Page:Persian Literature (1900), vol. 1.djvu/111

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THE SHÁH NÁMEH
77

Afrásiyáb said to him, “What rebellious conduct is this, of which thou art guilty? Is not the country of Raí sufficient for thee, that thou art thus aspiring to be a great king?” Aghríras replied: “Why reproach and insult me thus? Art thou not ashamed to accuse another of rebellious conduct?

Shame might have held thy tongue; reprove not meIn bitterness; God did not give thee powerTo injure man, and surely not thy kin.”Afrásiyáb, enraged at this reproof,Replied by a foul deed—he grasped his sword,And with remorseless fury slew his brother!

When intelligence of this cruel catastrophe came to Zál’s ears, he exclaimed: “Now indeed has the empire of Afrásiyáb arrived at its crisis:

“Yes, yes, the tyrant’s throne is tottering now,And past is all his glory.”

Then Zál bound his loins in hostility against Afrásiyáb, and gathering together all his warriors, resolved upon taking revenge for the death of Nauder, and expelling the tyrant from Persia. Neither Tús nor Gustahem being yet capable of sustaining the cares and duties of the throne, his anxiety was to obtain the assistance of some one of the race of Feridún.

These youths were for imperial rule unfit:A king of royal lineage and worthThe state required, and none could he rememberSave Tahmasp’s son, descended from the bloodOf Feridún.
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