Page:Persian Literature (1900), vol. 1.djvu/85

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THE SHÁH NÁMEH

51

nation to devour him, but compassionately took him up in the air, and conveyed him to his own habitation.

He who is blest with Heaven’s graceWill never want a dwelling-placeAnd he who bears the curse of FateCan never change his wretched state.A voice, not earthly, thus addressed.The Simurgh in his mountain nest—“To thee this mortal I resign,Protected by the power divine;Let him thy fostering kindness share,Nourish him with paternal care;For from his loins, in time, will springThe champion of the world, and bringHonour on earth, and to thy name;The heir of everlasting fame.”

The young ones were also kind and affectionate to the infant, which was thus nourished and protected by the Símurgh for several years.

THE DREAM OF SÁM

IT is said that one night, after melancholy musings and reflecting on the miseries of this life, Sám was visited by a dream, and when the particulars of it were communicated to the interpreters of mysterious warnings and omens, they declared that Zál was certainly still alive, although he had been long exposed on Alberz, and left there to be torn to pieces by wild animals. Upon this interpretation being given, the natural feelings of the father returned, and he sent his people to the mountain in search of Zál, but without success. On another night Sám dreamt a second time, when he beheld a young man of a beautiful countenance at the head of an immense army, with a banner flying before him, and a Múbid on his left hand. One of them addressed Sám, and reproached him thus:—

Unfeeling mortal, hast thou from thy eyesWashed out all sense of shame? Dost thou believeThat to have silvery tresses is a crime?If so, thy head is covered with white hair;