From thence proceeding onward, he approached A region destitute of light, a void Of utter darkness. Neither moon nor star Peep'd through the gloom; no choice of path remained, And therefore, throwing loose the rein, he gave Rakush the power to travel on, unguided. At length the darkness was dispersed, the earth Became a scene, joyous and light, and gay, Covered with waving corn--there Rustem paused And quitting his good steed among the grass, Laid himself gently down, and, wearied, slept; His shield beneath his head, his sword before him.
When the keeper of the forest saw the stranger and his horse, he went to Rustem, then asleep, and struck his staff violently on the ground, and having thus awakened the hero, he asked him, devil that he was, why he had allowed his horse to feed upon the green corn-field. Angry at these words, Rustem, without uttering a syllable, seized hold of the keeper by the ears, and wrung them off. The mutilated wretch, gathering up his severed ears, hurried away, covered with blood, to his master, Aúlád, and told him of the injury he had sustained from a man like a black demon, with a tiger-skin cuirass and an iron helmet; showing at the same time the bleeding witnesses of his sufferings. Upon being informed of this outrageous proceeding, Aúlád, burning with wrath, summoned together his fighting men, and hastened by the directions of the keeper to the place where Rustem had been found asleep. The champion received the angry lord of the land, fully prepared, on horseback, and heard him demand his name, that he might not slay a worthless antagonist, and why he had torn off the ears of his forest-keeper! Rustem replied that the very sound of his name would make him shudder with horror. Aúlád then ordered his troops to attack Rustem, and they rushed upon him with great fury; but their leader was presently killed by the master-hand, and great numbers were also scattered lifeless over the plain. The survivors running away, Rustem's next object was to follow and secure, by his kamund, the person of Aúlád, and with admirable address and ingenuity, he succeeded in dismounting him and taking him alive. He then bound his hands, and said to him:--
"If thou wilt speak the truth unmixed with lies, Unmixed with false prevaricating words, And faithfully point out to me the caves Of the White Demon and his warrior chiefs-- And where Káús is prisoned--thy reward Shall be the kingdom of Mázinderán; For I, myself, will place thee on that throne. But if thou play'st me false--thy worthless blood Shall answer for the foul deception."
