Summary
It is early morning, and the Tartar army is camped by the River Oxus. Most of the soldiers are asleep, but Sohrab, their greatest champion, who has lain awake all night, goes to the tent of the commander, Peran-Wisa. He reminds Peran-Wisa that he has served the Tartar king, Afrasiab, well in his battles against the Persians since joining his army.
Sohrab then asks the general to let the army rest today so that he may challenge the Persians to send a champion to fight him in single combat. In this way, he hopes to find his father, Rustum, a great Persian warrior whom he has never seen. He says that if he wins this fight, his father is certain to hear of it, while if he is defeated, it will not matter, because “the dead need no one, claim no kin.”
Peran-Wisa advises against this course of action but realizes that he cannot restrain Sohrab and grants his request. He leaves his tent and rides to the front of the Tartar ranks, where he announces that there will be a day-long truce during which Sohrab challenges any of the Persian lords to fight him in single combat. Ferood, the Persian commander, agrees and sends Gudurz, one of his advisors, to find Rustum and ask him to be their champion.
When Gudurz reaches Rustum’s tent, Rustum receives him warmly but refuses to fight, since he has quarreled with the Persian king. He intends to go and live with his father, Zal, and protect him in his old age. He mentions in passing that he has no son, only a daughter.
When Gudurz says that people will think that Rustum “hoards his fame / And shuns to peril it with younger men” if he does not fight, Rustum says he will accept the challenge but will “fight unknown and in plain arms.” Rustum comes to the battlefield, where all the Persians know who he is (despite his plain armor) but the Tartars do not.
When Sohrab comes to join battle with him, Rustum is seized with “deep pity” for his youth and asks him to give up the idea of single combat, come to Iran, and fight beneath his banner. Sohrab immediately thinks that this great warrior might be the father he has been seeking and runs to him, asking if he is Rustum.
Rustum, however, thinks that if he reveals his identity, this young man will find a pretext not to fight but will afterwards boast about having challenged the mighty Rustum. He refuses to give his name and tells Sohrab to yield or fight.
Sohrab says that he will fight, and they begin battle. Rustum hurls his spear at Sohrab and misses, while Sohrab’s spear sticks in Rustum’s shield. Rustum then attacks Sohrab with his club, but Sohrab evades the blow. This knocks Rustum to his knees, but Sohrab doesn’t use the opportunity to strike, instead saying that he can feel no anger against his opponent. He asks him again to reveal his identity and says that they should be friends.
Rustum, however, is infuriated both by Sohrab’s words and by his physical evasion of spear and club. He angrily replies that Sohrab dances like a girl rather than fighting like a man. His taunts provoke Sohrab to similar anger, and the two begin battle again, more furiously this time. A storm springs up, seeming to mirror the fury of the combatants and wrapping them “in a sandy whirlwind,” though the Persian and Tartar armies stand nearby in clear daylight.
Sohrab’s blade shatters on Rustum’s helmet, at which Rustum...
(This entire section contains 886 words.)
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shouts out his own name. Sohrab drops his shield in amazement, allowing Rustum to pierce his side with his spear. The dying Sohrab says that he has not been killed by the unknown man but by the name of Rustum, his father, who will avenge his death.
Rustum incredulously replies that “the mighty Rustum never had a son,” and Sohrab explains that he is Rustum’s son, speaking of the grief his mother in Ader-baijan will feel when she hears of his death. Rustum’s wife is in Ader-baijan and told him that his child was a daughter, since she did not want him to train the boy as a warrior.
Rustum does not believe he has a son, but Sohrab’s words make him remember his youth and his wife far away in Ader-baijan. He says that Sohrab is exactly the son he would have wanted but that he has only a daughter.
Sohrab is angry at being disbelieved and shows Rustum the seal of a red griffin that his mother pricked on his arm. Rustum recognizes it as his own seal and finally realizes that Sohrab is his son.
Sohrab faints on the sand, and Rustum crawls to him and kisses his lips to revive him. He says that he was fated to die and Rustum was fated to live and do glorious deeds. He asks his father not to continue the war against the Tartars but to take Sohrab’s body home and bury him.
Rustum agrees and says that he regrets the bloodthirsty career that has brought him fame and glory. Sohrab dies and Rustum mourns as night falls and the River Oxus flows past them.
