battle, had recourse to negotiation and a conference, in which Afrásiyáb
said to him, "What rebellious conduct is this, of which thou art guilty?
Is not the country of Raí sufficient for thee, that thou art thus
aspiring to be a great king?" Aghríras replied: "Why reproach and insult
me thus? Art thou not ashamed to accuse another of rebellious conduct?

"Shame might have held thy tongue; reprove not me
In bitterness; God did not give thee power
To injure man, and surely not thy kin."
Afrásiyáb, enraged at this reproof,
Replied by a foul deed--he grasped his sword,
And with remorseless fury slew his brother!

When intelligence of this cruel catastrophe came to Zál's ears, he
exclaimed: "Now indeed has the empire of Afrásiyáb arrived at its
crisis:

"Yes, yes, the tyrant's throne is tottering now,
And past is all his glory."

Then Zál bound his loins in hostility against Afrásiyáb, and gathering
together all his warriors, resolved upon taking revenge for the death of
Nauder, and expelling the tyrant from Persia. Neither Tús nor Gustahem
being yet capable of sustaining the cares and duties of the throne, his
anxiety was to obtain the assistance of some one of the race of Feridún.

These youths were for imperial rule unfit:
A king of royal lineage and worth
The state required, and none could he remember
Save Tahmasp's son, descended from the blood