Bahram's Hunt on the Plain

On the eighth day he rode out to the hunting ground, he and Ruzbeh, with a thousand horsemen. He saw the whole plain filled from end to end with wild asses, and drew his royal bow from its case. He set the string against the two curved horns of the bow, and called upon God the Victorious. It was spring, and the wild asses had paired off, turning to face each other, drawn toward mating. They tore at one another, this one and that, until the ground turned red as rubies with their blood. Bahram waited until, drunk with heat, a male ass broke away and separated from the rest. When the bold male had won, he mounted a female beneath him. Bahram held his war bow drawn taut, and he smiled, delighted, when the ass came into range. He loosed the arrow into the back of that male, and shaft and feather passed clean through the beast. He pinned male and female together with a single shot, and the hearts of his troops blazed with wonder at his blow. Every man in the army who saw that shot heaped praise upon the king. 'May the evil eye stay far from your glory, and may all your days be days of celebration.' 'In courage you are unmatched in this age, for you are king, and sovereign, and champion all at once.'