without delay
All that are disaffected in this wise,
Else all of you that have transgressed shall see
The gibbet and the dungeon.’”
Farrukhzád
Went with these words, and in the soldiers' hearts
Old grievances revived. None dared to speak,
But kept a mournful silence. Thereupon
Spake Farrukhzád and in unseemly words:—
“In all this young and valiant host I see
None inefficient; why then fear the Sháh,
Whose troops are scattered through the world? I note
At court no great man to illuminate
His star and moon. Despise my words and fear not
The hearers knew: “The fortune of the king
Hath aged,” and framed their lips for malisons,
While Farrukhzád went to Khusrau Parwíz,
And said: “The troops all stand by one another,
And if thou sendest me again I fear
For mine own life.”
Khusrau Parwíz perceived:—
“This knave will cause both blood and tears to
flow,”
But fearful of his brother413
answered not,
And hid the truth; for Rustam had revolted
Where he was stationed with ten thousand swordsmen,
And holding Farrukhzád disloyal too
Caused his own soldiers to revolt withal,
While Farrukhzád was ware too that the Sháh
Knew him as author of the host's default;
So when that malcontent had left the presence
He dared not to return but kept without,
And tampered there with all the folk, for ever
Attempting to pervert them, man by man,
From their obedience to the Sháh. He told
Them all and they agreed: “Another Sháh
Should sit upon the throne for this hath lost
The Grace, the royal usages, and fortune.”
There was with Farrukhzád an ancient man,
Skilled in affairs, who said: “The Sháh imputeth
The army's fault to thee. Thou must produce
A new king soon because our fertile land
Is growing waste, its tumult as destructive
As was Pírán. We needs must ascertain
Which of the Sháh's sons hath most modesty,
And will cause least dispute. He must be seated
Upon the throne as Sháh and o'er his crown
Dínárs be showered. Then we shall fare anew;
We have drunk bitter and we shall drink sweet,
For since Shírwí,414
the shrewd and eldest-born,
Is now in prison we shall need no other.”
They all agreed thereto. But few elapsed
Of days and nights before Tukhár's host raised
The dust and slighted all the Sháh's affairs.
Then Farrukhzád went out to meet Tukhár
With many troops. They met and much talk passed
In public and in private. Farrukhzád,
Moreover, loosed his tongue and told the ills
By valour and by counsel will restore
The sovereignty.”
The general replied:—
“I am not one for words but when I come
To battle with my troops I make things strait
For this world's warriors. This king when young
Was loved by chief and paladin, and since
The days of such an one as he grow dark
I would that none should look on crown and throne.
The fatal time was when he grew unjust,
And joyed in the injustice of his slaves.”
When Farrukhzád heard this414a
he chose Tukhár,
And said to him: “Now go we to the prison,
To those unfortunates, and boldly bear
Shírwí, the brave, the atheling, away.
The captain of the host, whose brain and skin
Thou wilt take sooner, watcheth o'er his prison,
And with six thousand proven cavaliers
Is keeper of those wretched prisoners.”
Tukhár thus answered: “We have overlooked
This matter of the captain of the host,
For if the fortune of Khusrau Parwíz
Revive there will not be a paladin
Left in Írán, and what with gibbet, bonds,
And dungeon, none will 'scape calamity.”
He spake and urged his charger, speeding like
Ázargashasp, and led his powers to battle.
The captain of the host encountered him
Forthwith. Those famous troops were overthrown,
The captain of the host himself was slain
In fight, the forces of the king were scattered,
The day was one of gloom and all was lost.
By that expedient and in war-array
Tukhár made entry of that narrow prison,
And called exalt Shírwí. The prince replied
Forthwith, well knowing why that chief had come.
His heart throbbed, laughing after care, when he
Beheld that cheerful face, but still he wept,
And asked: “Where is Khusrau Parwíz? Is't
thine
To free me?”
Said Tukhár: “As thou'rt a man
Be not perverse, for if thou wilt consent not,
And lettest go this opportunity,
One in sixteen may fail us, but thou hast
Still fifteen brothers left and each deserving
To be the king of kings: the throne of greatness
Would joy in them.”
Shírwí remained in tears
And consternation. Should he quit the prison?
And suffered none to pass to tell the Sháh,
But acted as sole chamberlain. When Sol
Grew wan of face, and all the lords had gone
To seek repose, he bade the watch or them
That were its officers to fare to court—
That place of happiness and royal ease—
And said: “Your cry to-night must not be that
Of yesternight: all watchmen every watch
Must in their cries employ the name ‘Kubád.’”
They made reply: “We will; we will forget
Khusrau Parwíz.”
So when the night resumed
Its pitch-like robe from city and bázár
Arose the cry: “For ever live Kubád,
The scion of the great, and may his name
Be promulgate in all the provinces.”
The night was dark; the monarch of the world
Slept but Shírín beside him was perturbed,
On hearing what the watchman said, and grieved.
Her heart beat fast with care. Roused by her
voice
The Sháh took dudgeon, but she cried: “O sire!
What shall we do? How shall we act herein?”
He said: “O moon-face! why dost chatter so
When I am sleeping?”
She replied: “Give ear,
And listen to the watch.”
He heard; his cheeks
Became like flowers of fenugreek; he said:—
“What time three watches of the night have
passed
Consult the astrologers for when this knave
Was born I named him privily Kubád,
But I have spoken of him as Shírwí,
And kept his other name concealed. In public
Shírwí hath always been his name, so why
Is this vile fellow calling him Kubád?
We must depart while it is night toward Chín,
Máchín or else Makrán, and I will ask
Faghfúr for troops, and make our way to them
By some device.”
But as his star was dark
In heaven so on earth his words were wild:
His scheme of night-departure came to naught.
He took a hard case easily and told
Shírín: “The time hath come; our foes prevent
Our schemes.”
She answered him: “For ever live:
Far from thee ever be the evil eye.
Plan in thy wisdom something for thyself:
Ne'er may the foeman have of thee his will.
Will turn toward the palace past all doubt.”
He called for armour from the treasury—
Two Indian scimitars and Rúman casque,
A quiver, arrows, and a golden shield—
And for a valiant slave who loved the fight.
He went forth to the garden in the dark,
What time the crow awakeneth, hung up
His golden buckler on a bough where none
Was like to pass and with a heavy sword
Beneath his knee sat on the flowery sward.
When Sol shot down its rays the enemy—
That doer of dív's work—approached the palace,
And went about it, but that splendid seat
Was void of Sháh. They gave to spoil his treasures,
None recking of his travail, and then all
Withdrew in tears and wroth at fortune's doings.
What of yon swiftly turning sky say we,
Which never resteth from its instancy?
It giveth unto one the royal crown,
Another to the fishes in the sea.
One man hath head and feet and shoulders bare,
No peace, no food, no shelter anywhere;
It giveth to another drink of milk
And honey; furs, brocade, and silks to wear!
Dust and the darkness of the grave await
Them both. To be unborn would best abate
The sage's cares for never to have been
Is better than to be for small and great.
Now for fresh toil upon Khusrau Parwíz
To give reciters novel histories.
The Sháh bode in that mead, a lofty tree
O'ershadowing him. When half the longsome day
Had passed he hungered. Now within the pleasance
There was a man employed who did not know
The king by sight. The Sun-faced bade his slave:—
“Cut off a cantle from this costly belt.”
That cantle had on it five studs of gold
Enriched with jewelry. The king then spake
Thus to the gardener: “These studs will prove
Buy meat and bread, and shun frequented paths.”
Those jewels would have cost a purchaser
Some thirty thousand drachms. Immediately
The gardener sought a baker and asked bread
In change for that gold cantle but the baker
Said: “I have not its worth and cannot pass it.”
The two conveyed it to a jeweller,
And said: “Price this according to thy knowledge.”
The expert, when he looked upon the studs,
Said: “Who will dare to buy, for this should be
Within the treasury of Khusrau Parwíz,
Who hath a hundred new like this each year?
Whom didst thou steal these jewels from, or didst
Thou cut them off a slave who was asleep?”
The three men went to Farrukhzád and took
The jewels, gold and all, and he on seeing
Ran to the new-made king and showed the gems,
And cantle severed from the golden girdle.
Shírwí said to the gardener: “If thou
Show'st not to me the owner of these jewels
I will behead thee and thy kith and kin
Forthwith.”
“O Sháh!” he answered, “in the garden
There is a man in armour, bow in hand,
In height a cypress and with cheeks like Spring,
In all points like a king; he brighteneth
The garden everywhere, and in his mail
Is like the shining sun. His golden shield
Is hanging from a bough. Before him standeth
A slave with loins girt up who cut for him
This jewelled cantle, handed it to me,
And told me: ‘Hence away and from the market
Buy bread and relish.’ Swift as wind I left him
But now.”
Shírwí knew: “'Tis Khusrau Parwíz,
His features are the age's cynosure,”
And sent three hundred horsemen from the court,
Like rushing wind, down to the river-bank.
Khusrau Parwîz, perceiving them afar,
Grew pale and drew his scimitar, but when
They saw the king of kings they all returned
In tears. They went to Farrukhzád and said:—
“We are but slaves; he is Khusrau Parwíz—
A Sháh to whom the evil day is new.
None either in the garden or the fray
Would dare breathe cold on him.”
Then Farrukhzád
Went to the Sháh with troops from court, advanced
Alone and spake at large. Khusrau Parwíz
Will grant me audience, and will excuse
My conduct, I will come and tell the truth
To him but otherwise will hie me home.”
Khusrau Parwíz made answer: “Say thy say,
For thou art neither friend nor enemy.”
Then said that fluent speaker: “View the matter
More wisely and assume that thou hast slain
A thousand warriors, yet thou wilt get
Thy fill of fight at last while all Írán
Is hostile to thee, leagued both heart and body
In opposition. Wait the will of heaven:
Perchance these conflicts may result in love.”
“Yea,” said Khusrau Parwíz, “'tis well. What I
Dread are the vile who may approach and treat me
With all indignities if so they will.”
While he was speaking thus to Farrukhzád
His heart was troubled at his agéd fortune
Because astrologers had said to him,
And he had been astonied at their words:—
“Thy death will come to thee between two heights,
And by a slave's hand in a lonely spot.
One height will be of gold and one of silver,
And thou with broken heart wilt sit between.
Thy heaven will be golden, thine earth iron,
And fortune will be full of enmity.”
He said: “So now this armour is mine earth,
My golden shield my heaven, and the heights
Are my two treasuries within the garden,
Which used to make my heart shine like a lamp.
In sooth my days are coming to an end:
Where is my star that used to light the world?
Where are the satisfaction and the peace
Of me who had my name inscribed on crowns?”
They brought an elephant for him. His soul
Was dark with woe. He mounted, and the troops
Led him away while in the ancient tongue
He cried: “O treasure! if thou art my foe
Be not a friend to these mine enemies,
For I am in the hands of Áhriman
To-day. Thou aid'st me not in my distress:
Conceal thyself and show thyself to none.”
Kubád gave orders to his minister:—
“Remind him not of any evil deed,
But bid them carry him to Taisafún
Away from court with his own counsellor.
There let him bide in peace for many a day
And harmed by none. Let trusty Galínús
Be made his keeper with a thousand horsemen.”
When thus the sky revolved above his head
His reign had lasted eight and thirty years.
A time for fires and wine and roasted fowls,
When from Khusrau Parwíz the Grace of kingship
Withdrew and he was crownless like a slave.
Kubád acceded and put on the crown,
And sat in peace rejoicing on the throne.
The Íránian troops did homage to the Sháh,
Who gave one year's pay from the treasury,
And lived but seven months so call him naught,
Or call him Sháh, just as it pleaseth thee.
Such is this tyrant Hostel's wont! Thou must
Look not upon it with an eye of trust.
Of all things cultivate a generous mood,
And let thy thoughts be ever bent on good.
When thou shalt say: “The world hath granted me
My wish” then mark! that wish will prove to thee
A bond and snare. If so thou canst abstain
From thought of ill and list this sage's strain.
Here will thy soul from every fault be freed
When thou dost rightly both in word and deed.
ABBREVIATIONS, list of, xv
'Abbás, Arab chief, attacks Hur-muzd, 93
Abú Mansur, prose Sháhnáma compiled for, 71, 73
Abú'l Kásim, Firdausí, 28
'Ad, Arab tribe, 276
Afrásiyáb, ruler of Túrán, 242, 300, 349
hoard of, 148, 406
Áhriman, the Evil Principle, 19, 21, 22, 86, 87, 176, 177, 198, 210, 219, 243, 293, 333, 364, 421
=idolater, 54 =Bahrám Chúbína, 89 (?), 295 =Kharrád, son of Barzín, 111
Ahwáz, city in Khuzistán (Susi-ana), 400, 402
'Akr Bábil, prison, 194, 196
Aláns (Alani), people, 369
king of=Khusrau Parwíz, 208, 209, 213
Aleppo (Chalybon-Beroea), city, 41
Amasis, 193
Ambar (Pírúz Shápúr), city on the Euphrates, 188
'Ammúriya (Ancyra, Angora), stronghold, 46
'Amr, Arab chief, attacks Hur-muzd, 93
Ámul, city in Mázandarán, 355, 356, 358, 392
Ámwi, city on Oxus, 354
Andamán, Íránian noble, 202
Andív, country, 313
Andiyán, Íránian warrior, viii, 225, 257, 259, 269, 293, 294, 296
deceived by Cæsar's talisman, 273 Bahrám Chúbína writes to, 285 receives Kirmán, 313
Antioch, city, 41
Apothegms, 119, 166, 206, 215, 221, 235, 295
Arab, Arabs, 67, 94, 188, 190, 191, 208, 230, 241, 250, 251
invasion of, 72, 93 withdraw, 96 steed, 126, 302 sages, 406
Arabia, 24 note
Arabic, language, 73
Tabarí. See Tabarí.
Árash, son of Kai Kubád, 216
Araxes, river, Battle of, 76
Arba, river, 194, 195
Architect, Rúman, 401
Archscribe, vii. See Ízid Gashasp and Mihrán
Ardabíl, city in Ázarbáiján, 93, 99, 100, 184, 226
Ardawán, Ashkánian king, 214, 285
Ardshír Pápakán, first Sásánian Sháh, 191, 214, 222, 265, 270, 285, 392, 393
true Cross in treasury of, 380
Aries, constellation, 342, 394
Árish, famous Íránian archer, 75, 219 and note
Arjásp, king of Túrán, 95, 104, 148
hoard of, 148
Armenia, country, 93, 96, 184, 193, 202, 377
Armenian, Armenians, 188, 189, 195, 226, 248, 282
=like, 254 =Mausíl, 293 and note
Arrow-shots, three famous, 75
Bahrám Chúbína's, 126
Arsacids, rivalry of, with Sásán-ians, 73
Artang, the house of the heresiarch Mání, 172 and note 362 and note
'Arús, treasure, 406 and note
Arwand (Tigris), river, 90
Arzhang. See Artang.
Asfandiyár, Íránian hero, 95, 104 and note, 171, 270, 332, 395 note
Ashkabús, Túránian hero, fight of, with Rustam referred to, 75
Ashkánian, Ashkánians, 214
Asia, 187
Minor, 193, 194
Assurbanipal, Assyrian king, and Khusrau Parwíz, reigns of, compared, 193
Astrologers, consulted on birth of Shírwí, 372
Avars, Caucasian tribe, 194
Áwáza, stronghold, vi, 134, 138
Axumite, Ethiopian dynasty, 24 note
Áyín Gashasp (Yazdánbakhsh), Íránian noble, vii, 75, 150 note, 222
Hurmuzd consults, 174, 177 and the prisoner, story of, 177 seq. marches to Hamadán, 178 consults a seer, 178 murdered, 181 avenged by Bahrám Chú-bína, 181
Áyín Gashasp, troops of, disperse, 181
Ázar, month, 244, 421
Ázar Ábádagán (Ázargashasp q.v.), ix, 282
Ázargashasp, spirit of the lightning, 46, 122, 152, 176, 245, 256, 415
temple of (Ázar Ábádagán), at Shíz (Takht-i-Sulai-mán) in Ázarbáiján, 68, 184, 210 and note visited by Khusrau Par-wíz, 283, 307, 312
Ázargashasp, Íránian warrior, 296
Ázar Makán, father of Farrukh-zád, 408
Bábil (Babylon), 194, 249
Bacchus, Saint and Martyr, 188
Bactrian camels, 47
Bád Áwar, treasure, 406 and note
Baghdád, 109 note, 112, 174, 193, 203, 393
Bahman, Sháh, 270
Bahman, Íránian noble, 22
Bahrám, son of Siyáwush, viii, 75, 163, 245
reported slain, 128 returns with captive sorcerer, 128 speech of, 166 related to Bahrám Chúbína, 187 wife of, 187 warns Bahrám Chúbína, 247 pursues Khusrau Parwíz, 233 besieges Khusrau Parwíz, 236 beguiled by Bandwí, 236, 245 returns with Bandwí to Bahrám Chúbína, 238
Bahrám, blamed by Bahrám Chúbína, 238
given custody of Bandwí, 238 slain by Bahrám Chúbína, 247
Bahrám, Íránian general, left in charge of host by Khusrau Parwíz, 296
Bahrám, father, in Persian Tabarí, of Bahrám Chú-bína, 77
Bahrám, day, 279
fatal to Bahrám Chúbína, 337 and note, 339 and note
Bahrám, name of, inscribed on cup incites Khusrau Par-wíz to afflict Rai, 365 and note
Bahrám Ázarmihán, Íránian scribe, vi
Hurmuzd attempts to suborn, 85 seq. reveals state-secret to Hur-muzd, 88 put to death, 89
Bahrám Chúbína, Íránian hero, vi seq., 70, 73, 184, 187, 199, 209, 214, 215, 343 seq., 352 seq., 356 seq., 360, 383
Romance of, 72 seq., 187, 191, 304 note Nöldeke on, 73 account of, 72 seller of sheep's heads and, 74, 107 dream of, 75 withholding of booty by, 76, 148 insult of Hurmuzd to, 76 defeat of, in Lazic war, 76 sends swords to Hurmuzd, 76 parentage of, 76, 77 malicious speech about, 77, 150 coinage of, 77, 173 brought to notice of Hur-muzd, 98 described, 98, 206
Bahrám Chúbína, identified by Zád Farrukh, 99
sent for by Hurmuzd, 100 consulted by Hurmuzd, 100 made commander-in-chief, 102 selects his troops, 102 justifies his method in so doing, 104 receives Rustam's banner from Hurmuzd, 105 receives Mihrán as recorder from Hurmuzd, 106 marches from Taisafún, 106 refuses to be recalled, 108 marches to Khúzistán, 109 and note hay-seller and, 109 marches toward Dámaghán, 109 parley of, with Faghfúr, 112 refuses Sáwa's offers, 113 seq., 117 seq. counselled by Kharrád, 121 arrays his host, 122 prayer of, before battle, 123 encourages the Íránians against Sáwa's sorcery, etc., 124 seq. defeats and slays Sáwa, 126 doings of, after battle with Sáwa, 130 rewarded by Hurmuzd, 133 ordered to attack Parmúda, 133 holds revel in a garden, 135 attacked by and defeats Parmúda, 135 seq. besieges Parmúda in Áwáza, 138 informs Hurmuzd, 138 negotiates for surrender of Áwáza with Parmúda, 138 seq. receives surrender of, and insults, Parmúda, 143 blamed by Kharrád and archscribe, 144 tries to appease Parmúda, 145
Bahrám Chúbína, has inventory made of the wealth in Áwáza, 147
sends Ízid Gashasp with spoil to Írán, 148 Hurmuzd begins to suspect, 151 advances of, to Khán rejected, 153 goes to Balkh, 153 guided by an onager, 156 incited to seek the kingship, 158 change in, 158 questioned by Kharrád, 158 sends Yalán-sína after Khar-rád and archscribe, 159 pardons archscribe, 160 Luck of, 162 renounces allegiance to Hur-muzd, 162 intercepts the royal letters, 163 consults the chiefs, 163 becomes friends with the Khán, 172 appoints a prince for Khur-ásán, etc., 173 marches to Rai, 173 avenges murder of Áyín Gashasp, 181 historical campaign of, against Khusrau Parwíz, 189 carline and, 189, 303 marches to the Nahrawán, 201 spies' report of, to Khusrau Parwíz, 201 Khusrau Parwíz marches to meet, 203 interview of, with, 204 seq. tampers with troops of Khusrau Parwíz, 225 combat of, with Khusrau Parwíz, 228 arrives at Taisafún, 231 sends Bahrám, son of Siyá-wush, in pursuit of Khus-rau Parwíz, 233
Bahrám Chúbína, blames Bah-rám, 238
chides, warns and imprisons Bandwí, 238 addresses the magnates, 239 elected Sháh, 243 gives malcontents three days to quit Írán, 244 plot against, 245 seq. warned, 247 slays Bahrám, son of Siyá-wush, 247 hears of Bandwí's escape, 248 deceived by forged letters, 287, 293, 294 marches against Khusrau Parwíz, 287 goes to Ázar Ábádagán, 288 arrays his host, 289 fights with and slays Kút, 290 sends back corpse of Kút, 291 worsts Rúmans, 292 “Harvest of,” 292 charges and routs Khusrau Parwíz' centre, 294 fights with Gurdwí, 294 goes to fight Khusrau Par-wíz and his body-guard, 297 leaves Jánfurúz in charge of host, 297 puts to flight and pursues Khusrau Parwíz, 298 Surúsh saves Khusrau Par-wíz from, 299 deserted by his chiefs, 302 retreats, 302 releases Nastúh, 306 goes to Rai, 306 welcomed by Khán, 316 asks oath of Khán, 317 counsels Khán to resist Makátúra, 318 challenged by Makátúra, 319 fight of, with Makátúra, 320 Khán sends gifts to, 321
Bahrám Chúbína, asked by Khán's wife to avenge death of her daughter on lion-ape, 324
battle of, with lion-ape, 325 extradition of, demanded by Khusrau Parwíz, 328 urges Khán to make war on Írán, 330 sets forth for Írán, 331 Kharrád attempts to prejudice, with Khán, 333 arrives at Marv, 336 fatal day of, 337, 339 Kulún seeks interview with, 339 Kulún stabs, 340 sister of, laments over, 340 dying speech of, 341 makes Yalán-sína his mandatory, 342 letter of, to Khán, 343 burial of, 343 name of, on cup, 365 and note
Bahrám Gúr, Sháh, 75, 129 and note
Bahrám-Gushnasp, father in Arabic Tabarí of Bahrám Chúbína, 77
Bahrám Tal, 138 and note
Balkh, city, 22, 74, 95, 153, 159, 161, 173
aphorist of, 221
Balwí, Íránian noble, viii, 257, seq.
deceived by Cæsar's talisman, 273 praised by Cæsar, 279 receives Chách, 314
Bandwí maternal uncle of Khus-rau Parwíz, vii seq., 200, 202, 204 seq., 224, 225, 227, 231, 234, 245 seq., 289, 296, 298, 356, 357
imprisonment of, 77, 176 Gustaham and, escape and revolt, 182 referred to, 189 put to death, 191, 355 accompanies Khusrau Par-wîz in his flight, 231
Bandwi, turns back and murders Hurmuzd, 232
rejoins Khusrau Parwíz, 233 promises to save Khusrau Parwíz, 234 disguises himself as Khusrau Parwíz, 235 beguiles Bahrám, son of Siyáwush, 236, 245 imprisoned by Bahrám Chú-bína, 238 Bahrám Chúbína hears of escape of, 248 entertained by Mausíl, 249 goes with Mausíl to meet Khusrau Parwíz, 282 Bahrám Chúbína writes to, 285 causes defection of Bahrám Chúbína's chiefs, 302 insults of, to Niyátús, 309, 310 reconciled to Niyátús, 311 minister of Khusrau Par-wíz, 313 adherents of, beheaded, 370
Baní Tayy, Arab tribe, 188
Bár, treasure, 406 and note
Bárbad, minstrel, xi, 397 seq., 406
supersedes Sarkash, 399
Barbar, town and country (British Somaliland), 381
Barda', city on the borders of Ázarbáiján and Armenia, 99, 100, 184, 222, 226
Barzín, general of Núshírwán, 17
Barzín, vii seq., father of Khar-rád, 74, 76, 190, 205 and passim
Barzín, father of Jahn, 391
Barzín, sacred Fire, 216
Bátarún (Marcian), Rúman general, 41, 47, 52
Berlin, 192
Bih Ardshír (Seleucia q.v.), 194, 196
Bistám (Gustaham q.v.), 255 and note, 256
Bístún, rock famous for its inscriptions near Kirmán-sháh, 209
Bízhan and Manízha, Story of, referred to, 72
Brazen Hold, 171
Bulghár (Bulgaria), 406
Burns, quoted, 3
Burzmihr, scribe, 81, 87, 313
=Búzurjmihr (?) q.v., 71
Búzurjmihr, scribe and counsellor of Núshírwán, v, 3 seq., 67 seq.
goes hunting with, and is suspected of theft by, Núshírwán, 4 disgraced by Núshírwán, 5 instructs Núshírwán's page, 5 refuses to admit himself in the wrong, 6 seq. treated with increasing rigour, 7, 8 released, 9 divination by, 10 seq. advises with Núshírwán, 47 seq. instructed by Núshírwán to prove Hurmuzd, 56 seq. abolition of Fire-worship foretold by, 68 death of, 69, 71 =Burzmihr (?), 71 Mas'údí on, 71
CÆSAR, v, viii seq., 8 seq., 19, 43 seq., 51 seq., 230, 232, 245, 252 seq., 257 seq., 299, 306 seq., 334, 373 seq., 408 seq.
death of, 43 son and successor of, offends Núshírwán, 44 seq. marches against Núshírwán, 46 attacks Hurmuzd, 93 retakes cities, 93 makes peace with Hurmuzd, 95 welcomes Khusrau Parwíz, 257
Cæsar, offers help to Khusrau Parwíz, 261
changes his mind, 262 consults the astrologers, 264 decides to help Khusrau Parwíz, 265 offers daughter to Khusrau Parwíz, 266 offer of, accepted by Khus-rau Parwíz, 269, 270 talisman of, 271 deceives Rúman envoys, 272 mastered by Kharrád, 274 gifts of, to Kharrád, 278 writes to Khusrau Parwíz, 279 praises Rúman envoys, 279 counsels Maryam, 279, 280 gives Niyátús charge of Maryam, 280 corpse of Kút sent to, 291 Khusrau Parwíz announces death of Bahrám Chúbína to, 345 daughter of, gives birth to Shírwí, 371 Khusrau Parwíz' letter to, 373 rejoicing of, at birth of Shírwí, 374 embassy of, to Khusrau Parwíz, 374 gifts of, given by Khusrau Parwíz to Shírwí, 381 invited to seize Írán, 408 tricked by Khusrau Parwíz and retreats, 410
Callinicus (Warígh q.v.), city, 188
Carline and Bahrám Chúbína, 189, 303
Catholicus, 195
Caucasus, 72
Chách (Táshkand), city in Túrán, 314, 377
bows of, 125, 126, 294
Chalah, 193
Chalcedon, 194, 195
Chalybon-Beroea, 41
Chao-wou=Sáwa q.v., 72
Chase, the, Khusrau Parwíz' equipage for, 384
Chess, 371
Chín, country (often=Túrán), ix, 45, 95, 97, 130, 139, 172, 216, 217, 316 and passim
brocade of, 65, 159, 381, 384 prince of,=Parmúda, 142 prince of=Sáwa, 222 robe of, 205 sage of, 235 tunics of, 257 silk from, 258, 269, 374 sea of, 377
Chinese, 72
Chínwí, 331
Christ, xi, 43, 191, 272, 310, 380
account of, 276 father of, 276 mother of, 276 Faith of, 310 Cross of, xi, 377, 380 laughter of, 191, 380
Christian, Christians, 21, 67, 195, 196, 256, 272, 308, 310, 381
shut gates of Kársán against Khusrau Parwíz, 252
Chúbín (Júbín), father, according to Mas'údí, of Bahrám Chúbína, 77
Chúbína, 215, 222
meaning of, 98 note
Circesium, 188
Climes, the Seven, 395
Clough, quoted, 187
Constantinople, 194
Contents, Table of, v
Cook, Chief, of Núshírwán, grievance of, 18
Cross, Crosses, 308, 309, 374
the true, xi, 191, 196, 253, 377, 378, 380
Crows and Owls, story of, 263 and note
Ctesiphon (Taisafún, q.v.), 42, 188, 189, 193, 194, 196
DÁDÁFRID, melody, 398 and note
Dai, month and day, 55 note, 173, 421
Dakíkí, Persian poet, 190
Dámaghán, city, 109, 189
Damáwand, mountain south of Caspian, 391
Dárá, Sháh, 220, 242, 387
Dárá (Daras), city, 41, 194
taken by Núshírwán, 41 ceded by Khusrau Parwíz, 188
Dárá Panáh, 189, 284
goes disguised to Khusrau Parwíz' camp, 286 betrays Bahrám Chúbína, 286 returns to Bahrám Chúbína with forged letter, 287
Dáráb, Sháh, 191
Dárábgird, city, 313
Darband, 369 note
Darius Hystaspis, 187
Dármán, 202
Dastagird, city, 193, 196
taken by Heraclius, 194
Dead Sea, 192
Dhú Kár, battle of, 188
historical account of, 190 date of, 191
Díbá-i-Khusrauí, treasure, 406 and note
Dimna, Kalíla and, Book of, 202 note, 390
Dív, 159, 161, 206, 209, 211, 217, 218, 290, 341, 342, 399 and note, 418
=Áhriman, 27, 50, 87, 123, 215, 222, 304, 341, 346, 411 =Bahrám Chúbína, 153, 219, 293, 298 —witch, 161 Black, 171 =Zahhák, 242 =Kulún, 342
Dúk, plain, 282, 284
mountain, 289
EGYPT, 187, 193
Egyptian, 193
thorn, 210
Ether, 275
Ethics, Muhammadan, respected, 74
Euphrates, river, 188, 190
Eye, evil, 16, 417
FAGHFÚR, of Chín, 74, 97
Faghfúr, son of Sáwa, 74, 75, 120
confused with Faghfúr of Chín, 74 parley of, with Bahrám Chúbína, 112 head of, on spear, 132
Failakús (Philip II of Macedon), 387
Falátún (Plato), 264
Farát (Euphrates), 93, 250
Farghán, Ruman architect, and Khusrau Parwíz, 401 seq.
Farhád, lover of Shírín, 192
Farídún, Sháh, 129, 205, 218, 231, 242, 260, 300, 376 seq., 391, 392
Farrukh, ruler of Nímrúz, 375
Farrukhánzád (Farrukhzád q.v.), 195
Farrukhzád (Farrukhánzád, q.v.), favourite of Khusrau Parwíz,
conspires with Guráz, 408, 412 goes to the host, 412 rebels in favour of Shírwí, 413 brother of, 413 and note conspires with Tukhár, 414 proclaims Shírwí Sháh, 416 hears where Khusrau Par-wíz is hiding, 419 holds talk with Khusrau Parwíz, 420
Farrukhzád, Íránian warrior, 241, 296
speech of, 240
Farwardín, month, 367, 371
Firdausí, ix, 71, 73, 74, 187, 190, 192, 193
admits Muhammadan traditions into Sháhnáma, 42 death of son of, 190 and rhyme-word, 397 note
Fire-worship, abolition of, prophesied, 68
Fish, mythological, 212 and note
Founts, the Seven, 392
Gaiúmart, Sháh, 24, 55, 260, 269, 310, 376
Faith of, 277
Galínús, put in charge of Khus-rau Parwíz, 421
Garden of the Indians, 196
Garshásp, Íránian noble, 18
Gashan, as rhyme-word, 397 note
Gashasp, Íránian noble, 17, 18
Gashasp, father, in Sháhnáma, of Bahrám Chúbína, 76, 99, 162, 169, 304
Gemini, constellation, 86, 203
George, Armenian general, 195
Gív, Íránian hero, 168
Grace or Glory, the divine, 12, 18, 21 and passim
Green Sea, 46 and note
Gúdarz, Íránian hero, 104, 168
Guráz (Shahrbaráz q.v.), general of Khusrau Parwíz, xi, 194, 408, 409 seq.
conspires with Farrukhzád, 408 invites Cæsar to take Írán, 408 rebels, 411
Gurdwí, brother of Bahrám Chúbína, x, 74, 202, 205, 206, 231, 293, 295, 296, 298, 342, 349, 354, 358
Gurdwí, a legitimist, 74
Gustaham and, persuade Khusrau Parwíz not to make a night-attack, 224 takes charge of baggage, 228 Bahrám Chúbína writes to, 285 fights with Bahrám Chúbína, 294 receives province, 313 informs Khusrau Parwíz of Gurdya's doings, 356 writes to, and sends Khus-rau Parwíz' letter to, Gurdya, 360 wife of, goes with letters to Gurdya, 360 hears of the plight of Rai and informs Gurdya, 367
Gurdya, sister of Bahrám Chú-bína, vii, viii,x, 74, 104 note, 187, 191, 347, 358, 365
a legitimist, 74 present at council, 164 speech of, 165, 167, 171 referred to, 221 counsels Bahrám Chúbína, 221 laments Bahrám Chúbína, 340 resident at Marv, 346 seq. informs her followers of the Khán's offer of marriage, 349 starts for Irán, 351 parleys with Tuwurg, 352 arrives at Ámwí, 354 doings of reported to Khus-rau Parwíz, 356, 358 met by Gustaham, 356 asked in marriage by Gusta-ham, 357 receives letters from Khus-rau Parwíz and Gurdwí, 360 plots murder of Gustaham, 360 justifies murder of Gusta-ham, 361 reports death of Gustaham to Khusrau Parwíz, 361
Gurdya, dresses up as a warrior to please Khusrau Parwíz, 363
prowess of, in drinking, 364 appointed overseer of royal bower, 364 diverts Khusrau Parwíz and saves Rai, 368
Gurgán, city and region in eastern Mázandarán, 15, 355
Gurgín, Íránian hero, 72, 211, 216
Gurkíls, tribe (?), 15
Gushtásp, Sháh, 41, 68, 95, 148, 213, 270, 392, 393
Gustaham (Bistám q.v.), maternal uncle of Khusrau Parwíz, vii, viii, x, 199, 200, 202, 204 seq., 227, 228, 231, 255, 257, 259, 269, 282, 289, 293, 295, 298
imprisonment of, 77, 176 Bandwí and, escape and revolt, 182 informs Khusrau Parwíz of the blinding of Hurmuzd, 184 referred to, 189 revolt of, 191, 355 saves Khusrau Parwíz from Turk, 220 Gurdwí and, dissuade Khus-rau Parwíz from making a night-attack, 224 treasurer, 229 and note accompanies Khusrau Par-wíz in his flight, 231 turns back and murders Hurmuzd, 232 rejoins Khusrau Parwíz, 233 Khusrau Parwíz warned against, 255, 256 deceived by Cæsar's talisman, 272 praised by Cæsar, 279 Bahrám Chúbína writes to, 285 chooses comrades for Khus-rau Parwíz in battle, 296 receives Khurásán, 313
Gustaham, summoned to court, 535
hears of execution of Band-wí, 355 hears of Gurdya's doings, 356 goes to meet Gurdya, 356 asks Gurdya in marriage, 357 Gurdya plots murder of, 360 intimates of, beheaded, 370
HAITÁL, Haitálians (White Huns), 45, 242, 329, 370, 377
Halab (Chalybon-Beroea, Alep-po), city in northern Syria, 41, 46, 47
Hamadán (Ekbatana), city in 'Irak-i-'Ajamí, 178, 189
Hamávarán (Yaman), southwestern Arabia, 104, 168
Hamdán Gashasp, Iránian chief,
122, 163, 204 speech of, 166
Háni bin Mas'úd, Arab chief, 190
Harát, city in north-western Afghánistán, 71, 92, 110, 116, 117, 130, 173
marchlord of. See Mákh. desert of, 114
Háris, father of Kais, 250
“Harvest of Bahrám,” 292
Hay, sack of, Bahrám Chúbína and the, 109
Hazára, father of Kút, 291
Heraclius, Eastern Roman Emperor, 187, 191
attempts of, for peace with Khusrau Parwíz, 194, 195 takes Dastagird, 194 retreat of, 195, 196
Hermit, Khusrau Parwíz and the, viii, 254
Herodotus, 193
Hierapolis, 188
Hijáz, 24 and note, 66, 67
Hind, Hindústán, 24, 275, 317, 376, 379, 381, 400, 405
king of, 52
Híra, city, 188, 191
end of dynasty of, 190
Hirá, Mount, 42
Hisham Ibn Al-Kalbí, 73
Hurmuzd, Sháh, v. seq., 56 seq., 69 seq., 74 seq., 78, 87, 147, 169, 170, 174, 198, 209, 212, 213, 222, 232, 265, 270, 304, 312, 333, 355, 370, 376
examination of, 3, 57 counselled by Núshírwán, 25 seq. Núshírwán's testament in favour of, and last counsels to, 61 seq. character of, 70 system of administration of, 71 justice of, 71 instances of, 90 seq. scribes executed by, 71 insult of, to Bahrám Chú-bína, 76 Lazic war renewed by, 76 Bahrám Chúbína's gift of swords to, 76 accession of, 78 turns to evil courses, 81 puts to death Ízid Gashasp, 83 poisons Zarduhsht, 83 seq. schemes against and puts to death Símáh Barzín, 85 seq. attempts to suborn Bahrám Ázarmihán, 85 seq. gives audience, 86 hears state-secret from Bah-rám Ázarmihán, 88 puts to death Bahrám Ázar-mihán, 89 repentance of, 90, 93 places of residence of, 90 wars of, 92 attacked by Sáwa, 92 Sáwa's letter to, 93 attacked by Cæsar, 93 Khazars, 93 Arabs, 93 consults the Íranians, 94
Hurmuzd, counselled by his
wazír, 94 makes peace with Cæsar, 95 attacks and defeats the Khazars, 95 sends for Mihrán Sitád, 97 hears prophecy about Bah-rám Chúbína, 98 orders search to be made for Bahrám Chúbína, 99 discovers and sends for Bahrám Chúbína, 100 consults Bahrám Chúbína, 100 gives chief command to Bahrám Chúbína, 102 questions Bahrám Chúbína, 103 gives Rustam's banner to Bahrám Chúbína, 105 sends Mihrán with Bahrám Chúbína, 106 intelligencer after Bah-rám Chúbína, 107 to recall Bahrám Chúbína, 108 Kharrád, son of Barzín, as envoy to Sáwa, 110 hears of Bahrám Chúbína's victory, 132 makes thanksgiving, 132 rewards Bahrám Chúbína and the troops, 133 surveys spoils sent by Bah-rám Chúbína, 150 grows suspicious of Bahrám Chúbína, 151 dismisses the Khán with gifts, 152 hears from Kharrád of Bahrám Chúbína's disaffection, 160 consults with high priest, 161 Áyín Gashasp, 174, 177 plans to make away with Khusrau Parwíz, 174 hears of Khusrau Parwíz' flight, 176 imprisons Bandwí and Gus-taham, 176
Hurmuzd, hears of the murder of Áyín Gashasp, 182
dethroned and blinded, 183, 200 visited in prison by Khusrau Parwíz, 185, 198, 230 requests of, to Khusrau Parwíz, 199 referred to, 211 counsels Khusrau Parwíz, 230 murdered, 232
Hurmuzd Garabzín or Galabzín (Kharrád son of Barzín q.v.), 190
Húshang, Sháh, 376
Faith of, 380
IJÁS BIN KABÍSA, 188
governor of Híra, 190
Indian, Indians, ix, 377
bells and gongs, 46, 120 swords, 127, 145, 417 Garden of the, 196 Kharrád's account of the, 275
Íraj, youngest son of Farídún, 266, 276 and note, 392
Írán, ix, 13, 19, 43, 46, 48 and passim
Íránian, Íránians, viii, 19, 99, 101, 111, 119, 124, 130, 135 and passim
take Sakíla, 47 chiefs received in audience by Hurmuzd, 86 consulted by Hurmuzd, 94 defeat the Khazars, 96 advise Bahrám Chúbína, 102, 121, 239 seq., 287 Sáwa employs sorcery against, 123 encouraged by Bahrám Chú-bína, 124 defeat the Turks, 126 revolt against Hurmuzd, 156 elect Báhrám Chúbína Sháh, 243
Ísá (Jesus), 276 note
Ispahán, city in 'Irak-i-'Ajami, 90
Istakhr (Persepolis), city in Párs, 90, 313
Ízid, 75
Ízid Gashasp, archscribe, vi, 74
confusion in name of, 75, 76 put to death by Hurmuzd, 75, 83 malicious speech of, 77 and note, 150 and note imprisoned, 81 sends for high priest, 81
Ízid Gashasp, Íránian warrior, 103, 122, 136, 138, 149, 350, 353, 356
conducts spoil to Írán, 149 goes hunting with Bahrám Chúbína, 156 speech of, 165
JABALA BIN SÁLIM, 73
Jahn, architect of throne of Tákhdís, 391
Jámásp, minister of Sháh Gush-tásp, 171, 393
prophecy of, 68 additions of, to throne of Tákhdís, 392
Jamshíd, Sháh, 22, 242, 269, 310, 332, 341, 387
Jánfurúz, Íránian general, 297
Jerusalem, 191, 196
Jesus, 191
sayings of, 276 and note Cross of, 380 laughter of, 191, 380
Jew, Jews, 21, 67, 276
Jíhún (Oxus), river, 94, 99, 134, 174, 332
fords of, 331
Jovian, Eastern Roman Emperor, 41
Jupiter, planet, 28, 152, 157, 395
Justin II., Eastern Roman Emperor, 41
Justinian, Eastern Roman Emperor, 41
KABÁB, small pieces of meat skewered together for roasting, 250
Kabísa, 188
Káf, 66 and note
Kai Káús, Sháh, 22, 104, 168, 270, 341
Kai Khusrau, Sháh, 148, 219, 270, 332, 392
Kai Kubád, Sháh, 89, 170, 260, 270, 310, 332
Kaian, 65, 216
throne, 214 race, 217
Kais, Arab chief, entertains Khusrau Parwíz, 250
Kaiser Friedrich Museum, 192
Kalíla and Dimna, Book of, 202 note, 390 note
Kandá Gashasp, Íránian warrior, 103, 122, 163
speech of, 166
Káran, Íránian hero, 168
Káran, mountain-chief, 189
Káraz, 252 and note
Káristán, 188
Kársán, 188, 252
gates of, shut against Khus-rau Parwíz, 252 walls of, fall down, 253 Khusrau Parwíz stays at, 253
Kastantaniya (Constantinople), 265
Káús, Sháh. See Kai Káús.
Káwa, the smith, 72
standard of, 385
Khán of Chín (See too Parmúda), vii, ix, x, 43, 52, 87, 89, 97 seq., 141 seq., 190, 191, 204, 215, 220, 263 seq., 306, 316 seq., 342 seq., 346 seq., 351, 352, 356, 357, 363
Khán of Chín, supposed war of, with Hurmuzd, 72
marriage of daughter of, with Núshírwán referred to, 72 letter of, 77 dismissed by Hurmuzd with gifts, 152 refuses advances of Bahrám Chúbína, 153 becomes friends with Bah-rám Chúbína, 172 brother of, 190, 191 reports flight of Gurdya, 351 ordered to go in pursuit, 351 parley of, with Gurdya, 352 daughter of, 190 killed by lion-ape, 322, 324 queen of, 190 asks Bahrám Chúbína to avenge her daughter, 324 disgraced, 344 welcomes Bahrám Chúbína, 316 swears friendship with Bah-rám Chúbína, 317 dominated by Makátúra, 317 advised by Bahrám Chúbína to slight Makátúra, 318 views fight between Bah-rám Chúbína and Maká-túra, 320 sends gifts to Bahrám Chú-bína, 321 refuses to give up Bahrám Chúbína, 329 distrust Bahrám Chúbína, 334 impress of seal of, obtained by Kharrád, 338 burns Kulún's kindred, 344 seeks in vain for Kharrád, 344 mourns for Bahrám Chú-bína, 344
Khánagí, Rúman noble, 375, 378
leads Cæsar's embassy to Khusrau Parwíz, 374 Khusrau Parwíz' gifts to, 382 returns to Rúm, 382
Khanjast (Urumiah), lake, 282
Kharrád, son of Barzín (Hur-muzd Garabzín or Galab-zín), vii seq., 74, 76, 158 seq., 205, 225, 257 seq., 269, 270, 331 seq., 381
sent by Hurmuzd as envoy to Sáwa, 110 beguiles Sáwa and flees, 111 flight of, reported to Sáwa, 112 counsels Bahrám Chúbína, 121 seeks refuge, 123 counts Íránian slain, 127 blames and counsels Bahram Chúbína for his behaviour to Parmúda, 144, 146 questions Bahrám Chúbína on his adventure with the onager, 158 flees from Balkh with arch-scribe, 159 makes report of Bahrám Chúbína to Hurmuzd, 160 real name of, 190 waits on Khusrau Parwíz, 252 speech of, to Cæsar, 259, 275 masters Cæsar's talismans. 274, 275 Cæsar's gift to, 278 praised by Cæsar, 279 made chief minister, 314 speech of, to Khán, 332 attempts to prejudice Bah-rám Chúbína to the Khán, 333 intrigues against Bahrám Chúbína, 334 seq. cures daughter of queen of Chín, 336 incites Kulún to kill Bah-rám Chúbína, 337 asks boon of queen of Chín, 338
Kharrád, returns to Írán and is rewarded, 345
reads out Cæsar's letter to Khusrau Parwíz, 376
Kharrád, Íránian general, 225 defeats Khazars, 96
Khazar, Khazars, region and people north of the Caucasus, 94, 377, 379
invasion of, 72, 93 defeated, 96
Khazarwán, Íránian noble, speech of, 241
Khazrá, treasure, 406 and note
Khurásán, chieftain, 241
speech of, 240
Khurásán, province, 78, 94, 241, 313, 355, 369
governor of, 75 prince of, 173
Khurásání. See Mákh.
Khurdád, day, 25, 173
Khurra-i-Ardshír (Ardshír Khur-ra), district in Párs, 251, 252, 412 and note
Khúrshíd, Íránian chief, 270, 296
Khúshnawáz, ruler of the Haitá-lians, 75, 168, 242, 245, 267
Khusrau, father of Khazarwán, 241, 296 (?)
Khusrau Parwíz, Sháh, vii seq., 71, 74, 170, 173, 174, 181, 182, 191 seq., 216, 304, 306, 316, 334, 335, 342, 358, 367 seq., 395 note, 413 note
horse of, story of, 91 Hurmuzd plots to kill, 174 flees, 175 adherents gather round, 175 swear fealty to, 176 goes to Baghdád, 184 visits Hurmuzd in prison, 185, 198, 230 extensive historical conquests of, 187 materials for reign of, in Sháhnáma, 187 flight of, historical, from Ctesiphon, 188
Khusrau Parwíz, affects Christianity in exile, 188
helped on terms by Emperor Maurice, 188 historical campaign of, against Bahrám Chúbína, 189 visits of, to Fire-temple at Shíz, 190, 283, 307, 312 Nu'man bin Munzír executed by, 190 triumphal arch of, 192 Assurbanipal and, reigns of, compared, 193 fall of, historical account of, 193 seq. attempts of Heraclius to make peace with, 194, 195 treatment of defeated generals by, 194 prediction concerning, 194 accession of, 197 Hurmuzd's requests to, 199 spies' report of Bahrám Chúbína to, 201 takes counsel, 202 marches to meet Bahrám Chúbína, 203 interview of, with Bahrám Chúbína, 204 seq. attacked by Turk and saved by Gustaham, 220 dissuaded from making a night-attack, 224 troops of, tampered with by Bahrám Chúbína, 226 sends away his baggage, 228 combat of, with Bahrám Chúbína, 228, 229 retreats to, and holds, the bridge of Nahrawán, 228 worsts Yalán-sína, 229 flees to Taisafún, 229 counselled by Hurmuzd, 230 prepares to flee, 231 takes refuge in a shrine, 233 arrives at Bábil, 249 entertained by Kais, 250 Mihrán Sitád, 251 town of Kársán and, 252
Khusrau Parwíz, interview of, with Hermit, 254
warned against Gustaham, 255, 256 welcomed by Cæsar, 257 takes up his abode at Warígh, 257 instructs his embassy to Cæsar, 257 Cæsar offers daughter to, 266 accepts Cæsar's offer, 269, 270 welcomes Niyátús and Maryam, 280 marches to Dúk, 282 Mausíl and, 283 returns to Dúk, 284 Dárá Panáh goes over to, 286 forges letter to Bahrám Chúbína, 286 sends corpse of Kút to Cæsar, 291 decides to fight without Rúman help, 292, 293 arrays his host, 293 resolves to fight in person, 295 bodyguard of, 296 leaves Bahrám in charge of host, 296 flees from Bahrám Chúbína, 298 saved by Surúsh, 299 returns to Niyátús and Maryam, 299 suspected of Christian tendencies, 308 gives banquet to Niyátús and Rúmans, 309 restores captured cities to Rúm, 312 makes Kharrád, son of Barzín, chief minister, 314 proclamation of, 314 demands extradition of Bah-rám Chúbína, 328 advised to send envoy to Khán, 329 resolves to put Bandwí to death, 354
Khusrau Parwíz, summons Gus-
taham, 355 hears of Gurdya's doings, 356, 358 writes to Gurdya, 359 hears of the death of Gusta-ham, 362 welcomes Gurdya to court, 362 Gurdya dresses up to please, 363 warned by Shírín against Gurdya, 364 makes Gurdya overseer of royal bower, 364 oppresses Rai, 365 relieves Rai, 368 organizes the realm, 369 seq. puts to death adherents of Bandwí and Gustaham, 370 consults astrologers on birth of Shírwí, 372 grieved at Shírwí's horoscope, 372 consults the high priest, 372 writes to Cæsar, 373 Cæsar's embassy to, 374 gives Cæsar's gifts to Shírwí, 381 presents to Khánagí, 382 and Shírín, Story of, 382 seq. equipage of, for the chase, 384 married to Shírín, 386 justifies his marriage, 388 gives gilded chamber to Shírín, 389 displeasured with Shírwí, 390 and throne of Tákdís, 391 seq. palace of, story of, 400 seq. Farghán and, 401 seq. imprisons Rúman artificers, 402 releases Rúman artificers, 403 treasures of, 406
Khusrau Parwíz, Guráz intrigues against 408
device of, against Guráz and Cæsar, 409 sends Farrukhzád to the host, 412 hears Kubád proclaimed Sháh, 416 arms and hides in garden, 417 palace of, plundered, 418 discovered, 419 holds talk with Farrukhzád, 420 recalls former presage, 420 imprisoned, 421 duration of reign of, 421
Khusrau and Shírín, Persian poem, 192
Khuzistán (Susiana), province at head of Persian Gulf, 109 and note, 193
Kings, Persian Book of, 73
Kirmán, region in southern Írán, 313
Kirmánsháh, city between Bagh-dád and Hamadán, 192
Kishwád, father of Gúdarz; 104
Kubád, Sháh, father of Núshír-wán, 25, 46, 72, 168, 169, 245, 265, 285, 312, 369
Kubád (Shírwí q.v.), Sháh, son of Khusrau Parwíz and Maryam, 190, 196
secret and public names of, 371, 416 proclaimed Sháh, 416 imprisons Khusrau Parwíz, 421 accedes to throne, 421 brief reign of, 422
Kúfa, city west of the Euphrates and in the neighbourhood of Nejef, 190
Kulún, Turk in league with Kharrád against Bahrám Chúbína, x, 335
incited by Kharrád to kill Bahrám Chúbína, 337 arrives at Marv by help of Khán's seal, 339
Kulún, seeks interview with Bahrám Chúbína, 339
stabs Bahrám Chúbína, 340 maltreated, 340 kindred of, burnt, 344
Kurákhán, governor of Balkh, 22
Kurán, 277 note
quoted, 42, 192
Kút, Rúman warrior, ix, 281, 289, 291
slain by Bahrám Chúbína, 290 corpse of, sent back to Rúmans, 291
LAZICA, region on eastern shore of Black Sea, 194
Lazic war, renewed by Hurmuzd, 76
Bahrám Chúbína defeated in, 76
Leo, constellation, 122, 394
Lion-ape, the, ix, 322 seq.
Loadstone, chamber of, 275
suspended cavalier in, 275
Luhrásp, Sháh, 95, 148, 213, 270, 392
Luna, planet, 395
MÁCHÍN (China), 417
Madá'in, Ctesiphon (Taisafún) and neighbouring cities, xi, 4, 46, 192, 193
palace of Khusrau Parwíz at, story of, 400
Máh Ázar, scribe, 81
Mahmúd, Sultán, 24
Mahrwí, 248
Makátúra, Turkman chief, ix, 317
dominates the Khán, 318 slighted by the Khán, 318 challenges Bahrám Chúbína, 319 fight of, with Bahrám Chú-bína, 320
Mákh, 71, 78
Makrán (Baluchistán), 393, 417
Mamigonian, Armenian family, 188
Man, weight, 148 and note, 314, 399
Manízha, daughter of Afrásiyáb, Bízhan and, Story of, referred to, 72
Manwí, town, 253
Marchlord, ill-conditioned, oppresses Rai, x, 366
destroys gutters and cats, 366 recalled, 368
Marcian (Bátarún q.v.), 41
Mardánsháh (Yalán—sína q.v.), 74, 76
Mardánsháh (Mardásas q.v.), son of Shírín, 189, 191, 193
Mardásas (Mardánsháh q.v.), 196
Mardwí, Persian official, 21
Mardwí, gardener, 397
Mars, planet, 395
Martyropolis, ceded by Khusrau Parwíz, 188
Marv, oasis and city in ancient Khurásán, now in Turkis-tán, x, 20, 93, 173, 336, 337, 346 seq., 352, 356
Marvell, quoted, 399 note
Marvrúd (Murgháb), river in Khurásán flowing into and forming the Marv oasis, 92
Mary, Maryam, mother of Jesus, 276 note, 277 note
Maryam, daughter of Cæsar, ix seq., 188, 192, 276 note, 278, 279, 373, 374, 380
murder of, 193, 389 referred to 255, 266, 269, 270, 371, 381, 389 counselled by Cæsar, 279, 280 Niyátús put in charge of, 280 as peace-maker, 310
Mashetta (Mashita q.v.)
Mashíta, palace at, 192
Masius, Mount, 41
Mas'údí, historian, on Búzurj-mihr, 71
Maurice, Eastern Roman Emperor, 187, 188
helps Khusrau Parwíz on terms, 188 murder of, 193
Mausíl, Armenian prince, 188, 189, 248, 282, 295
entertains Bandwí, 249 Khusrau Parwíz and, 283 referred to, 293 and note
Maximian, Roman Emperor, 188
Mázandarán, region between Al-burz range and Caspian, 48
Mercury, planet, 299, 395
Messiah, the, 267
Mihrak, import of word, 72, 73
Mihrak, servant of Núshírwán, 18, 19
Mihrán, Mihráns, 72, 74
clan of, their importance, 72, 73
Mihrán, archscribe, 76
sent with Bahrám Chúbína, 106 counsels Bahrám Chúbína, 122 and note seeks refuge, 123 congratulates Bahrám Chú-bína, 129 takes counsel with Kharrád, 159 flees from Balkh and is retaken, 159 pardoned by Bahrám Chú-bína, 160 referred to, 163 speech of, 166
Mihrán Sitád, Íránian notable, 96, 100
embassage of, referred to, 72, 97 sent for by Hurmuzd, 97 tells of prophecy about Bahrám Chúbína, 98, 216 death of, 99
Mihrán Sitád, merchant, entertains Khusrau Parwíz, 251
Mihr Hurmuzd, Íránian noble, 196
Mílád, 72, 211
import of word, 73 customs of, 216
Mínú, 253 and note
Minúchihr, Sháh, 219, 223, 392
Mír Khánd, historian, 192
Miskál, measure of weight, a dram and three sevenths, 394
Misr (Egypt), 381
Modes of speech, 30
Monophysite, 195
Moon, divided by Muhammad, 42, 67
Muhammad, Prophet, v, 42, 191
divides the Moon, 42, 67 birth of, 68
Muhammadan, Muhammadans, 73
elements in Sháhnáma, 42 ethics respected, 74
Músh, town west of Lake Ván, 188
NAHRAWÁN, canal on eastern bank of Tigris, 187, 204, 206, 231
bridge of, 223, 228 seq. broken down by Khusrau Parwíz, 229
Name, secret and public, 372 and note
Nard, game, 371
Narses, exarch, treatment of by Empress Sophia, 76
Narses, general, 189
Nárwan, forest, 356, 360, 377
Nastúh, son of Mihrán Sitád, ix, 225, 303
advises Hurmuzd, 96 released by Bahrám Chú-bína, 306
Naudar, Sháh, 223, 242
Naurúz, Persian New-year's day when the sun enters Aries, 216
Nestorian, Nestorians, 195
Nicephorium (Warígh q.v.), 188
Nile, 126, 284, 293, 294
Nímrúz,440\* 196, 284
Nineveh, 193
battle near, 194
Nísa, city (Muhammadábád?) in Khurásán, or town in Kirmán, 19
Nishápúr, city in Khurásán, 173
Nisibis, besieged by Romans, 41
ceded by Khusrau Parwíz (?), 188
Niyátús (Theodosius, son of Maurice), ix, 189, 281, 289
brother of Cæsar, 280, 310 put in charge of Maryam, 280 welcomed by Khusrau Par-wíz, 280 wroth with Khusrau Par-wíz, 290 watches fight between Khus-rau Parwíz and Bahrám Chúbína, 297 entertained at banquet by Khusrau Parwíz, 309 quarrel of, with Bandwí, 309 threat of, to Khusrau Par-wíz, 310 reconciled to Bandwí, 311 returns to Rúm, 312
Nizámí, Persian poet, 192
Nöldeke, Professor, 71, 188
on Romance of Bahrám Chúbína, 73
Note on Pronunciation, xvi
Nu'mán bin Munzír, 188
put to death, 190
Núshírwán, Sháh, v, 3 seq., 71, 72, 86 seq., 98, 129, 169, 198, 200, 205, 209, 300, 312, 313, 377
precautions of, as to successor, 3
Núshírwán, goes hunting with Búzurjmihr, 4
suspects and disgraces Búzurjmihr, 5 treats Búzurjmihr with increasing rigour, 7, 8 reconciled to Búzurjmihr, 9 questioned by archimages, 14 seq., 28 seq. gives judgment against his own son, 16 chief cook of, aggrieved, 18 counsels Hurmuzd, 25 seq. writes to console Cæsar's son and successor, 43 wroth at answer received, 45 invades Rúm, 46 success of, 47 checked, 47 in want of money, 47 takes counsel with Búzurj-mihr, 47 refuses advances from a shoemaker, 50, 71 high esteem of, for scribes, 50 grants peace to, and takes tribute from, Rúmans, 52 returns to Taisafún, 53 sons of, 56, 63 instructs Búzurjmihr to prove Hurmuzd, 56 seq. testament of, in favour of, and last counsels to, Hur-muzd, 61 seq. directions of, as to interment, 65 hall of, shattered, 68 death of, 69, 71 system of administration of, 71 marriage of, with Khán's daughter referred to, 72, 97 seq. ministers of, put to death by Hurmuzd, 81 seq. his choice of Hurmuzd, story of, 87 palace of, 193
ONAGER, Bahrám Chúbína guided by, 156, 158
Owls and Crows, story of, 263 and note
Ox-hide or skin filled with gold as tribute, 46, 52, 53
Oxus (Jíhún), 72
PAGE, of Núshírwán, 5 seq.
relative of Búzurjmihr, 5 instructed by Búzurjmihr, 6 takes messages between Núshírwán and Búzurj-mihr, 6 seq.
Pahlaví, middle Persian language of Ashkánian (Parthian) and Sásánian times, 73, 74
Paidáwasís, 381 and note
Paighú, 190
Paikár-i-Gurd, melody, 398 and note
Pápak, tribal king, 214, 219 and note, 285
daughter of, 214
Parmúda (see too Khán of Chín), vi, 75, 117, 130, 136 seq., 146, 149 seq., 164, 174
hears of Bahrám Chúbína's victory and takes counsel, 131 marches toward Jíhún, 131 approaches Balkh, 134 attacks and is defeated by Bahrám Chúbína, 134 seq. escapes to Áwáza, 138 besieged by Bahrám Chú-bína, 138 seq. negotiates surrender of Áwáza with Bahrám Chú-bína, 139 seq. surrenders Áwáza and sets out for Írán, 143 insulted by Bahrám Chú-bína, 144 Bahrám Chúbína tries to placate, 145
Párs (Persis, Fársistán), country on eastern shore of Persian Gulf, 109 note, 112, 216, 241, 393, 395
Parthian, Parthians, 73
Parwíz, meaning of, 187
Pashan, battle of, 397 and note
Persia, 195
Persian, Persians, 24 note, 42, 71, 75, 121, 188 seq., 194, 208, 273, 282, 286 and passim
wisdom-literature, 3 conquest of Yaman, 24 note empire, war of, with Rúm, 41 raid Syria, 41 defeat by Romans referred to, 72 war with Turks, 72 Book of Kings, 73 Tabarí. See Tabarí. =Bahrám Chúbína, 113 =Hurmuzd, 116, 117 prince=Bahrám Chúbína, 319
Phocas, Eastern Roman Emperor, 187, 189, 193, 194
Photius, quoted, 191
Pírán, Túránian hero, 414
Pírúz, Sháh, 73, 75, 168, 242, 245, 267, 285
Pírúz, father of Ustád, 296
Pisces, constellation, 51, 342
Pleiades, 53, 158
Polo, 246, 247, 258, 371
—sticks, 247
Prelates as warriors, 47 and note
Pronunciation, Note on, xvi
Proverb, 187
QUEEN OF CHIN (wife of the Khán), 190
daughter of, slain by lion-ape, 322 asks Bahrám Chúbína to avenge her daughter, 324 steward of, plots with Khar-rád against Bahrám Chú-bína, 335
Queen of Chin, daughter of,
cured by Kharrád, 336 grants boon to Kharrád, 338 disgraced, 344
RAI, city and district near Tih-rán, x, 72, 155, 166, 171, 173, 174, 189, 214, 216, 240
seat of Arsacid power, 72 Bahrám Chúbína goes to, 306 Khusrau Parwíz oppresses, 365 misery of, 367 Gurdya delivers, 368
Rakka (Warígh q.v.), city, 188
Rám, Íránian warrior, 291
Rám Barzín, Persian official, 313
Rangwí, Íránian warrior, 296
Rasafa, 188
Reseph, 188
Responses, of Núshírwán, v, 14 seq., 28 seq.
Rhyme-word, Firdausi and, 397 note
Roman, Romans, 188, 189, 195
Empire, war of, with Persian, 41, 193 defeat Bahrám Chúbína, 76
Ruhhám, a Mihrán, temp. Pírúz, 73
Rúm, Eastern Roman Empire,
viii, ix, 10, 11, 15, 19 and passim brocade of, 157, 173, 278, 337, 367, 374 philosophers of, 279, 382 robes of, 308 captured cities of, restored to, 312
Rúman, Rúmans, ix, 15, 45 seq., 52, 53, 93, 122, 214 and passim
envoy, 8 seq. surrender to Núshírwán, 47 entrench themselves, 47
Rúman, Rúmans, sue for peace and pay tribute, 51 seq.
architect, 193, 401 marches, 252 robes, 253 helms, 105, 276, 417 eunuchs, 279 worsted by Bahrám Chú-bína, 292 artificers imprisoned by Khusrau Parwíz, 402 released by Khusrau Par-wíz, 403
Rús (Russia), 406
Rustam, Íránian hero, 106, 177, 219, 223, 332
fight of, with Ashkabús, referred to, 75 conduct of, in Hámávarán, 104, 168 banner of, bestowed on Bahrám Chúbína, 105, 217
Rustam, brother of Farrukhzád, 413 and note
revolt of, 413
Rúzbih, scribe, 252
SABZ DAR SABZ, melody, 399 and note
Sada, feast, 68, 133, 216, 313
Sage, saying of, 155
Sakíla, Mount, v, 41
stronghold of, taken by Rúmans, 47
Sakláb (Slavonia), 379
Salm, eldest son of Farídún, 266, 270, 300, 376 note, 378, 381
Sám, Íránian hero, 223
Samarkand, city in Turkistán, 377
Sambáz, Íránian chief, speech of, 242
Sapandármad, month and day, 331
Sapor II, Sháh, 41
Sarí, city in Mázandarán, 168, 341, 355, 392
Sarkab, Rúman general, 281, 292
Sarkash (Sergius), minstrel, xi, 193, 398 seq., 406
story of, 396 disgrace of, 399
Sásán, eponym of Sásánian dynasty, 219, 220, 330, 341
Sásánian, Sásánians, 65, 72, 73, 214, 262, 330, 413 note
rivalry with Arsacids, 73 usage; 190 architecture, 193 empire, 193 race, 285, 386 note
Saturn, planet, 24, 66, 321, 392, 395
Sáwa, ruler of the Turks, vi, 74, 94 seq., 100 seq., 107, 108, 110 seq., 123, 129, 132, 133, 135, 137, 139, 164, 169, 174, 216, 219, 222, 224, 240
=Chao-wou, 72 attacks Hurmuzd, 92 letter of, to Hurmuzd, 93 prophecy about, 98 Hurmuzd sends Kharrád, son of Barzín, to, 110 hears of Bahrám Chúbína's army and blames Khar-rád, 110 offers of, to Bahrám Chú-bína, 113 seq., 117 seq. employs sorcery against the Íránians, 123 defeated and slain, 126 head of, set on lance, 130 wealth of, sent to Hurmuzd, 133
Scribe, scribes, office of, highly esteemed by Núshírwán, 50
put to death by Hurmuzd, 71
Seleucia (Bih Ardshír), city on right bank of Tigris opposite to Ctesiphon (Taisa-fún), 189, 194, 196
Sergiopolis, 188
Sergius, Saint and Martyr, 188
patron saint of Khusrau Parwíz, 188, 195 Roman leader in Tabarí, 188
Sergius (Sarkash), minstrel, 193
Seven, stages, Story of, 171
founts, 392 Climes. See Climes. and forty Sháhs, 395 and note
Shabdíz, steed of Khusrau Par-wíz, 407
Shádward, treasure, 406 and note
Sháhnáma, 3, 41, 42, 71, 72, 74 seq., 187 seq., 191, 192
Prose, compilers of, referred to, 71, 73
Shahrán Guráz, Íránian warrior, speech of, 239
Shahrbaráz (Guráz q.v.), Íránian general, 194
revolt of, 195 sons of, 196
Shakespeare, quoted, 187
Shám (Syria), 170
Shamtá, 195, 196
Shápúr, son of Ardshír, Sháh, 265
Shápúr, son of Urmuzd, Sháh, 41
Shápúr of Rai, 72
Shápúr, Íránian warrior, viii, 202, 225, 257, 259, 269, 293, 296
deceived by Cæsar's talisman, 273 praised by Cæsar, 279 Bahrám Chúbína writes to, 285 receives Istakhr and Dáráb-gird, 313
Sheep's heads, Bahrám Chúbína and the, 74, 107
omen of, reported to Hur-muzd, 108
Sher-Kappi, 322 note
Shírín, wife of Khusrau Parwíz, xi, 187, 194, 363, 383, 407
enmity of, to Shírwí, 189, 191, 193
Shírín, account of, 192
Khusrau and, Persian poem, 192 meaning of, 193 Maryam murdered by, 193, 389 a Christian 195 warns Khusrau Parwíz against Gurdya, 364 Khusrau Parwíz and, Story of, 382 married to, 386 gilded chamber given to, 389 hears Kubád proclaimed Sháh, 416 informs Khusrau Parwíz, 416
Shírwí (Kubád q.v.), Sháh, x, xi, 188, 190, 371 seq.
Shírín's enmity to, 189, 191, 193 internment of, 194, 196, 391 released, 196, 415 secret and public names of, 372, 416 astrologers consulted at birth of, 372 ill-omened horoscope of, 372 referred to, 373 Khusrau Parwíz gives Cæ-sar's gifts to, 381 boorishness of, 390 Khusrau Parwíz' displeasure with, 390 sends to take Khusrau Par-wíz, 419
Shírzíl, Íránian warrior, 296
Shíz (Takht-i-Sulaimán), seat of the Magi in Ázarbáiján, 190
Shoemaker, v, 42
offer of, to advance money to Núshírwán, 48 rejected, 50, 71
Shustar, city in Khuzistán, 381
Sikandar (Alexander the Great), 52, 214, 217, 242, 262, 381, 387, 392
Símáh Barzín, scribe, vi
Hurmuzd plots against, 85 seq.
Sipansár, Íránian warrior, 293
Siyáwush, son of Kai Káús, 104, 349, 395 note
goods of, 148, 151
Siyáwush, Íránian chief, viii, 128, 163, 187, 233
son of=Bahrám, 247
Slavs, 194
Sol, planet, 395
Son of Firdausí, death of, ix, 190
Sophia, Empress, her treatment of Narses, 76
Speech, modes of, 30
Spica, star, 379
Súfarai, Íránian chief, 72, 75, 168, 285
Súkhta, treasure, 406 and note
Sumai, 195
Sunday, 378, 380
Surúsh, angel, the messenger of Urmuzd, ix, 173
saves Khusrau Parwíz from Bahrám Chúbína, 189, 299
Syria, 193
raided by Persians, 41
TABARÍ, historian, 73, 75 seq., 188
Persian, 42, 73 seq., 187 seq. Arabic, 42, 73, 75, 187, 190, 195
Table of Contents, v
Tahmúras, Sháh, 277, 332, 376
Taisafún (Ctesiphon q.v.), xi, city on left bank of Tigris, 53, 90, 109 note, 118, 173, 175, 180, 182, 229, 241
Núshírwán returns to, 53 Bahrám Chúbína marches from province of, 106 Khusrau Parwíz imprisoned at, 421
Táj, 71
Tákdís, throne of, xi, 391
account of, 391 seq. added to by Jámásp, 392
Takht-i-Bústán, 192
Takht-i-Khusrau. See Madá' in
Takht-i-Sulaimán (Shíz, q.v.), 189
Talisman, Cæsar's, viii
described, 271 deceives Persian envoys, 272 mastered by Kharrád, 274
Támúz, 77 note
Taráz, city north-east of Tásh-kánd, 370
Idols of, 370
Theodore, brother of Heraclius, 194
Theodosius (Niyátús), 189
Tiberius, Eastern Roman Emperor, 42
Tigris (Arwand), river, 193, 194
Tír, month, 394
Treasures, of Khusrau Parwíz, 406
Tukhár, Íránian chief, 228
takes letter to Cæsar, 263
Túkhár, Íránian general, conspires against Khusrau Parwíz, 414
releases Shírwí, 415
Tukhára, Íránian warrior, 296
son of, 314
Túr, second son of Farídún, 266, 300, 376 note, 378
Túrán (Turkistán), 118, 123, 130, 242, 329, 331, 349, 350, 376, 405, 407
Túránian, Túránians, 123, 320
Turk, Turks, 95, 103, 121, 135, 136, 138 seq., 142, 164, 169, 170, 189, 316, 320, 349, 352
war of, with Persians, 72 prophesied, 98 =Sáwa, 98 defeated, 126 find Sáwa's corpse, 127 sorcerer, sends ill dream to Bahrám Chúbína, 121, 128 put to death, 129 heads of chiefs of, sent to Hurmuzd, 130 retreat to Túrán, 131 three, the, 187, 204
Turk, Turks, one of, attacks Khusrau Parwíz, 220 reproved by Bahrám Chúbína, 221 lead night-attack on Khusrau Parwíz, 227
=Makátúra, 319 =Kulún, 345 defeated by Yalán-sína, 353
Turkistán (Túrán), 324, 336, 363, 376, 377, 407
Turkman, Turkmans, 377
=Turk, 87, 89, 94, 217
Tús, Íránian hero, 168
Tuwurg, brother of Khán, x, 364
reports flight of Gurdya, 351 sent in pursuit, 351 parleys with Gurdya, 352
URMUZD, the Good Principle, 285
Urmuzd, Sháh, 41
Urmuzd, Íránian warrior, 296
Urumiah, lake, 195
Ustád, Íránian warrior, 296
VENUS, planet, 152, 359, 394, 395
Virgo, constellation, 359
WARÍGH, city on the Euphrates, 188, 253, 257, 280
Khusrau Parwíz takes up his abode at, 257
Wash, city, 24 and note
West, gateway of, 369 and note
Wisdom, apportionment of, 202
literature (Petsian), 3
YALÁN-SÍNA (Mardánsháh), brother of Bahrám Chúbína, 74, 102, 122, 135, 138, 157, 163, 169, 204, 288, 291, 296 seq., 303, 316, 356, 357
goes hunting with Bahrám Chúbína, 156 pursues and brings back archscribe, 159 speech of, 165, 170 worsted by Khusrau Par-wíz, 229 commands the centre, 289 Bahrám Chúbína makes, his mandatory, 342 defeats the Turks, 353 negotiates marriage between Gurdya and Gustaham, 357
Yaman, south-western Arabia, 98
monarch of, 16 conquered by Persians, 24 note curtains of, 148, 151
Yazdagird III, Sháh, 55, 73
Yazdán, 75
Yazdánbakhsh (Ayín Gashasp q.v.), 75, 76
Yazdín, 195, 196
Yunán, Greece, 258
ZAB, lesser, tributary of Tigris, 189
Zábulistán,446\* 369
Zád Farrukh, suggests Bahrám Chúbína to Hurmuzd, 99
speech of, 241
Zagros, mountain-range in western Írán, 189
Zahhák, Sháh, 218, 239, 241, 387, 391
father of, referred to, 387
Zál, father of Rustam, 223
Zandavasta, 96, 246, 283, 312
quoted, 218, 240
Zarduhsht (Zoroaster), 67, 213, 308
saying of, 218, 240
Zarduhsht, high priest, vi, 81
Zarduhsht, visits Ízid Gashasp in prison, 82
visit of, reported to Hur-muzd, 83 poisoned by Hurmuzd, 83 seq.
Zarmihr, son of Súfarai, 169
Zhangwí, Turkman noble, 331
Zodiac, 394