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1365. With what he said, they too agreed. They left there the maiden Asmat'h; P'hridon bestows a gift upon her. They took with them three hundred horsemen equal to heroes.[1] At the last God will give the victory to all who have been distressed.[2]
1366. All three sworn brothers crossed the sea. P'hridon knows the way; going day and night they travel. P'hridon said: "Now are we coming nigh the regions of Kadjet'hi; henceforth we must travel by night so that we be not discovered."
1367. The three behaved according to this advice of P'hridon's; when it was daylight they stopped, and by night they went swiftly on. They arrived; the city appeared; they could not count the guards; outside was a rock, the noise of the sentinels in crowds increased.
1368. At the gate of the passage ten thousand braves[3] kept guard. Those lions saw the city; the shining moon[4] stood upon it. They said: "Let us advise what is best, now is choice difficult; a hundred can overcome a thousand if they choose the best way."
XLIII
THE COUNCIL OF P'HRIDON, AVT'HANDIL AND TARIEL AS TO THE ASSAULT ON THE CASTLE OF KADJET'HI
1369. P'hridon said: "I will speak a word, I think I am not at fault: We are few, the city is only expugnable by many; we have not strength for a direct attack—this is no time for boasting—in a thousand years we could not anywhere win in if they shut the gate against us.
1370. "In my childhood my tutors instructed me in gymnastics,[5] they taught me their tricks, they made me
