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 CHAPTER XXI RUINED TUS, THE HOME OF THE POET FIRDAUSI

♦ Last night by ruined Tus I chanced to go,

An owl sat perched where once the cock did crow.

I asked, " What message from this waste bring' st Thou ? " It said, "The message is, Woe, woe, all's woe ! " '

— Shahid of Balkh, On the Buins of Tus.

Long had it been a desire of my heart to visit Tus, the ancient home of the poet Firdausi, for though its chronicled tale may not be known to every reader, the glamour of a mighty past and the atmosphere of poetry cling about it still. The name is as old as the half-legendary warrior Tusa in the Avesta, with his battles against Turan ; and Alexander the Great passed through it in pursuit of Bessus, the slayer of the last Darius. Abundant evidences of its pristine glory remained during all the ages of the Sasanian Empire ; and the Arabs counted its conquest among the triumphs of their victories in Iran. But finally the Mongols crushed it, never to rise again from the dust in which it lies today. ^

1 Tus derived its name from Tusa, tives of the White Huns, so famous in

the cherished hero of early Iran, in later history. Folk-legend held, ac-

the tenth and ninth century b.c, un- cording to the Pahlavi texts, that this

der the reign of the semi-historical son of Naotara, or Naudar, will be one

kings Kai Kaus and Kai Khusrau, of of those that will appear again at the

the Kaianian dynasty (see Justi, Iran- coming of Soshans, the Savior, and aid

isches Namenbuch, p. 322, and on the in bringing about the regeneration of

relation of the form of the name Tiis the world at the time of the Resxirrec-

to Av. Tusa (*Taosa) cf. Noldeke, tion (cf . Bd. 29. 6 ; Dat. 36. 3 ; Dk. 9.

Fersische Studien, 2. 28). According 23.2 and 6 ; also the Pazand Jamaspji,

to the Avesta (Yt. 5. 53, 54, 58, and cf. tr. Modi, p. 119, Bombay, 1903).

Geiger, Ostirdnische KuUur, pp. 194, Throughout Iranian literature the cam-

198, 478), ' the gallant warrior Tusa' paigns of this hero play an important,

was famous for his victory over the if not always successful, part, in con-

Hunus of Vaesaka, early representa- nection with the wars of the two Kai-

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