Section 20: Afrasiab Reaches the Battlefield

When Afrasiab learned the army had come, the light of the sun went dark before his eyes. He beat the war drums, sounded the trumpets, and mounted his troops; he swept out of his palace like fire. He rode two stages as if they were one, racing forward like an arrow shot from a bow. He brought his army to the battlefield where Kolbad had gone with his own force. He saw the whole borderland strewn with his scattered troops, and men cut down everywhere he looked. He asked: this warlord and his army, when did they come from Iran to this battlefield? Did no one bring word of these fighters, that so heavy an army had crossed through here? Who carried the news to that devil's brat? May no one else have Piran's heart and mind. If the earth had been his nurse and his ruin, my two eyes would never have seen this day. Sepahram said to him: it would have been easier if your heart had been afraid of a real army. It was Giv, son of Gudarz, and him alone; no one saw a single other rider with him. The whole army was worn out by the hand of one man, while Giv, Farangis, and the prince rode on. When the commander heard what Sepahram said, an army appeared coming toward them. The general Piran was there at its front, his head, face, and neck all covered in blood. Afrasiab supposed Piran had captured Giv and was hurrying ahead in triumph. But when the king looked as they drew nearer, he saw the commander of the army wounded like that. He saw him bound to the saddle like a stone, both hands tied behind his back with a rope. He questioned him and stood amazed; grief seized him and worry took hold of his mind. Piran said to him: no raging lion, no tearing wolf, no fierce tiger, could ever stand in the line of battle the way Giv did, alone, my king. I saw such things from Giv that no worldly-wise, brave man ever sees from elephant or lion. When the day of battle blazes up for him, his very breath could scorch the crocodile in the sea. First he came in with his heavy mace, hammering like a blacksmith's sledge. With horse, mace, foot, and stirrup, the rider brought riders down from height to ruin. No rain ever poured from a cloud heavier than the sword he rained down upon their heads. When he settled into his saddle amid the carnage, you would say he had become one with a mountain. In the end the whole army turned and fled; no one but me went forward to take revenge on him. As I fled from him he flung his twisted lasso and caught me, binding me around the waist. My wits and my senses scattered; my head and shoulders came crashing to the ground. He pulled me from my horse, tied both my hands, threw me across the saddle, and mounted himself. One moment my head and feet were in the noose, the next I was bound under oaths and chains. By the life and head of the king, by sun and moon, by the creator Hormozd, by throne and crown, he made me swear such a heavy oath, and I took it once I saw that fortune had turned away. That you would tell no one to lift a hand; ride on like this, roaring, until you settle in a place. I do not know what secret the heavens hold: they mean to cut off all love from us. When Afrasiab heard his words, his eyes filled with tears of rage. He gave a shout and drove Piran from his side; Piran flinched and fell silent. Then anger rose to his head, and he opened his lips in curses and oaths, saying: even if Giv and Kaykhosrow were demon-born, even if they became a thundering cloud or a raging wind, I would bring them down from the high clouds. He struck his hand and loosed the mace from its strap. I will cut them in half with my sharp sword and give them to the fish to tear to shreds. Since Kaykhosrow now seeks out Iran, why should Farangis run along with him? With his commanders he pushed toward the Oxus, dragging his hem, his eyes weeping blood. He ordered Human to hurry, to pull his reins straight to the river's edge, for once Giv and Khosrow cross the Oxus, our sorrow and toil will scatter to the wind across the plain. The sign has come true, as the wise ones foretold, as the sage spoke long ago in ancient days: that from the line of Tur and of Kayqobad a king would rise, born of both bloodlines, who would turn the land of Turan into a thornfield, leaving no city standing on this soil. Then Giv and Khosrow reached the water, in a rush to get across. They argued with the toll-keeper about which boat at the crossing was theirs, which swift vessel had a good sail, one worthy in its beauty of Kaykhosrow. Then the toll-keeper said to Giv: to the flowing water, what is a servant and what is a king? If you must cross this river, you must send a fare to the boat. Giv said to him: ask for whatever you want, but let us pass, the army is pressing close behind. I will ask a small toll of you, he said; of these four things I will demand one: I want from you either armor, or the black horse, or a servant, or the fortunate moon-faced prince. Giv said to him: you fool who has lost his mind, speak of things that make sense. If every fare were the king of a city, you would already own a share of this whole world. Who are you to demand the king? Such empty gusts of talk, you windbag! And if you also want the king's mother, then as a toll you are asking for the crown of the moon itself. Third, the night black horse Behzad, who in a race makes even the wind seem slow. Fourth, if you seek it, the shining armor whose links you cannot count one by one. No water can wet such iron, and no fire can work its harm upon it. Neither spear nor Indian sword nor arrow can pierce it. This is the toll I demand at this crossing. Now the water is ours and the boat is yours. This is how your kingship shows its harshness to you. Giv said to him: if you are truly Kaykhosrow, you will see nothing but good from this water. Fereydun, when he crossed the Arvand river, sent his greeting to the throne of greatness. The whole world became his servant, a world full of light and divine glory. Why do you worry, if you are the king of Iran, the chief of the famed and the lions among men? How could water find a way to harm you, you who carry glory and grandeur and grace the throne? Even if I drown, or your mother drowns, no harm should ever touch your head. The purpose of the world was born through your mother, for the throne of kings had stood empty. My mother, too, bore me for your sake, so do not let this matter weigh on your heart at all. For I have no doubt that Afrasiab will come charging down to the edge of this river. He would hang me alive upon the gallows in scorn, and Farangis along with you, my king. He would cast you into the water for the fish to devour, or trample you beneath his horses' hooves. Kaykhosrow said to him: this is all there is; my refuge is God, who answers those in need. He climbed down from his eager steed, and pressed his face down against the earth. He said: you are my back and my shelter; you are the one who shows me my counsel and my way. My soundness and my humbling are your glory; my soul and my reason are the shade of your wing. In the water you are the one who lifts my heart; on dry land you are still my guide. Kaykhosrow drove the black horse into the water, riding it like a boat toward the crossing. Behind him came Farangis and brave Giv, unafraid of the Jeyhun and its raging waters. All three crossed safely to the other side, and Khosrow the world seeker washed his head and body. There among the reeds he turned to prayer, and began to praise the Maker of the world. When all three had crossed the river, the keeper of the boat lost his wits. He said to his companions: here is a wonder no mind can imagine anything greater than this. In springtime, the Jeyhun and its rushing waters, and three armored riders with horses and battle mail, to cross this deep sea like this, a wise man would not count them among ordinary men. He grew regretful of his deeds and his words, and saw that he had ruined his own trade. He fitted out the boat with whatever he had and, catching the wind, raised its sail. He set off after the king to make amends, and when he drew near the riverbank, he brought all his gifts before the king: a bow, a lasso, and a helmet. Giv said to him, 'You senseless dog, you claimed this river would swallow a man.' 'Such a noble, gifted king asked you only for a boat,' 'and you refused. Now keep your gifts, curse them; a day will come when you'll remember this day.' The ferryman turned away so shamed that he bid his own life farewell. When he reached the ferry crossing, an army from Turan arrived at that very moment. When Afrasiab came near the river, he saw no one there, and no boat on the water. He shouted fiercely at the tollkeeper: 'How did this devil find a way across the water?' The man answered, 'O king, my father was the ferryman, and I keep the crossing.' 'I have never seen nor ever heard of anyone turning the Oxus into dry land.' 'It is spring, and this water runs with fierce waves; once you step into it, there is no escape.' The three riders had crossed as though the very air had held them in its arms. After that Afrasiab commanded, 'Hurry, launch the boats onto the water.' Human said to him, 'O king, think carefully; do not set fire to your own side.' 'If you go to Iran with these horsemen, you will step straight into the den of Gavshidan's line.' 'Men like Gudarz, like the elephant-bodied Rostam, like Tus and Gorgin and all that host.' 'It seems you have grown weary of your throne, that you would walk into the lion's claws.' 'From this side all the way to China and beyond is yours; the sun, the moon, Saturn, and the Pleiades are yours.' 'Guard Turan and your lofty throne; for now there is no fear of harm from Iran.' With hearts full of blood they turned back from the river, and a long, hard age set in upon them.