s spun.

[54] See Exodus xxviii, for the references in this description.

[55] laver. A brazen vessel in the court or a Jewish
tabernacle, where the priests washed their hands and feet.

[56] Book of Ruth, chapter iv.

[57] rack. vapor.

[58] An English proverb.

[59] Eshcol. When Moses sent spies into the land of Canaan,
"they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence
a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it
between two upon a staff."

[60] See Genesis, xxiv.

SOHRAB AND RUSTUM.

The story of Sohrab and Rustum is based on an episode related in the
Shahnamah, or Book of Kings, by Firdusi, the epic poet of Persia.
The chief hero of the Shahnamah is Rustum, the Hercules of Persian
mythology. Rustum was the son of Zal, a renowned Persian warrior.
When a mere child, he performed many wonderful deeds requiring great
strength and valor. He became the champion of his people, restored
the Persian king to his throne, and defeated Afrasiab, the great
Turanian, or Tartar, leader, who had invaded Persia. During a
hunting expedition in Turan, his renowned horse Ruksh was stolen from
him, and in order to recover it, he was forced to call on the King of
Samangam, a neighbouring city. The king welcomed him, and gave him
his daughter Tahminah, in marriage. Before the birth of his child,
however, Rustum was called back to Persia, but he left with Tahminah
a charm, or amulet, by which he might be able to recognize his
offspring. When Sohrab, the son, was born, the mother, fearing that
Rustum would return and take him away from her to bring him up as a
soldier, sent word that a daughter had been born to him. Rustum,
accordingly, did not return to Samangam, but remained in ignorance of
Sohrab. In the meantime, as Sohrab grew, up he became a great
warrior, and having learned that the renowned Rustum was his father,
he longed to meet him, that he might fight for him and help to make
him king. At length the opportunity came. The army of Afrasiab,
under the command of Peran-Wisa, invaded Persia once more, and Sohrab
accompanied the host. The Persians prepared to meet the invaders,
and the two armies met at the river Oxus, which formed the boundary
between the two kingdoms. It is at this point that the story of
_Sohrab and Rustum_ begins.

[_Sohrab wakes in the early morning, and passes through the sleeping
army to the tent of old Peran-Wisa, his chief.]

And the first grey of