English
Part 11
When two-thirds of the dark night had passed, the plain came alive with the surge of riders.
The Turks launched their charge, and in that charge they held their heads high with pride.
When Nastihan led that vengeful army close to the Iranian ranks,
he reached the spot at dawn, just as the lookout spotted him from his watchtower.
As soon as the scouts got wind of it, they hurried swiftly to Gudarz,
saying: An army has come like a moving mountain, so silent you would think they had no tongues.
It moves the way a night raid does; the commander knows well what that means.
Then the chief ordered his troops: Stay awake and keep your wits clear.
At that hour he summoned Bijan, son of Giv, along with the brave, sword-wielding warriors.
He told him: Your star is bright and your will succeeds; the enemy's heart is already broken by your name.
Take whoever you need of my champions, of these renowned men of mine.
Face this charge like a lion; drive their army down with your valor.
Bijan picked from the army a thousand bold, battle-hungry riders.
Then the two forces closed on each other, both full of hatred and ready for war.
They all drew their maces clean out, and a cloud rose above the dark earth.
A black cloud came down from the mountain and hid the Turanian army from sight.
When the commander saw the dark dust that made the Turks vanish from view,
he ordered the bows to be strung; a roar went up from the great and the small.
When Bijan reached Nastihan, he saw the banner at the head of the house of Vis.
The sky turned entirely the color of rust, and the ground became like a sea of blood.
Two-thirds of the Turks lay fallen face-down, drowned in blood beneath the hooves of the horses.
An arrow, loosed from the string, struck Nastihan's horse and reached Bijan too.
The swift steed fell forward from the pain; the warrior Bijan reached him.
He struck a mace on the head of the helmeted man; his skull was emptied, and the tide turned.
Bijan spoke thus to the Iranians: Whoever girds his belt for battle
and takes anything but mace and sword in hand, I will smash a bow flat over his head.
For the Turks are fair to look at, like fairies, but in war they have no skill at all.
The champions took heart, and the sword-bearing troops pressed forward.
Across the whole plain, like elephants, they toppled one another, heads torn from bodies.
From that battlefield all the way to the Turanian army, they gave chase, storming along the road.
When Piran did not see his brother among the troops, the world turned black before his eyes.
He told the scouts: Let a fast camel-rider gallop from this battlefield to the field,
to bring me some trace of Nastihan, or else I will tear both eyes from my head.
They sent a camel-rider out then; he went, he saw, and came back storming.
He said: There on that battlefield lies Nastihan, along with the famous men of Turan,
his head cut off, his body toppled like an elephant, wounded by the mace and bruised the color of indigo.
When Piran heard this he boiled over; at that moment the commander lost his senses.
He tore at his hair and shed tears; food, rest, and sleep all left him.
He struck himself and ripped his fine Byzantine robe, and burst into loud, wailing sobs.
He kept saying: O Creator of the world, surely I have done some hidden wrong against you,
for the strength has gone from my arms, and my star and my sun have gone this dark.
Alas for that lion-slayer, that seizer of the field, that brave young man, that skilled rider,
my dear brother, my world-protector, chief of the house of Vis, my hero Human,
and Nastihan, that raging lion in battle, before whose fighting even a leopard was a fox.
Whom can I find now on this battlefield? I must lead the army into war.
He sounded the brass trumpet and struck the war-drum; the sky turned indigo, the earth turned ebony.
The army poured out from Mount Kanabad; the light of sun and moon was dimmed.
The Iranian commander blew the horn, brought his army in, and took his position.
In the midst of the army stood the Kaviani banner, and before it flashed violet-tinged blades,
all the renowned warriors, spoiling for a fight, with spears and ox-headed maces.
At dawn the army came in and fought until the world turned black.
After that they returned to their camps; this one to his tent, that one to his pavilion.
The Iranian commander reached Zibad, and his heart welled up with worried thought.
He kept saying: Today we fought a heavy battle and killed their chieftains.
I suspect that Piran will now send a camel-rider galloping to the king of the Turks,
and will ask him for troops to help in the war; so now I will send word to the king myself.