In the golden age of Persian chivalry there lived a famous warrior by the name of Sām Suwār. He was the son of the great chieftain Narimān, and he was the commander-in-chief of the Persian armies, and not only a valiant hero upon the battlefield, but more than once he had warred against the allied hosts of demons, and come off victorious. He had conquered the furious monster Soham, which was of the color and nature of fire, and, bringing it beneath the obedient rein, he made it his war horse in all his later battles with the demons. Suwār had an heir born to him, and knowing that a son would inherit his own power and fame, his heart was filled with exultation. But when the child was placed in his arms, this dark-haired Persian warrior was appalled, for the babe, otherwise perfect, had a head of silvery white hair. “His hair was white as a goose’s wing, His cheek was like the rose of spring, His form was straight as a cypress tree, But when the sire was brought to see That child with hair so silvery white, His heart revolted at the sight.”[241] The gentle mother gave the child the name of Zāl, but the superstitious people began to whisper that this white-haired child was an evil omen to the house of Suwār. Surely it could bring only calamity into the family. It must be that in some way the child belonged to the demon race, or, “If not a demon, he, at least, Appears a parti-colored beast.” The father bore the sneers and reproaches of the people for a time, and then resolved to abandon the boy upon the mountain crags to be destroyed by beasts of prey. In vain the faithful mother pleaded to be allowed to retain her babe; in vain she promised to keep him in seclusion so sacred that the sight of him should never again offend the father’s eye; her child was torn from her arms, and carried to a distant mountain in the depths of the night, and there deserted by the cruel and superstitious father. THE SĪMŪRGH’S NEST. An inaccessible cliff of the Alborz mountains is said to be the home of the Sīmūrgh,[242] a mammoth bird with golden plumage, who carries elephants to her nest for her birdlings to feed upon. Far beyond the reach of man, this wondrous nest is hidden amidst the white cliffs, which are threaded thickly with veins of golden quartz, while around the base of the structure there gleam the stones of fire—the amethyst, the topaz and ruby, and in the rocks not far away the sunset fires have left their glow in the heart of the opal. The bird of golden plumage loves these precious stones, for they flash back the fire of her eye, and seem to warm her heart with their gleaming beauty. The night was dark, for even the stars were hidden behind the floating clouds that told of a coming storm, then