Hushang's War with the Demons to Avenge His Father Siyamak

The blessed Siyamak had left one son, who held a place of honor beside his grandfather. The precious boy was named Hushang; you would say he was intelligence and culture themselves. For the grandfather he was a keepsake of the lost father, and the old king raised him close against his heart. He kept the boy in place of his own son, and fixed his eyes on no one else. When he set his heart on vengeance and war, he summoned that precious Hushang to him. He told him everything that had to be said, and opened every hidden secret to him. He said: I mean to raise an army, I mean to send a great roar through the world. You must be the one who leads it, for my days are ending; you are the new commander. He gathered fairies and leopards and lions, and of the wild beasts, the bold wolf and tiger. An army of beasts and birds and fairies, with a commander full of fury and courage. King Kayumars marched behind the host, while his grandson led the army out front. The black demon came, gripped by dread and fear, flinging dust up toward the sky. At the roaring of the beasts, the demon's grip went slack before the rage of the world's lord. The two ranks clashed together, and the demons were worn down by the beasts and birds. Hushang reached out his claw like a lion's, and made the world too tight for the stubborn demon. He flayed the demon's hide from head to foot, and the leader cut off that peerless head. He threw it under his feet and trampled it with contempt, its skin torn, its whole affair overturned. When the one who sought this vengeance had it, the days of Kayumars came to their end. He went, and the world remained behind him as a legacy; look and see who ever kept its favor for long. He gathered this deceiving world together, showed the way to profit, then consumed his own store and left. The world, from end to end, is nothing but a tale; neither good nor evil stays with anyone.