RAKUSH AND HIS MASTER 1 29 



steeds, rode in advance. They were armed with 

 golden maces and with battle-axes that gleamed 

 like silver, and they carried the red banner of the 

 house of Zal. Then followed the elephants, upon 

 whose backs were the nobility of Zaboulistan, 

 seated in howdahs decked with curtains of em- 

 broidered silk and ornamented with flags and 

 waving plumes. After these came a thousand 

 young men, the flower of the land of Iran, riding 

 on horseback, with swords at their sides and long 

 spears resting upon their saddle-bows. The 

 march, moreover, was enlivened with music and 

 song, and nothing was left undone that would give 

 pleasure to the boy or add to the sincerity of the 

 welcome which was to be accorded to the ruler of 

 Seistan. 



When at length Rustem saw his grandfather's 

 caravan a long way off, he bade his own retinue 

 stand still, while he, dismounting from his ele- 

 phant, went forward on foot. And when he drew 

 near and could look into the face of the old prince, 

 he bowed his head td the ground, and cried out, 

 " O mighty ruler of Seistan, and prince of princes 

 in Iran, I am Rustem, thy grandchild ! Give me, 

 I pray thee, thy blessing, ere I return to my fa- 

 ther's house." 



