When the Persian king Minūchir heard the story, he sent to Suwār a splendid troop of horsemen, led by the heir to the throne, and they conveyed the royal congratulations to the warrior and his son, and escorted them into the royal presence. Here “Zāl humbly kissed the earth before the king, And from the hands of Minūchir received A golden mace and helmet. Then those who knew The stars and planetary signs were told To calculate the stripling’s destiny; And all proclaimed him of exalted fortune, That he would be prodigious in his might, Outshining every warrior of the age.“ The delighted king then presented the boy with Arabian horses and gorgeous armor, with gold and rich garments, and appointed the father to be the ruler of Kabūl, Zabūl, and Ind. Zāl accompanied his father upon the return homeward, and then he was placed under the care of renowned instructors at Zabūlistān. RŪDABEH. While the Persian youth was reaching the age of manhood, in the delightful pursuits of art and science, he was also occasionally intrusted with the care of the province during the father’s absence. Kabūl, one of the provinces which the Persian king had assigned to Suwār, had been ruled over by a chieftain named Mihrāb, who was descended from Zohāk, and this chieftain still retained a subordinate position in the government by paying an annual tribute to Suwār. Mihrāb had a beautiful daughter named Rūdabeh, and although she was kept in the most careful seclusion, still the fame of her great loveliness was spread among the neighboring princes. “If thou wouldst make her charms appear, Think of the sun so bright and clear, And brighter far with softer light, The maiden strikes the dazzled sight. Think of her skin, with what compare? Ivory was never half so fair! Her stature like the sabin tree, Her eyes! so full of witchery, Glow like the Nigris[244] tenderly, Her arching brows their magic fling, Dark as the raven’s glossy wing. Soft o’er her blooming cheek is spread The rich pomegranate’s vivid red; Her musky ringlets unconfined In clustering meshes roll behind. Possessed of every sportive wile, ’Tis heaven, ’tis bliss, to see her smile.” Zāl was not insensible to the charms he had heard so vividly described, but he remembered that Mihrāb was descended from Zohāk, the Serpent King,[245] and he knew that if he made any advances toward the fair daughter of the fatal line he should provoke the rage of his father, and also of the Persian monarch Minūchir.