Following a season of banquets and joy among his nobles, spring blossomed across the earth like paradise. Rivers flowed clear, and the plains teemed with game. King Bahram Gur rode forth toward the wilds of Tur to hunt wild asses and gazelles. Deep in the wilderness, the valiant king encountered a monstrous dragon with hair beneath its chin and breasts resembling a woman's. Bahram immediately notched a poplar arrow to his bow, pierced the beast's chest, and split its skull with his dagger. Within its belly, he discovered a young man engulfed in blood and venom. Bahram wept bitterly over the victim's fate, yet the creature's virulent poison dimmed his vision and weakened his frame.
After regaining his strength, Bahram resolved to travel disguised with a single guide through the countryside to witness firsthand if justice truly prevailed. Riding his beloved steed Shabdiz under the scorching sun, weary and thirsty, he reached a humble cottage in a plain. A woman carrying a pitcher on her shoulder welcomed the traveler and persuaded her reluctant husband to slaughter their only lamb for this noble stranger, whose face radiated the Royal Glory. She set before him bread, curds, and roasted meat, and as night fell, brought wine and dried fruit.
When Bahram inquired about the realm, the woman, unaware of her guest's royal identity, spoke candidly of corrupt officials, extortion, and false accusations that ruined honest lives under the crown. Hearing her reproaches, Bahram's heart grew dark; he harbor a harsh thought to rule with severity for a few months to teach the people a lesson. He fell asleep with oppression in his heart. At dawn, when the host's wife went to milk her cow, she found its udders entirely dry. She forewarned her husband that the King of the Earth must have turned tyrant, for when a sovereign strays from justice, milk dries in udders, musk loses its scent, and cosmic abundance vanishes.
Overhearing her words, remorse pierced Bahram's soul. He prayed fervently to Yazdan, repenting of his tyrannical thoughts and vowing never to depart from righteousness. When the woman touched the cow again in God's name, milk gushed forth abundantly. Touched by the miracle, Bahram drank the milk stew, hung his royal whip upon a tree branch at their gate, and awaited his army. When his vast army arrived and recognized the royal whip, the troops dismounted in homage. The humble hosts realized that their guest was King Bahram Gur himself. Grateful for their pure hospitality and honest counsel, Bahram bestowed the entire village and surrounding realm upon the couple forever.