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Gorgin Lays the Boar Tusks before Khosrow

Gorgin Lays the Boar Tusks before Khosrow

From C2.12, Giv Brings Gorgin before Khosrow. It illustrates C2.12.25–36 (to C2.12.37):

  • C2.12.25
    Gorgin, his guilty soul consumed by shame,Went in for audience, inwardly aflame.
  • C2.12.26
    He reached Khosrow and kissed the ground below,And offered reverence, bent with secret woe.
  • C2.12.27
    He laid the diamond-hard tusks, one by one,Before the throne when formal rites were done.
  • C2.12.28
    He said: “May Kay Khosrow victorious reign,His life like New Year brighten hill and plain.
  • C2.12.29
    And you, O King, be glad while time shall last,From care and sorrow free, from grieving past.
  • C2.12.30
    May all your foes’ proud heads be cut away,As these wild boars were severed in the fray.”
  • C2.12.31
    The Shah beheld the tusks and asked him then:“How went the journey? Speak before my men.
  • C2.12.32
    Where did Bijan part company with you?What evil did Ahriman put him through?”
  • C2.12.33
    When Khosrow spoke, Gorgin stood ill at ease,And stammered out the words he thought would please.
  • C2.12.34
    His guilty soul was dark; his cheeks were pale,He shook in terror as he shaped his tale.
  • C2.12.35
    He babbled, and his words ran wild and far,Of forest, pasture, boar, and Gur-e-Khar.
  • C2.12.36
    When words no longer matched the words before,Khosrow perceived the malice at his core.

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