English
Section 17: The Frozen War
After this, word reached Afrasiab that the borders of Turan had turned to a flooding sea.
An army had poured toward Kaseh Rud; the land had gone black with vengeance for Siavash.
The commander said to Piran, his chief: 'Kay Khosrow has finally spoken his hidden mind.'
'We had better go to meet this challenge, all of us with banners raised and war drums beating.'
'Otherwise, when the Persian army comes, we will see neither the bright sun nor the moon.'
'Go, gather troops from every direction; there is no time now for long speeches.'
But from this side a fierce wind rose up, so that no one in Iran could even think of battle.
A violent storm cloud swept in like dust; in the cold, lips froze against the teeth.
The royal pavilion and the tents turned to ice, and snow drew its cover over the mountaintops.
For a whole week no one saw the face of the plain; the entire land vanished under the snow.
Food, sleep, and rest all grew scarce; you would think the surface of the earth had turned to stone.
No one remembered the day of battle; men slaughtered their warhorses and ate them.
Many people and animals perished; not one hand or arm was left with any strength.
On the eighth day the sun climbed high, and the whole world became like a rippling sea of water.
The commander gathered his troops together, and there was talk of the coming day of battle.
'Here the army has been ruined by these hardships; it would be fitting if we moved from this battlefield.'
'May no harm come to these lands, whether Kalat, Sepidkuh, or Kaseh Rud.'
From the proud champions, Bahram spoke: 'This must not be hidden from the commander.'
'You silence us with fine words, yet you are refighting the war of Siavash's son.'
'Do not twist a straight matter into something crooked; look at one single life, and how many have already been lost.'
'You still do not know what evil lies ahead; right now the buffalo is still inside its hide.'
The commander replied: 'By the sacred fire, no one was more famous than warlike Zarasp.'
'Look at the army: who was like Rivniz in courage and in noble bearing?'
'Was not Forud killed though he was innocent? It was fated; what happened, happened.'
'For me, his cup was full of wine and milk; but that young man's words from the height came like arrows.'
'Now let us not dwell on the past; whether he was killed justly or unjustly, it is done.'
When Giv, son of Gudarz, received a robe of honor from the king, it was to burn down that mountain of firewood in their path.
'Now is the time for that burning, to set the sky ablaze with fire.'
'Perhaps then the army's road will open, and the troops will have a way to pass through.'
Giv said to him: 'This task is no hardship; and even if it is, no hardship comes without reward.'
Bizhan grew troubled at these words: 'I do not agree with what has been said.'
'I should not sit idle while you, a young man, no, while you in your age gird your belt for this task.'
'We were raised in toil and hardship, and never once complained about it.'
'I am the one who should take this work in hand; it is not right that you toil while I sit at ease.'
Giv said to him: 'This is something I prepared myself; I raised my head to take on this task.'
'Now, my son, it is your time to shine, not the time for old age and mercy.'
'Do not grieve at all about my going, for I will burn a mountain of hard rock with my breath.'
With great difficulty he passed the pass of Kaseh Rud; the whole world was nothing but the misery of snow and slush.
When he reached that mountain of firewood, he could not tell its height from its width.
From the tip of an arrow he kindled a fire, cast it into the mountain, and the wood burned.
For three weeks there was no passing that fire, because of the searing flames, the wind, and the smoke.
On the fourth week the army began to cross, as both the water and the fire began to settle.
When the commander's army had gathered around him, from the fire they set out toward Gorugerd.
The army advanced as was proper, and pitched their pavilions across every mountain and plain.
They arranged everything as they should, and sent out scouts on every side.
Gorugerd was the seat of Tazhav, a horseman with the fury of a lion.
He kept his herds of horses in that place, spread across the land from mountain to mountain.
News came that the Persian army had arrived: 'The herds must be moved aside, off the road.'
He sent a warrior in haste to Afrasiab's herdsman.
His name was Kabudeh, a capable man, and in his capability truly indispensable.
He told him: 'When the sky grows dark, go from here and let no one see your face.'
'Find out how large the Persian army is, and which champions carry banners and helms.'
'From here we will fall on them by night, and turn the whole mountain into a battlefield on the plain.'
Kabudeh came like a black cloud of dust, in the dark night, near the Persian army.
The scout that dark night was Bahram, whose lasso was a snare even for an elephant's head.
Kabudeh's horse let out a neigh, and Bahram in the camp pricked up his ears.
He strung his bow and pressed his thighs, and that heavy war camel of a horse sprang forward.
He loosed an arrow and did not open his lips; Kabudeh was not at all visible in the dark.
The shot struck the belt of the king's herdsman; Kabudeh's color kept turning black.
He fell from his horse and begged for mercy; Bahram said to him: 'Tell me the truth.'
'Who was it here that sent you? Which of these great men did you come to spy on?'
He said to Bahram: 'If you grant me mercy, I will tell you whatever you ask about the matter.'
'My lord, Tazhav is the one who sent me; I am his servant.'
'Do not kill me, and I will show you the road to the place where he has his encampment.'
Bahram said to him: 'Tazhav against me is like an ox pitted against a tearing lion.'
He cut off his head with a dagger, low, and tied it to the strap of his royal saddle.
He brought it to the camp and threw it down like something worthless: he was no famous hero, no true warrior horseman.