The king fled; so true it is that “God alone gives victory;” but Bihzad Khan behaved so bravely, that perhaps even Rustam himself could not have equalled his valour.  When he saw that the field of battle was cleared, and that no one remained to pursue him, and that there was nothing to apprehend, he came confidentially to the place where we were, and taking the princess and me along with him, he pushed forward.  The duration of the journey is rendered short; we reached the boundaries of my country in a short time.  I despatched a letter to the king, (who was my father), mentioning my safe arrival; he was quite rejoiced on reading it, and thanked God [for His goodness].  As the withered plant revives by water, so the joyful tidings renovated his drooping spirits; he took all his amirs with him, and advanced for the purpose of receiving me as far as the banks of a large river, and an order for boats [to cross us over] was issued to the superintendent of rivers.  I saw the royal train from the opposite bank; from eagerness to kiss my father’s feet, I plunged my horse into the river, and swimming over, I rode up to the king; he clasped me with eager fondness to his [paternal] bosom.

At this moment, another unforeseen calamity overwhelmed us.  The horse on which I was mounted was perhaps the colt of the mare on which the princess rode, or they had been perhaps always together, for seeing my horse plunge into the river, the mare became restive, followed my horse, and likewise plunged into the river with the princess, and began to swim.  The princess being alarmed, pulled the bridle; the mare was tender mouthed and turned over; the princess struggled, and sank with the mare, so that not a trace of either was ever seen again.  On seeing this circumstance, Bihzad Khan dashed into the river on horseback to afford assistance to the princess; he got into a whirlpool and could not extricate himself; all his efforts with his hands and feet were vain, and he also sank.  The king seeing these sad circumstances, sent for nets and had them thrown into the river, and ordered the boatmen and divers [to look for the bodies]; they swept the whole river, but could find nothing. [381] O Darweshes! this dreadful occurrence affected me so much that I became mad and frantic; I became a pilgrim, and wandered about, ever repeating these words,—­“Such has been the fate of these three; that you have seen, now view the other side.”  If the princess had vanished or died anywhere, I should then have some kind of consolation for my heart, for I would have gone in search of her, or have borne the loss with patience; but when she perished before my eyes [in this dreadful manner], I could not support [the shock].  At last, I determined to perish with her in the stream, that I might perhaps meet my beloved one in death.