[10] Shireen, the favourite of Khosroo, is no less celebrated
for her beauty than for the passion with which she inspired
Ferhad.
[11] Of this unfortunate lover Ferhad, the romantic story has
been told by several distinguished writers. The mountain to
which our royal poet alludes is the Kooh Bisetoon (in the
province of Curdistan), where are still visible many figures
sculptured in the rock, which, by the romances of Persia, are
ascribed to the statuary Ferhad. Among these sculptures,
travellers have noticed the representation of a
female--according to local tradition, the fair Shireen, mistress
to King Khosroo, and the fascinating object of Ferhad's love. As
a recompense for clearing a passage over the mountain of
Bisetoon, by removing immense rocks, which obstructed the path
(a task of such labour as far exceeded the power of common
mortals, by Ferhad, however, executed with ease), the monarch
had promised to bestow Shireen on the enamoured statuary. But a
false report of the fair one's death having been communicated to
Ferhad in a sudden manner, he immediately destroyed himself; and
the scene of this catastrophe is still shown among the recesses
of Mount Bisetoon.
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