Page:From Constantinople to the home of Omar Khayyam.djvu/388

224 the limits of the city, but none that might have served for that struggle in the legendary past ; and it may be for this reason that the allusion to the maidan has been thought to refer to the general plain that surrounds Sabzavar. By way of comment on this legend, it may be worth while to add that Firdausi's ver- sion of the combat places the lair of the White Div in a moun- tain cavern (ghār) from which he is summoned forth by Rustam to the fray. The townsfolk of Sabzavar, with whom I spoke on the subject, had some idea of the story of the Div-i Safid from the Shāh Nāmah, but seemed to have no special information to give. At all events, the tradition, with its claims, tends to show how great is the antiquity that is ascribed to the city.

A more moderate legend, though bold enough, is content to allow that the town came into existence at a later date through Sasan, who was, according to Firdausi and others, the son of the Bahman above mentioned, and who was, at any rate, the reputed ancestor of the House of Sasan, or Sasanian dynasty. In other words, this legend would concede that Sabzavar was in existence at the beginning of the Sasanian era, or as early as