Section 5: Rostam's Victory

The next day both sides arrayed their armies and dressed their banners for war. Hamavaran had a hundred mighty elephants, an army drawn up across two miles. The mountain shook with the roar of the warriors; the earth grew weary under the horses' hooves. You would think the whole world was made of iron, or that Mount Alborz itself was clad in armor. Behind the elephants the banners flashed, and all around were streaks of red, yellow, and violet. The heart and claws of the fierce lion were torn with dread; the bold eagle let its wings fall. The clouds melted away in the sky, for who could bear to stand against such a force? When the commander led his army onto the plain, he saw the hosts of three kings and three lands. He said to his proud soldiers: do not hold back from the spearpoints that seem thick as eyelashes. Watch the manes and shoulders of the horses and their reins, keeping both eyes fixed on the tips of the lances. Even if they are a hundred thousand and we only a hundred riders, mere numbers will not decide this fight. The flash of arrows and javelins rose up; you would think the sky had sown the earth with tulips. The plain seemed a tavern of blood, and the air a thicket of upright spears. On every side lay severed helmeted heads, and shattered mail scattered across field and cave. The mighty Rostam spurred Rakhsh into swift action, keeping clear of the blood of lesser men. He galloped in pursuit of the king of Syria and hurled his curved lasso through the wind. The noose closed around the king's waist so tightly that its coils seemed frozen there. He lifted him from the saddle like a ball, and struck him down as a mallet strikes. He threw him down, and Farhad bound his hands; the famed chieftain was taken prisoner. With blood the earth turned to a sea and the plain to a mountain, so many were slain from every host. The king of Barbarestan fell into Goraz's grip, captured along with forty of his war leaders. The ground grew heaped like a mountain with the dead, and the king of Hamavaran was worn down at last. He agreed to bring Kavus and his nobles from Hamavaran back to Rostam, along with the royal pavilion, treasure, crown, and jewels, servants, throne, and a golden belt. On these terms they rose up, and all three lands set everything in order. When he freed Kavus from the fortress, along with Giv, Gudarz, and Tus as well, the arms of three lands, three treasuries, three kings, the pavilion, the army, the crown, and the throne, besides these, whatever wealth the commander saw, he sent into the treasury of Iran's champion. Kavus, radiant as the sun, had a golden litter made, lined with Roman brocade. Its frame was of turquoise, its seat of ruby, with gems woven upon black silken cloth. Beneath it stood a smooth-paced horse, its head fitted with a bridle inlaid with gold. The litter's poles were all of fresh aloeswood, and set with jewels of many kinds. He bade Sudabeh take her seat; she sat and gave praise to the sun. He brought his army from the city to the camp; this is how men seek their share of the world. His army grew to more than three hundred thousand, riders in mail with their horses armored too. There gathered around him riders from Barbar, and a hundred thousand from Egypt and Hamavaran. A vast army of Barbar came, a host of war-seasoned horsemen.