The gor is the onager, or wild ass of the East, and in its native wilds is a very dangerous foe to encounter. Its flesh is often used for food when the hunter is driven to extremity. Footnote 254: It was evidently the custom, even among the Greeks also, to harangue their horses, for Homer repeatedly puts these speeches into the mouths of his heroes. Hector addresses his horses in the Eighth Book: “Be fleet, be fearless, this important day. And all your master’s well-spent care repay. Now swift pursue, now thunder uncontroll’d, Give me to seize rich Nestor’s shield of gold.” And in the Nineteenth Book, Achilles reproaches his horses with the death of Patrocles, when “The generous Xanthus as the words he said Seemed sensible of woe and drooped his head; Trembling he stood before the golden wain, And bowed to dust the honors of his mane,” before he makes a spirited reply foretelling his master’s death. Footnote 255: This “tiger skin” is supposed to be a magic garment which had the power of resisting the impression of every weapon. It was proof against fire, and would not sink in water. According to some classic authorities, he received it from his father, Zal; others say it was made from the skin of an animal which Rustem killed on the mountain of Sham. It will be remembered that the heroes of ancient poets frequently wore the skins of animals. Hercules wore the skin of the Nemæan lion. The skins of panthers and leopards were worn by the Greek and Trojan chiefs, and Virgil says of Alcestes: “Rough in appearance, with darts, and a Libyan bearskin around him, Whom once a Trojan mother had borne to the river Cremisus.” (_Æn., Book V, 36._) Footnote 256: Compare Shakespeare— “Here in her hairs The painter plays the spider—and hath woven A golden mesh to entrap the hearts of men Faster than gnats in cobwebs: but her eyes.” —_Merchant of Venice, iii, 2._ Footnote 257: In Virgil there is a similar scene, where Dido bids her sister erect a pile to burn the arms and the presents of Æneas. CHAPTER XIII. ISFENDIYĀR. THE HEFT-KHĀN OF ISFENDIYĀR—THE BRAZEN FORTRESS—THE CONFLICT WITH RUSTEM—THE FALL OF THE WARRIORS. “Rustem had seven great labors—wondrous power Nerved his strong arm in danger’s needful hour. And now Firdusī’s legend strains declare The seven great labors of Isfendiyār.”