بخش 30
Prose Version
Nowsh‑Āzar, son of Esfandiyār, watched from the fortress roof for the Iranian host, ready to tell his father of any sighting. When he saw Jāmāsp coming like a Turanian rider with a black Tūzi cap, he said: ‘A horseman has come from Turān—I’ll go and tell Esfandiyār.’ The gate was opened and Jāmāsp entered with Goshtāsp’s message. Esfandiyār, bound in iron, answered: ‘Why do you bow to a captive and bear the king of Iran’s salutations? Such greetings now come from Arjāsp, who washes his hands with Iran’s blood. I was chained innocent; my reward for toil is iron on my limbs and a treasure of heart sealed.’ Jāmāsp stirred him with the memory of Lohorāsp’s vengeance and the blood of priests and high priests who perished at the hands of the Turks, and how Nowsh‑Āzar’s very fire was kindled by their blood. Esfandiyār said: ‘I was in bonds, wretched and abased; of my thirty‑eight brothers only five remain, and none remembered me nor breathed a cooling breeze for me.’ When Jāmāsp spoke of Farshidvard—his faithful companion, ever in pain—Esfandiyār’s heart turned to blood, and he commanded the smiths to come. They filed the chains, rivets, and fetters with files and heavy hammers, yet could not break them. Then Esfandiyār gathered grim strength, twisted his body, strained hand and foot, shattered all chain and bond, and fell senseless. The star‑readers marveled and blessed the crowned youth. When he revived, he said: ‘These are the gifts of Garzam—may his lowly temper be in feast and fight.’ He went to the bath; his face bloomed like spring. He asked for a royal cuirass and the raiment of a champion, ordered his pacing steed, helm, and sword; seeing his swift charger, he remembered God’s goodly bounty. ‘If I have sinned and suffer bound, what crime has this Barbary courser that it should grow gaunt? Wash him, strip him of vermin, feed and strengthen him.’ Then he sent for master smiths to fetch coats of mail and to adorn his arms one by one.