SOHRAB AND RUSTUM. AN EPISODE. AND the first gray of morning filled the east, in sleep. Sohrab alone, he slept not; all night along And went abroad into the cold wet fog, which stood Clustering like bee-hives, on the low flat Of Oxus, where the summer floods o'erflow mere: But Sohrab came to the bedside, and said: The conquering Tartar ensigns through the And beat the Persians back on every field, Should one day greet upon some well-fought field His not unworthy, not inglorious son. Through the black tents he passed, o'er that Come then, hear now, and grant me what I low strand, And to a hillock came, a little back ask. Let the two armies rest to-day; but I From the stream's brink, the spot where first Will challenge forth the bravest Persian lords land. The men of former times had crowned the Dim is the rumor of a common fight, top With a clay fort. But that was fallen; and now The Tartars built there Peran-Wisa's tent, And Sohrab came there, and went in, and Upon the thick-piled carpets in the tent, And he rose quickly on one arm, and said: Where host meets host, and many names are sunk; But of a single combat Fame speaks clear." He spoke and Peran-Wisa took the hand Of the young man in his, and sighed, and said: “O Sohrab, an unquiet heart is thine! Canst thou not rest among the Tartar chiefs, And share the battle's common chance with us Who love thee, but must press for ever first, Speak! is there news, or any night alarm?" But, if this one desire indeed rules all, SOHRAB AND RUSTUM. 459 To seek out Rustum-seek him not through | Stream over Casbin, and the southern slopes fight; Seek him in peace, and carry to his arms— Danger or death awaits thee on this field. Of Elburz, from the Aralian estuaries, For the warm Persian sea-board: so they The Tartars of the Oxus, the King's guard, First, with black sheep-skin caps, and with long spears; Large men, large steeds; who from Bokhara come, And Khiva, and ferment the milk of mares. Next the more temperate Toorkmuns of the south, The Tukas, and the lances of Salore, And those from Attruck and the Caspian sands To us-fain therefore send thee hence, in Light men, and on light steeds, who only peace To seek thy father, not seek single fights Go! I will grant thee what thy heart desires." His bed, and the warm rugs whereon he lay; In his right hand a ruler's staff, no sword; Black, glossy, curled, the fleece of Kara-Kul; The sun, by this, had risen, and cleared the drink The acrid milk of camels, and their wells. came From far, and a more doubtful service The Tartars of Ferghana, from the banks Who roam o'er Kipchak and the northern Kalmuks and unkemped Kuzzaks, tribes who Nearest the Pole; and wandering Kirghizes, The Ilyats of Khorassan; and behind, From the broad Oxus and the glittering The royal troops of Persia, horse and foot, sands; And from their tents the Tartar horsemen filed Marshalled battalions bright in burnished But Peran-Wisa with his herald came And when Ferood, who led the Persians, saw As when, some grey November morn, the That Peran-Wisa kept the Tartars back, files, He took his spear, and to the front he came In marching order spread, of long-necked And checked his ranks, and fixed them where And the old Tartar came upon the sand Betwixt the silent hosts, and spake, and said: So spake he; and Ferood stood forth and said: "Old man, be it agreed as thou hast said. "Ferood, and ye, Persians and Tartars, Let Sohrab arm, and we will find a man." hear! Let there be truce between the hosts to-day. But as a troop of pedlars, from Cabool, snow, Winding so high, that, as they mount, they pass He spoke; and Peran-Wisa turned, and strode Back through the opening squadrons to his tent. But through the anxious Persians Gudurz ran, And crossed the camp which lay behind, and reached, Out on the sands beyond it, Rustum's tents. Of scarlet cloth they were, and glittering gay, Just pitched. The high pavilion in the midst Was Rustum's; and his men lay camped around. And Gudurz entered Rustum's tent, and found Rustum. His morning meal was done; but still The table stood beside him, charged with food A side of roasted sheep, and cakes of bread, Long flocks of travelling birds dead on the And dark green melons. And there Rustum Choked by the air; and scarce can they Listless, and held a falcon on his wrist, So the pale Persians held their breath with And greeted Gudurz with both hands, and What news? But sit down first, and eat and drink." But Gudurz stood in the tent door, and said::"Not now. drink, A time will come to eat and Yet champion have we none to match this But not to-day: to-day has other needs. youth; He has the wild stag's foot, the lion's heart. name. Haply he will forget his wrath, and fight. Stand forth the while, and take their challenge up." The armies are drawn out, and stand at gaze; For from the Tartars is a challenge brought To pick a champion from the Persian lords To fight their champion-and thou know'st his name Sohrab men call him, but his birth is hid. O Rustum, like thy might is this young man's! He has the wild stag's foot, the lion's heart. And he is young, and Iran's chiefs are old, SOHRAB AND RUSTUM. Or else too weak; and all eyes turn to thee. Come down and help us, Rustum, or we lose." He spoke. But Rustum answered with a smile: 461 Are not they mortal? Am not I myself? But who for men of nought would do great deeds? Come, thou shalt see how Rustum hoards his fame. "Go to! if Iran's chiefs are old, then I Am older. If the young are weak, the King But I will fight unknown, and in plain arms; Errs strangely; for the King, for Kai Khos-Let not men say of Rustum, he was matched In single fight with any mortal man." roo, Himself is young, and honors younger men, And lets the aged moulder to their graves. Rustum he loves no more, but loves the young The young may rise at Sohrab's vaunts, not I. For what care I, though all speak Sohrab's fame? For would that I myself had such a son, And he has none to guard his weak old age. He spoke, and frowned; and Gudurz turned, and ran Back quickly through the camp in fear and joy Fear at his wrath, but joy that Rustum came. But Rustum strode to his tent door, and called His followers in, and bade them bring his arms, And clad himself in steel. The arms he chose Were plain, and on his shield was no device; And with my great name fence that weak old So armed, he issued forth; and Ruksh, his man, And spend the goodly treasures I have got, And rest my age, and hear of Sohrab's fame, And leave to death the hosts of thankless kings, horse, Followed him, like a faithful hound, at heel Ruksh, whose renown was noised through all the earth And with these slaughterous hands draw The horse, whom Rustum on a foray once sword no more." Did in Bokhara by the river find, He spoke, and smiled; and Gudurz made A colt beneath its dam, and drove him home, reply:And reared him; a bright bay, with lofty "What then, O Rustum, will men say to this, crest, Dight with a saddle-cloth of broidered green When Sohrab dares our bravest forth, and Crusted with gold; and on the ground were seeks worked Thee most of all; and thou, whom most he All beasts of chase, all beasts which hunters seeks, say, know. Hidest thy face? Take heed, lest men should So followed, Rustum left his tents, and crossed The camp, and to the Persian host appeared. And all the Persians knew him, and with shouts Like some old miser Rustum hoards his fame, And shuns to peril it with younger men.” And, greatly moved, then Rustum made reply: Hailed: but the Tartars knew not who he was. "O Gudurz, wherefore dost thou say such And dear as the wet diver to the eyes words? Thou knowest better words than this to say. What is one more, one less, obscure or famed, Valiant or craven, young or old, to me? Of his pale wife, who waits and weeps on shore, By sandy Bahrein, in the Persian Gulf— Plunging all day in the blue waves, at night, Having made up his tale of precious pearls, came. And as a-field the reapers cut a swathe Down through the middle of a rich man's corn, Heaven's air is better than the cold dead Behold me: I am vast, and clad in iron, Never was that field lost, or that foe saved. And on each side are squares of standing To Iran, and be as my son to me, corn, And in the midst a stubble, short and bare: Bristling; and in the midst, the open sand. came. As some rich woman, on a winter's morn, Eyes through her silken curtains the poor drudge And fight beneath my banner till I die. The mighty voice of Rustum; and he saw his soul; And he ran forward and embraced his knees, Who with numb-blackened fingers makes her And clasped his hand within his own and fire At cock-crow, on a starlit winter's morn, panes― And wonders how she lives, and what the thoughts Of that poor drudge may be: so Rustum eyed The unknown adventurous youth, who from Came seeking Rustum, and defying forth Which in a queen's secluded garden throws said:- "O, by thy father's head! by thine own soul! Art thou not Rustum? Speak! art thou not he?" But Rustum eyed askance the kneeling youth, And turned away, and spoke to his own soul; "Ah me, I muse what this young fox may mean. False, wily, boastful, are these Tartar boys. A belt or sword perhaps-and go his way. Beside the Oxus, all the Persian lords "O, thou young man, the air of Heaven is Shrank; only Rustum dared. Then he and I soft, And warm, and pleasant; but the grave is cold. Changed gifts, and went on equal terms away.' So will he speak, perhaps, while men applaud |