English
The Fall of Salm and the End of Fereydun
The vengeful one drained of all his rage, and fled toward the fortress walls.
Behind him the army of Manuchehr Shah, roaring and pressing on, gave chase.
When Salm reached the edge of the sea, he found no ship waiting on that shore.
The plain lay so heaped with the dead and wounded that the road grew hard for any who passed.
Full of fury and hatred, the new commander mounted his swift bay horse.
He cast off his armor and rode hard, spurring his horse into the dust of the troops.
Then he closed in on the king of Rome and cried out: 'You man of tyranny and ruin!'
'You killed your brother for a crown; you got the crown, so how far will you run now?'
'Now I have brought you your crown, O king, and your throne; that royal tree has come to fruit.'
'Do not flee from the greatness of the crown; Fereydun once arrayed you anew on the throne.'
'The tree you raised has borne its fruit; you will hold its harvest in your arms right now.'
'If its fruit is thorns, you planted it yourself; if it is silk, you spun it yourself.'
Even as he spoke he drove his horse on, and at last drew close upon him.
He struck one blow of the sword to his neck; the king's body split in two.
He ordered his head to be taken up and raised on a spear toward the clouds.
The whole army stood amazed at him, at that strength and that warrior's arm.
All of Salm's army was like a flock scattered by a bitter, storming day.
They fled off all at once, group by group, scattered across plain and sea and mountain.
A wise man of pure mind, whose tongue was full of graceful speech,
they sent to go before Manuchehr Shah, to win his warmth and speak for the army.
He would say: 'We declared ourselves the lesser; we will not set foot on the earth except by his command.'
'Some of us are owners of livestock, others owners of fields and homes.'
'We came to this battlefield as soldiers, not by our own wish to seek revenge.'
'Now, every one of us is the king's servant; our hearts and souls are filled with love for him.'
'If his purpose is war and bloodshed, we have no strength left to fight.'
'We will bring our leaders one and all before the king, and lay our innocent heads before him.'
'Let him do whatever he desires; over these innocent lives of ours he is master.'
The man of much sense said these words, and the commander listened intently.
He answered thus: 'I cast my own desire into the dust, and I raise my own good name.'
'Whatever does not come from the divine path, whatever springs from evil or from wickedness,'
'let it be far from my sight; may the body of the demon of evil be broken in pain.'
'Whether you are all my enemies, or my friends and allies,'
'since the Victorious One granted us the power, the guilty were set apart from the innocent.'
'Now the day of justice has come; injustice is gone; your leaders' heads are freed from the sword.'
'Seek only love, cast a spell of peace, and set aside your weapons of war.'
A cry rose up from the royal tent: 'O commanders of blessed judgment,'
'from now on, shed no blood in vain, for the fortune of the wrongdoers has been overturned.'
They carried all their arms and gear of war before the son of Peshang.
Commander Manuchehr welcomed them and set each in a rank fitting his worth.
He sent Shiruy to the fortress, that worldly, seasoned, questing man.
He ordered: 'Gather up that treasure; look carefully at all you find there.'
That treasure, all arrayed, he loaded onto wagon-drawing elephants and brought to the king's court.
He ordered the brass drums and pipes to sound, and the royal tent was let down.
He led the army from the sea to the open plain, and from the plain toward Fereydun.
When he came near Tamishe again, he longed to see his grandfather's face.
The wail of the great horn rose from the gate, and the whole army stirred into motion.
The commander of fortunate fate adorned the backs of all the elephants with turquoise thrones.
Some with golden litters draped in Chinese brocade, likewise decked out with jewels,
some with banners of every kind flashing, until the world turned red and gold and violet.
From the sea of Gilan, like a dark cloud, that army came pouring on toward Sari.
When that army drew near the king, Fereydun came out on the road to meet it.
All the men of Gilan were like lions unleashed, with golden collars and musk-dark caps.
Behind the king rode the Iranians, brave men, each like a raging lion.
At the front of the army marched elephants and lions, then the great tusked beasts and bold warriors.
When the flashing banner appeared, Manuchehr's army drew up in ranks.
The new commander dismounted from his horse, a fresh-blossoming tree heavy with new fruit.
He kissed the ground and gave praise before the crown, the throne, the diadem, and the ring.
Fereydun bade him rise, kissed him, and wiped his face with his own hand.
Then he turned his face to the heavens: 'O just judge, speaker of truth,'
'You said: I am the just judge; in hardship I am the helper of the wronged.'
'You gave me justice and judgment both; You gave me both the crown and the signet ring.'
Then he ordered that Manuchehr Shah be seated on the golden throne with the crown.
Commander Shiruy came arrayed to the king's court with the treasure.
Then Manuchehr Shah gave orders and shared it all out among the army.
When this was done, fortune's day turned; the leaf of the royal tree withered.
Fereydun withdrew from crown and throne, having laid the heads of all three kings upon himself.
With heart full of blood and both cheeks wet with tears, he lived on until his time ran out.
Fereydun passed away, and only his name remained after this long age went by.
Better then to hold to good name and honesty, my son, than to waste your gains.
Manuchehr set aside the royal crown and bound his waist with the blood-red mourning sash.
In the manner of kings he built a tomb, some of it of red gold, some of lapis lazuli.
They placed an ivory throne beneath, and hung a crown above the ivory.
They came forward to bid him farewell, just as the custom and the faith required.
They sealed the tomb over the king; that honored one left the world, wretched and cast down.
O world, from end to end you are deceit and wind; no man of wisdom is ever glad in you.