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Section 10: Goshtasp and the Wolf
When they came near the thicket, the wolf's den, both Mirin and the great man shrank back.
He pointed with his right hand for Goshtasp, showing where that dragon had its lair.
Then both turned away in pain, hearts full of blood and eyes brimming with pale tears.
Hishvi said: this proud young man is brave and wise and skilled in battle,
yet I fear the wolf's claws will destroy this splendid youth.
When Goshtasp drew near that thicket, his warrior heart filled with worry.
He dismounted from his noble steed, came before God, and bowed in prayer.
He said: O pure Creator, you who kindle the turning of time,
be my helper against this evil; have mercy on the life of old Lohrasp.
For if this great dragon, that the foolish call a wolf,
should prove the master over me, when my father hears, he will cry out and never sleep again.
He will be left in pain like one senseless, wailing to all, seeking any trace of me.
If I am worn down by this vile beast, I will hide my face from the crowd in shame.
He said this, mounted his horse, roaring and seething, a sword in his hand,
a strung bow upon his arm, and rode on, alert and full of fire.
When the rider closed in along the road, he thundered like a spring cloud.
When the wolf saw him from the thicket's edge, it hurled a howl up to the black clouds.
It tore at the ground with its claws, unlike any lion's or leopard's grip.
When Goshtasp saw that dragon, he strung his bow and drew it back.
Swift as the wind he loosed a storm of arrows, wielding the bow like a spring rain-cloud.
The beast was wounded by Goshtasp's arrows, and its ferocity was joined with pain.
The wolf rested, then rose from its place and came on like a huge camel.
Its horns thrust forward like a stag's, its body sore with wounds, its heart full of blood.
As it charged along toward the horse, it struck a horn against the black flank.
It ripped the beast from groin to navel; the world-seeker drew the sword from his belt.
On foot he struck the wolf across its middle, splitting its back, neck, and chest in two.
He came before the Lord over all beasts, the Lord of all knowledge, good and evil.
He gave praise to the Creator: O maker of all time,
you are the guide of those who have lost their way, you are the highest of all, the one God.
Every triumph and desire comes from your will; all glory and wisdom come from your name.
When he rose from the place of prayer, he pulled out the two long fangs the beast had had.
Alone he set out from that thicket, walking until he reached the sea.
By the water Hishvi and Mirin sat in grief, their tongues full of remembering him.
Their talk was of Goshtasp and the wolf, of that brave and mighty rider,
how he was now deep in a great battle, torn apart in the wolf's claws.
Then Goshtasp appeared on foot, covered in blood, his face like a yellow blossom.
When they saw him, they leaped up and broke into wailing lament.
In grief they took him in their arms, faces pale, lashes wet like spring clouds.
They asked: how did your fight with the wolf go? Our hearts have bled over your task.
Goshtasp said: O wise one, in Rome there is no fear of God among you.
You would let such a fierce dragon linger in the land for long years,
until it rose up and laid a whole world to waste, treating the Caesar himself like a fistful of dust.
I struck the brute in two with my sword; now your terror and dread are ended.
Go quickly and see the wonder; no one has ever seen such a hide.
It is like a mighty elephant in a skin; the whole thicket is its height and breadth.
The two of them ran to that thicket, cheered and light of heart at his words.
They saw a wolf tall as an elephant, with a lion's claws and blue-black hide,
wounded from head to foot; it looked like two lions fallen there.
When they saw it, they praised him, that glorious sun of the earth.
With glad hearts they came back from the thicket and approached that battling lion of a man.
Mirin brought him many gifts, such as befitted a man like him.
But he accepted nothing except another horse, and from there he turned his face toward home.
When he came home from the sea to his rest, the keen-eyed Katayun came out to him.
She asked: where did you find this armor, that you rushed off from here to the hunt?
He answered: from my own city a group of noble men came,
and gave me this armor, sword, and helmet as gifts, with greetings from my kin.
Katayun brought wine like rosewater and drank with her husband till bedtime.
The two, lucky as stars, lay down content; but again and again the young man started from his sleep,
seeing in his dreams the battle with the wolf, like fighting a great male dragon.
Katayun asked him: what was it tonight, that you keep waking in fear like this?
He answered: I saw my own throne in the dream, my star and my fortune.
Katayun understood that he was of royal blood, single-hearted and true in nature,
a great man who would not speak of it, who sought no rank from the Caesar.
Goshtasp said to her: O moon-faced one, jasmine-cheeked, silver-breasted, fragrant as musk,
make ready so we may go to Iran, and leave here to join the brave.
You will see that blessed land and people, and the king who is just and generous.
Katayun said: do not speak so rashly; do not seek to travel this road in haste.
When you set your face to leave this place, call for Hishvi to come to you,
so he may carry you across by boat; the world is made new for me only when you are here.
I will stay behind in long anguish, not knowing when I will see you again.
Before setting out, they wept into their clothes, seared by the fire of that sorrow.
When the turning sun blazed from the sky, the wakeful young ones, full of hope,
rose from that hall of feasting and turned to talk of every kind,
wondering how the heavens would treat them, whether the world would pass them harshly or with kindness.
On the other side, Mirin sped off like the wind and hurried swiftly to the Caesar.
He said: O great and famous one, the wolf's ravages have come to an end.
The whole thicket, from end to end, was a dragon; it is right that you too should see the wonder.
It came raging and rushed at me, but it met a dagger in my grip.
It was split in two from head to waist; the demon's heart was struck with dread by that wound.
The Caesar swelled with pride at his words; his withered face lit up.
He ordered ox-drawn carts made ready and the royal pavilion carried out of the city.
They set up a place of feasting and called for wine, music, and minstrels.
They drove the oxen hauling the carts to that thicket where the wolf's trace remained.
They went and saw a raging elephant of a beast, cut with a dagger from head to waist.
When they dragged it out of the meadow onto the strong ox-drawn carts,
a whole world came to gaze at that old wolf; no mere wolf, but a raging, mighty lion.
When the Caesar saw that body like a maddened elephant, he clapped his hands again and again in joy.
That same day the Caesar summoned the bishop, brought him to the palace, and gave his daughter to Mirin.
They wrote letters to every land, to each priest, patrician, and noble,
saying that Mirin, the lion, that proud man of Rome, had cleared the country of the fearsome wolf.