English
Rostam Speaks His Lineage
Rostam said to him: settle down. Why do you speak such unwelcome words?
Your heart keeps straining toward crookedness, and your soul is nourished by demons.
Speak only what befits a king. A king says nothing but the truth.
The ruler knows that Dastan, son of Sam, is great, wise, and of good name.
That same Sam was the son of Nariman, and Nariman the hero came from noble stock.
He is great, and Garshasp was his father, a crowned king in this world.
Surely you have heard the fame of Sam. There was no one of such good name in his time.
At Tus he killed a dragon whose grip no one ever escaped.
A sea monster in the water, a leopard on land, no one ever saw him flee from battle.
In the sea he scorched the heads of fish, and in the air he burned the vultures' wings.
He would drag an elephant by the tail. My glad heart grows heavy remembering him.
And there was another demon, evil-minded, his body on the earth and his head in the sky.
The sea of China reached only to his waist, and the blazing sun could not harm him.
He would lift fish out of the water, raising his head past the dome of the moon.
He roasted his fish in the sun, and the turning heavens wept at the sight of him.
Two such monsters writhed in agony, and both were slain by a hero's blade.
My mother was the daughter of Mehrab, through whom the land of India flourished.
Zahhak was her fifth forefather, one who rose to power among the kings of the world.
Who else has a lineage more renowned than this? A wise man does not turn away from the truth.
Moreover, throughout the whole world, warriors must seek their skill from me.
First I hold the pledge of Kavus, so no one can find fault with me.
And the pledge of the just Kay Khosrow, whose belt of kingship no other of the royal line ever fastened as he did.
I have crossed the whole earth from end to end and killed many an unjust king.
When I crossed over the waters of the Oxus, Afrasiab fled from Turan to China.
When Kavus was in the war of Hamavaran, I went alone into Mazandaran.
I left no Arzhang alive, nor the White Demon, nor Sanjeh, nor Ulad the son of Ghandi, nor Bid.
For the sake of the king I killed my own son, brave and wise as he was.
There was never a champion like Sohrab in strength, in manhood, and in tested battle.
It is surely more than five hundred years since I was born from Zal's line.
I have been the champion of the world; my hidden self was one with my open self.
Like Fereydun of blessed birth, who set the crown of greatness on his head,
who threw Zahhak down from the throne and gave that head and crown to the dust,
the second was Sam, our forefather, who carried knowledge and mastery through the world,
the third am I: since I fastened my belt, the world has rested easy under its crown.
There was never a day so bright, no lawless man ever set foot in the fortress,
while I was the master of this world, with my sword and my heavy mace in hand.
I told you all this so you would understand: you are the king, and the proud chiefs are like a flock.
You have only newly come into the world, however much you bear Kay Khosrow's glory.
You see only your own self in the world; you are not aware of hidden matters.
Since so much has been said, let us drink now, and drown the mind's worry in wine.