Explore "Shahnameh" by Abolqasem Ferdowsi on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
The Birth of Rostam
It was not long before Rudabeh's cypress-slim form began to change; her belly filled out, her body grew heavy, and the Judas blossoms of her face turned as sallow as saffron. Her mother said to her, "My soul, what's happened that you look so yellow? " She replied, "My lips moan day and night; my time has come, and I cannot give birth to the burden within me. My skin feels as though it were stuffed with stones, or that it contained a mass of iron. " Rudabeh endured this until the time for her to give birth came closer, and she could neither sleep nor rest. Then one day she fainted, and a cry went up from Zal's palace; Sindokht was informed, and she clawed at her face and tore out her musky hair. The news reached Zal that the leaves of his noble cypress tree had withered away, and he came to her pillow, sick at heart and with tears in his eyes. Then he remembered the Simorgh's feather and smiled, and he told Sindokht to take heart.