English
The Birth of Sohrab
When nine months had passed for the king's daughter, a son was born to her, bright as the shining moon.
You would say he was the mighty champion Rustam himself, or Sam the lion, or Nariman.
When he smiled and his face grew radiant, Tahmineh named him Sohrab.
At one month he seemed a year old; his chest was as broad as Rustam, son of Zal.
At three he took up the polo mallet; at five his heart was set on arrows and spearheads.
By ten there was no one in that land who dared test himself in battle against him.
He came to his mother and questioned her, saying, 'Speak to me plainly and hold nothing back.'
'Since I stand above all the children of my own kind, and my head reaches to the sky,'
'from whose seed and lineage do I come? What shall I say when someone asks about my father?'
'If this question stays hidden from me, I will not leave you alive in this world.'
His mother said to him, 'Listen to what I say; be glad of this and do not be so fierce.'
'You are the son of the mighty champion Rustam, of the line of Dastan and Sam and Nariman.'
'That is why your head rises above the sky, for your seed is from that famous stock.'
'Since the Creator first made the world, no rider like Rustam has ever appeared.'
'No one like Sam, son of Nariman, has lived on earth; even the heavens could not touch his head.'
She brought out a letter from Rustam, seeker of war, and showed it to him in secret.
Three glowing rubies set with three seals of gold his father had sent him from Iran.
She said to him, 'Afraseyab must never learn a word of this, from beginning to end.'
'If your father learns that by these signs you have grown into a proud and towering hero,'
'he will call you to his side when he knows, and your mother's heart will be torn with grief.'
Sohrab replied, 'In all the world no one keeps a matter like this hidden.'
'The great warriors of old still tell the tale of Rustam even now.'
'A warrior born of such a line, what custom is it to hide it from me?'
'Now I will gather from the warlike Turks an army beyond counting.'
'I will topple Kavus from his throne and drive Tus out of Iran.'
'I will give Rustam the throne, the mace, and the crown, and seat him on the throne of King Kavus.'
'From Iran I will march to Turan as a warrior and face its king head on.'
'I will seize the throne of Afraseyab and lift my spearpoint higher than the sun.'
'With Rustam as father and me as son, no one else in the world should wear a crown.'
'When the faces of the sun and moon are bright, why should a mere star lift up its crown?'
From every side troops gathered around him, men both of noble blood and skilled with the sword.