ke merry.'

"So they made merry with the chiefs that were assembled in Rustem's
palace. But after a while Giv said again: 'King Kaoos commanded me,
saying, "You must not sleep in Zabulistan; if you arrive in the night,
set out again the next morning. It will go ill with us if we have to
fight before Rustem comes." It is necessary, then, great hero, that we
set out in all haste for Persia.'

"Rustem said, 'Do not trouble yourself about this matter. We must all
die some day. Let us, therefore, enjoy the present. Our lips are dry,
let us wet them with wine. As to this Tartar, fortune will not always be
with him. When he sees my standard, his heart will fail him.'

"So they sat, drinking the red wine and singing merry songs, instead of
thinking of the king and his commands. The next day Rustem passed in the
same fashion, and the third also. But on the fourth Giv made
preparations to depart, saying to Rustem, 'If we do not make haste to
set out, the king will be wroth, and his anger is terrible.'

"Rustem said, 'Do not trouble yourself; no man dares to be wroth with
me.' Nevertheless, he bade them saddle Raksh and set out with his
companions.

"When they came near the king's palace, a great company of nobles rode
out to meet them, and conducted them to the king, and they paid their
homage to him. But the king turned away from them in a rage. 'Who is
Rustem,' he cried, 'that he forgets his duty to me, and disobeys my
commands? If I had a sword in my hand this moment, I would cut off his
head, as a man cuts an orange in half. Take him, hang him up alive on
gallows, and never mention his name again in my presence.'

"Giv answered, 'Sir, will you lay hands upon Rustem?' The king burst out
again in rage against Giv and Rustem, crying to one of his nobles, 'Take
these two villains and hang them alive on gallows.' And he rose up from
his throne in fury.

"The noble to whom he had spoken laid his hand upon Rustem, wishing to
lead him out of the king's presence, lest Kaoos in his rage should do
him an injury. But Rustem cried out, 'What a king are you! Hang this
Tartar, if you can, on your gallows. Keep such things for your enemies.
All the world has bowed itself before me and Raksh, my horse. And
you--you are king by my grace.'

"Thus speaking, he struck away the hand that the noble had laid upon him
so fiercely that the man fell headlong to the ground, and he passed over
his body to go from the presence of the king. And as