Zal and Rudabeh · A8.15

Mehrab Storms before Sindokht

Sindokht converts a threat of domestic killing into authority to negotiate abroad. Before leaving, she secures the daughter’s safety from the father who threatens her.

F&R English · 39 couplets · 6 commentary entries

Parallel text ↓Commentary ↓

The chapter in five texts

Text	Chapter treatment and distinctive choices
F&R English	Thirty-nine couplets preserve Sindokht’s proposal, delegated authority and protective oath, while materially reshaping the gift inventory.
Moscow	Pp 207–210 carry the threat, counsel and gift preparation with numerous bracketed lines.
Mohl	Pp 158–160 support the embassy and oath but give thirty thousand coins, thirty horses, gold harness and mules.
Ganjoor	Sh16 also has 39 couplets. Equal totals conceal omitted inventory items, expanded dialogue and altered numbers.
Khaleghi	The threat and preparation are consulted within pp 236–239, with the full apparatus treated as evidence rather than a second running narrative.

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.

1–6+

When rumor spread through Kabul’s guarded gate,

Mehrab burned hot with fury at their fate.

He summoned Sindokht; all the wrath that stirred

Against her child he poured on her in word:

“The only course, since I must bow to might,

Is to cleanse this stain in the Shah’s sight.

I seize you and your child in your disgrace,

And strike you down to wipe out this foul trace.

So may the Shah be softened, earth find peace,

And from this terror Kabul gain release.

Who here would dare stand firm before brave Sahm,

Or meet his heavy gorz and still be calm?”

چو در کابل این داستان فاش گشت

سر مرزبان پر ز پرخاش گشت

برآشفت و سیندخت را پیش خواند

همه خشم رودابه بر وی براند

بدو گفت کاکنون جزین رای نیست

که با شاه گیتی مرا پای نیست

که آرمت با دخت ناپاک تن

کشم زارتان بر سر انجمن

مگر شاه ایران ازین خشم و کین

برآساید و رام گردد زمین

به کابل که با سام یارد چخید

ازان زخم گرزش که یارد چشید

Ganjoor · m16:1-6

7–14+

Sindokht sank down, yet reason held her mind;

She weighed the storm, a path through it to find.

Deep-sighted, skilled in counsel under strain,

She sought a road through danger, death, and pain.

She rose, hands gathered close, and crossed the room,

Before the sun-bright king amid his gloom:

“Hear but one word, then do as you may choose;

Grant me that much; there is no time to lose.

If wealth exists to ransom life, then spend;

No treasure matters if our lives must end.

Know well that this dark night is pregnant now;

Give time for what it carries to avow.

However long the night, its dark must cease;

The day will break like spring and bring release.

The world may shine, its darkness overrun,

Like Badakhshan’s bright jewel beneath the sun.”

چو بشنید سیندخت بنشست پست

دل چاره‌جوی اندر اندیشه بست

یکی چاره آورد از دل به جای

که بد ژرف بین و فزاینده رای

وزان پس دوان دست کرده به کش

بیامد بر شاه خورشید فش

بدو گفت بشنو ز من یک سخن

چو دیگر یکی کامت آید بکن

ترا خواسته گر ز بهر تنست

ببخش و بدان کین شب آبستنست

اگر چند باشد شب دیریاز

برو تیرگی هم نماند دراز

شود روز چون چشمه روشن شود

جهان چون نگین بدخشان شود

Ganjoor · m16:7-13

15–23+

Then Mehrab cried: “Tell no old tales today

Among the warriors; speak what you can say.

Find means to save your life while life remains,

Or wear the blood-red shroud that death ordains!”

She answered, “Let no blood be spilled; forbear;

Give me the road; a path I will prepare.

I go to Sahm; my tongue shall leave its sheath,

A sword of speech to meet the danger beneath.

For wisdom cooks raw speech till it is fit;

Through counsel, words gain force and measured wit.

My task is life. Your part is wealth to give;

Provide the means, and we may yet all live.”

He gave the treasury key into her hand:

“Do not grieve over wealth at my command.

Take servants, horses, treasure, crown, and throne;

Prepare whatever riches we have known.

Perhaps then Kabul will escape the blaze;

Its withered gardens bloom in better days.”

بدو گفت مهراب کز باستان

مزن در میان یلان داستان

بگو آنچه دانی و جان را بکوش

وگر چادر خون به تن بر بپوش

بدو گفت سیندخت کای سرفراز

بود کت به خونم نیاید نیاز

مرا رفت باید به نزدیک سام

زبان برگشایم چو تیغ از نیام

بگویم بدو آنچه گفتن سزد

خرد خام گفتارها را پزد

ز من رنج جان و ز تو خواسته

سپردن به من گنج آراسته

بدو گفت مهراب بستان کلید

غم گنج هرگز نباید کشید

پرستنده و اسپ و تخت و کلاه

بیارای و با خویشتن بر به راه

مگر شهر کابل نسوزد به ما

چو پژمرده شد برفروزد به ما

Ganjoor · m16:14-22

24–28+

Sindokht replied: “If life be what you seek,

Then treasure counts for nothing, hear me speak:

While I avert the storm now rising near,

Swear that no harm shall touch our daughter dear.

For her I strive; I do not fear my end;

Her life alone is what I would defend.”

She first exacted from him covenant strong,

That Rudabeh should suffer neither hurt nor wrong.

Then robed herself in brocade, pearls, and gold,

With precious rubies brilliant to behold.

چنین گفت سیندخت کای نامدار

به جای روان خواسته خواردار

نباید که چون من شوم چاره‌جوی

تو رودابه را سختی آری به روی

مرا در جهان انده جان اوست

کنون با توم روز پیمان اوست

ندارم همی انده خویشتن

ازویست این درد و اندوه من

یکی سخت پیمان ستد زو نخست

پس آنگه به مردی ره چاره جست

بیاراست تن را به دیبا و زر

به در و به یاقوت پرمایه سر

Ganjoor · m16:23-28

—

Source-only passage; no separate English couplet.

چهل جامه دیبای پیکر به زر

طرازش همه گونه گونه گهر

به زرین و سیمین دوصد تیغ هند

جزان سی به زهراب داده پرند

Ganjoor m16:33–34 · brocades and swords omitted from the English inventory

29–33+

From Mehrab’s hoard she drew a lavish store,

Three hundred thousand golden coins she bore.

Sixty Tazi and Persian steeds were led,

With silver harness gleaming at each head.

Sixty fair servants, golden torques they wore,

Came ranked and ordered from the palace door.

Each bore a golden cup before the sun,

With musk and camphor heaped in every one,

With rubies, gold, and turquoise richly set,

And other gems no eye could soon forget.

پس از گنج زرش ز بهر نثار

برون کرد دینار چون سی‌هزار

به زرین ستام آوریدند سی

از اسپان تازی و از پارسی

ابا طوق زرین پرستنده شست

یکی جام زر هر یکی را به دست

پر از مشک و کافور و یاقوت و زر

ز پیروزهٔ چند چندی گهر

Ganjoor · m16:29-32

34–39+

A hundred red-haired female camels came,

Bent under burdens worthy of their fame.

A hundred more strong camels bore the load,

With costly fabrics for the onward road.

A crown befitting kings, with jewels ablaze,

With armlets, torques, and earrings fit for praise;

A golden throne like heaven’s vaulted height,

Inlaid with gems that scattered living light,

Its breadth was twenty royal cubits wide;

Its height rose like a mounted chief in pride.

Four elephants at last of Indian breed,

Bore silks and carpets for the royal need.

صد اشتر همه مادهٔ سرخ موی

صد استر همه بارکش راه جوی

یکی تاج پرگوهر شاهوار

ابا طوق و با یاره و گوشوار

بسان سپهری یکی تخت زر

برو ساخته چند گونه گهر

برش خسروی بیست پهنای او

چو سیصد فزون بود بالای او

وزان ژنده‌پیلان هندی چهار

همه جامه و فرش کردند بار

Ganjoor · m16:35-39

Narrative and poetic form

The English’s political action is clear and source-based. Its inventory needs a precise record of differences: literary magnificence is preserved, while exact counts, metal and animal categories do not all match.

Couplet commentary

Quoted text · evidence · interpretation

1–6A ruler proposes killing those closest to him

1–6

When rumor spread through Kabul’s guarded gate,

Mehrab burned hot with fury at their fate.

He summoned Sindokht; all the wrath that stirred

Against her child he poured on her in word:

“The only course, since I must bow to might,

Is to cleanse this stain in the Shah’s sight.

I seize you and your child in your disgrace,

And strike you down to wipe out this foul trace.

So may the Shah be softened, earth find peace,

And from this terror Kabul gain release.

Who here would dare stand firm before brave Sahm,

Or meet his heavy gorz and still be calm?”

چو در کابل این داستان فاش گشت

سر مرزبان پر ز پرخاش گشت

برآشفت و سیندخت را پیش خواند

همه خشم رودابه بر وی براند

بدو گفت کاکنون جزین رای نیست

که با شاه گیتی مرا پای نیست

که آرمت با دخت ناپاک تن

کشم زارتان بر سر انجمن

مگر شاه ایران ازین خشم و کین

برآساید و رام گردد زمین

به کابل که با سام یارد چخید

ازان زخم گرزش که یارد چشید

Ganjoor · m16:1-6

Textual evidence

Mehrab sees no military answer to Sahm and threatens to kill wife and daughter publicly to appease the Shah.

G m16 1 ↗ G m16 2 ↗ G m16 3 ↗ G m16 4 ↗ G m16 5 ↗ G m16 6 ↗ Moscow p 207 ↗ Moscow p 208 ↗ Moscow p 209 ↗ Moscow p 210 ↗ Mohl p 158 ↗ Mohl p 159 ↗ Mohl p 160 ↗ Khaleghi p 236 ↗ Khaleghi p 237 ↗ Khaleghi p 238 ↗ Khaleghi p 239 ↗

Interpretation

The English preserves the dreadful proposed exchange. This is a desperate calculation of power, not proof that either woman actually bears the guilt of a crime.

Return to parallel text

7–14Reason imagines a future beyond the crisis

7–14

Sindokht sank down, yet reason held her mind;

She weighed the storm, a path through it to find.

Deep-sighted, skilled in counsel under strain,

She sought a road through danger, death, and pain.

She rose, hands gathered close, and crossed the room,

Before the sun-bright king amid his gloom:

“Hear but one word, then do as you may choose;

Grant me that much; there is no time to lose.

If wealth exists to ransom life, then spend;

No treasure matters if our lives must end.

Know well that this dark night is pregnant now;

Give time for what it carries to avow.

However long the night, its dark must cease;

The day will break like spring and bring release.

The world may shine, its darkness overrun,

Like Badakhshan’s bright jewel beneath the sun.”

چو بشنید سیندخت بنشست پست

دل چاره‌جوی اندر اندیشه بست

یکی چاره آورد از دل به جای

که بد ژرف بین و فزاینده رای

وزان پس دوان دست کرده به کش

بیامد بر شاه خورشید فش

بدو گفت بشنو ز من یک سخن

چو دیگر یکی کامت آید بکن

ترا خواسته گر ز بهر تنست

ببخش و بدان کین شب آبستنست

اگر چند باشد شب دیریاز

برو تیرگی هم نماند دراز

شود روز چون چشمه روشن شود

جهان چون نگین بدخشان شود

Ganjoor · m16:7-13

Textual evidence

Sindokht gathers herself, asks for a hearing and says wealth should serve life. The pregnant night and coming jewel-bright day are in the Persian.

G m16 10 ↗ G m16 11 ↗ G m16 12 ↗ G m16 13 ↗ G m16 7 ↗ G m16 8 ↗ G m16 9 ↗ Moscow p 207 ↗ Moscow p 208 ↗ Moscow p 209 ↗ Moscow p 210 ↗ Mohl p 158 ↗ Mohl p 159 ↗ Mohl p 160 ↗ Khaleghi p 236 ↗ Khaleghi p 237 ↗ Khaleghi p 238 ↗ Khaleghi p 239 ↗

Interpretation

The imagery makes delay active rather than cowardly. The English’s measured enlargement gives her argument time to replace the father’s immediately lethal solution.

Return to parallel text

15–23Speech is her weapon; the treasury is her means

15–23

Then Mehrab cried: “Tell no old tales today

Among the warriors; speak what you can say.

Find means to save your life while life remains,

Or wear the blood-red shroud that death ordains!”

She answered, “Let no blood be spilled; forbear;

Give me the road; a path I will prepare.

I go to Sahm; my tongue shall leave its sheath,

A sword of speech to meet the danger beneath.

For wisdom cooks raw speech till it is fit;

Through counsel, words gain force and measured wit.

My task is life. Your part is wealth to give;

Provide the means, and we may yet all live.”

He gave the treasury key into her hand:

“Do not grieve over wealth at my command.

Take servants, horses, treasure, crown, and throne;

Prepare whatever riches we have known.

Perhaps then Kabul will escape the blaze;

Its withered gardens bloom in better days.”

بدو گفت مهراب کز باستان

مزن در میان یلان داستان

بگو آنچه دانی و جان را بکوش

وگر چادر خون به تن بر بپوش

بدو گفت سیندخت کای سرفراز

بود کت به خونم نیاید نیاز

مرا رفت باید به نزدیک سام

زبان برگشایم چو تیغ از نیام

بگویم بدو آنچه گفتن سزد

خرد خام گفتارها را پزد

ز من رنج جان و ز تو خواسته

سپردن به من گنج آراسته

بدو گفت مهراب بستان کلید

غم گنج هرگز نباید کشید

پرستنده و اسپ و تخت و کلاه

بیارای و با خویشتن بر به راه

مگر شهر کابل نسوزد به ما

چو پژمرده شد برفروزد به ما

Ganjoor · m16:14-22

Textual evidence

She offers to go to Sahm, unsheathe her tongue and cook raw speech through wisdom. Mehrab gives the key and authority over gifts.

Interpretation

The English’s “My task is life” condenses a statement that she risks the person while he supplies wealth. Her authority is operational and explicit: this is not an embassy she conducts by secretly stealing the treasury.

Return to parallel text

24–28Another oath protects Rudabeh

24–28

Sindokht replied: “If life be what you seek,

Then treasure counts for nothing, hear me speak:

While I avert the storm now rising near,

Swear that no harm shall touch our daughter dear.

For her I strive; I do not fear my end;

Her life alone is what I would defend.”

She first exacted from him covenant strong,

That Rudabeh should suffer neither hurt nor wrong.

Then robed herself in brocade, pearls, and gold,

With precious rubies brilliant to behold.

چنین گفت سیندخت کای نامدار

به جای روان خواسته خواردار

نباید که چون من شوم چاره‌جوی

تو رودابه را سختی آری به روی

مرا در جهان انده جان اوست

کنون با توم روز پیمان اوست

ندارم همی انده خویشتن

ازویست این درد و اندوه من

یکی سخت پیمان ستد زو نخست

پس آنگه به مردی ره چاره جست

بیاراست تن را به دیبا و زر

به در و به یاقوت پرمایه سر

Ganjoor · m16:23-28

Textual evidence

Sindokht distinguishes her daughter’s safety from her own, extracts a promise and dresses in brocade and jewels.

G m16 23 ↗ G m16 24 ↗ G m16 25 ↗ G m16 26 ↗ G m16 27 ↗ G m16 28 ↗ Moscow p 207 ↗ Moscow p 208 ↗ Moscow p 209 ↗ Moscow p 210 ↗ Mohl p 158 ↗ Mohl p 159 ↗ Mohl p 160 ↗ Khaleghi p 236 ↗ Khaleghi p 237 ↗ Khaleghi p 238 ↗ Khaleghi p 239 ↗

Interpretation

The English rightly makes the covenant precede departure. The later battlefield imagery of her embassy should not obscure this first protective achievement inside the household.

Return to parallel text

29–33The gift numbers differ materiallyInventory differences

—

Source-only passage; no separate English couplet.

چهل جامه دیبای پیکر به زر

طرازش همه گونه گونه گهر

به زرین و سیمین دوصد تیغ هند

جزان سی به زهراب داده پرند

Ganjoor m16:33–34 · brocades and swords omitted from the English inventory

29–33

From Mehrab’s hoard she drew a lavish store,

Three hundred thousand golden coins she bore.

Sixty Tazi and Persian steeds were led,

With silver harness gleaming at each head.

Sixty fair servants, golden torques they wore,

Came ranked and ordered from the palace door.

Each bore a golden cup before the sun,

With musk and camphor heaped in every one,

With rubies, gold, and turquoise richly set,

And other gems no eye could soon forget.

پس از گنج زرش ز بهر نثار

برون کرد دینار چون سی‌هزار

به زرین ستام آوریدند سی

از اسپان تازی و از پارسی

ابا طوق زرین پرستنده شست

یکی جام زر هر یکی را به دست

پر از مشک و کافور و یاقوت و زر

ز پیروزهٔ چند چندی گهر

Ganjoor · m16:29-32

Textual evidence

Ganjoor and Mohl p 159 give thirty thousand dinars, thirty horses and golden harness; English gives three hundred thousand coins, sixty horses and silver harness. Both give sixty attendants with cups. The separate forty brocades and sword inventory in Ganjoor 33–34 is displayed as source-only.

G m16 29 ↗ G m16 30 ↗ G m16 31 ↗ G m16 32 ↗ G m16 33 ↗ G m16 34 ↗ Moscow p 207 ↗ Moscow p 208 ↗ Moscow p 209 ↗ Moscow p 210 ↗ Mohl p 158 ↗ Mohl p 159 ↗ Mohl p 160 ↗ Khaleghi p 236 ↗ Khaleghi p 237 ↗ Khaleghi p 238 ↗ Khaleghi p 239 ↗

Interpretation

These are concrete local differences, not changes of meter alone. The English preserves the scale and purpose of the embassy’s resources, but the larger numbers and changed metal should not be asserted as agreement among the inspected texts.

Return to parallel text

34–39Camels, mules and the enormous throneAnimal category and measurement

34–39

A hundred red-haired female camels came,

Bent under burdens worthy of their fame.

A hundred more strong camels bore the load,

With costly fabrics for the onward road.

A crown befitting kings, with jewels ablaze,

With armlets, torques, and earrings fit for praise;

A golden throne like heaven’s vaulted height,

Inlaid with gems that scattered living light,

Its breadth was twenty royal cubits wide;

Its height rose like a mounted chief in pride.

Four elephants at last of Indian breed,

Bore silks and carpets for the royal need.

صد اشتر همه مادهٔ سرخ موی

صد استر همه بارکش راه جوی

یکی تاج پرگوهر شاهوار

ابا طوق و با یاره و گوشوار

بسان سپهری یکی تخت زر

برو ساخته چند گونه گهر

برش خسروی بیست پهنای او

چو سیصد فزون بود بالای او

وزان ژنده‌پیلان هندی چهار

همه جامه و فرش کردند بار

Ganjoor · m16:35-39

Textual evidence

Ganjoor and Mohl p 159 list one hundred female camels followed by one hundred mules; English 35 makes the second group camels. The throne has a twenty-unit royal breadth in the reference, with an extraordinary height phrase that the English replaces by a mounted-chief comparison.

G m16 35 ↗ G m16 36 ↗ G m16 37 ↗ G m16 38 ↗ G m16 39 ↗ Moscow p 207 ↗ Moscow p 208 ↗ Moscow p 209 ↗ Moscow p 210 ↗ Mohl p 158 ↗ Mohl p 159 ↗ Mohl p 160 ↗ Khaleghi p 236 ↗ Khaleghi p 237 ↗ Khaleghi p 238 ↗ Khaleghi p 239 ↗

Interpretation

The English keeps the procession’s abundance while smoothing a difficult dimension and changing an animal category. A note should preserve those facts rather than inventing a practical architectural reconstruction for the throne.

Return to parallel text

Chapter source record

English original ↗ Ganjoor m16 ↗ Moscow p 207 ↗ Moscow p 208 ↗ Moscow p 209 ↗ Moscow p 210 ↗ Mohl p 158 ↗ Mohl p 159 ↗ Mohl p 160 ↗ Khaleghi p 236 ↗ Khaleghi p 237 ↗ Khaleghi p 238 ↗ Khaleghi p 239 ↗