"Since I am taller and stouter than my peers, teach unto me my race and
lineage, and what I shall say when men ask me the name of my sire. But
if thou refuse an answer unto my demands, I will strike thee out from
the rolls of the living."

When Tahmineh beheld the ardour of her son, she smiled in her spirit
because that his fire was like to that of his father. And she opened her
mouth and said:

"Hear my words, O my son, and be glad in thine heart, neither give way
in thy spirit to anger. For thou art the offspring of Rustem, thou art
descended from the seed of Saum and Zal, and Neriman was thy forefather.
And since God made the world it hath held none like unto Rustem, thy
sire."

Then she showed to him a letter written by the Pehliva, and gave to him
the gold and jewels Rustem had sent at his birth. And she spake and
said:

"Cherish these gifts with gratitude, for it is thy father who hath sent
them. Yet remember, O my son, that thou close thy lips concerning these
things; for Turan groaneth under the hand of Afrasiyab, and he is foe
unto Rustem the glorious. If, therefore, he should learn of thee, he
would seek to destroy the son for hatred of the sire. Moreover, O my
boy, if Rustem learned that thou wert become a mountain of valour,
perchance he would demand thee at my hands, and the sorrow of thy loss
would crush the heart of thy mother."

But Sohrab replied, "Nought can be hidden upon earth for aye. To all men
are known the deeds of Rustem, and since my birth be thus noble,