New NaqqaliSiamak and the Black Div
Twenty-two couplets move from vulnerable combat to communal mourning and a divinely authorized response.
The chapter in five texts
| Text | Chapter treatment and distinctive choices |
|---|---|
| F&R English | Twenty-two couplets move from vulnerable combat to communal mourning and a divinely authorized response. |
| Moscow | Main-text brackets and apparatus distinguish transmitted details; waist/loins is the main wound location. |
| Mohl | Liver-region and wine-colored cheeks support two conspicuous English details that differ from Ganjoor. |
| Ganjoor | Qmars sh1, 30–51 supplies this chapter. Its division does not coincide with the English chapter break. |
| Khaleghi | The death and mourning are retained. The year’s mourning and Soroush’s message preserve the movement from grief toward action. |
Parallel text
English left · Persian right. Ganjoor is the reference except where a row names a printed source. Select a number to open the relevant note. G identifiers distinguish digital sections across chapter boundaries.
Narrative and poetic form
Twenty-two couplets move from vulnerable combat to communal mourning and a divinely authorized response.
The English’s most distinctive sensory details have useful print support. Mourning retains a specifically Persian color and bodily intensity, while the message’s divine authority turns grief into a task.
Couplet commentary
Quoted text · evidence · interpretation1–4Siamak’s anger and unarmored combat
Ganjoor qmars 30–34; Moscow I p 30; Mohl I p 16; Khaleghi I p 23. The opposing forces’ encounter in Persian 33 is absorbed into English 4.
The prince’s response is provoked by the Div’s hostility. In English 1, “him” and the subsequent wrath should be heard as Siamak’s response, carrying the named prince from the preceding chapter into action. The source names him explicitly.
The lack of jowshan explains the leopard skin, while “bare-bodied” describes exposure rather than requiring complete nudity after the clothing has been named. The English retains the contrast between a vulnerable prince and a creature able to fight with claws.
5–7The fatal wound has a variant
Ganjoor qmars 35–37 and Moscow I p 30 have a torn kamar-gah, waist or loins. Mohl I p 16 prints jigar-gah, the liver region. Khaleghi I p 23 main text also has kamar-gah.
“Liver-place” has direct support in Mohl’s wording. It should not be treated as an anatomical invention merely because the displayed digital line reads waist. The English preserves the sequence of seizure, bending, casting down and a fatal claw wound.
The source’s leaderless assembly becomes warriors deprived of battle strength. That is a natural contextual explanation of the loss of their khadiv, their ruler or chief; it does not add a second defeat.
8–10Grief overturns kingship
Ganjoor qmars 38–40; Moscow I p 30; Mohl I p 16; Khaleghi I p 23. Descent from the throne, bodily mourning and spring-cloud tears are explicit.
The movement off the throne reverses the earlier enthronement: the ruler who ordered the world is overcome by private loss. The English makes the rage audible while preserving the bodily signs of mourning.
The spring cloud is a close source equivalent and an effective continuation of the earlier spring renewal. Its water now signifies tears. No appeal to a different Persian version is needed to defend this image.
11–15Turquoise mourning and wine-colored cheeks
Ganjoor qmars 41–44; Moscow I pp 30–31; Mohl I pp 16–17; Khaleghi I p 23. Ganjoor and Moscow describe badrang cheeks; Mohl p 17 reads cheeks wine-colored (badeh-rang).
The wine color in English 13 is supported by Mohl and differs from the pallor suggested by the displayed badrang reading. Turquoise mourning garments are also explicit; replacing them with conventional English black would lose a distinctive source detail.
“Throne divine” elevates the royal throne through sacred kingship; the Persian here names the royal doorway or court, not a throne belonging to God. The English intensifies the setting. Animals, birds, dust and communal lament preserve the widening circle of grief.
16–19A divine command carried by Soroush
Ganjoor qmars 45–48; Moscow I p 31; Mohl I p 17; Khaleghi I p 24. The command follows a year of mourning and is introduced as a message from the creator.
The English keeps divine origin and messenger distinct here: Soroush carries a greeting and an imperative that has already been attributed to the Judge and Maker. “At my command” therefore belongs within transmitted divine speech, not an independent claim by Soroush to supreme authority.
The command to empty the earth of the Div is paired with emptying the heart of vengeance. English “of its vengeance let your heart be freed” preserves the second, inward completion. The passage redirects grief toward an action meant to end its consuming force.
20–22Invocation before revenge
Ganjoor qmars 49–51; Moscow I p 31; Mohl I p 17; Khaleghi I p 24. The king looks upward, invokes Yazdan and hastens to avenge Siamak.
The English keeps the invocation before the action, maintaining the religious frame of the expedition. The tears continue even after the command to recover composure; sorrow and resolution coexist.
The source’s eyelash expression concerns clearing or purifying the lashes, conventionally through weeping. Running tears are a defensible visual rendering, while the final sleeplessness retains the urgency of the Persian.