English
Part 4: Rostam Sets Out to Rescue the King
After that, the wounded, grieving king sent out a man who flew like a bird on the wing,
He sent him swiftly toward Zabolestan, to Zal and Rostam, with a greeting.
Now my sight has gone dark and my luck has turned black; my crown and throne have fallen into the dust.
My heart is wounded, I am in the demon's grip; my life is being torn, piece by piece, from my body.
When I recall your counsel, cold sighs rise burning from my heart.
I did not act on your wise words, O sage; through my own foolishness, harm has come to me.
If you do not gird yourself against this evil, every hope of gain will turn to loss.
When the runner reached Zal, he told all he knew, had seen, and had heard:
Both that treasure and that renowned army, arrayed as bright as flowers in spring,
All of it fell into the demons' hands; you would say the wind swept in and carried it off.
When Zal heard this, his skin split with grief; he hid it even from his friend, as from an enemy.
With a clear mind he foresaw the coming troubles, and what disaster would fall upon the world.
Zal, son of Sam, said to Rostam: The sword has stayed too long in its sheath.
It is no time to graze and roam at ease, or to keep ourselves for the throne alone,
For the king of the world is in the dragon's jaws, and what a mountain of calamity has fallen on the Iranians.
Now you must saddle Rakhsh; with your world-conquering blade you must seek revenge.
Surely it was for this very day that the Creator raised and prepared you.
This is no task where a demon can rest or draw an easy breath.
Bind your chest tight in the tiger-skin armor; clear your head of sleep and idle thought.
Any body whose eyes have met your spearpoint, who could say his soul ever found peace again?
If you wage war on the sea, it turns to blood; at your battle cry the mountain becomes a plain.
Arzhang and the White Demon must never keep any hope for their lives against you.
Now break the neck of the king of Mazandaran with your heavy mace, until it is utterly crushed.
Rostam answered him: The road is long; how shall I go to take this vengeance?
Zal replied: From this kingdom there are two roads, and both are full of hardship and peril.
One of the two is the road Kavus took; the other is over mountains and heights, a fourteen-day journey.
It is full of demons and lions and darkness; your eyes will grow blind from the gloom.
Choose the short road and see wonders, for the Maker of the world will be your ally.
Though it is full of hardship, it will pass; let blessed Rakhsh's hooves cross that ground.
From dark night until day breaks open, I will pray before the pure God,
That I may see once more your chest and shoulders, and your heroic arms and your mace.
And if your life too should fall to a demon's hand, by the command of the Lord of the world,
who could turn aside such a thing? What He decrees must come to pass.
No one will remain here forever; however long we last, we are all called away.
One who leaves the world with a lofty name is not wretched in his departing.
Rostam said to his noble father: I keep my belt tied fast to your command.
Yet to walk on foot into hell, the great ones of old did not think it wise.
And no one who has not tired of his own life walks up to a devouring lion.
Now, belted and as good as gone, I ask no helper but the just God.
I will offer body and soul for the king; I will shatter the spell in the sorcerers' hearts.
Every Iranian still living, I will bring back, and gird my belt tight for the task.
I will leave neither Arzhang nor the White Demon, neither Sanjeh nor Pulad-e Ghandi nor Bid.
By the one God, Maker of the world, Rostam will not turn Rakhsh's foot back,
until Arzhang's hands are bound stone-tight, a halter flung around his neck,
and Pulad's head and brains crushed underfoot, with Rakhsh's hooves tearing the very ground from its place.
He put on the tiger-skin and lifted his shoulders high; Zal called down many blessings upon him.
When Rostam set his foot in the stirrup on Rakhsh, the horse held its color and its heart held firm.
Rudabeh came, her face streaming with tears; Zal too wept bitterly for him.
He said to her: O kind mother, I did not choose this road out of desire.
You leave me to your grief for me; place your hope now in God.
This is the portion fate has dealt me; keep my body and soul in your care and prayers.
They came forward to bid him farewell, for who could know whether they would see him again.
Time passes on in just this way, and the wise man counts each breath of it.
Every hard day that passes by you, you come to see it as one that made the world flourish.