Of Ferdoosee. 61 
As, with open jaws, he glided on his way ; 
His eyes were two fountains of blood; 
He saw me, roared and sprang upon me with 
fury. 
It appeared to me, O King; 
As though flames were issuing from his mouth ; 
But I shouted with the voice of a lion, 
And approached him as became a valiant man; 
I seized a steel-pointed shaft, 
And shot it hastily through the air, 
And so directed the obedient arrow 
That it nailed his tongue to his palate. 
Again I struck him in the mouth, 
And he writhed from the anguish of the wound. 
A third time I pierced his jaw, 
And the boiling blood rushed from his vitals: 
Then, trusting in the power of the Ruler of 
the universe, 
I dashed the huge monster to the ground, 
‘Smiting him on the head with the cow-gra- 
ved mace, 
As though the skies had rained down a moun- 
tain upon him. 
I clove his head with the rage of a furious 
elephant, 
And a stream of poison rushed from his body. 
The rivers were filled with blood and venom, 
But the land again became a place of rest 
and gladness, 
