English
Section 22: Kay Khosrow Leaves Gang
Then word reached Afrasiab that the world-ruling king had crossed the water.
He kept what he heard a secret, and in the dark of night he set out without telling anyone.
He left the seasoned veterans behind and rode off alone, his heart full of grief.
When Kay Khosrow entered Gang, his head was heavy with sorrow and his heart with blood.
He saw that heart-brightening garden like paradise, its meadows glowing like the lamps of heaven.
In every corner a spring and a rose garden, the ground carpeted with hyacinths, the branches alive with nightingales.
Everyone said: what a place this is! Let us stay right here, content until death.
After that the watchful king gave the order to search for the king of the Turanian army.
They searched the plains, the gardens, and the palace, taking guides in every direction.
The searchers went about like men out of their senses, hoping to find some trace of him somewhere.
As they rushed eagerly to hunt him down, they found many of his followers.
They killed many innocent people, but no sign of the tyrant king appeared.
The king stayed in the fortress of Gang for a whole year, in feasting and celebration.
The land was like a heart-pleasing paradise, full of flower beds, gardens, and orchards.
The king's heart would not let him leave; he stayed on in Gang, victorious and happy.
All the champions of the Iranian army came together to the king.
They said: if the king's heart does not stir from this place, and he has no thought of returning to Iran,
surely the scheming Afrasiab has slipped past to that other side, across the sea.
So old, he sits on Kavus's throne, without splendor, majesty, treasure, or army.
If Afrasiab marches on Iran full of vengeance, who will be there to guard the land of Iran?
If he takes back the throne and crown again, all our toil will come to nothing.
Then the king said to the Iranians: this advice is paired with real benefit.
So he summoned the nobles of that city and spoke at length of the hardships they had endured.
From among them, the most worthy, the most honored and needed man of the city,
they dressed his body in a robe of honor and brought out the fortress steed for the new governor.
The king said: stay here in joy, and drive all suspicious thoughts from your heart.
He gave away as much wealth as there was, of horses and adorned treasure.
The whole city grew rich through his gifts, receiving armlets, a throne, and a crown.
At the hour when the rooster wakes, the sound of the war drums rose from the court.
The army, hurrying and eager for the road, turned their faces toward the desert.
From every land the famous nobles came,
from wherever there was a leader of rank.
They brought provisions to the king,
fit for a monarch and his army.
Along the road where the army passed,
field and gate alike turned into a marketplace.
In mountain, desert, and dwelling place,
no one dared lift a hand against another.
The great ones, with gifts and offerings,
came out to welcome the monarch.
When robes of honor came to them from his treasury,
he let them join him and share his hardships.
Giv came out to meet him with an army,
and with every leader of rank from that city.
When Giv saw that proud head and royal glory,
he dismounted and bowed low before him.
The king showed them much favor,
and gave them places in the manner of kings.
When Khosrow reached the ship,
he came down and raised the sail.
For two weeks he stayed upon that sea,
speaking at length with Giv.
He said: whoever has not seen Gang
should never wish to linger in this world.
He gave the order and they made things ready,
launching two boats upon the water.
Everyone who knew the ways of ships,
and who dared the deep sea,
he ordered them to raise the sail
and press into the treacherous sea.
A sea voyage that would take a year,
the wind drove them across in seven months so swiftly
that the king and the army crossed to this shore
without even a sleeve wetted by a crosswind.
The commander led his army onto dry land,
they tied up the ship and saw the open plain.
He left food and clothing there
for the sailors and those who had struggled at sea.
He ordered gold and robes of honor from his treasury
for everyone in the world who had toiled for him.
From that water he took the desert road,
and the whole world was left in wonder at him.
When Ashkash learned of it, he set out,
coming before the king with a prepared army.
He dismounted from his horse and kissed the ground,
and offered his praise to the king.
They adorned all of Tiz and Mokran,
and summoned musicians from every quarter.
On every road and off it rose the sound of lutes;
you would think the very air was woven of music.
They hung fine silk upon the walls,
and scattered coins and sugar beneath the horses' feet.
In Mokran, every leader of rank,
every famous man and warrior,
went with gifts and offerings
to the victorious monarch.
And all the wealth that was in that land,
Ashkash gathered up and presented in fine order.
The king accepted from Ashkash what he saw,
and chose out one of those noble men.
He made him lord over the land of Makran, gave him many robes of honor, and blessed him.
When he came from Makran and Turan to China, with himself and the proud chiefs of Iran,
Rostam, son of Zal and grandson of Sam, went out to meet him, with an army glad of heart and joyful.
When Kaykhosrow appeared from afar, the proud rider raised his royal canopy.
Rostam dismounted and bowed low, and the lofty king embraced him.
He told of the wonder he had seen in the water, of how the sorcerer Afrasiyab had vanished.
In China too he stayed as Rostam's guest, then in a week rode on from China to Machin.
He went toward the tomb of the hero Siyavash, in the month of Esfand, on the day of Ard.
When he reached his father's city, his cheeks were streaming with tears, his heart torn with grief.
To the very place where the ill-omened Garsivaz and Goruy, cursed slaughterer of men,
had shamefully cut off the head of Iran's king, the ruler came.
He poured that dark earth over his own head, and clawed at his face and body in mourning.
Rostam pressed his face to that soil, and cursed the soul of the vile Goruy.
Kaykhosrow kept saying: O king, you left me behind in the world as your memorial.
I have spared nothing in avenging you; I will remain in this labor as long as the world lasts.
I have emptied the throne of Afrasiyab; from now on I will seek neither rest nor sleep,
in hope of seizing him in my grip and making the whole world dark and narrow before him.
After that he turned his mind to the treasure his mother had told him of, that had been his father's.
He opened the treasury and gave out its wealth; for two weeks he stayed happy in that city.
He gave Rostam two hundred sacks of gold coins, and to Giv he gave much as well.
When Gostaham son of Nozar heard that the king had made his way to his father's city,
he went out to meet him with a great army: the nobles and champions of Iran.
When from afar he saw the king's crown and diadem, he covered much of the road on foot.
All together they called down blessings on that just ruler of the earth.
He ordered Gostaham to mount again, and rode the whole way joyful, hand in hand with him.
From there they set out for the paradise of Gang, bringing the army before the radiant, splendid king.
Loyalty is like a fruit-bearing tree that yields fresh fruit at every season.
Not one man rested from feasting and hunting, that lone rider, that same king.
Every Turk of high rank was so favored that he wanted for nothing.
By the shining day and at the hour of sleep, he kept searching for news of Afrasiyab.
None of them could give any sign of him; no one in the world even spoke his name.
One night the ruler washed his head and body, then went off alone with the sacred Zend and Avesta.
All night before the Creator of the world he wept, his head pressed to the ground.
He said: this helpless servant carries a soul forever filled with pain.
In all the mountains, rivers, deserts and waters, he can find no trace of Afrasiab.
He said: O just Judge, it is you who gave me pride, strength, and glory.
He never walked your righteous path; he counted no one in the world as worth anything.
You know he does not follow justice or the right; he has spilled the blood of many innocents.
Perhaps you, the one just God, will guide me to that evildoer.
You know that I myself am one who praises you, a servant of the Creator.
He has no name or voice in the world worth speaking of; things hidden from me are not hidden from you.
If you are content with him, O just one, then turn my head away from this battle.
Put out this fire of vengeance in my heart, and bring my will into harmony with yours.
From the place of prayer the proud young king, blessed with victory, came back to his throne.
For a full year he stayed in the fortress of Gang, resting from movement and the machinery of war.
When his stay in Gang grew long, he began to long to see Kavus.
He handed that land over to Gostaham son of Nozar, from Qachghar all the way to the sea of China.
He gave Gostaham a countless army and told him: keep your heart alert, and be glad.
Reach out to China and the land of Makran; send messengers and dispatches everywhere.
Keep seeking news of Afrasiab, so the face of the earth may be rid of him.
From that place he took all the treasure there: gold coins and untouched gems,
musk and servants and gold bridles, robes and horses and thrones and slaves,
carpets and Chinese wares, and everything that comes from the land of Makran.
Forty thousand yoke of oxen drew the wagons the king drove on ahead.
He said: no one has ever seen the like before, nor been given greater wealth than this.
The army was so vast that over mountain and plain the troops kept marching for ten days and nights.
When the rear guard set out and the vanguard led, each day they reached a fresh halting place.
He advanced in the same manner until he reached Chaj, where he hung his crown above his ivory throne.
The king stayed a week in Sogdia, and all of Sogdia became his loyal well-wishers.
From there he reached the city of Bukhara; the army was so vast that the very sky was hidden from view.
He ate and rested there a week, and through the second week he never changed his clothes.
Then he came, wailing, to the fire temple, still grieving over that dragon now destroyed.
It was a place that Tur, son of Fereydun, had raised, and within it he had built great palaces.
He scattered silver and gold among the priests, and cast a store of jewels upon the fire.
Then from that place he set out on his way, the king moving on, glad and content at heart.