Explore "Shahnameh" by Abolqasem Ferdowsi on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
A Turkish Princess Is Discovered
One day at cockcrow Tus, Giv, and a number of other knights rode out from their king's court; taking along cheetahs and hawks, they set off for the plain of Daghui to hunt for wild asses. After they'd brought down a great quantity of game, enough for forty days, they saw that the land before them was black with Turkish tents. In the distance, close to the border between the Persian and Turkish peoples, a thicket was visible, and Tus and Giv, followed by a few others, rode over to it. To their astonishment, they discovered a beautiful young woman hiding there, and Tus said to her, "How is it a girl as radiant as the moon is in this thicket? " She answered, "Last night my father beat me; he came back drunk from a feast and, as soon as he saw me, he drew a dagger and began shouting that he would cut my head off, and so I fled from our home."