The Warner Library

them, receives from them a warm description of her charms, and presses them to procure for him the means of obtaining an interview. This little incident is well imagined: it is Zāl who is made to ask for the meeting, and the honor of Rudabah is not compromised. The slaves return to their mistress and report upon their mission, eulogizing the goodly qualities of the hero. Her ironical answer to their former depreciation is animated and natural.]

Then said the elegant cypress-formed lady to her maidens:-
"Other than this were once your words and your counsel!

Is this then the Zāl, the nursling of a bird?

This the old man, white-haired and withered?

Now his cheek is ruddy as the flower of the arghavan;
His stature is tall, his face beautiful, his presence lordly!

Ye have exalted my charms before him;

Ye have spoken, and made me a bargain!"
She said, and her lips were full of smiles;

But her cheek crimsoned like the bloom of pomegranate.

[The interview takes places in a private pavilion of the Princess; and the account of it is marked with more than one touch of truth and beauty.]

When from a distance the son of the valiant Sām

Became visible to the illustrious maiden,

She opened her gem-like lips and exclaimed:
"Welcome, thou brave and happy youth!

The blessing of the Creator of the world be upon thee!

On him who is the father of a son like thee!

May Destiny ever favor thy wishes!

May the vault of heaven be the ground thou walkest on!

The dark night is turned into day by thy countenance;

The world is soul-enlivened by the fragrance of thy presence!
Thou hast traveled hither on foot from thy palace;
Thou hast pained, to behold me, thy royal footsteps!"

When the hero heard the voice from the battlement,
He looked up and beheld a face resplendent as the sun,
Irradiating the terrace like a flashing jewel,

And brightening the ground like a flaming ruby.

Then he replied: "O thou who sheddest the mild radiance of

the moon,

The blessing of Heaven, and mine, be upon thee!

How many nights hath cold Arcturus beholden me,
Uttering my cry to God, the Pure,

And beseeching the Lord of the universe

That he would vouchsafe to unveil thy countenance before me!

Now I am made joyful in hearing thy voice,

In listening to thy rich and gracious accents.

But seek, I pray thee, some way to thy presence;

For what converse can we hold, I on the ground and thou on the terrace ?»

The Peri-faced maiden heard the words of the hero;

Quickly she unbound her auburn locks,

Coil upon coil and serpent on serpent;

And she stooped and dropped down the tresses from the battlement,

And cried:-"O hero, child of heroes,

Take now these tresses; they belong to thee,

And I have cherished them that they might prove an aid to my beloved.»

And Zal gazed upward at the lovely maiden,

And stood amazed at the beauty of her hair and of her coun

tenance;

He covered the musky ringlets with his kisses,

And his bride heard the kisses from above;

Then he exclaimed: - "That would not be right—

May the bright sun never shine on such a day!

It were to lay my hand on the life of one already distracted; It were to plunge the arrow-point into my own wounded

bosom.»

Then he took his noose from his boy, and made a running knot,

And threw it, and caught it on the battlement,

And held his breath, and at one bound

Sprang from the ground, and reached the summit.

As soon as the hero stood upon the terrace,

The Peri-faced maiden ran to greet him,

And took the hand of the hero in her own,

And they went like those who were overcome with wine.

Then he descended from the lofty gallery,

His hand in the hand of the tall Princess,

And came to the door of the gold-painted pavilion,

And entered that royal assembly,

Which blazed with light like the bowers of Paradise;

And the slaves stood like houris before them:

And Zal gazed in astonishment

On her face, and her hair, and her stately form, and on all

that splendor.

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And Zal was seated in royal pomp

Opposite that mildly radiant beauty;

And Rudabah could not rest from looking towards him,
And gazing upon him with all her eyes;

On that arm and shoulder, and that splendid figure,
On the brightness of that soul-enlightening countenance;
So that the more and more she looked,

The more and more was her heart inflamed.

Then he kissed and embraced her, renewing his vows
Can the lion help pursuing the wild ass?—

And said: "O sweet and graceful silver-bosomed maiden,
It may not be, that, both of noble lineage,

We should do aught unbecoming our birth;

For from Sam Nariman I received an admonition,

To do no unworthy deed, lest evil should come of it;

For better is the seemly than the unseemly,

That which is lawful than that which is forbidden;

And I fear that Manuchahar, when he shall hear of this affair,
Will not be inclined to give it his approval:

I fear too that Sam will exclaim against it,

And will boil over with passion, and lay his hand upon me.

Yet though soul and body are precious to all men,

Life I will resign, and clothe myself with a shroud
And this I swear by the righteous God—

Ere I will break the faith which I have pledged thee.
I will bow myself before him, and offer my adoration,
And supplicate him as those who worship him in truth,
That he will cleanse the heart of Sam, King of the earth,
From opposition, and rage, and rancor.

Perhaps the Creator of the world may listen to my prayer,
And thou mayest yet be publicly proclaimed my wife.”

And Rudabah said:-"And I also, in the presence of the
righteous God,

Take the same pledge, and swear to thee my faith;

And He who created the world be witness to my words,

That no one but the hero of the world,

The throned, the crowned, the far-famed Zāl,

Will I ever permit to be sovereign over me."

The gray dawn began to show itself,

And the drum to be heard from the royal pavilion;

Then Zal bade adieu to the fair one.

His soul was darkened, and his bosom on fire,

And the eyes of both were filled with tears;

And they lifted up their voices against the sun:"O glory of the universe, why come so quick? Couldst thou not wait one little moment?"

Then Zal cast his noose on a pinnacle,

And descended from those happy battlements,

As the sun was rising redly above the mountains,

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And the bands of warriors were gathering in their ranks. Translation of S. Robinson.

THE DEATH OF DARA [DARIUS]

From the Shāh-Namah›

HE viziers came to Iskandar [Alexander the Great] and said: "O King, crowned with victories and knowledge,

THE

We have just slain thine enemy.

Come to an end is his diadem and the throne of princes.» When Janusyar had thus spoken, Iskandar said to Mahyar :"The enemy ye have cast down-where is he? Show me the nearest road thither."

They went before him, and the King of the Greeks followed,
His heart and his eyes filled with tears of blood.

When he came near he saw that the face of Dara
Was pale as the flower of the fenugreek,

And his breast clotted with gore.

Having commanded that they should quit their horses

And keep guard over the two ministers,

Swift as the wind Iskandar dismounted from his charger,

And placed on his thigh the head of the wounded man.

He looked to see whether Dara was still in a condition to

speak,

Passed both his hands over his face,

Withdrew the royal diadem from his head,

Unclasped the warlike breastplate from his breast,

And rained down a flood of tears from his eyes when he saw the wounded body,

And the physician far away.

"May it go well with thee," he exclaimed,

"And let the heart of the malevolent tremble!

Raise thyself and seat thyself on this golden cushion,

And if thou hast strength enough, place thyself in the saddle.

I will bring physicians from Greece and India;

I will shed tears of blood for thy sufferings;