t river. Isfendiyar was
now angry with Kurugsar, and said: "Thou hast declared that for the
space of forty farsangs there was no water, every drop being everywhere
dried up by the burning heat of the sun, and here we find water! Why
didst thou also idly fill the minds of my soldiers with groundless
fears?" Kurugsar replied: "I will confess the truth. Did I not swear a
solemn oath to be faithful, and yet I was still doubted, and still
confined in irons, though the experience of six days of trial had proved
the correctness of my information and advice. For this reason I was
disappointed and displeased; and I must confess that I did, therefore,
exaggerate the dangers of the last day, in the hope too of inducing thee
to return and release me from my bonds.

"For what have I received from thee,
But scorn, and chains, and slavery."

Isfendiyar now struck off the irons from the hands and feet of his
demon-guide and treated him with favor and kindness, repeating to him
his promise to reward him at the close of his victorious career with the
government of a kingdom. Kurugsar was grateful for this change of
conduct to him, and again acknowledging the deception he had been guilty
of, hoped for pardon, engaging at the same time to take the party in
safety across the great river which had impeded their progress. This was
accordingly done, and the Brazen Fortress was now at no great distance.
At the close of the day they were only one farsang from the towers, but
Isfendiyar preferred resting till the next morning. "What is thy counsel
now?" said he to his guide. "What sort of a fortress is this which fame
describes in such dreadful colors?" "It is stronger than imagination can
conceive, and impregnable."--"Then how shall I get to Arjasp?

"How shall I cleave the oppressor's form asunder,
The murderer of my grandsire, Lohurasp?
The bravest heroes of Turan shall fall
Under my conquering sword; their wives and children
Led captive to Iran; and desolation
Scathe the whole realm beneath the tyrant's sway."

But these words only roused and exasperated the feelings of Kurugsar,
who bitterly replied:--

"Then may calamity be thy reward,
Thy stars malignant, and thy life all sorrow;
And may'st thou perish, weltering in thy blood,
And the bare desert be thy lonely grave
For that inhuman thought, that cruel menace."

Isfendiyar, upon hearing this unexpected language, became furious with
indignation, and instant