"And when he heard my voice, and saw what deeds
I had performed, approaching me, he threw
His noose; but downward bending I escaped,
And with my bow I showered upon his head
Steel-pointed arrows, piercing through the brain;
Then did I grasp his loins, and from his horse
Cast him upon the ground, deprived of life.
At this, the demons terrified and pale,
Shrunk back, some flying to the mountain wilds,
And others, taken on the battle-field,
Became obedient to the Persian king."

Minúchihr, gratified by this result of the expedition, appointed Sám to
a new enterprise, which was to destroy Kábul by fire and sword,
especially the house of Mihráb; and that ruler, of the serpent-race, and
all his adherents were to be put to death. Sám, before he took leave to
return to his own government at Zábul, tried to dissuade him from this
violent exercise of revenge, but without making any sensible impression
upon him.

Meanwhile the vindictive intentions of Minúchihr, which were soon known
at Kábul, produced the greatest alarm and consternation in the family of
Mihráb. Zál now returned to his father, and Sám sent a letter to
Minúchihr, again to deprecate his wrath, and appointed Zál the
messenger. In this letter Sám enumerates his services at Karugsár and
Mázinderán, and especially dwells upon the destruction of a prodigious
dragon.

"I am thy servant, and twice sixty years