[Footnote 34: Firdusi considers this to be destiny! It would have been natural in Sohráb to have gloried in the fame of his father, but from an inevitable dispensation, his lips are here sealed on that subject; and he inquires of Rustem as if he only wanted to single him out for the purpose of destroying him. The people of Persia are all fatalists.]
[Footnote 35: This passage will remind the classical reader of the speech of Themistocles, in Plutarch, addressed to Xerxes. The Persian King had assured him of his protection, and ordered him to declare freely whatever he had to propose concerning Greece. Themistocles replied, that a man's discourse was like a piece of tapestry which, when spread open, displays its figures; but when it is folded up, they are hidden and lost; therefore he begged time. The King, delighted with the comparison, bade him take what time he pleased; and he desired a year; in which space he learned the Persian language, so as to be able to converse with the King without an interpreter.]
[Footnote 36: Hujír was the son of Gúdarz. A family of the extent mentioned in the text is not of rare occurrence amongst the Princes of the East. The King of Persia had, in 1809, according to Mr. Morier, "sixty-five sons!" As the Persians make no account of females, it is not known how many daughters he had.]
[Footnote 37: The Kulub-gah is the centre or heart of the army, where the Sovereign or Chief of the troops usually remains.]
[Footnote 38: Ahirmun, a demon, the principle of evil.]
[Footnote 39: This girdle was the gift of the king, as a token of affection and gratitude. Jonathan gives to David, among other things, his girdle: "Because he loved him as his own soul."—I Samuel, xviii. 3. 4.]
[Footnote 40: A crocodile in war, with Firdusi, is a figure of great power and strength.]
[Footnote 41: It is difficult to account for this denial of his name, as there appears to be no equivalent cause. But all the famous heroes, described in the Sháh Námeh, are as much distinguished for their address and cunning, as their bravery.]
[Footnote 42: The original is Um[=u]d, which appears to have been a weapon made of iron. Um[=u]d also signifies a column, a beam.]
[Footnote 43: Thus also Sa'di "Knowest thou What Zál said to Rustem the Champion? Never calculate upon the weakness or insignificance of an enemy.">[