English
Hooman Rides to Battle
At dawn he mounted his saddle, fierce as a raging lion, with a single interpreter at his side.
He came near the Iranian army, his heart full of war and his head full of the king's hatred.
When Piran learned that he had gone to fight, the whole world grew narrow around him with grief.
His heart seethed with sorrow over Hooman, and he recalled a saying from his father:
A wise man takes his time in every task; he does not rush headlong into fighting and disgrace.
The reckless man shows his fury first, but in the end his rashness brings real grief.
A tongue with no brain behind it, even when it pours out words, offers nothing worthwhile.
Since Hooman has rushed so hotly into this battle, I do not know what good will come of it in the end.
May the Judge of the world come to his aid; I see no other friend for him but Him.
When Hooman, son of Visa, reached that battlefield where Godarz son of Keshvad stood with his army,
he came seeking combat with the champions, and the army's sentry ran into him.
The scout came to the interpreter, and all the Iranian riders were filled with suspicion.
He asked: who is this quarrelsome man who has recklessly turned his face toward the plain?
Where does he mean to go, swift as a courser, a mace in his grip and a lasso on his saddle?
Then the interpreter said to the Iranians: the hour of mace, arrow, and bow has come,
for this lion-hearted and renowned man means to do battle with you.
He is the chief of the Visa clan, Hooman by name, whose sword makes the lion's heart its scabbard.
When the Iranians saw his mace and the royal splendor of his lofty stature,
every spear-wielding hand fell idle, overwhelmed by the glory of that famous warrior.
One and all they turned back from him and set their faces toward his interpreter,
saying: go to Hooman and, in the Turkish tongue, deliver to him everything we have said,
that we have no intention of fighting you; Godarz has given no order for battle.
If he seeks combat, the road lies open toward the renowned commander of the army.
One by one they gave Hooman a sign of the general of the heroes and of the proud chieftains,
of where the champions were and where the leader stood, who held the army's left flank and who the right.
After that, the scout sent a swift, snorting camel racing toward the commander,
to say that Hooman, like a leopard, had left that battlefield and come here to fight the commander.
When Hooman left the presence of those riders, he came swiftly to Roham.
From there he raised a mighty shout: O son of a vigilant, fortunate commander,
you are the left flank of the army and the claw of its lions; you are the guardian of Iran's leader.
Spur your horse onto this field of war,
between the two lines where the armies stand drawn up.
You must come face me in single combat,
whether you choose the riverside or the open plain.
And if you cannot find Gostaham,
let Farhad come charging out alongside him.
Who among your warriors will seek battle with me,
with sword and spear and heavy mace?
Whoever comes against me looking for a fight,
fate will fold the earth beneath him.
And if he sees my blade in combat,
it tears the lion's heart and the leopard's hide.
Rahham answered him this way:
O famous, quarrel seeking champion,
I took you for a man of sense among the Turks;
I never imagined you were like this.
coming alone onto this battlefield,
riding out so boldly before your own army,
convinced that in all the world no other rider
who carries a sword could ever gird his belt like you.
Recall for once a tale of the ancient kings,
and free your neck from the debt you owe to wisdom.
Whoever enters a fight must first
look for the road that leads back out of it.
These men you named for battle,
they all keep their claws sharp for war.
But without the order of the army's commander,
no one will make ready for the fight.
If you truly seek to fight our champions,
then why not go straight to the general himself?
Ask Gudarz for leave to fight;
then come seeking combat with us afterward.
Homan said to him: Don't talk nonsense.
Don't look for excuses with me this way.
You think of this battle as a place for true men,
but you're no horseman fit for the field of vengeance.
From there he swept on to the center of the host,
charging until he reached the far side of the army.
He came to Fariborz, with an interpreter beside him,
sweeping in like a raging wind.
He roared out: O man of evil mark,
you who bow your neck low before your betters,
the horsemen, the elephants, the golden boots,
and the royal banner of Kaveh were yours to hold.
On the day of battle you handed them to the Turks;
your heroes in Iran no longer call you a man.
When you are the commander you sink to a subordinate;
you should tie on the belt of servitude.
You are brother to noble Siavash,
and by birth you stand higher than the general.
You are the one who should be seeking revenge;
you should be preparing yourself for vengeance.
Now you must come out with me
to the arena, in front of the army.
Your name would rise as high as the shining sun
if you dared to step forward against me.
And if you won't come to fight me, that's fine;
look then and see where Zavareh and Gorazeh are.
Send me one of your champions,
someone renowned among the Iranians.
Fariborz answered him again:
Don't pick a quarrel with a tearing lion.
This is how the day of battle ends:
one man glad and victorious, the other in pain.
Even in victory, fear the harm to come,
for the high heavens never stay the same.
If the king took my banner, that is just;
he gave it, with elephants and troops, to whom he wished.
To avenge Siyavash, after Kay Qobad,
the man who set the crown of majesty on his head,
he girded himself and made the world flourish:
commander Gudarz, son of Kashvad.
Ever the avenger before the kings,
father after father, a hero and the king's own marshal.
And besides, from his mace, without a doubt,
your commander's time will surely come to its end.
The army takes its orders for war from Visa;
to him return all honor and all shame.
If he commands me to fight you,
my heart is full of pain, but I will give the cure.
Then you will see how I lift my head
from disgrace, once I step into the fight.
Human answered him: Enough.
I see your only mastery is in words.
With this sword you've buckled at your waist,
nothing but grass has escaped your battles.
You seek combat with a mace like this,
one that is useless against helmet and armor.
From there he turned back in his arrogance,
as if he had become a lion primed for evil.
Girded for vengeance for the noble free-born men,
he rode up to Gudarz, son of Kashvad.
He came and raised a loud cry:
Hey, you arrogant chief who binds up demons,
I heard everything you told the king,
and how afterward you led the army out on its way.
This was your pledge to the king,
your order concerning Piran the commander:
the messenger who came to the army of Turan,
your chosen son Giv, the shelter of the host,
after you swore your oath before the throne,
by the sun and the moon, by throne and crown,
that if my eyes fell on Piran
on the field of battle, I would destroy him.
Like a raging lion you arrayed your army,
and craved war with us as if it were your wish.
Now, wretched, you have settled behind the mountain
like a miserable mountain sheep.
Like prey fleeing a furious lion,
with the bold lion pressing close behind,
that chooses a narrow den within the thicket
and, out of dread for its life, seeks neither name nor honor.
March your army out onto the open plain.
Why keep your troops hidden behind the highlands?
Was this your pledge to the king,
to take a mountain as your fortress on the battleground?
Gudarz said to him: Think it over,
as to whether it's fitting to speak such words to you.
Now that you'll get your answer from the assembly,
you'll see you laid out these words in ignorance.
Know this: this was the king's command to me,
this was my oath and my binding promise.
Now I have come with a heavy army,
with Iran's chosen, brave commanders.
And you, like an old fox,
hiding in the thicket for fear of the hunter,
you keep scheming, plotting tricks and traps,
fleeing the mace, the spear, and the lasso.
Don't play the daredevil; don't seek battle with me,
for a fox does not walk the same road as a lion.
When Human heard Gudarz's answer,
he roared like a lion on that field of war.
He said to Gudarz: if you won't come to fight me,
it is not because you feel any shame.
Ever since you saw the battle of Pashan,
you have turned your head away from fighting the Turks.
At Lavan you tested me in war,
and on the battlefield you praised me.
If, as you now claim,
you truly seek revenge in this feud,
then choose one man from your army
to face me on the field of combat.
For I sought battle with Fariborz and Roham
like a bold, fierce leopard.
I roamed through the whole assembly of warriors;
not one of your heroes will come out to meet me.
The knot of this quarrel weighed on Gudarz;
their words were not worth hearing.
You are the one who says: on the day of battle
I will paint the yellow mountain red with tulips by my sword.
So come out now with me on this battlefield,
and with the heavy mace demand your vengeance.
You have many sons, O famous one,
all of them girded and ready to fight me.
Send one against me to war;
if you want a fight, why do you delay?
Then the champion Gudarz fell to thinking:
which of my braves should go out to fight him?
If I send one of the roaring lions among my heroes
against this ill-omened man,
and Human is killed on this battlefield,
no one from the Turks will rise to seek revenge.
Their champion's heart will twist with grief,
and after that he will not press so fiercely for battle.
His army will retreat to Mount Kanabad,
and in the fighting our hand will grow weak.
But if one of the famous men of my own ranks
is lost, my name will be lost with him.
My heroes' hearts will break in the fight,
and after that they will not stand their ground anywhere.
It is better that I do not join battle with him,
but instead close off his path with an ambush.
Perhaps they will grow reckless and seek the fight,
and lead their army out from that narrow ground.
So he answered Human: go on;
you are hasty in speech and rash in action.
The moment you opened your tongue before me,
I understood your hidden thoughts from what you revealed.
For none among the Turks has the wisdom
to find peace of mind through his own good judgment.
You know a raging lion, on the day of battle, never soils its claws by striking at a fox.
And besides, when two armies are drawn up like this, all their swift horses standing with heads held high,
and two men go out to fight in a feud, all the famous warriors gnaw their fingers in dismay.
The whole army must move forward and strike blows in the thick of the press.
So now go back to your own army; lift your neck proudly before your new commander.
Tell them that I challenged the Iranians many times to combat, and no one came against me but a cold wind.
On that battlefield your name will rise high, and all your wishes from Piran will be fulfilled.
Human answered him in a loud voice: how much talk, and no deeds done?
The world's ruler once spoke a wise saying that I recall here on this field of feud:
if you will not seek the throne of kings, then do not seek it; and if you reach for fire, do not turn your face away.
You have no real desire for war and combat; yet if you pick roses, no path is without thorns.
You have not a single lionhearted man in Iran who will fight me in front of the army.
You keep trying to send me away with clever tricks; but I will not fall for your deception, if I have any sense.
All the battle-hungry warriors said to Gudarz: this is the right course,
that you send one of us to the battlefield to face him and answer his challenge.
He answered: today is not the right day to go and fight him.
When Human turned back from Gudarz, having prevailed, he flared up like a bold lion.
He laughed, turned his face from the commander, and rushed toward the army's sentries.
He strung his bow and struck four of them down from their horses onto that meadow.
When those sentries of the army saw from afar the blows of the proud descendant of Tur,
they cleared his path and fled; they would not grapple with him in combat.
He climbed the height like a man drunk with victory; his roar brought the mountain low.
He whirled his spear around his head, crying that Human, son of Visa, was victorious.
The blare of the brass horn rose across the plain as the spear spun on the height.
In their joy the brave men of the Turanian army rubbed their helmets against the sphere of the moon.
When Human returned in such triumph, Gudarz writhed at that insolence.
The commander, full of shame, grew grim, gripped by anger and violent frustration.
In shame before his warriors he broke into sweat; the commander launched an arrow to mark the spot.
so that they would know it was the enemy who first drew blood, and that they had set the path to evil.
After that he looked at his proud champions to see which of them would step forward to fight him.