English
The King's Alarm and Sam's Vow
Then word reached the great king about Mehrab, and about mighty Sam's son, Dastan.
About the bond with Mehrab and the love of Zal, and how unequal lines had become equal.
Talk of every kind went on with the priests, before the proud king of nobles.
The king said to his wise men: this thing turns our days dark.
When by counsel and by war I freed Iran from the claws of lion and leopard,
Fereydun washed the world clean of Zahhak; I fear a shoot may rise again from that seed.
It must not be that, foolishly, out of love for Zal, an equal is brought low by an equal.
For from Mehrab's daughter and Sam's son a sharp sword may leap from the sheath.
If the child turns toward his mother's side, idle talk may lead his head astray.
He would fill Iran's land with chaos and grief, and the crown and treasure might pass back to that line.
All the priests spoke their blessings and called him a king of pure faith.
They said: you are wiser than we are, and stronger in doing what must be done.
Do whatever fits with reason; it was wisdom that once crushed the dragon's heart.
He ordered Nozar brought before him, along with his intimates and nobles.
He told him: go to Sam the horseman and ask him how his campaign went.
When you see him, tell him to come this way, to turn his thoughts toward our court and home.
At once the king's son rose and set out on the road with his chosen men.
They turned their faces toward Sam, son of Nariman, with battle-ready war elephants.
When Sam the hero learned of this, he went out to welcome the young prince who was heir to the king.
The famed Nozar came from his father's court to Sam the horseman.
All the great men came to meet them, with war elephants and drums.
Then the nobles and the famed prince Nozar reached Sam the horseman.
Prince Nozar delivered his father's message, and Sam the hero was glad to see him.
He answered: I will obey; seeing him will bring joy to my soul.
They laid the feast and took up the cups, and drank first to Manuchehr's name.
Then to Nozar and Sam and every lord, and every land shared in the joy.
The long night passed in celebration, until the shining sun uncovered its secret.
The roar of drums rose at the gate; the bold, swift camels spread their pace.
Toward King Manuchehr's court, at his command, they took the road.
When Manuchehr had word of him, he arrayed the royal crown.
A clamor rose from Sari and Amol, like a green sea coming to a boil.
The javelin-throwers formed their ranks and marched out with heavy spears.
An army of men from hill to hill, shields locked in shields, red and gold.
With kettledrums, brazen horns and cymbals, with Arab horses, elephants and treasure.
In this fashion the troops came out to meet him, many with banners and drums.
When he drew near the court, he dismounted, and the king made way for him.
When the world-ruling king showed his face, Sam kissed the ground and came before him.
Manuchehr rose from his ivory throne, a crown of glittering ruby on his head.
He seated him beside himself on the throne and honored him as befitted him.
And about those wolf-headed warriors, and those fierce demons of Mazandaran,
he asked, and grieved much over it; the commander recounted the tale point by point.
Saying: may you live sweetly forever, O king; may the malice of the ill-wishers be cut from your life.
I marched on that city of the fierce demons, not demons only, but fighting lions at their side,
swifter than Arab racing horses, braver than the champions of Iran,
an army they call the Dog-heads, who show themselves like war-leopards.
When they got word of me, my very voice emptied their skulls of sense.
They raised a howl within the city, then abandoned the whole city.
They all came at me seeking battle, so frantic, rushing back and forth.
The army surged, the day grew dark; they closed up from behind and drew before the cave.
A grandson of the world-ruler, great Salm, came before the army like a wolf.
An army like ants and locusts; neither plain nor hill nor crag could be seen.
When the dust rose from that dense host, the faces of our famed men went pale.
I took up this mace for a single blow and left the army standing right there.
From the saddle I gave one great roar, and the ground turned under them like a millstone.
The army took heart again and, all of them, set their minds on the fight.
When Kakuy heard my voice and felt the head-splitting blow of my mace,
he came at me armed for battle, like a raging elephant with a long lasso.
He tried to catch me in the coils of his lasso; when I saw it, I swerved from harm's way.
I took the royal bow in hand, with steel-tipped arrows of poplar shaft.
I spurred my swift eagle of a horse and poured arrows on him like fire.
I thought his head was an anvil, but the shaft was stitched from brain to helmet.
I looked, and out of the dust, like a drunken elephant, one rose with an Indian blade in hand.
I thought, O king, that even a mountain would beg him for its life.
He in haste, I in patience, I kept watching to see when he would fall into my grip.
When the proud man came near me, I stretched out my hand from the horse.
I seized the brave man's belt and tore him from the saddle like a lion.
I dashed him to the ground like a raging elephant, with this iron hand and warrior's waist.
When their leader was cast down so basely, the army turned its back on the battle.
Down slopes and up, through desert and hill, in every direction the men scattered in droves.
When they were counted, twelve thousand fallen, horse and foot, were reckoned up.
When the king heard the commander's words, he raised his happy crown high as the moon.
When the day, worn out by struggle, gave way to night, it withdrew wearily behind the mountain.
He set out wine and feasting and grew merry; he saw the world cleansed of the evil of ill-wishers.
With drinking they made the night short, and opened their lips in praise of the commander.
When night became day, they drew back the curtain of the court and gave Sam passage to the king.
The mighty commander Sam came before the great king Manuchehr.
The king of the world said to Sam: set out from here with your chosen nobles,
kindle fire in India, burn down the whole palace of Mehrab and all of Kabul.
He must not escape from his evil, this one who remains from the dragon's brood.
Time and again an uproar rises from him; the settled world fills with war and turmoil.
Everyone bound to him, all the great ones of his party,
cut their heads from their bodies and wash the earth clean of Zahhak's line and his kin.
Sam answered: I will do just so, and drive the grudge from the king's heart.
He kissed the throne and pressed his face against the king's famous seal-ring.
He set out for home with his army, searching the road on those swift-footed mounts.