Mounted on Kyrat strong and fleet,
His chestnut steed with four white feet,
       &nbsp Roushan Beg, called Kurroglou,
Son of the road and bandit chief,
Seeking refuge and relief,
       &nbsp Up the mountain pathway flew.

Such was Kyrat's wondrous speed,
Never yet could any steed
       &nbsp Reach the dust-cloud in his course.
More than maiden, more than wife,
More than gold and next to life
       &nbsp Roushan the Robber loved his horse.

In the land that lies beyond
Erzeroum and Trebizond,
       &nbsp Garden-girt his fortress stood;
Plundered khan, or caravan
Journeying north from Koordistan,
       &nbsp Gave him wealth and wine and food.

Seven hundred and fourscore
Men at arms his livery wore,
       &nbsp Did his bidding night and day.
Now, through regions all unknown,
He was wandering, lost, alone,
       &nbsp Seeking without guide his way.
Suddenly the pathway ends,
Sheer the precipice descends,
       &nbsp Loud the torrent roars unseen;
Thirty feet from side to side
Yawns the chasm; on air must ride
       &nbsp He who crosses this ravine.

Following close in his pursuit,
At the precipice's foot,
       &nbsp Reyhan the Arab of Orfah
Halted with his hundred men,
Shouting upward from the glen,
       &nbsp "La Illah illa Allah!"

Gently Roushan Beg caressed
Kyrat's forehead, neck, and breast;
       &nbsp Kissed him upon both his eyes;
Sang to him in his wild way,
As upon the topmost spray
       &nbsp Sings a bird before it flies.

"O my Kyrat, O my steed,
Round and slender as a reed,
       &nbsp Carry me this peril through!
Satin housings shall be thine,
Shoes of gold, O Kyrat mine,
       &nbsp O thou soul of Kurroglou!
"Soft thy skin as silken skein,
Soft as woman's hair thy mane,
       &nbsp Tender are thine eyes and true;
All thy hoofs like ivory shine,
Polished bright; O, life of mine,
       &nbsp Leap, and rescue Kurroglou!"

Kyrat, then, the strong and fleet,
Drew together his four white feet,
       &nbsp Paused a moment on the verge,
Measured with his eye the space,
And into the air's embrace
       &nbsp Leaped as leaps the ocean surge.

As the ocean surge o'er sand
Bears a swimmer safe to land,
       &nbsp Kyrat safe his rider bore;
Rattling down the deep abyss
Fragments of the precipice
       &nbsp Rolled like pebbles on a shore.

Roushan's tasselled cap of red
Trembled not upon his head,
       &nbsp Careless sat he and upright;
Neither hand nor bridle shook,
Nor his head he turned to look,
       &nbsp As he galloped out of sight.
Flash of harness in the air,
Seen a moment like the glare
       &nbsp Of a sword drawn from its sheath;
Thus the phantom horseman passed,
And the shadow that he cast
       &nbsp Leaped the cataract underneath.

Reyhan the Arab held his breath
While this vision of life and death
       &nbsp Passed above him. "Allahu!"
Cried he. "In all Koordistan
Lives there not so brave a man
       &nbsp As this Robber Kurroglou!