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Garsivaz Whispers Slander to Afrasiab

Garsivaz Whispers Slander to Afrasiab

From B9.47, Garsivaz Returns and Slanders Siavash. It illustrates B9.47.5–15:

  • B9.47.5
    At sunset bitterness began to rise,And dark revenge took form before his eyes.
  • B9.47.6
    All night he writhed, a serpent on the ground,And sleep nowhere within his eyes was found.
  • B9.47.7
    At dawn he rose, and to the Shah he drew,His bitter purpose hidden still from view.
  • B9.47.8
    They sat apart where none could hear them speak,And Garsivaz began his counsel bleak:
  • B9.47.9
    “Siavash, king, has changed in every way;A secret envoy from Kavus came to stay.
  • B9.47.10
    From Rum and Chin, too, messages arrive,At wine he keeps Kavus’s name alive.
  • B9.47.11
    Moreover, troops have gathered in his train,Enough to fill a sovereign’s heart with pain.
  • B9.47.12
    Had Tur not struck at Iraj long ago,Their father’s house would bear no lasting woe.
  • B9.47.13
    But now our hearts, like fire and water, divide,And ancient hatreds cannot be denied.
  • B9.47.14
    You seek to bind them, but you only strain,As though the wind itself you could contain.
  • B9.47.15
    Had I concealed this danger from your eyes,All men would brand my name with shame and lies.”

In the picture

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