The Household Book of Poetry

SOHRAB AND RUSTUM.

AN EPISODE.

AND the first gray of morning filled the east,
And the fog rose out of the Oxus stream;
But all the Tartar camp along the stream
Was hushed, and still the men were plunged

in sleep.

Sohrab alone, he slept not; all night along
He had lain wakeful, tossing on his bed;
But when the gray dawn stole into his tent,
He rose, and clad himself, and girt his sword,
And took his horseman's cloak, and left his
tent,

And went abroad into the cold wet fog,
Through the dim camp to Peran-Wisa's tent.
Through the black Tartar tents he passed,

which stood

Clustering like bee-hives, on the low flat
strand

Of Oxus, where the summer floods o'erflow
When the sun melts the snows in high Pa-

mere:

But Sohrab came to the bedside, and said:
"Thou know'st me, Peran-Wisa; it is I.
The sun is not yet risen, and the foe
Sleep; but I sleep not. All night long I lie
Tossing and wakeful; and I come to thee.
For so did King Afrasiab bid me seek
Thy counsel, and to heed thee as thy son,
In Samarcand, before the army marched;
And I will tell thee what my heart desires.
Thou knowest if, since from Ader-baijan first
I came among the Tartars, and bore arms,
I have still served Afrasiab well, and shown,
At my boy's years, the courage of a man.
This, too, thou know'st, that while I still
bear on

The conquering Tartar ensigns through the
world,

And beat the Persians back on every field,
I seek one man, one man, and one alone.
Rustum, my father; who, I hoped, should
greet,

Should one day greet upon some well-fought

field

His not unworthy, not inglorious son.
So I long hoped, but him I never find.

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
a boat,
To meet me, man to man. If I prevail,
Crossing the stream in summer, scrapes the Rustum will surely hear it; if I fall—
Old man, the dead need no one, claim no kin.

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,
A dome of laths; and o'er it felts were
spread.

And Sohrab came there, and went in, and
stood

Upon the thick-piled carpets in the tent,
And found the old man sleeping on his bed
Of rugs and felts; and near him lay his arms.
And Peran-Wisa heard him, though the step
Was dulled; for he slept light, an old man's
sleep;

And he rose quickly on one arm, and said:
"Who art thou? for it is not yet clear
dawn.

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

Who love thee, but must press for ever first,
In single fight incurring single risk,
To find a father thou hast never seen?
That were far best, my son, to stay with us
Unmurmuring-in our tents, while it is war;
And when 't is truce, then in Afrasiab's
towns.

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—
O Sohrab, carry an unwounded son!
But far hence seek him; for he is not here.
For now it is not as when I was young,
When Rustum was in front of every fray;
But now he keeps apart, and sits at home,
In Siestan, with Zal, his father old;
Whether that his own mighty strength at last
Feels the abhorred approaches of old age;
Or in some quarrel with the Persian King.
There go;-Thou wilt not? yet my heart
forebodes

Danger or death awaits thee on this field.
Fain would I know thee safe and well, though
lost

Of Elburz, from the Aralian estuaries,
Or some frore Caspian reed-bed-southward
bound

For the warm Persian sea-board: so they
streamed-

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
In vain. But who can keep the lion's cub
From ravening? and who govern Rustum's
son?

Go! I will grant thee what thy heart desires."
So said he, and dropped Sohrab's hand, and
left

His bed, and the warm rugs whereon he lay;
And o'er his chilly limbs his woollen coat
He passed, and tied his sandals on his feet,
And threw a white cloak round him; and he
took

In his right hand a ruler's staff, no sword;
And on his head he placed his sheep-skin
сар-

Black, glossy, curled, the fleece of Kara-Kul;
And raised the curtain of his tent, and called
His herald to his side, and went abroad.

The sun, by this, had risen, and cleared the
fog

drink

The acrid milk of camels, and their wells.
And then a swarm of wandering horse, who

came

From far, and a more doubtful service
owned-

The Tartars of Ferghana, from the banks
Of the Jaxartes-men with scanty beards
And close-set skull-caps; and those wilder
hordes

Who roam o'er Kipchak and the northern
waste,

Kalmuks and unkemped Kuzzaks, tribes who
stray

Nearest the Pole; and wandering Kirghizes,
Who come on shaggy ponies from Pamere.
These all filed out from camp into the plain.
And on the other side the Persians formed:
First a light cloud of horse, Tartars they
seemed,

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
Into the open plain: so Haman bade-
Haman, who, next to Peran-Wisa, ruled
The host, and still was in his lusty prime.
From their black tents, long files of horse,
they streamed:

Marshalled battalions bright in burnished
steel.

But Peran-Wisa with his herald came
Threading the Tartar squadrons to the front,
And with his staff kept back the foremost
ranks.

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 choose a champion from the Persian lords
To fight our champion, Sohrab, man to man."
As, in the country, on a morn in June,
When the dew glistens on the pearled ears,
A shiver runs through the deep corn for joy-
So, when they heard what Peran-Wisa said,
A thrill through all the Tartar squadrons ran,
Of pride and hope for Sohrab, whom they
loved.

But as a troop of pedlars, from Cabool,
Cross underneath the Indian Caucasus,
That vast sky-neighboring mountain of milk

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.
But Rustum came last night; aloof he sits,
And sullen, and has pitched his tents apart:
Him will I seek, and carry to his ear
The Tartar challenge, and this young man's

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 not that one slight helpless girl I have—
A son so famed, so brave, to send to war,
And I to tarry with the snow-haired Zal,
My father, whom the robber Afghans vex,
And clip his borders short, and drive his
herds;

And he has none to guard his weak old age.
There would I go, and hang my armor up,

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;
Only his helm was rich, inlaid with gold;
And from the fluted spine, atop, a plume
Of horse-hair waved, a scarlet horse-hair
plume.

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,
Rejoins her in their hut upon the sands-
So dear to the pale Persians Rustum came.
And Rustum to the Persian front advanced:
And Sohrab armed in Haman's tent, and

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
grave.

Behold me: I am vast, and clad in iron,
And tried; and I have stood on many a field
Of blood, and I have fought with many a
foe;

Never was that field lost, or that foe saved.
O Sohrab, wherefore wilt thou rush on death?
Be governed: quit the Tartar host, and come

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:
So on each side were squares of men, with
spears

Bristling; and in the midst, the open sand.
And Rustum came upon the sand, and cast
His eyes towards the Tartar tents, and saw
Sohrab come forth, and eyed him as he

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.
There are no youths in Iran brave as thou."
So he spake, mildly. Sohrab heard his
voice,

The mighty voice of Rustum; and he saw
His giant figure planted on the sand-
Sole, like some single tower, which a chief
Has builded on the waste in former years
Against the robbers; and he saw that head,
Streaked with its first gray hairs. Hope filled

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,
When the frost flowers the whitened window

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
afar

Came seeking Rustum, and defying forth
All the most valiant chiefs. Long he perused
His spirited air, and wondered who he was.
For very young he seemed, tenderly reared;
Like some young cypress, tall, and dark, and
straight,

Which in a queen's secluded garden throws
Its slight dark shadow on the moonlit turf,
By midnight, to a bubbling fountain's sound-
So slender Sohrab seemed, so softly reared.
And a deep pity entered Rustum's soul
As he beheld him coming; and he stood,
And beckoned to him with his hand, and
said:

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.
For if I now confess this thing he asks,
And hide it not, but say-Rustum is here—
He will not yield indeed, nor quit our foes,
But he will find some pretext not to fight,
And praise my fame, and proffer courteous
gifts-

A belt or sword perhaps-and go his way.
And on a feast day, in Afrasiab's hall,
In Samarcand, he will arise and cry—
'I challenged once, when the two armies
camped

Beside the Oxus, all the Persian lords
To cope with me in single fight; but they

"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

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