New Naqqaliشاهنامه
The Damsel Softens the Hide with Milk
Book D8 · The Shapur Zul-Aktaf Cycle and Later Early Sasanian Reigns

The Damsel Softens the Hide with Milk

From D8.1.5, Shapur Is Freed by a Clever Damsel. It illustrates D8.1.5.24–28:

  • D8.1.5.24
    The damsel strove to gather up the milk,And moved in secret, watchful, soft as silk.
  • D8.1.5.25
    She took a bowl of milk and brought it nearThe fire, to warm it for the captive here.
  • D8.1.5.26
    Then bore it to Shapur unseen by all,And told no other person, great or small.
  • D8.1.5.27
    For fourteen days she softened all the hide,Until it yielded, pliant on each side.
  • D8.1.5.28
    He left the hide, his body stained with blood,His heart still aching beneath sorrow’s flood.

In the picture

DilafruzShapur Zul-Aktaf
Read it in the poemIn the Illustrated PoemAll panels of Book D8
Previous · D8.1.4Shapur Sewn into the Ass's HideNext · D8.1.5Shapur Hurls Down Caesar's Guard

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