Part 4: The Journey to Yemen

All three swift as the wind went home; when night came they slept, victorious and glad. When the sun cast its light across the sky, it scattered crimson over the blue. They set out, and all three prepared themselves, calling the priests to travel with them. They rode out with an army vast as the heavens, all famous men with faces bright as the sun. When Sarv, king of Yemen, learned they were coming, he arrayed his army bright as a pheasant's plumage. He sent a great host to meet them, both wise strangers and his own kin alike. These three noble men entered Yemen, and men and women poured out of the city. They scattered jewels and saffron before them, and mingled musk with wine. The manes of the horses were drenched in musk and wine, and gold coins lay strewn beneath their hooves. The king of Yemen prepared a hall of audience, and all the great names gathered together. He opened his ancient treasuries and revealed what had long been kept secret. His three sun faced daughters, lovely as a garden of paradise, cypresses no gardener could match. Crowned and wealthy, they had never known hardship, save the twisting turmoil suffered by their curls. He brought all three and handed them over: three new moons wed to three noble kings. In his heart the king of Yemen thought with rancor: Fereydun has brought this trouble upon me. It came from me, and may I never survive it, that the seed of the noble Kayanids should turn out female. Count that man lucky who has no daughter; if a daughter is born, his star grows dim. Before all the priests, Sarv declared: a king is a fitting husband for the moon. Know this: these three, the very light of my eyes, I have given to them according to my custom. So that they may cherish them like their own eyes, and hold them in their hearts as dear as life. Then he called out, and the strangers' baggage was loaded onto the backs of raging, rutting camels. The camel litters glowed with the jewels of Yemen, each stitched to the next in one long train. When a child has grace and glory, it is precious to the heart, whether female or male. The clear sighted young men, seekers of the road, set their faces toward Fereydun.