English
The Birth of Fereydun and His Nursing by the Cow Barmayeh
As those long days dragged on, the serpent-shouldered Zahhak found his world closing in around him.
Blessed Fereydun was born from his mother, and the world took on a whole new character.
He grew tall like a slender cypress, and the royal glory of kings shone from him.
This seeker of the world carried Jamshid's splendor; he was like the blazing sun.
To the world he was as vital as rain in season, to the soul as fitting as knowledge itself.
The turning heavens revolved above him, made gentle and loving toward Fereydun.
There was that cow named Barmayeh, held above all other cattle in rank.
She had come from her mother like a male peacock, each hair a fresh and different color.
The wise gathered around her, astrologers and priests alike,
for no one in the world had seen such a cow, nor heard of one from the oldest experts.
Zahhak had filled the earth with talk of the child, searching the whole world for him.
Fereydun, whose father was Abtin, and for Abtin the world had grown too tight.
Fleeing and weary of his own life, he suddenly fell into the lion's jaws.
A group of those impure guards happened one day to catch him.
They seized him and dragged him off bound like a cheetah, and Zahhak brought his days to an end.
When Fereydun's wise mother saw what had befallen her husband,
her name was Faranak, and she was blessed, her heart brimming with love for Fereydun.
Her heart scorched, wounded by fate, she ran hurrying toward that meadow,
where the famed cow Barmayeh was, her body adorned with fitting ornament.
Before the keeper of that meadow she cried out, weeping tears of blood.
She told him: keep this nursing child safe from me for a while.
Take him from his mother as a father would, and nurse him on the milk of this fine cow.
And if you ask a price, my very soul is yours; I will pledge my life to whatever you wish.
The servant of the woodland and the wondrous cow gave this answer to that pure-minded woman:
I will stand before your son like a slave; I will obey your every counsel.
For three years he gave him that cow's milk, alert, watchful, and faithful to his trust.