lour,
Tore up the name-roll of the fiend Zohak,
And gave the Persians freedom from the fangs
Of the devouring serpents. He it was,
Who raised the banner, and proclaimed aloud,
Freedom for Persia! Need I blush for him?
To him the empire owes its greatest blessing,
The prosperous rule of virtuous Feridun."
Tus wrathfully rejoined: "Old man! thy arrow
May pierce an anvil--mine can pierce the heart
Of the Kaf mountain! If thy mace can break
A rock asunder--mine can strike the sun!"

The anger of the two heroes beginning to exceed all proper bounds, Kaus
commanded silence; when Gudarz came forward, and asked permission to say
one word more: "Call Khosrau and Friburz before thee, and decide
impartially between them which is the most worthy of sovereignty--let
the wisest and the bravest only be thy successor to the throne of
Persia." Kaus replied:

"The father has no choice among his children,
He loves them all alike--his only care
Is to prevent disunion; to preserve
Brotherly kindness and respect among them."

After a pause, he requested the attendance of Friburz and Khosrau, and
told them that there was a demon-fortress in the vicinity of his
dominions called Bahmen, from which fire was continually issuing. "Go,
each of you," said he, "against this fortress, supported by an army with
which you shall each be equally provided, and the conqueror shall be the
sovereign of Persia." Friburz was not sorry to hear of this probationary
scheme, and only solicited to be sent first on the expedition. He and
Tus looked upon the task as perfectly easy, and promised to be back
triumphant in a short time.

But when the army reached that awful fort,
The ground seemed all in flames on every side;
One universal fire raged round and round,
And the hot wind was like the scorching breath
Which issues from red furnaces, where spirits
Infernal dwell. Full many a warrior brave,
And many a soldier perished in that heat,
Consumed to ashes. Nearer to the fort
Advancing, they beheld it in mid-air,
But not a living thing--nor gate, nor door;
Yet they remained one week, hoping to find
Some hidden inlet, suffering cruel loss
Hour after hour--but none could they descry.
At length, despairing, they returned, worn out,
Scorched, and half-dead with watching, care, and toil.
And thus Friburz and Tus, discomfited
And sad, appeared before the Persian king.

Then was it Khosrau's tur