بخش 2 - سخن دقیقی

Lohrasp bestowed the throne upon Goshtasp and descended from it himself, making his way to Balkh and the Nobahār—the House of Praise which in those days was the refuge of the worshipers of God, as Mecca is today for the Arabs. He shut its doors, donned the coarse robe of devotion, cast off his armlet and let his hair fall, and turned his face toward the radiant, just Lord. For thirty years he stood in worship and venerated the sun, as was the path of Jamshid. Then Goshtasp mounted his father’s throne, bearing his father’s glory and fortune. He set the crown upon his head and declared that he was a king who worships God, and that the Pure Creator had given him this helm so that the wolf might be driven from the flock of sheep; that he would take hold of the way of God, not make the world narrow for the free-born, uphold the royal ordinances, and bring the wicked to the faith of the Lord. He spread justice so widely that wolf and sheep could drink from the same stream. Thereafter the famed daughter of the Caesar—whose given name was Nahid, though the king called her Katayun—became his consort and bore him two children bright as the moon: Esfandiyar, the renowned, a warrior and champion of the field; and Pashotan, the valiant swordsman, a commander of renown. When this new kingship was set aright, Goshtasp seemed a second Fereydun, and the hearts of the kings turned toward him—all save Arjasp, lord of Turan, who accepted neither settlement nor counsel, and year by year demanded tribute, an oppression a just king would not endure.