When Prince Goshtasp, wandering in bitter self-exile from Iran, reached the misty shores of the sea bordering Rum, he dismounted his steed and sought passage across the waters. There he met Hishoy, an aged mariner of keen eye and generous heart. Goshtasp claimed to be a renowned Iranian scribe seeking passage, but Hishoy looked upon his majestic frame and declared that such a man was born for crowns, chainmail, and broadswords, not ink and parchment. Only after Goshtasp bestowed a gift of gold dinars did the old sailor unfurl his canvas, carrying the prince across to the shores of Rum.
The city Goshtasp entered was a colossal metropolis spanning over three leagues in width—the ancient throne-seat built by Salm, where the mighty Caesars held sway. For a full week, the prince wandered the grand avenues of Rum, spending the last of his coins until hunger pressed upon him. He sought out the royal chancery of Caesar, offering his services as a court scribe to the chief chancellor. But when the scribes beheld his towering stature and iron muscles, they whispered among themselves that steel pens would shatter in his grasp and paper would burn; such a warrior belonged atop a warhorse with bow and lariat, not bound to royal rolls. Thus they turned him away.
With a pale countenance and a heavy heart, Goshtasp turned to Nastav, the chief shepherd of Caesar, offering to break wild colts and guard the herds. Yet Nastav proved cautious, refusing to entrust valuable royal livestock in the wilderness to a landless stranger. Next, Goshtasp sought the master of Caesar's camel-drivers. The wise camel-driver received him hospitably with food and drink, but marveled at his regal bearing, telling him that driving beasts was beneath a lion-hearted warrior and urging him to present himself directly to Caesar's throne.
Penniless and despairing, Goshtasp wandered into the district of the blacksmiths and came upon the forge of Burab, Caesar's master armorer, who labored with thirty-five apprentices. Goshtasp offered to work at the anvil. Burab agreed and handed him a heavy iron hammer. As a glowing mass of iron was pulled from the flames, Goshtasp brought the hammer down with titanic force; so catastrophic was the blow that the heavy anvil and the red-hot iron ball shattered into fragments. The entire market trembled in uproar, and Burab cried out in terror that no iron, fire, or anvil on earth could withstand such superhuman strength. Disgusted and hungry, Goshtasp cast down the hammer and walked away into the streets, fortifying his soul with the ancient truth that joy and hardship pass alike, and that he who possesses wisdom remains steadfast before the turns of fate.