And Khosráu was his brother, now the king,
By whom he fell, or if not by his sword,
Whose was the guilty hand? Has punishment
Been meted to the offender? I protected,
In mine own house, the princess Ferangís;
And when her son was born, Kai-khosráu, still
I, at the risk of my existence, kept them
Safe from the fury of Afrásiyáb,
Who would have sacrificed the child, or both!
And night and day I watched them, till the hour
When they escaped and crossed the boundary-stream.
Enough of this! Now let us speak of peace,
Since the confederates in this mighty war
Are guiltless of the blood of Saiáwush!"

Rustem, in answer to Pírán, observed, that in negotiating the terms of
pacification, several important points were to be considered, and
several indispensable matters to be attended to. No peace could be made
unless the principal actors in the bloody tragedy of Saiáwush's death
were first given up, particularly Gersíwaz; vast sums of money were also
required to be presented to the king of kings; and, moreover, Rustem
said he would disdain making peace at all, but that it enabled Pírán to
do service to Kai-khosráu. Pírán saw the difficulty of acceding to these
demands, but he speedily laid them before the Khakán, who consulted his
confederates on the subject, and after due consideration, their pride
and shame resisted the overtures, which they thought ignominious.
Shinkul, a king of Ind, was a violent opposer of the terms, and declared
against peace on any such conditions. Several other warriors expressed
their readiness to contend against Rustem, and they flattered themselves
that by a rapid succession of attacks, one after the other, they would