The father bore the sneers and reproaches of the people for a time, and then resolved to abandon the boy upon the mountain crags to be destroyed by beasts of prey. In vain the faithful mother pleaded to be allowed to retain her babe; in vain she promised to keep him in seclusion so sacred that the sight of him should never again offend the father’s eye; her child was torn from her arms, and carried to a distant mountain in the depths of the night, and there deserted by the cruel and superstitious father.
THE SĪMŪRGH’S NEST.
An inaccessible cliff of the Alborz mountains is said to be the home of the Sīmūrgh,[[242]] a mammoth bird with golden plumage, who carries elephants to her nest for her birdlings to feed upon. Far beyond the reach of man, this wondrous nest is hidden amidst the white cliffs, which are threaded thickly with veins of golden quartz, while around the base of the structure there gleam the stones of fire—the amethyst, the topaz and ruby, and in the rocks not far away the sunset fires have left their glow in the heart of the opal. The bird of golden plumage loves these precious stones, for they flash back the fire of her eye, and seem to warm her heart with their gleaming beauty. The night was dark, for even the stars were hidden behind the floating clouds that told of a coming storm, then
“A voice not earthly thus addressed
The Sīmūrgh in her mountain nest—
To thee this mortal I resign,
Protected by the power divine.
Let him thy fostering kindness share,
Nourish him with maternal care;
For, from his loins in time will spring