English
Part 11: The Rescue of Bijan
When Rostam knotted his belt tight and fastened his armor over it,
he turned to God, the maker of sun and moon, and made him his shield and refuge.
He prayed: May the evil eye be blinded; give me the strength to free Bijan.
He ordered his warriors to gird their loins likewise for the work of vengeance.
They saddled their swift horses and sharpened their claws for battle.
The mighty champion turned toward Rakhsh and rode ahead, seeking the way.
When he reached the boulder Akvan had cast, over that pit of grief and burning torment,
he said to his seven famous warriors: We must sweep this ground clean.
Now you must set to work and clear the mouth of the well of its stone.
The army's leaders dismounted to shift that stone away from the well.
They clawed long at the stone; the warriors grew worn out while the stone rested unmoved.
When sweat had poured from those famous men, yet the stone would not budge from the well's mouth,
the brave lion of a man came down from Rakhsh and tucked the skirt of his mail into his belt.
He asked strength from God, the giver of life, set his hand to the stone, and lifted it clean away.
He hurled it into the forest of China; the earth trembled at the fall of that stone.
He called down to Bijan and wept bitterly: How has it gone with you in this cruel fate?
Sweetness was always your share of the world; why did you take from its hand this cup of poison?
Bijan answered from the dark pit: How was the hard road for the champion?
The moment your cry reached my ears, every poison of the world turned sweet to me.
Look at my home now: the earth is iron and the sky is stone.
My heart has torn free of this fleeting world from so much pain, hardship, grief, and suffering.
Rostam said to him: The bright keeper of the world has had mercy on your life.
Now, you wise and noble soul, I have one wish to ask of you.
Forgive Gorgin son of Milad for my sake; drive the hatred and thoughts of revenge from your heart.
Bijan said: My friend, you do not know how my struggle went.
You do not know, great lion of a man, what Gorgin son of Milad did to me.
If my eyes fall on him, a day of reckoning will rise against him from my rage.
Rostam said: If you are stubborn and ill tempered, and will not heed my words,
I will leave you bound by the foot in the well, mount Rakhsh, and ride back home.
When Rostam's words reached his ears, a cry rose up from that narrow prison.
He answered: My own ill luck, not the warriors, my family, or my kin,
brought upon me what came from Gorgin; a day like this too I must endure.
We have endured it, and I am content with him; my heart is at peace from its grudge against him.
Rostam let the lasso down into the prison and drew him up from the well, still fettered.
His body bare, his hair and nails grown long, wasted away by suffering, pain, and want,
his whole body caked with blood, his face pale, worn by the rust-eaten chains of his bonds.
Rostam cried out when he saw him, his whole body hidden away beneath iron.
He set his hand to it and snapped the chains and bonds, freeing him from the ring around his feet.
They went home from that pit, Bijan on one arm and his fetters on the other.
The champion ordered his head washed clean and dressed him in fresh clothes.
After that Gorgin came to him and rubbed his face in the dust.
He came forward begging pardon for his wrong, tormented by his own crude act.
Bijan's heart let go of its grudge; he did not repay the offense with punishment.
They loaded the camels and saddled the horses, and Rostam put on his chosen armor.
The famous warriors mounted their steeds and drew their swords and heavy maces.
He sent off the baggage and set everything in order, as befitted the coming battle.
The keen-witted Ashkash went off with the baggage train to keep watch over the army everywhere.
Rostam told Bijan: Go now, ride with Ashkash and with Manijeh,
for tonight, in our vengeance against Afrasiyab, we will find no rest, no food, no sleep.
Now I will do such a deed at his gate that tomorrow his own kingdom will laugh at him.
Bijan said: Let me be the one in front, for it is against me they are stirring up fresh hatred.