their guard, many of them being intoxicated, and the havoc and
destruction committed among them by the Tartars was dreadful. The
survivors were in a miserable state of despondency, but it was not till
morning dawned that Tús beheld the full extent of his defeat and the
ruin that surrounded him. When Kai-khosráu heard of this heavy reverse,
he wrote to Fríburz, saying, "I warned Tús not to proceed by the way of
Kulláb, because my brother and his mother dwelt in that place, and their
residence ought to have been kept sacred. He has not only despised my
orders, but he has cruelly occasioned the untimely death of both. Let
him be bound, and sent to me a prisoner, and do thou assume the command
of the army." Fríburz accordingly placed Tús in confinement, and sent
him to Khosráu, who received and treated him with reproaches and wrath,
and consigned him to a dungeon. He then wrote to Pírán, reproaching him
for resorting to a night attack so unworthy of a brave man, and
challenging him to resume the battle with him. Pírán said that he would
meet him after the lapse of a month, and at the expiration of that
period both armies were opposed to each other. The contest commenced
with arrows, then swords, and then with javelins; and Gíw and Byzun were
the foremost in bearing down the warriors of the enemy, who suffered so
severely that they turned aside to attack Fríburz, against whom they
hoped to be more successful. The assault which they made was
overwhelming, and vast numbers were slain, so that Fríburz, finding
himself driven to extremity, was obliged to shelter himself and his
remaining troops on the skirts of a mountain. In the meantime Gúdarz and
Gíw determined to keep their ground or perish, and sent Byzun to Fríburz
to desire him to join them, or if that was impracticable, to save the
imperial banner by despatching it to their care. To this message,
Fríburz replied: "The traitors are triumphant over me on every side, and
I cannot go, nor will I give up the imperial banner, but tell Gúdarz to
come to my aid." Upon receiving this answer, Byzun struck the