The king who would not listen
Kay Kavus had wealth and a kingdom. A song made him want more.
A demon came to his court in the guise of a minstrel and praised Mazandaran: its gardens, flowers and pleasures. Kavus resolved to conquer it.
His advisers warned him against the expedition. Zal came from Zabol to add his counsel. The country of the demons was no ordinary prize, and confidence was no protection against its dangers.
Kavus marched anyway.
The invading army brought destruction into Mazandaran. Its king called for help, and the White Demon descended upon the Iranians with darkness and a terrible storm. Kavus and his warriors lost their sight. Their conquest ended in captivity.
A messenger carried the news to Zal. The old champion turned to his son, Rostam, to attempt the rescue.
IIThe shorter road
Rostam rode Rakhsh, the powerful horse who could bear his weight and share every danger of the road.
There were two routes to Mazandaran. Neither was easy. Zal directed him towards the shorter, more perilous way, through a country where the road itself would become a succession of ordeals.
Rostam set out with his weapons and his horse. What followed is remembered as the Haft Khan, the Seven Labours of Rostam.
IIIThe lion and the desert
The first danger found him asleep.
A lion approached, and Rakhsh fought it without waking his rider. By the time Rostam rose, the horse had killed it. Rostam rebuked Rakhsh for risking himself, knowing how helpless he would be if his companion were lost.
The second trial brought them into a burning wilderness. Water failed. Rostam's strength could not save him from thirst, and he prayed for help.
A ram appeared. He followed it to water, where he and Rakhsh could drink and recover. He gave thanks for their deliverance before resting again.
IVThe dragon and the enchantress
At the third trial, a dragon emerged in the night. Rakhsh woke Rostam, but the creature vanished before the warrior could see it.
When this happened again, Rostam grew angry with the horse. Rakhsh had recognised a danger his rider could not yet perceive.
At last the dragon was revealed. Horse and man fought together, and Rostam killed it.
The fourth trial offered a different deception. Rostam found food and drink, and an enchantress approached him in the form of a beautiful woman. When he invoked God, her disguise failed. He seized and killed her.
The road demanded more than physical strength. Yet it also showed how readily even a great hero could misunderstand the help beside him.
VOlad and Arzhang
In the fifth trial, Rostam overcame Olad and took him captive. He promised him the rule of Mazandaran in return for his help, and made him his guide.
Olad knew the country, the demon forces and the route ahead. With his guidance, Rostam reached the camp of Arzhang, a commander of the demons. Rostam killed him, and his followers fled.
This was the sixth trial. It brought him at last to the captive Iranian king.
Kavus was still blind. He told Rostam that blood from the White Demon, dropped into their eyes, could restore the lost sight. Reaching the prisoners had not completed the rescue. The cure lay farther on.
VIThe cave
Olad guided Rostam towards the White Demon's cave. He advised him to wait for the heat of the day, when the demons slept.
Rostam secured his captive guide and entered.
At first he could see almost nothing. As his eyes adjusted, the enormous sleeping figure took shape in the darkness. In the version followed here, Rostam woke his opponent with a challenge.
The White Demon rose with a millstone and came at him.
Rostam struck with his sword, severing a hand and a foot, but the wounded demon still grappled with him. They struggled across the cave floor, each trying to bring the other down.
At last Rostam lifted his enemy and hurled him to the ground. He killed him with his dagger and took the demon's liver, whose blood would be the cure.
The seventh trial was over. Now he had to carry its terrible remedy back to the men waiting in darkness.
VIISight restored
Rostam returned to Kavus and applied the blood to his eyes. Within the story's world, it accomplished what the king had promised: his sight returned.
The other blinded warriors were treated too. The captives could see again, and Kavus welcomed the champion who had reached them.
Their campaign did not end with that moment of rescue. More fighting followed against the king of Mazandaran. After victory, Rostam kept his promise to Olad, who was given its rule.
Kavus returned to Iran owing his deliverance to the son of the man whose warning he had ignored.
VIIIWhat strength could not do alone
The Seven Labours give us an extraordinary warrior, but they also show the limits of his strength. Rakhsh protects him while he sleeps. A ram leads him to water. Olad supplies knowledge of the country, and Kavus explains the cure.
He is brave and resourceful. He is also capable of anger, impatience and misjudgement. Those qualities belong to the story alongside his victories.
For us, the story is most compelling when all of them remain visible. Courage does not require a flawless hero. It requires someone willing to continue, and help that he cannot always provide for himself.
Even Rostam could not take that road alone.
