Section 4: Darab Found Beneath the Ruined Arch

It happened one day that a violent storm arose, and Rashnavad was troubled by it. Thunder and rain came with lightning and fury; the ground was flooded, the sky roared. On every side they ran to escape the rain, and pitched their tents out on the plain. Darab too was distressed by all this, searching for a way to flee the downpour. He looked and saw a ruined place, and in its midst an arch still standing. It was tall and ancient and worn away; once it had been a royal hall hung with curtains. He had no tent, no pavilion, no shelter, no companion, and no mount. He had to sleep beneath that weathered arch, alone, without friend or partner. The commander was making his rounds through the army, and passed by that weathered arch. A cry reached his ears from the ruins; from that eerie spot a voice came out. Saying: 'O weathered arch, be alert, keep watch over this king of Iran. He had no tent, no friend or partner, so he came and lay down beneath you.' Rashnavad said to himself: 'This is the sound of thunder, or the storm wind.' Again a cry came from the ruined hall: 'O arch, do not shut the eye of wisdom. Within you sleeps the son of King Ardeshir; do not fear the rain, remember these words.' A third time the voice reached his ears; in wonder his heart grew tight at that cry. He said to the wise man: 'What can this be? Someone must go toward that arch. See who is sleeping in there, who lies so distraught upon himself.' They went and saw a young man, wise, with the face of a hero. All his clothes and his horse soaked and ruined; he had made his bed on the black earth. The messenger told the commander what he had seen, and the commander's heart leapt at the words. He ordered: 'Call him at once. Who could bear to cry out like this?' They went and said: 'O sleeping man, rise from this sleep and wake.' As soon as Darab set foot in the stirrup, the broken arch collapsed from its place. When the king's general saw that marvel, he studied Darab from head to foot. He said: 'What an astonishing wonder this is; no thought could reach beyond it.' He hurried with him to the pavilion, saying: 'O just and only God, No one in the world has seen such a wonder, nor heard of it from the deeds of the great.' He ordered clothes to be brought, and a place prepared for him in the tent. He kindled a fire like a mountain, and burned much aloewood with musk and amber. When the sun raised its head above the hills, the commander made ready to set out. He ordered a guiding priest to bring a full set of clothes from head to foot, A horse with saddle and golden trappings, a lasso, and a sword in a golden sheath. They gave these to Darab, and he asked him: 'O lionhearted, honor-seeking lord, Since you are a man, where is your homeland? It is fitting that you tell the whole truth.' When Darab heard, he told everything, revealing his hidden past. Just as that woman had recalled it to him, he told the whole tale to Rashnavad. Of the chest, the ruby, and the bracelet on his arm, of the gold and the brocade at his side, One by one he told the army's commander, of his sleep, his rest, his food, his hiding. At once Rashnavad sent someone off, telling the messenger to ride like the wind: 'Bring the washerman's wife, the washerman, and the beads; bring Bahram and Zohreh too.'