English
Rustam and the Dragon
Out of the plain came a dragon so huge that even an elephant, they said, could not escape it.
That place was its lair; out of fear of it, not even a demon would pass that way.
It came and found the hero asleep, with a restless horse standing beside him.
It grew puzzled: what could this be, that someone dared to rest in this place?
No one had ever dared cross here, not demons, elephants, or fierce lions.
And whatever came here could never escape the claws of that malevolent dragon.
It turned its face toward the gleaming Rakhsh, and ran at the horse of the crown seeker.
Rakhsh struck the earth with his bronze hooves, roared like thunder, and lashed his tail.
When Rustam woke from sleep, his wise mind filled at once with thoughts of battle.
He looked all around the desert, but the grim dragon had vanished from sight.
He scolded Rakhsh in vain, angry that the horse had roused him from sleep.
Once more, when Rustam fell asleep, the dragon slid out of the darkness.
Rakhsh galloped to Rustam's pillow, tearing at the earth and scattering it about.
Again the sleeping man awoke, enraged, his face gone pale.
He scanned the whole desert end to end, but saw nothing except the dark of night.
He said to his loyal, wakeful Rakhsh: 'You want to keep the darkness of night hidden.'
'You keep pulling my head back from sleep; you are in such a hurry to wake me.'
'If you raise such an uproar this time, I will cut off your head with my sharp sword.'
'I will go on foot to Mazandaran, carrying my tiger cloak, sword, and heavy mace.'
A third time his head sank into sleep, his body wrapped in the famous tiger cloak.
The grim dragon roared again, breathing out fire, as if it were kindling flames.
Rakhsh left the grazing ground at that moment, but dared not go straight to the hero.
His heart was torn in two by that terror, afraid of both Rustam and the dragon.
Yet for Rustam's sake his heart could not rest, and like a raging wind he ran to him.
He roared and seethed and tore up the ground; the earth split open under his hooves.
When Rustam woke from his sweet sleep, he flared up in anger at his trained steed.
But the world's Creator made everything bright, so the earth could not hide the dragon.
In that darkness Rustam caught sight of it, and swiftly drew his sharp sword from his waist.
He roared like a spring cloud, and filled the ground with the fire of combat.
He said to the dragon: 'Tell me your name, for after this you will never enjoy the world again.'
'It must not be that, nameless, your soul leaves your dark body here at my hand.'
The fierce, ferocious dragon replied: 'No one escapes from my claws.'
'A hundred by a hundred leagues of this plain are mine; even the high sky above is my domain.'
'No eagle dares to pass overhead; my ground does not even glimpse a star in its dreams.'
The dragon said to him: 'What is your name? For your mother will have to weep over you.'
He answered thus: 'I am Rustam, born of the line of Dastan, Sam, and Nariman.'
'By myself I am a vengeful army; on the brave Rakhsh I make the earth submit.'
The dragon closed in to fight him, but in the end it too found no escape.
When Rakhsh saw the dragon's bodily strength, and how it grappled with the crown giver,
he laid back his ears and, astonishingly, seized the towering dragon in his teeth.
He tore its shoulder with his teeth like a lion, while the bold hero stared amazed at it.
Rustam struck with his sword and cut off its head; blood poured down from it like a river.
The ground vanished beneath its body, and a spring of blood gushed up from it.
When Rustam looked upon that grim dragon, he drew a single sharp breath.
The whole desert lay swept beneath it, warm blood flowing over the dark earth.
The hero stood astonished by it, and kept calling on God's name in Pahlavi.
He went into the water and washed his head and body; the world can be won only by the Keeper of the World's power.
He said to God: 'O just One, you gave me knowledge, strength, and glory,'
'so that before me lion, demon, or elephant, waterless desert or the river Nile,'
'the enemies be many or few, when my anger rises they are all as one before my eyes.'