English
Esfandiar and the Sorceress
Gorgsar was struck with grief at what had happened, at how the dead Esfandiar had come back to life.
The king pitched his royal tent by the water's edge, and all around him the army raised its tents.
He called for wine, for music at the feast, and for the cupbearers; he rose to his feet in honor of the Lord of the world.
He ordered that Gorgsar, his heart still branded with sorrow, be brought stumbling before Esfandiar.
He gave him three cups of royal wine, then smiled and brought up the matter of the dragon.
He said to him, 'You worthless, cowardly wretch, look now at the blood of this male dragon.'
'What lies ahead of me at the next stop? Where will greater hardship and grief come to me?'
He answered, 'O victorious king, you keep drawing good fortune from the stars.'
'Tomorrow, when you make camp at your next halt, a sorceress will come to greet you.'
'She has seen many armies before this, yet has never let a single soul escape her.'
'When she wills it, she turns a desert into a sea, and stretches herself as wide as the height of the sun.'
'Kings call her by the name Ghoul; do not walk into her snare in the flower of your youth.'
'Turn back in triumph from the dragon; you must not let your name be dragged through the dust.'
The world-seeker said, 'You foul, brazen-faced man, tomorrow report whatever you see me do.'
'For I will do to that sorceress what will break the backs and hearts of all sorcerers.'
'By the victory the one just God grants, I will trample the head of these sorcerers underfoot.'
When day put on its yellow robe, the light of the world turned toward the west.
He gathered his troops and loaded up the baggage, calling on the goodness God bestows.
Through the dark night the king marched his army, until the sun kindled its golden crown.
When the face of the constellation Aries turned red as ruby, the whole face of the earth broke into a smile.
He handed all the troops over to Peshotan, and took along a golden goblet full of wine.
He also asked for a tuned lute; a battle lay before him, yet he called for a feast.
He saw a woodland like paradise, as if the heavens had sown it with tulips.
The sun could not pierce its trees, and everywhere there were springs as sweet as rose water.
He dismounted from his horse, as was fitting, and chose a spot in the wood beside a spring.
He set a golden goblet in his hand, and when he felt the wine gladden his heart,
he took up the lute at once and began to sing and lament.
He sang, 'Ill-starred Esfandiar, who never sees wine or a companion to drink with.'
'He sees nothing but lions and fierce dragons, and never escapes the claws of disaster.'
'He gains no share of joy from this world, no sight of a lucky, fairy-faced beauty.'
'I would win my heart's desire from God, if only he gave me a heart-melting face,'
'tall as a cypress, with a face like the sun, and hair like musk flowing down to the feet.'
When the sorceress heard Esfandiar's voice, she bloomed like a flower in spring.
She said, 'A lion has come into the trap, with song and lute and a brimming cup.'
Her face was wrinkled, hideous, and unshapely; onto that darkness she wrote her spells.
She became lovely as a beautiful Turk, her cheek like Chinese silk, her hair like musk.
She came near Esfandiar and sat down on the grass by the stream.
When the world-seeker saw her face, he raised his song and wine and music higher.
He said, 'O one just God, you are my guide through mountains and deserts.'
'Just now I searched for a fairy-faced beauty, one famous for her form, that I might have my share of her.'
'The generous Creator of justice has given me a pure cup and one to serve it.'
He handed her a goblet full of musk-scented wine, so her face would flush like a ruby.
He had a fine steel chain, kept hidden as a safeguard against sorcery.
Zoroaster had bound it on his arm, having brought it to Goshtasp from paradise.
With that iron on him, no evil fortune could threaten Esfandiar's life.
He threw the chain around her neck in a way that drained the strength from her body.
The sorceress turned herself into a lion; the world-seeker reached for his sword.
He said to her, 'You cannot harm me, even if you become a towering mountain of iron.'
'Show yourself in your true form; I will answer you now with the sword.'
In the chain she shriveled into a foul old crone, her hair white as snow, her skin black.
He struck a sharp dagger onto her head; may you never see such a head, nor its severing.
When the sorceress died, the sky went dark, so dark it dazzled the eye that stared into it.
A wind rose and a black dust swirled up, hiding the sight of the sun and moon.
The world-seeking hero stood tall and let out a roar like crashing thunder.
Peshotan came up with the army and said, 'O renowned king,'
'no crocodile can stand against your blow, no Turk, no sorcerer, no lion or leopard.'
'May the proud champion live on in the world; may the world stand in need of your love.'
A fire flared up from the crown of Gorgsar's head at Esfandiar's triumph in the fight.