Then spoke Isfendiyár: "Thou wouldst be generous And bear a spotless name, and tarnish mine; But I am not to be deceived by thee: In fetters thou must go!" Rustem replied: "Banish that idle fancy from thy brain; Dream not of things impossible, for death Is busy with thee; pause, or thou wilt die." "No more!" exclaimed the prince, "no more of this. Nor seek to frighten me with threatening words; Go, and to-morrow bring with thee thy friends, Thy father and thy brother, to behold With their own eyes thy downfall, and lament In sorrow over thy impending fate." "So let it be," said Rustem, and at once Mounted his noble horse, and hastened home. The champion immediately requested his father's permission to go and fight Isfendiyár the following day, but the old man recommended reconciliation and peace. "That cannot be," said Rustem, "for he has reviled thee so severely, and heaped upon me so many indignities, that my patience is exhausted, and the contest unavoidable." In the morning Zál, weeping bitterly, tied on Rustem's armor himself, and in an agony of grief, said: "If thou shouldst kill Isfendiyár, thy name will be rendered infamous throughout the world; and if thou shouldst be killed, Sístán will be prostrate in the dust, and extinguished forever! My heart shudders at the thoughts of this battle, but there is no remedy." Rustem said to him:--"Put thy trust in God, and be not sorrowful, for when I grasp my sword the head of the enemy is lost; but my desire is to take Isfendiyár alive, and not to kill him. I would serve him, and not sever his head from his body." Zál was pleased with this determination, and rejoiced that there was a promise of a happy issue to the engagement.