English
Part 4
A watchful man, one searching for the way, sent word to King Kavus.
To the lord of Hamavaran there came a famous man among the champions.
He wrote a letter full of clash and struggle, crammed with maces, swords, and battle.
It said: You laid an ambush for the king of Iran, and by pretending peace you plotted evil.
It is not manly to seek out war by trickery, nor to abandon the way of the brave leopard,
who in battle never sets a hidden trap, however full of hatred his heart may be.
If King Kavus is set free, you will have escaped the dragon's claws and jaws.
If not, then prepare to fight me; put my strength to the test man to man.
The messenger went to Hamavaran and delivered the chiefs' words, one by one.
When the lord heard the message and read the letter, he was left astonished at his own deeds.
As he read the letter his head reeled, and the whole world turned dark before his eyes.
He answered thus: King Kavus will never set foot upon this plain again.
Whenever you come to the land of Barbar, you will meet nothing but the blade and the heavy mace.
The same chains and prison are prepared for you, if this is the desire your mind has chosen.
I will come with an army to fight you; this is the custom and the path we will follow.
When the elephant-bodied hero heard the reply, the bold warriors of the army gathered.
He went to war by way of the sea, since the road by land would be slow with delay.
With ships and boats he took a great army to the borderland of Hamavaran.
They turned to plunder and killing, and the land ran with rivers of blood.
News reached the king of Hamavaran that Rostam had saddled his horse Rakhsh for war.
The time had come for him to march to battle; those days left no room for rest or delay.
When he set out from his city with his army, the bright day turned as black as night.
They arrayed their forces on left and right, and called for the famous ones to fight.
The elephant-bodied hero said: I am the warrior; on the battlefield I am the one who holds his ground.
He hoisted the heavy mace onto his shoulder, spurred Rakhsh, and a great roar rose up.
When the army saw his chest and shoulders, and the mace and club gripped in his fist,
you would think their hearts fled their bodies; from terror of him the whole host scattered.
The king and his famous, defiant chiefs, when they saw the signs of Rostam one by one,
fled back toward Hamavaran, a mighty army retreating before the mighty hero.
When the commander sat down with his counselor, he summoned two young men from the gathering,
so that at once he might send them, swift as a rushing wind, to Egypt and to Barbar,
each with a letter clutched in his hand, written in heart's grief with tears of blood.
It said: this kingdom is not far from yours; good and bad, war and feast, we share together.
If you stand as one with me, I will not fear Rostam in the least in battle.
But if not, then that kingdom will fall too; the hand of ruin reaches far on every side.
When the letter reached them, saying that Rostam had led an army onto this plain,
they all rose with hearts full of dread and mustered an army from the land.
They set out toward Hamavaran; the earth became a mountain from end to end.
The host arrayed its ranks from mountain to mountain; even an ant could not find a path on the ground.
When Rostam saw this, he quietly sent a man onto the road to the king,
to say: three kings have joined their forces and risen up in this fashion.
If I stir myself to battle, they will not know their heads from their feet in this war of vengeance.
But no harm must come to you from this feud, for evil comes only from evil men.
The throne of Barbar is worth nothing to me if any harm reaches the king's body.
The messenger heard this and hurried off, and slipped in secret to King Kavus.
He repeated the whole of the hero's message; when Kavus heard it, he was struck with wonder.
He answered thus: do not worry about this; the earth was not spread out for me alone.
It has always been so, as long as the heavens turn: with sweetness comes poison, with love comes war.
And besides, the Lord is my friend; His greatness and His love are my fortress.
Give the shining Rakhsh his rein, and adorn his ears with the point of your spear.
Leave not one of them alive in the world, neither in the open nor in hiding.
The messenger brought back the answer swiftly and rushed to Rostam, son of Zal, like smoke.
When the hero heard his words, he made ready and turned his face toward war.