“I am thy servant, and twice sixty years Have seen my prowess. Mounted on my steed, Wielding my battle-ax, o’erthrowing heroes, Who equals Suwār the warrior? I destroyed The mighty monster[247] whose devouring jaws Unpeopled half the land, and spread dismay From town to town. The world was full of horror; No bird was seen in air, no beast of prey In plain or forest: from the stream he drew The crocodile: the eagle from the sky. Armed for the strife, I saw him towering rise Huge as a mountain, with his hideous hair Dragging upon the ground: his long black tongue Shut up the path; his eyes two lakes of blood. Forward I sprang, and in a moment drove A diamond-pointed arrow through his tongue, Fixing him to the ground. Another went Down his deep throat, and dreadfully he writhed And deluged all around with blood and poison. There lay the monster dead, and soon the world Regained its peace and comfort. Now I’m old, The vigor of my youth is past and gone, And it becomes me to resign my station To Zāl, my gallant son.” But while approving cordially of the work already done, he gave the warrior a new commission, which was no less than the destruction of Kabūl by fire and sword, especially the house of Mihrāb, and declared that the ruler of the serpent-race and all of his adherents were to be put to death. In vain the horror-stricken warrior pleaded the cause of mercy, the king’s vindictive intentions were well known, and the greatest consternation reigned at Kabūl, especially in the family of Mihrāb. Mihrāb himself a tyrant, and consequently a coward, could see no way of avoiding the king’s wrath except by putting his wife and daughter to death. At last in his desperation, Suwār sent an earnest letter to the king, and sent it by the hand of Zāl, who thus obtained permission to plead his own cause. The king finally consulted the astrologers, who informed him that the marriage was most propitious, and from it would be born a hero of matchless strength and valor—the champion of Persia. So at last the faithful lover bore back to Rūdabeh the joyous tidings that the greatest obstacle was removed, after which it was an easy matter to pacify Mihrāb, and the approbation of all parties was finally secured. THE MARRIAGE.