English
Part 10
Tokhvar the counselor spoke at that moment,
when mountain upon mountain came roaring in.
It is General Tus who has come to fight;
you cannot stand against that seasoned dragon of war.
Let us go and shut the fortress gate tight,
and see what fate has in store for us.
Since you cut down his son and son-in-law in battle,
do not now dream of feasting and ease.
Young Forud grew sharp with Tokhvar, saying:
when battle and the clash of arms draw near,
what is Tus, what is a lion, what is a raging elephant,
what is a warlike dragon or a striped tiger to me?
In battle a man finds his courage;
you do not sit a warrior down on roses over a blazing fire.
Tokhvar answered the young prince this way:
kings do not treat wise words with scorn.
You too are but one horseman, even if made of iron,
even if you could tear a granite mountain from its roots.
Thirty thousand renowned Iranians
will come to fight you on this mountainside.
No fortress will remain here, no stone, no earth;
they will level everything to the ground.
And if Tus suffers some harm from this,
grief over him will bring sorrow to the king.
A defeat will fall upon the cause of avenging your father,
a break that can never be mended.
Turn your reins and shoot no arrow;
go into the fortress, do not waste your effort in vain.
Whatever should have been said beforehand,
he did not say; he kept it hidden.
Because of a worthless, incompetent advisor,
battle became Forud's gain and his life the loss.