After a time, grief and anger mingled in her countenance,

And knitting her brows with passion, she exclaimed:

"O unadvised and worthless counsellors,

It was not becoming in me to ask your advice!

Were my eye dazzled by a star,

How could it rejoice to gaze even upon the moon?

He who is formed of worthless clay will not regard the rose,
Although the rose is in nature more estimable than clay!

I wish not for Cæsar, nor Emperor of China,

Nor for any one of the tiara-crowned monarchs of Iran;
The son of Saum, Zal, alone is my equal,

With his lion-like limbs, and arms, and shoulders.

You may call him, as you please, an old man, or a young;
To me, he is in the room of heart and of soul.

Except him never shall any one have a place in my heart;
Mention not to me any one except him.

Him hath my love chosen unseen,

Yea, hath chosen him only from description.

For him is my affection, not for face or hair;

And I have sought his love in the way of honor."

The slaves speak.

46 May hundreds of thousands such as we are be a sacrifice for thee; May the wisdom of the creation be thy worthy portion;

May thy dark narcissus-eye be ever full of modesty;

May thy cheek be ever tinged with bashfulness!

If it be necessary to learn the art of the magician,

To sew up the eyes with the bands of enchantment,
We will fly till we surpass the enchanter's bird,
We will run like the deer in search of a remedy.

Perchance we may draw the King nigh unto his moon,
And place him securely at thy side."

The vermil lip of Rudabeh was filled with smiles;

She turned her saffron-tinted countenance toward the slave, and said:

"If thou shalt bring this matter to a happy issue,

Thou hast planted for thyself a stately and fruitful tree,

Which every day shall bear rubies for its fruit,

And shall pour that fruit into thy lap."

The slaves arrange an interview between the lovers.

Then said the elegant cypress-formed lady to her maidens:
"Other than this were once your words and your counsel!
Is this then the Zal, the nursling of a bird?

This the old man, white-haired and withered?
Now his cheek is ruddy as the flower of the arghavan ;
His stature is tall, his face beautiful, his presence lordly!
Ye have exalted my charms before him;

Ye have spoken and made me a bargain!"

She said, and her lips were full of smiles,

But her cheek crimsoned like the bloom of pomegranate.

The interview takes place in a private pavilion of the princess.

When from a distance the son of the valiant Saum

Became visible to the illustrious maiden,

She opened her gem-like lips, and exclaimed: "Welcome, thou brave and happy youth!

The blessing of the Creator of the world be upon thee;

On him who is the father of a son like thee!

May destiny ever favor thy wishes!

May the vault of heaven be the ground thou walkest on!

The dark night is turned into day by thy countenance;

The world is soul-enlivened by the fragrance of thy presence!
Thou hast travelled hither on foot from thy palace;

Thou hast pained, to behold me, thy royal footsteps!"

When the hero heard the voice from the battlement,

He looked up and beheld a face resplendent as the sun,

Irradiating the terrace like a flashing jewel,

And brightening the ground like a flaming ruby.

Then he replied: "O thou who sheddest the mild radiance of the moon,

The blessing of Heaven, and mine, be upon thee!

How many nights hath cold Arcturus beholden me,

Uttering my cry to God, the Pure,

And beseeching the Lord of the universe,

That he would vouchsafe to unveil thy countenance before me !

Now I am made joyful in hearing thy voice,

In listening to thy rich and gracious accents.

But seek, I pray thee, some way to thy presence;

For what converse can we hold, I on the ground, and thou on the terrace?"

The Peri-faced maiden heard the words of the hero;

Quickly she unbound her auburn locks,

Coil upon coil, and serpent upon serpent;

And she stooped and dropped down the tresses from the battlement,

And cried: "O hero, child of heroes,

Take now these tresses, they belong to thee,

And I have cherished them that they might prove an aid to my beloved."

And Zal gazed upward at the lovely maiden,

And stood amazed at the beauty of her hair and of her countenance;

He covered the musky ringlets with his kisses,

And his bride heard the kisses from above.

Then he exclaimed: "That would not be right

May the bright sun never shine on such a day!

It were to lay my hand on the life of one already distracted;

It were to plunge the arrow-point into my own wounded bosom."
Then he took his noose from his boy, and made a running knot,
And threw it, and caught it on the battlement,

And held his breath, and at one bound

Sprang from the ground, and reached the summit.

As soon as the hero stood upon the terrace,
The Peri-faced maiden ran to greet him,

And took the hand of the hero in her own,

And they went like those who are overcome with wine.

Then he descended from the lofty gallery,

His hand in the hand of the tall princess,

And came to the door of the gold-painted pavilion,

And entered that royal assembly,

Which blazed with light like the bowers of Paradise;

And the slaves stood like houris before them:

And Zal gazed in astonishment

On her face, and her hair, and her stately form, and on all that splendor.

And Zal was seated in royal pomp

Opposite that mildly-radiant beauty;

And Rudabeh could not rest from looking towards him,

And gazing upon him with all her eyes;

On that arm, and shoulder, and that splendid figure,

On the brightness of that soul-enlightening countenance;
So that the more and more she looked

The more and more was her heart inflamed.

Then he kissed and embraced her, renewing his vows

Can the lion help pursuing the wild ass?

And said: "O sweet and graceful silver-bosomed maiden,
It may not be, that, both of noble lineage,

We should do aught unbecoming our birth;

For from Saum Nariman I received an admonition,

To do no unworthy deed, lest evil should come of it;

For better is the seemly than the unseemly,

That which is lawful than that which is forbidden.

And I fear that Manuchahar, when he shall hear of this affair,

Will not be inclined to give it his approval;

I fear, too, that Saum will exclaim against it,

And will boil over with passion, and lay his hand upon me.

Yet, though soul and body are precious to all men,
Life will I resign, and clothe myself with a shroud
And this I swear by the righteous God -

Ere I will break the faith which I have pledged thee.
I will bow myself before Him, and offer my adoration,
And supplicate Him as those who worship Him in truth,
That He will cleanse the heart of Saum, king of the earth,

From opposition, and rage, and rancor.

Perhaps the Creator of the world may listen to my prayer,

And thou mayest yet be publicly proclaimed my wife."

And Rudabeh said: "And I also, in the presence of the righteous God,

Take the same pledge, and swear to thee my faith;

And He who created the world be witness to my words,

That no one but the hero of the world,

The throned, the crowned, the far-famed Zal,

Will I ever permit to be sovereign over me."

So their love every moment became greater;
Prudence was afar, and passion was predominant,
Till the gray dawn began to show itself,

And the drum to be heard from the royal pavilion.
Then Zal bade adieu to the fair one;

His soul was darkened, and his bosom on fire,
And the eyes of both were filled with tears;
And they lifted up their voices against the sun:
"O glory of the universe, why come so quick?
Couldst thou not wait one little moment?"

Then Zal cast his noose on a pinnacle,

And descended from those happy battlements,
As the sun was rising redly above the mountains,

And the bands of warriors were gathering in their ranks.

Robinson's Translation.