English
Part 7: The Young King and the Night Raid
From there the young king moved on, glad, once he had crossed the bridge of Nahrawan.
He summoned all the nobles from the army and seated them, as was fitting, before the royal throne.
He said: 'You good hearted lords, you seasoned leaders who have seen the world and proven your worth,
this is my first time as king; I deserve nothing but to be tested.'
'We owe no one gratitude in another's place, though we ourselves know how to value goodness.'
'You have had no good from us, only more grief and hardship heaped upon you.'
'You served our forebears, and you have tasted much bitterness and turmoil in this world.'
'I mean to reveal one of my secrets, yet keep my words hidden from the army.'
'What I say to the Iranians must not be carried outside these walls.'
'If it were spoken before the troops, my plan would be ruined.'
'Tonight I have resolved on a raid, to throw the army into battle.'
'For I have seen in Bahram's words a horseman who unseats riders and gets things done.'
'He thinks me a witless child, tries to frighten me with mace and sword.'
'He does not know that I strike by night, that I will drive fear out even in the thick of battle.'
'If you will stand with me in this fight, when the dark night comes I will not delay.'
'When the sky turns dark as amber and shakes loose its musk scented locks,
mount up, ready for war, every one of you with mace and dagger in hand.'
The whole army agreed as one that not a single man would break the king's command.
When Khosrow came into the royal tent, he cleared the place of all outsiders.
He brought in Gostahm and Bandui, worldly wise men, and the brave Gorduy.
He told them the whole plan for the night raid, hoping they would be his allies and companions.
Gostahm said to him: 'My king, why are you so unwary of fate?'
'If you launch a night raid now with the army, you may tear love out of their hearts.'
'Your soldiers and the enemy's are of one heart and one body with them.'
'On one side the grandson, on the other the grandsire, how can loyalty be conjured from such blood?'
'A brother on this side, a father on that, all bound tightly to one another.'
'When a father fights his own son, do not gratify the enemy with such a wish.'
'You should not have told the army this; now that you have, the plan will come to ruin.'
Gorduy said to him: 'What is done is done; the past scatters like wind across the plain.'
'You have power, fortune, treasure, and troops; a clear sighted man does not turn from the right path.'
'Do not be on this battlefield tonight; do not let treasure and army fall to nothing.'
'For I am certain that word of our secret and our hidden scheme
has already reached the enemy's army; you must not hand your head to the foe.'
When Khosrow heard this it pleased him; in his heart he found the advice sound.
He chose from those bold chiefs a few men who would stand by him through good and ill:
Khordad Barzin and Gostahm the lion, Shapur and the daring Andiyan,
Bandui and Khorrad who lit up the army, and Nastud, the fierce, army leading warrior.
There was a hill, green and fit for feasting; from afar Khosrow watched his army.