English
Part 7: Rudabeh's Grief for Rostam
One day Rudabeh said to Zal:
Mourn now, weep for the loss of mighty Rostam.
Surely, as long as the world has shone,
no one has known a day darker than this.
Zal told her: Foolish woman,
starving yourself will not carry this grief away.
Rudabeh flared up and swore an oath:
My body will never again find sleep or food.
Let my soul go join the soul of the great one,
so perhaps it may see him again in that gathering.
For a whole week she kept her body from eating,
for in her heart she held a secret bond with Rostam's spirit.
From not eating her eyes grew dim,
and her delicate body wasted away to nothing.
Wherever she went, several servants
went with her, afraid she might come to harm.
By the week's end her reason left her,
and in her helplessness her mourning turned to raving.
At the hour of sleep she came into the garden
and saw a dead snake lying in the water.
She reached out and seized its writhing head,
meaning to make a meal of the snake.
A servant snatched the snake from Rudabeh's hand
and they caught her, holding her close.
They drew her polluted hand away from that place
and carried her to the hall, to a seat of rest.
They settled her back in her own place,
brought out a table and prepared food.
She ate everything until she was full,
then they laid soft bedding down beneath her.
When her senses returned she said to Zal:
Your words were joined with wisdom.
For anyone who takes no food or sleep,
the grief of death and a joyous feast are all the same.
He has gone, and we will follow after him;
let us bow to the justice of the world's Creator.
She gave to the poor whatever she had kept hidden,
and kept saying to the Maker of the world:
You who are higher than any name or place,
cleanse the soul of mighty Rostam of all sin.
Give him a place in paradise in that world,
and there grant him the harvest of the seed he sowed here.