Piran Meets Rostam

Piran rode on, full of grief and fear; what Rostam had done split his heart in two. He came near the army of Iran and cried out: 'You there, great warrior who seeks battle!' 'I heard that out of this countless host you called for me when the fighting began.' 'I have stepped out from before that gathering to this one. Now tell me, what do you want from me?' Rostam said to him: 'What is your name? What purpose and desire brings you here?' He answered: 'I am Piran, the commander of these lion catching warriors.' 'You asked for me from Human, son of Viseh, and dressed your words in courtesy.' 'My heart grew eager to know: among the chiefs, which of the battle heroes are you?' He said: 'I am Rostam of Zabol, clad in mail, bearing a Kabuli dagger.' When Piran heard this, he came out from before the army toward the vengeful Rostam. Rostam said to him: 'O champion, may the bright sun greet your living spirit, and greetings from your mother too, Afrasiab's daughter, who always sees your love in her dreams.' Piran said to him: 'O mighty one, greetings to you from God and from all this gathering. May the Giver of good bless you; may the turning heavens pass beneath your seal. Thanks to God, and to Him I turn for refuge, for I have seen you alive and in your place. And Zavareh, Faramarz, and Zal the rider, who remains as a keepsake of the kings, all sound, glad of heart, and proud; may the world never lack their like.' 'If it will not weigh on you, let me speak: a lesser man may voice his complaint to the great. I planted a tree in my garden, but its fruit came out bitter as colocynth and its leaves like blood. With my own eyes I watered it through hardship; my life and treasure were bound up in it. From it only suffering has been my portion, for what promised remedy bore poison instead. Siavash treated me like a father, and stood before me as a shield against every harm. How much pain, hardship, and grief I bore from that king and from his court. My witness in this world is God; the seeking of a witness belongs to the just. Now much time has passed, and I have heard the counsel of many a teacher. Yet the mourning has never left my house; fire still burns up from my very soul. I weep blood instead of tears, and forever I am in the hands of physicians. From this affair only injury has come to me; the high wheel of heaven never turned as I wished. I feel no shame before the dark night and my own eyes for how much hot blood I have wept. When I learned what happened to Siavash, I withdrew my hand from both good and evil.' Caught between two lands and two proud kings, see how I am scorned, wretched, and heartsick. I saved Farangis with my own life, when her father's time had come to end her. I kept her hidden in my house; I never once turned my back on her. In return he demands my very life; he wants the head of one he suspects. I am full of pain, warrior, from both sides, my mind burning with the talk of both camps. There is no way to flee from Afrasiab, and nowhere else I can find rest or sleep. My wealth, my land, my herds are here; I see no possible road to leave. I have a son and many women veiled at home, so wounded and bound to everyone's whim. If Afrasiab orders war, sleep will never touch my eyes again. Unwilling, I must lead the army out; no one can rest and defy his command. Now I deserve some mercy, yet marshaling the troops is my duty. If my heart weren't already heavy with grief, from this line only Pilsam has been killed, and, besides him, a few brave young men who grew sick of life in the fighting. From here on I fear for my own life too; how long can I speak of children and goods? By the Victorious God I swear to you, warrior, that I mean no harm against your soul, you will find no hidden malice from my kin, for I hold the Creator of the world in awe. By the bright soul of Siavash I swear that death is sweeter to me than armor, sword, and helmet. If this whole host goes to war, you will see the slain heaped as high as a mountain. From Kashan, Saqlab, Shughnan, and India, from this frontier to the shore of the Sindh sea, over the blood of Siavash, all these innocents, an army has been dragged to this battlefield. Peace would serve you better than war; you should not push this matter to such a tight corner. Consider what you think best, for you are wiser, and stronger when brave men come to fight. When Rustam heard Piran's words, he did not answer to please him at heart. He told him: since I came to this battlefield, I have girded myself alongside the king's brave men, I have seen nothing but honesty from you; from all the Turks you sought only what is right. Even the leopard knows that strife and war are not good; even mountain and stone know it. When the feud is over the heads of kings, it ends in a rain of arrows. Now there are two roads here to peace; see which of them suits you best. The first: everyone who, over the king's blood, spread this pointless battlefield, you send them in chains to our king; then it is fitting he not command this war. It is right that the one guilty of an innocent man's blood should not be present on this battlefield. And another thing: buckle on your belt with me and come to the victorious king. Whatever you would leave behind here, however precious you consider it, from the king you will receive ten for each one; do not think of your home in the Turanian army. In his heart Piran said: the matter runs deep, to leave Turan and go before that king. And besides, when he seeks out the guilty, he washes his heart clean of the innocent. The nobles and kinsmen of Afrasiyab, who hold treasure and thrones, rank and honor, how could I speak a word of this to them? This wish has neither head nor foot. Men like Human, Kolbad, and Farshidvard, from whom Godarz suffers such pain, all fall into this reckoning, and there is no way around it; for such glory there is no rival in the world. I must find my own remedy; I must take up the search for a path forward. Piran said to him: O champion, may you always be young and bright of soul. I will go and repeat all this to the chieftains, to Manshur and Shangol and the Khaqan of China. I will send a swift courier to Afrasiyab; I will speak so as to rouse his mind from its sleep. From there he went to the army like the wind, to those who were of the Vise lineage. He gathered an assembly and revealed the secret; he said: the ups and downs of fate have come upon us. Know that this lionheart is Rostam, world conqueror, of the line of Nariman. With him are the great men and lions of Zabulistan, all the famous champions of Kabulistan. When such a man leads with vengeance in his heart, no horsemen on earth can stand against him. Even Godarz son of Keshvad, and Giv and Tus, would fight him only reluctantly, with regret. He seeks out only the guilty among the Turks; he holds his hand back from the innocent. For whoever he knows to be blameless here, the king's heart holds no grief against him. Consider this: this land will be ruined and left to the will of Iran's bold warriors. Neither old nor young will remain here, nor the king, nor treasure, army, throne, or crown. I kept telling this wretched tyrant: do not fuel the fire and wind so recklessly, for one day you will suddenly be burned, your wisdom scorched and your heart's eye sewn shut. That cruel one obeyed neither my command nor the counsel of this famous assembly. He tore these worthy men from their places and took no counsel with the brave and the wise. You will see that neither king nor crown will remain, nor the war elephants, nor this ivory throne. Through him the king of Iran grew glad of heart, while grief and sorrow fell to the brave warriors here. What a pity for those brave men and such a mighty army, men of glory and stature, crown and throne. From now on you will see them all plundered; no one will return happy from the battlefield. The horses' hooves will trample us, and the water of this waking fortune will turn bitter. My heart burns for Human; my soul flares up in grief for Ruyin. Rustam's heart is packed with hatred for him; his brows are entirely furrowed against him. Full of sorrow I will go to the Khan of China and tell him what this feud has brought upon us. He came to the Khan like a whirlwind, his face streaked with blood, his eyes weeping pale tears. He found the royal tent filled with wailing, and tulips of the slain reddened over the saffron ground. Several soldiers from among Kamus's kin had come before the Khan to seek justice. Everyone was saying that Afrasiab will never again see greatness even in his dreams. Why did he start a feud when he has no man fit to make ready for the day of battle? Let us take the army of Kushan toward China, all of us with eyes full of tears and hearts full of vengeance. Let us bring troops from China and Berber to avenge Kamus. From Bazgush, Segsar, and Mazandaran let us summon men with heavy maces. Perhaps then we can set Sistan ablaze and make life bitter for them night and day. Let us hang the head of Rustam of Zabol on the gallows in mourning for that famous man. Let us burn his body and scatter its ashes as dust upon his own doorway. If Afrasiab truly seeks vengeance, he must find neither rest nor sleep. Each grieved for his own kin and shed pale tears upon their rosy cheeks. When Piran heard this his heart was dazed; at their cries his face went dark. He said to himself: O wretched and helpless people, so full of pain, worry, and grief, you surely have no idea that here your time has run out. A sea dragon has come to battle, whose armor is the hide of a leopard. He went to the Khan and said: This short war of ours has grown long. From every land these renowned chiefs, from every quarter each famous lord, he brought them all, and all this toil went to the wind; how can justice ever rise from an unjust cause? The head of the land's king came to this fate: Siyavash was slain by his hand. By the command of foolish Garsivaz, no one should ever surrender the dragon's head. Siyavash was a noble world ruler, and Rustam of Zabol had been his foster father. Whenever Rustam went to war and vengeance, he brought the very sky crashing down to earth. Neither a leopard's claws nor an elephant's trunk, neither a towering mountain nor the Nile itself can stop him. He alone is enough on the battlefield, for when he attacks he confronts a whole army. He rides a horse called Rakhsh beneath him, so mighty that you'd think Mount Bisotun was moving. This is no day to count as ordinary, for everyone has felt the force of his hand. A fire came down from the dark blue sky, and our hearts are choked with smoke from its heat. Now summon all the sharp minded wise men, the priests and the elders, to counsel together. Let us see what remedy there is, and who among us is the man to fight on this field. We need a sound plan; we should never have sought this feud from the start. Perhaps we can escape this disaster and return to our own land, even if our fortune grows thin. The Khan of China grew heavy with grief at Piran's words and called often on the Creator of the world. He said to him: what course is left to us, now that so warlike an army has come? Shangol spoke up: O proud one, why draw out these words at such length? We came to aid Afrasiab; we crossed plain and sea and water to get here. We received many mounts and many gifts, and hurried eagerly from every land. Because of one man from Sistan who came to fight, why has the situation grown so tight for you? It is a shame even to speak of a single man; we must lay our foundation differently. If brave Kamus met his fated hour at his hands, that is no reason to lose heart. At dawn we will raise our maces and sweep every head clean off this plain. We will make the air like a spring cloud and rain down arrows upon them. From the dust of the horsemen and the blows of axes, no one will be able to tell his head from his feet. Fix all your eyes on me; when I roar, charge in and strike. Surely our warriors, brave riders, number far more than a hundred thousand. Yet because of one man we have grown this wretched and writhing, all left lifeless without even being killed. Consider him a raging war elephant that can seize a lion with its hand on the field. I will show him such an elephant's game that afterward he will not dare turn his face toward battle. When the army heard Shangol's words, the hearts of aged men grew young again. Piran said to him: may you live forever; may your soul be well provisioned for the fight. All the famous chiefs and the Khan of China gave their blessing to the king of India. When Piran came to the royal tent, the noble Turks rose from their places, men like Human, Nastihan, and Barman, who bore either sword or lance. Human asked Piran to explain what the talks had finally come to. Were they laying the ground for peace, or would army seek the feud of army against army? Piran told Human what Shangul had said: that the troops had joined him, ready for battle. Human grew deeply troubled by that news, and turned in anger on ill fated Shangul. He said to Piran: there is no escaping heaven's will, whatever turn the times may take. He came before Kalbad and said: has Shangul lost all touch with reason? We must step aside a moment from all this and weigh what is gain and what is loss. You will see that from this boundless army, world conquering, armed with heavy maces, two thirds will lie beneath the earth, their armor and helmets washed in blood as their shrouds. Kalbad said to him: swordsman, as long as you can, do not utter such grim omens. Do not fill your whole being with grief; perhaps things will turn out other than you fear. Over a thing not yet come to pass, it is fitting not to sink your heart in sorrow or gloom. On the other side, Rostam summoned the champions and spoke to them of pressing matters. There were Tus and Gudarz and Rahham and Giv, Fariborz and Gostaham and brave Khorrad. And Gorgin, the seasoned horseman, and Bizhan, who blazes in the heat of battle. The mighty one spoke thus to the wise, the prudent and clear hearted priests: The one whom God makes fortunate is the one truly worthy of the crown and throne. He conquers the world and wins in war, but he must not think the strength is his own. Our strength comes from God; who are we? What are we, gathered on this dark dust? We must banish all thought of doing evil; the path of God and of wisdom is what we need. For the world stays with no one forever; one should not rejoice in it too much. What we need is humanity and honesty; from crookedness come only loss and lack. When Piran came before me in haste, he spoke a while with a grieving heart. Of the kindness he showed Siavash, and of the sorrows and pains that fell upon him. Farangis and Kay Khosrow were saved from the dragon's jaws by his words and his deeds. Yet in my heart I know for certain that Piran would be the first to be slain in this vengeance. His brother and his son would fall before him, and many of his renowned noble kin. At Kay Khosrow's hand Afrasiab would be killed: this I have seen in a dream. Not one of the guilty would remain alive; all would lie slain and trampled underfoot. But I do not wish this old man to be killed by my hand before the assembly. For his only craft is honesty; no thought of evil can find a path to his heart. If he takes back what he once said, then the past wrongs should be forgotten. Let the guilty one, with all he owns, hand them over to us; no more grudge need grow. After that I have no reason to fight; there is no better work in the world than honesty. And if these famous men, with their throne and their elephants, an army as vast as the Nile, send their crown and treasure over to us, we will bear them no more suffering after this. We do not measure the world by killing; the giver of good has shown no such road. The world is full of treasure, full of crowns and thrones; it should not all be for one lucky man. When Gudarz heard this, he rose to his feet and said: noble and upright chief, you are the pillar of the army, the ornament of the throne; through you the king, the throne, and the crown shine bright. Your foundation is clear wisdom; your soul draws its harvest from that wisdom. Peace is surely better than war, but take care: your ox is still inside its hide. Let me tell you a tale; now listen to a saying from the old days, that from honesty the souls of evil men flee, like the heavens shrinking from a heavy load. If a cornered man makes a pact, he will still strive to break that faith. Since the world's Creator made him crooked, do not listen to his words, do not trust in his straightness. When we first set up the battlefield, talk of this matter came up and we settled it. A messenger came from Piran, saying: I am sick of this plain, of hardship and hatred; for I keep my eyes forever full of tears at the words and deeds of Afrasiab. I have bound my waist to serve the king; I no longer want land, home, or royal tent. He heard much counsel and advice, then said: after this, war will be no companion of mine. He said: I will go and arrange this quickly; I will tell my kin what has happened to us. I have a throne, a treasure, and cattle; I will lead my people to a fitting place. When he said this, we told him: your plan is fair; in Turan the throne, treasure, and comfort are yours. Take some corner of the land, so that near the king your guilt stays hidden. So we said, and Piran turned back on this, and in the dark night became the demon's partner again. He sent a swift camel-rider to the king: array your forces, for the army is coming. You would think he had never spoken those words to us; there was neither head nor tail to that matter, ever. Now, O commander of the army, he has set yet another trick along the road for you. He knows nothing but deceit and scheming, while he keeps scattering words of wisdom. Now he has grown afraid of your lasso; small wonder that fear has driven him into hiding. Their whole strength rested on Kamus; their commander was as brave as Sagsar and as splendid as Tus. When he saw Kamus's fortune overturned, slain in the coil of a lasso, now he seeks peace; he no longer dares to camp out on the open plain. When he knows the slope has grown steep against him, he resorts to tricks, cunning, and deceit. He claims: I will bring the guilty forward, dressed up with treasure and riches. You will see, when the war drums thunder, how commander Tus rushes into battle. Pit Piran will be out in front, launching fresh attack after fresh attack. All that he says is nothing but lies; only a demon could be his fitting partner. If you would hear my counsel through to the end, look at what he did to my son Bahram: with that same scheme he lulled the army and then made a graveyard of the sons of Gudarz. As long as I live, my blood is my tears, and an Indian blade is my only physician. When Rostam heard this, he said to Gudarz: may your words be joined with wisdom. Piran is indeed like this, and it is no secret that he does not share our voice either. Yet because of his good deeds I do not seek vengeance or a fight with him. Consider what he did for the king of Iran, and how he grieved over Siyavosh's fate. If he goes back on his own word and comes to us ready for war, I keep the lasso tied to my saddle straps, the one with which I bind down a raging elephant. I will begin first with good faith; one should not go looking for war and combat. But if he takes back his word, then he will see from us his own pain and grief. Gudarz and Tus blessed him: may the sun never mock you. Before you, tricks, cunning, and lies, all of Piran's speeches, lose their shine. May this world never be without a crowned king, and may you always stand before him at the place of honor. Rostam said: the night has grown dark, and our minds are dazed from all this talk. Let us rest and drink wine until midnight, and spend the other half caring for the army. Let us see what the Maker of the world keeps hidden behind what is plain to us. He told the Iranians: tonight, over wine, I will read a lucky star that promises well, so that tomorrow I will lift this mace of Sam the rider onto my shoulder and wage war. From here I will ride into battle in such a way, to the very place where the crocodile holds its ground. The royal pavilion, the crown, the treasure and the diadem, the mighty war elephants and the ivory throne, all of it. I will bring them and hand them over to the Iranians, if I gird myself for the assault. A great cry rose from the gathering, from those famous men devoted to the king. They went back to their own tents, longing now for sleep and rest. When the sun put on its shining crown, and the moon's face saw that silver shield, the moon grew afraid of all that talk, slipped low and hid its face. The war drums sounded from Tus's court; the ground turned black as ebony from the horses' dust. The earth went indigo, the air was full of dust, and Rostam put on his battle armor. On the right wing stood the son of Keshvad, clad in his mail and holding his steel mace. Fariborz took his place on the left, washing every hero's heart clean for the coming fight. In the center stood Tus, son of Nowzar, on his feet; by then there was no bare ground left. Rostam came before the army to guard the champions against the enemy. On the other side, the Khaqan stood in the center, so many elephants that the ground looked like Mount Bisotun. On their right wing was Kondor the Lion-catcher, a bold rider skilled with sword and arrow. On the left was Gahar, seasoned in war; the earth lay pressed beneath his horse's hooves. Piran kept ranging before the army, and came up to Shengol, eager for battle. He said to him, 'You, famed lord of India, from Barbar to Sind all obeys your command, you told me that tomorrow at dawn you would lead the army into battle from every side, and after that you would seek combat with Rostam and drag his head down from the clouds into the dust.' Shengol answered, 'I will not go back on my word; you will see me neither shrink nor waver.' 'Right now I will go up against this fierce warrior and tear his body to pieces with my arrows.' 'I will take revenge for Kamus from him in battle, and press the Iranians hard.' Then at once he split the army into three parts, struck the war drums, and dust rose from the plain. One division marched out with the massive elephants; the ranks of troops stretched two miles long. The chief elephant-drivers were richly adorned, all decked out with crowns and earrings. Their necks graced with golden collars, their waists bound with belts of gold. Chinese brocade hung down from the elephants, with thrones and golden howdahs set upon them. The wailing of the trumpets rose up, and the war elephants set out from their place. Thirty thousand proud, spear-bearing riders came toward the left wing. Toward the right wing came thirty thousand more, taking up their bows and Chinese shields. In the center were the elephants and the Khaqan of China, sweeping across the face of the earth. The whole world had turned to iron with armor; everywhere lay heaps of the slain. From the endless wail of flutes and clang of bells, earth and sky seemed shaken from their places. From the surge of horsemen and the chaos of battle, the air was a net of vulture feathers thick with flying arrows. No one on that plain kept his wits; the pounding of war drums left every ear deaf. Shangol moved between the two ranks, an Indian blade held in his fist. An Indian canopy raised above his head; many men from Dambar, Marv, and Mai marched with him. Behind him, on his left and on his right, he threw them into the fight wherever he pleased. When Piran saw this, his heart grew glad; he set his mind at ease about facing the mighty Rostam. He said to Human: today fate will turn the work just as our hearts desire. With such array and so many bold riders, each one proud and fierce as a lion. Today do not stand at the front of the ranks; for a day or two, do not press for battle. Stay behind the Khaqan of China; who would know you among two hundred horsemen? For if the man of Zabol with his black banner should catch sight of you, all will go to ruin. Let us wait and see how our fortune turns, what game our watchful luck will play.