
Rudabeh Stands Before Her Father
From A8.10, Mehrab Is Not Pleased. It illustrates A8.10.65–74:
- A8.10.65She went before her father, bright and fair,Adorned in gold with jewels in her hair.
- A8.10.66Like rising sun she stood before his eyes;He gazed in silence, struck with mute surprise.
- A8.10.67She seemed a paradise in human guise,A springtime sun beneath the open skies.
- A8.10.68He called upon the World-Creator’s name,Astonished by the radiance that came.
- A8.10.69He said, “O foolish child, can you not knowWhat doom the heavens on such folly throw?
- A8.10.70How could a pari join Ahriman’s breed?May crown and ring be lost for such a deed.
- A8.10.71If Qahtan’s snake-charmer took the Magus way,An arrow would be fit reward that day.”
- A8.10.72At this her heart grew heavy, full of dread;The living color from her cheeks had fled.
- A8.10.73She lowered black lashes over eyes of light,And held her breath, nor answered in his sight.
- A8.10.74He roared in fury like a leopard pressed,His wrath still beating hard within his breast.
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