Section 9

From there they raised the war drums and marched, from Bost and Nishapur all the way to Tus. Mahuy of Suri got word of the king, that the army had reached the border of Tus. He came out to meet him with a mighty host, all of them lancers clad in armor. When the king's glory and majesty appeared, the great banner and so vast an army, Mahuy quickly dismounted from his horse and heaped humble service upon that lowliness. He walked gently over the hot earth, both eyes brimming with tears from shame. He kissed the ground and bowed low before him, and stayed there a long while. When Farrokhzad saw Mahuy's face and the army drawn up in ranks like that, his heart grew glad at Mahuy of Suri, and he reminded him of much good counsel. He said: I hand you this king of the line of the Kayanids; gird yourself to serve him. Not even a breath of wind should touch him, and he should feel your care upon him. I must go now toward Ray; I do not know when I will see this royal crown again. For like me, many lancers have been ruined on the battlefield by war. There was no rider in the world like Rostam, nor did any wise ear ever hear of one. Yet he was killed by the hand of a crow-headed wretch; on me too such a day of reversal has come. May God give him a place among the good, and give the black crow the pain of the arrowhead. Mahuy said to him: O champion, the king is like light to my eyes and soul. I accept your trust, your heavens, your sovereign. Farrokhzad son of Hormozd, from that place, came toward Ray by the king's command. Some more time passed under the wheel of heaven, and love drained away from the evil-minded man's mind. The shepherd began to crave the throne; he changed for the worse in ways and temper. For a while he pretended his body was sick, and made serving the king a hard, grudging thing.