English
Part Two: The King's Grief and the Reckoning
When the army came to the Charam road, the fortress of Kalat above and the water of Mim below.
They remembered the battle with Forud; it was all regret, pain, and mourning.
Every heart was full of grief and dread of the king, their eyes brimming with blood, their bodies heavy with guilt.
So ashamed they came before the king, hearts broken and steeped in wrongdoing.
For they had killed his innocent brother, and handed crown and signet to the enemy.
Each one folded his arms across his chest and came before him humble as a servant.
Khosrow looked at them in anger, his heart full of pain, both eyes full of blood.
He spoke thus to God: 'O just one, you gave me wisdom, judgment, and skill.'
'I feel shame before you now; you know without doubt the how and the why of all things.'
'Otherwise I would have ordered a thousand of them raised on the gallows in the field.'
'The gallows would be Tus's seat, and of everyone who stood beside him for battle.'
'I was already crying out for vengeance for my father, my heart full of grief, pain, and turmoil.'
'Now with Forud's killing a new blood feud is born; the head of Tus, son of Nozar, must be cut off.'
'I told him: do not go toward Kalat and Charam, even if they scatter coins upon your head.'
'For on that road lives Forud, and he is with his mother; he is of the commander's line and a warrior himself.'
'Why did roaring Tus, that faithless fool, lead the army toward the fortress?'
'Now, no wonder, the Creator of the heavens has cut off his favor from Tus and the army.'
'Evil befell the sons of Gudarz because of Tus, curse upon him, upon the war-elephant and the drum.'
'I gave him robes of honor and counsel, and sent him to war against my own brother.'
'May there be no world-conqueror like Tus son of Nozar, may no commander like him lead an army.'
'Alas for Forud, son of Siyavash, alas, who had strength and courage, mace and sword.'
'Like his father, he was killed guiltless, at the hands of my commander and his troops.'
'In all the world there is no one lower than Tus; he deserves only the pit and the dungeon.'
'No brain in his head, no blood in his veins; base Tus is no better than a dog to me.'
Over the blood of his brother and the vengeance for his father, he kept writhing, his liver wounded with grief.
He dismissed the whole army in contempt and rode off, tears of blood scattering from his lashes onto his face.
He barred them from his audience; his soul was wounded by his brother's death.
The nobles of Iran fell into mourning; the brave men went to Rostam's court.
Making their apology: 'This was fated to happen; who had really meant to fight Forud?'
'When the son of Tus was killed, the heads of the chieftains reeled with grief and dismay.'
'And his son-in-law Rivniz too, there was nothing left of him but ill fortune.'
'Who knew the name and lineage of Forud, that the king's heart would be torn like this?'
'You plead with him, for the king is young; perhaps he will turn his mind from vengeance on the army.'
'Rivniz, son of Kavus the king, was also cut down miserably in the fighting.'
'He was the younger son and eager for battle; alas for such a moon-faced prince.'
'This is the outcome and end of war: one wins a crown, another a narrow grave.'
When the face of the world turned pale from the sun, and the lapis-blue night bent overhead,
Rostam came to the king and kissed the ground before the throne.
The mighty-bodied one said to the king: 'May your head be higher than the whole assembly.'
'I have come to plead with the king on behalf of Tus and the army.'
'Know that no one dies without a cause; these matters must be weighed and considered.'
'And also, the army had no idea that the noble Forud was the king's own brother.'
'Besides, Tus is hot-tempered and reckless, and a father does not hold his son's life cheap.'
'When Rivniz was killed before his eyes, and Zarasp, that proud young man too,'
'if he flares up, it is no wonder; the world-seeker should not be blamed for vengeance.'
Khosrow said to him: 'O champion, my heart is full of grief for that young man.'
'Now your counsel is medicine for my soul, even though my heart still writhes with pain.'
Tus the commander came to apologize and kissed the ground before the champion.
He blessed the king: 'May you thrive as long as time endures.'
'May the earth be servant to your crown and throne, may the heavens be the source of your glory and fortune.'
'My heart is full of grief for my own deeds; my soul is bound in sorrow by my own mourning.'
'My soul too is full of shame before the king, my tongue full of apology, my spirit full of guilt.'
'For the pure souls of Forud and Zarasp I burn like a blazing fire.'
'If I am the guilty one among this assembly, I writhe in agony over what I have done.'
'Especially for Bahram and Rivniz, my own life means nothing to me now.'
'If the king becomes pleased with me and with this noble, innocent assembly,'
'I will go and avenge this disgrace; I will turn what is low into what is high.'
'I will take the whole burden of the army upon myself, whether I take lives or give my own.'
'From now on I will not look at throne or crown; my head shall know only the Roman helmet.'
The king was gladdened by his words; his heart grew fresh like a rose in spring.
When the bright crown of the sun appeared, and the dawn broke from the arc of the bow,
the commander came to the king, and with him the great men of the Iranian army.
The king of the world said to them: 'The pursuit of vengeance shall never be forgotten.'
The talk turned to Tur and Salm, to that ancient feud and the old wars.
'Such shame was never on a king of Iran, the ground never so drenched in the blood of the brave.'
'The whole mountain is soaked in the blood of Gudarz's sons, their waists bound with belts of blood.'
'The very bird and fish weep for them, mourning in the sea and on the mountains.'
'From Iran, the whole plain of Turan is strewn with heads and hands and feet, backs and waists.'
'Yet your minds are set only on rejoicing; your hearts do not stir toward vengeance.'
The brave men all folded their arms across their chests before the sun-faced lord.
They all kissed the ground, Roham and Gorgin, Gudarz and Tus,
and Khorrad with Zangeh of Shavaran, and Bizhan and Giv and the warriors,
saying: 'O king of good fortune and lion's heart, who has won courage even over lions with your sword,'
'we are all, one by one, your servants; we bow our heads in shame before you, Khosrow.'
'If the king commands battle, we will all give our lives in the fight.'
Then the commander called Giv forward and seated him on the throne of the great ones.
He praised him greatly and caressed him, and prepared for him many robes of honor and gifts.
He said to him: 'In this world you bore my hardship, yet you took no share of my treasure.'
'The commander Tus must not march the war-elephant and drum to battle without your counsel.'
'Do not, in haste, make small the dreadful work of war, and may the soul of brave Bahram find peace.'
'Through slanderers' words, and thoughts of name and honor, he made the world dark and narrow upon himself.'