#1
چنان بد که هر شب دو مرد جوان
✦
چه کهتر چه از تخمهٔ پهلوان
“So it was that every night two young men were taken, whether of humble birth or of heroic stock.”
#2
خورشگر ببردی به ایوان شاه
✦
همی ساختی راه درمان شاه
“The cooks would bring them into the king's palace, seeking thereby a cure for the monarch's affliction.”
#3
بکشتی و مغزش بپرداختی
✦
مر آن اژدها را خورش ساختی
“They would slay them, take out their brains, and make of them food for those serpent monsters.”
#4
دو پاکیزه از گوهر پادشا
✦
دو مرد گرانمایه و پارسا
“There were two men of royal seed and righteous nature, noble-minded and devoted to virtue.”
#5
یکی نام ارمایل پاک‌دین
✦
دگر نام گرمایل پیشبین
“One was named Armayel, pure in faith, and the other Garmayel, wise and far-sighted.”
#6
چنان بد که بودند روزی به هم
✦
سخن رفت هر گونه از بیش و کم
“It came to pass one day that they sat together, speaking at length of matters great and small.”
#7
ز بیدادگر شاه وز لشکرش
✦
و زان رسم‌های بد اندر خورش
“They spoke of the tyrannical king, of his army, and of those evil customs regarding his daily food.”
#8
یکی گفت ما را به خوالیگری
✦
بباید بر شاه رفت آوری
“One said: 'We must go before the king in the guise of royal cooks, entering his service.”
#9
و زان پس یکی چاره‌ای ساختن
✦
ز هر گونه اندیشه انداختن
“'And thereafter devise a clever scheme, turning every subtle thought to this purpose,”
#10
مگر زین دو تن را که ریزند خون
✦
یکی را توان آوریدن برون
“'So that of the two youths whose blood is shed, we might perhaps save one alive.'”
#11
برفتند و خوالیگری ساختند
✦
خورش‌ها و اندازه بشناختند
“They went and learned the craft of cooking, mastering every dish and its proper proportion.”
#12
خورش خانهٔ پادشاه جهان
✦
گرفت آن دو بیدار دل در نهان
“Secretly, those two vigilant-hearted men gained charge of the kitchen of the monarch of the world.”
#13
چو آمد به هنگام خون ریختن
✦
به شیرین روان اندر آویختن
“When the time came for shedding blood and tearing sweet life away from victims,”
#14
از آن روزبانان مردم‌کُشان
✦
گرفته دو مرد جوان را کشان
“The murder-accustomed guards arrived, dragging two bound youths behind them.”
#15
زنان پیش خوالیگران تاختند
✦
ز بالا به روی اندر انداختند
“Beating them, they brought them before the cooks and cast them down upon their faces.”
#16
پر از درد خوالیگران را جگر
✦
پر از خون دو دیده پر از کینه سر
“The hearts of the cooks burned with sorrow; their eyes filled with blood and their heads with vengeance.”
#17
همی بنگرید این بدان آن بدین
✦
ز کردار بیداد شاه زمین
“They looked at one another in anguish, appalled at the deeds of the unjust ruler of the earth.”
#18
از آن دو یکی را بپرداختند
✦
جز این چاره‌ای نیز نشناختند
“Of the two captives, they killed only one, for no other ruse was available to save both.”
#19
برون کرد مغز سر گوسفند
✦
بیامیخت با مغز آن ارجمند
“They extracted the brain of a sheep and mixed it with the brain of that noble youth.”
#20
یکی را به جان داد زنهار و گفت
✦
نگر تا بیاری سر اندر نهفت
“They spared the other youth's life and warned him: 'Take care to keep your head hidden in secret!”
#21
نگر تا نباشی به آباد شهر
✦
تو را از جهان دشت و کوه است بهر
“'Beware that you never enter an inhabited town; your share of the world henceforth is the wilderness and mountains!'”
#22
به جای سرش زان سری بی‌بها
✦
خورش ساختند از پی اژدها
“In place of his brain, they used the worthless head of livestock to prepare the meal for the dragons.”
#23
از این گونه هر ماهیان سی جوان
✦
از ایشان همی یافتندی روان
“In this manner, thirty youths each month received their lives back from the noble cooks.”
#24
چو گرد آمدی مرد از ایشان دویست
✦
بر آن سان که نشناختندی که کیست
“When two hundred such men had gathered, in such wise that they knew not who each other was,”
#25
خورشگر بدیشان بزی چند و میش
✦
سپردی و صحرا نهادند پیش
“The cook would entrust them with a few goats and sheep, sending them out into the open plains.”
#26
کنون کُرد از آن تخمه دارد نژاد
✦
که ز آباد ناید به دل برش یاد
“Now the Kurdish people draw their lineage from that seed, who recall no memories of settled cities.”
#27
پس آیین ضحاک وارونه‌خوی
✦
چنان بد که چون می‌بدش آرزوی
“Thereafter, such was the custom of the perverse Zahhak that whenever desire moved him,”
#28
ز مردان جنگی یکی خواستی
✦
بکشتی چو با دیو برخاستی
“He would demand one of the warrior men, slaying him whenever he consorted with demons.”
#29
کجا نامور دختری خوبروی
✦
به پرده درون بود بی‌گفت‌گوی
“And wherever a renowned, beautiful maiden dwelt sheltered behind curtains,”
#30
پرستنده کردیش بر پیش خویش
✦
نه بر رسم دین و نه بر رسم کیش
“He made her his handmaiden before him, honoring neither holy law nor sacred faith.”