The Tale of Salm and Tur and the Age of Heroes

Even though, after those two rulers, Shalmaneser and Ashur out of Nineveh, the men we call today Salm and Tur, drove their cavalry hard against Iran, still the champions of those days, like Garshasp and Nariman, like Sam the horseman, and Qaren, and Akman the elephant-bodied, and Zal too, and Mehrab who broke armies, like Rostam, who became the heart of the legend, whom the ancients gave the title Dastan, Zavareh, Faramarz, and old Keshvad, and Sirank the king, that quick-witted warrior, and Zav, who lifted up Zabolestan high, and made all of Sistan a flowering garden, like Tahmasp, who was the father of Zav, though the Shahnameh calls him Tahamtan, perhaps, of the Kariman line there was none but him, and only Sam, the dread of waters, besides. Sarand the blessed, and Farrokh the Turk, Shamasas and Atrad became a great cause. like Gudarz, who was the lord of Lahore, like Kahram, from whom Jahrom got its name, perhaps, and Khom Baba, whose name was Hum, whose land and homeland lay in Ahvaz. Such champions, full of glory and strength, who sent their clamor up to the turning sky, in the time of collapse they were the brave ones, they were the keepers of Iran through their manhood. At times they fought against the Assyrians, at times they charged beyond the river's far side. Whoever cannot manage the Dari tongue has called that far bank by the name Afrasiab. Like the Oxus, when they wrote it down, they took that river to be the one called Jahn. And Shideh, whose people were of Shita, were a match for the folk beyond the river. That horde kept charging against Iran, and all its people grew worn down by them. In all that turmoil the brave men of Iran, on every side like ravening lions, guarded that royal throne of greatness, which in those grand days stood empty of kings. As Garshasp battled in the land of the Hindus, Semiramis came away from him wounded. He fought with the renowned Ramses, whom they call today Sirus-Seris. Perhaps this battle was at Arachosia, which the free man has called the Hindu Kush. And the famous Hakhamanesh too, who was Cyrus's seventh forefather, rode from Babylon all the way to Nineveh, and ruled over the people of Elam.