English
Part 9
He, with Giv and Gudarz and a band of chiefs, laid their heavy maces on their shoulders.
They moved toward the commander Piran and struck the heart of the army like fire.
The whole battlefield turned into a sea of blood, and a great cry rose up from the troops.
The commander's banner was torn in two, and the hearts of the warriors filled with fear.
When Human heard the roar of the army, he mounted a black Arabian horse.
He came from the ranks and saw many slain, and many turned back from the fight, senseless.
Blood poured from his eyes down his chest, and he shouted fiercely at his men.
He said: there were no scouts posted here; you had no real fire for vengeance.
For each one of them we number three hundred, yet on the field you gave yourselves to sleep.
Come now, draw your swords and clubs, and pull your Chinese shields over your heads.
Block their road from every side, now that the moon lifts its blade from the plain.
None of them must find any escape; why then all this delay and hesitation?
The trumpet blast rang out, and the heroes rushed off in every direction.
The riders of Iran surrounded them all at once, like raging lions.
Helmet and sword struck such fire that you would think maces were raining from the clouds.
Dark night, swords, and the dust of the army: no star to be seen, no shining moon.
In their armor you would say they were buried in rain, sunk in a pitch-black sea from the gloom.
Human told his army: enough; do not cut down a single one of these lords.
Bring them all captive before me; you must not wound them with arrows.
The army answered with a loud cry: now, at their helplessness, bind their hands.
Whether you strike with mace or javelin, crown these chiefs with a crown of blood.
Tus said to Giv and Roham: without a doubt our lives are now cast to the wind.
Unless the Maker of the high heavens delivers our bodies and souls from this ruin.
Either we are gripped in the eagle's talons, or we are sunk beneath a sea of water.
All three of them charged together, like a fierce lion springing up from its lair.
No one could see a horse's neck or its reins; the press was so tight the spearpoints reached men's eyes.
Human cried out in a sharp voice: this is no place for fighting, nor a road for flight.
Ill fortune has driven you from your ground, so that evil may fall upon the evildoer.
Three warriors and a handful of troops were left, all of them, on this battlefield.
Again and again they remembered Rostam, how he did justice in battle everywhere.
Of Shidush and of Bizhan and Gostaham they thought long, weighing much and little.
Wishing that someone from the army of Iran might at least be our ally in this field.
We did not come here for combat and war; we have blundered straight into the crocodile's jaws.
A pity for that court and throne of the world's king, that now we should be seized so suddenly.
The mighty one is in Zabolestan, and so is Zal; now Iran's cause will be shattered and plundered.
The sound of clubs and war drums kept coming; Giv and Tus lingered too long from the army.
Shidush and the lion-hearted Gostaham said: the fight of the commander has dragged on too long.
Bizhan again said to Goraza: the affair of the army's leader has grown long.
The air was like pitch, the earth like ebony, and from the plain came the sound of the drums.
The heroes moved toward that sound; everywhere on the plain there were streams of blood.
From the brave warriors and the force of their hands, you would say a sea-monster had risen from the deep.
Human knew that riders had come, all of them mace-bearers and swordsmen.
When he knew that help had reached Tus, he roared out like a war drum.
Reins grew light and stirrups heavy; who could tell the heights from the hollows?
They battled until the break of day, when the world-illuminating sun appeared in the sky.
The troops all turned back from the fight and drew their army toward the narrow mountain.
Commander Tus said to the heroes: from the turning of the sun to the beat of the drum,
such horsemanship as I have seen from you, I have never heard told of any champions.
We must write a letter to the king and tell him fully of all that has happened.
When the letter reaches Khosrow, a fresh fire will kindle in his heart.
The elephant-bodied hero will come to our aid, along with a famed gathering of lions.
We will return victorious from the fight, and long to see Kai Khosrow's face.
All that has passed, open and hidden, I will tell to the victorious king of the world.
With the king's goodwill and satisfaction, time will turn according to your wish.
Just as they had spoken, they made it ready, and sped a swift rider to the king.
The two armies came down to their tents and drew breath at once from the battle.
Scouts came out from both sides onto the plain, warlike men from among the brave.
When Human reached that battlefield, he could find no path on the plain for the slain.
He said to Piran: today the fighting did not turn out as we wished on the field of battle.
When our heroes are rested, our praised riders and our men,
I will wage such a battle as neither sun nor moon has ever seen on any field.