Gushtasp Finds a Host

Gushtasp lived with a broken heart, crying out and raging against the high heavens. The world had given him nothing but poison. Near a city he came upon a village. Trees and flowers and running streams: a joyful resting place for the young man. A thick, leafy tree stood before the water, its shade hiding him from the eye of the sun. In that shade the young man sat down, full of pain, twisting in torment, his spirit dark. He said: O just Creator, grief is all this life has handed me. I see no fault in my own star. I don't know why misfortune keeps falling on me. A well known man from that fine village, its headman, happened to pass by that way. He saw him there, eyes filled with blood, resting his chin upon his hand like a prop. He said to him: O noble young man, why are you so full of pain, your spirit so dark? If you would come to my house, be my guest for a while and find some cheer. Perhaps this sorrow on your heart will ease, and the tips of your lashes will dry of tears. Gushtasp said to him: O man of renown, tell me, whose line do you come from? The headman answered him: What use is such a question to you now? I am of the seed of the brave king Fereydun, a line from which none in the world is base. When Gushtasp heard this, he rose to his feet and went along with the noble headman. When that chief came to his own home, he made his hall ready for his guest. He treated him like a brother, never leaving him for a moment unwilling. Some time passed over this in this way, and several months went by upon this affair.