“And thus he warbled to the king, Mazinderān is the bower of spring, My native home; the balmy air Diffuses health and fragrance there. So tempered is the genial glow Nor heat, nor cold, we ever know; Tulips and hyacinths abound On every lawn; and all around Blooms like a garden in its prime, Fostered by that delicious clime. The bulbul sits on every spray, And pours his soft melodious lay; Each rural spot its sweets discloses, Each streamlet is the dew of roses. And mark me, that untraveled man Who never saw Mazinderān And all the charms its powers possess, Has never tasted happiness.” No sooner had the king heard the minstrel’s lay concerning the unknown land than he began to foster the desire for conquest, and he declared to his warriors that the glory of his reign should exceed that of his most illustrious predecessors. The warriors, more cautious, protested against their monarch’s insane idea of making war upon the demons, and Zāl was chosen as the most influential of their number to bear their protests to the king. But the conceited king announced that he was superior in might and influence to any of his predecessors—that he had a bolder heart, a larger army, and a fuller treasury than any of them. He haughtily announced that he needed neither Zāl nor Rustem, that they might stay at home and care for the kingdom, while he himself conducted the campaign in person. The keys of the treasury and the jewel chamber were left in the hands of Milād, with instructions to act under the advice of Zāl and Rustem. Then the great army was put in motion, while at its head rode the conceited king, with his magnificent retinue of richly caparisoned horses and camels. When the columns came near to Mazinderān, the king ordered his favorite general, Gīw, to select two thousand of his bravest men, the boldest wielders of the battle-ax, and proceed rapidly toward the city. In accordance with the king’s command, this was a vandal march, marked by fire, sword, and the pitiless murder even of women and children. While the terrible work of slaughter and destruction was going on under the hands of his chosen men, the Persian king was encamped in splendid state on a plain near the city, indulging in the wildest dreams of complete victory, and intending to follow his advance guard with the main body of his army the next day.