English
The Death of Zarasp
Then the commander said to Zarasp:
Let your heart blaze like a sacred fire.
Put on the armor of warriors ready for battle,
and guard your body and your life with care.
Perhaps it is you who wants vengeance for that famous man;
for otherwise I see no one eager for it.
Zarasp came and set his helmet on his head,
his heart full of hatred, his lips full of boasting.
Shouting, he spurred his horse forward,
and sprang from his place like leaping fire.
The raging lion said to Tokhar:
Another famous man has come, and this one is different.
Look and tell me who this man is,
whether he is a prince or just a soldier.
The warrior Tokhar said to the young king:
The turning of fate's wheel has come.
This is the son of Tus, and his name is Zarasp,
a man who would not turn his horse even from a war elephant.
He is married to Rivniz's sister,
and this fortune seeker too has come for vengeance.
When you see his chest, his arm, and his helmet,
you must loose an arrow of poplar wood at him.
So that his head goes down into the dust,
and his torso topples headlong from the saddle.
Then the mad commander Tus will know
that we were not here to be mocked.
The brave Forud urged his horse forward
and struck an arrow into the middle of Zarasp.
It pinned his body to the ridge of the saddle,
and the arrowhead set his soul aflame as it left him.
He fell, and the swift horse turned away from him,
rushing back, roaring and stumbling, to its place.
A great cry rose from the army of Iran,
and the warriors lifted the caps from their heads in grief.
Tus, his heart bleeding and his eyes full of tears,
put on his mail in haste.
He mourned bitterly among his fighting men,
trembling like a leaf on a tree.
He sat upon the saddle like a great mountain
set on the back of a mighty elephant.
He turned his reins toward Forud,
his heart full of hatred, his head full of smoke.