Under the young leader the oppressed people defeated the tyrant,
and placed Feridoun on the throne.
Feridoun had three sons, Irij, Tur, and Silim. Having tested their
bravery, he divided the kingdom among them, giving to Irij the kingdom of
Iran. Although the other brothers had received equal shares of the
kingdom, they were enraged because Iran was not their portion, and when
their complaints to their father were not heeded, they slew their brother.
Irij left a son, a babe named Minuchihr, who was reared carefully by
Feridoun. In time he avenged his father, by defeating the armies of his
uncles and slaying them both. Soon after this, Feridoun died, intrusting
his grandson to Saum, his favorite pehliva, or vassal, who ruled over
Seistan.
Saum was a childless monarch, and when at last a son was born to him he
was very happy until he learned that while the child was perfect in every
other way, it had the silver hair of an old man. Fearing the talk of his
enemies, Saum exposed the child on a mountain top to die. There it was
found by the Simurgh, a remarkable animal, part bird, part human, that,
touched by the cries of the helpless infant, carried him to her great nest
of aloes and sandal-wood, and reared him with her little ones.
Saum, who had lived to regret his foolish and wicked act, was told in a
dream that his son still lived, and was being cared for by the Simurgh.
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