بخش 9

When word reached King Goshtasp that the commander of China had set forth with a marshaled army and sent the champion Khshash ahead—when he heard that he was marching with his host to lay waste the fair realm—he told his general: at dawn tomorrow, array the elephants and bring the army. He wrote to his border wardens, bidding them to hold to the righteous path of heavenly manliness and come all at once to his court, for his ill-wishing foe had crossed the frontier. When the letter came to the noble wardens and they learned that the world-seeking enemy had appeared, a force so vast came to the king’s gate that there was not so much grass upon the earth as their number; for the world-conquering king of the Kayanids, the champions girded the waist of the world; all the border wardens set their faces to the sovereign’s court, obedient to his command. Not long had passed when dust from thousands upon thousands of select warriors rose before the king—men of name and good will toward him. He came to the camp and inspected the host, choosing those fit for war; the fortunate king rejoiced and his heart was astonished at the boundless multitude. The next day Goshtasp, with mobeds, elders, nobles, and commanders, opened the treasury stocked since Jamshid and gave the army two years’ stipend; when he had distributed rations and armor, he sounded the trumpets and drums and set the baggage train, and ordered the royal auspicious standard to be borne before the host. He drew the army toward battle with Arjasp—a host such as no one had ever seen. From the darkness and the dust raised by the army’s tread, no man could see the path in broad daylight; for the noise of the steeds and the clamor of men, one could not even hear the moan of the war-drums. Standards were many and high; spears thrust beyond the clouds—like rows of trees upon mountain sides, like reed-thickets in the season of spring. Thus King Goshtasp advanced, and the host moved from country to country.