Then Saum arose and went into the women’s house to see his child. And the nurse brought to him the moon-faced babe that was faultless in form and limb but had hair like unto the hair of an old, old man.
The king gazed long upon the helpless little one, and his heart turned to it in love and pity. But when he had gone out of the room his pride began to touch him. He thought how all the world would laugh at him because of this his only son, so strangely different from other children. The longer he thought, the more bitterly did he grieve, and his love was turned to shame and disappointment.
“Why has the Lord of Light given me such a son?” he cried. “When men see his white hair they will laugh at me. They will turn their backs upon him, and will not have him for their king. Better it would be if I had no son.”
Thus spoke Saum, the hero; and, as the days went by, his heart was hardened because of his shame and disappointment. At length he called his trustiest servant, and bade him carry the child into some lonely place and leave it there to perish.
Now on the borders of Seistan, far from the homes of men, there is a mountain called Elburz. Its top reaches to the stars, and its sides are so steep that no man has ever climbed halfway to its dizzy summit. At the foot of this mountain the king’s servant left the child. He left it lying in its princely robes and smiling at the blue sky above it.
High, on the topmost rock of the mighty mountain a wonderful bird had built her nest. Simurgh was the name of this bird, and her nest was a marvel to behold. She had ma