THE SCENE: Rostam, the legendary Persian hero, was a slayer of dragons, killer of sorcerers, and a talker of trash.
THE TEXT: Rostam said, “My name is cloud, if a cloud can fight like a lion; it’ll rain down spears and sword blows and lop noblemen’s heads off. If my name penetrates your ears, it’ll freeze your blood. Have you ever heard, in any company, of the bow and lariat of Rostam? You know what I call a mother who bears a son like you? A sewer of shrouds, or a mourner at a wake. Bringing your cronies here against me is as pointless as throwing walnuts at a dome in the hope that they’ll stick there.” Then he looped his lariat on his saddle and drew his death-dealing sword, and every blow he made with it lopped off two heads; he was like a lion that descended on a flock of lambs, and the ground was soon strewn with the dead. The plain filled with the dust of scattering horsemen, as they fled to the mountains and caves.
Rostam went after them, the dust turned the day to night, and as he caught up with Olad he flung his lariat and noosed his head with it.
– The Shahnameh, Abolqasem Ferdowsi, 10th Century AD
