Page:Persian Literature (1900), vol. 1.djvu/261

 r the king.

In the morning Afrásiyáb hastily collected together his troops and marched against Rustem, who, with Byzun and his thousand warriors, met him on the plain prepared for battle. The champion challenged any one who would come forward to single combat; but though frequently repeated, no attention was paid to the call. At length Rustem said to Afrásiyáb:--"Art thou not ashamed to avoid a contest with so inferior a force, a hundred thousand against one thousand? We two, and our armies, have often met, and dost thou now shrink from the fight?" The reproach had its effect,

For the tyrant at once, and his heroes, began Their attack like the demons of Mázinderán.

But the valor and the bravery of Rustem were so eminently shown, that he overthrew thousands of the enemy.

In the tempest of battle, disdaining all fear, With his kamund, and khanjer, his garz, and shamshír, How he bound, stabbed, and crushed, and dissevered the foe, So mighty his arm, and so fatal his blow.

And so dreadful was the carnage, that Afrásiyáb, unable to resist his victorious career, was compelled to seek safety in flight.

The field was red with blood, the Tartar banners Cast on the ground, and when, with grief, he saw The face of Fortune turned, his cohorts slain, He hurried back, and sought Túrán again.

Rustem having obtained another triumph, returned to Irán with the spoils of his conquest, and was again honored with the smiles and rewards of his sovereign. Maníjeh was not forgotten; she, too, received a present worthy of the virtue and fidelity she had displayed, and of the magnanimity of her spirit; and the happy conclusion of the enterprise was celebrated with festivity and rejoicing.