The Merchant Who Was Not

In the tale of Bizhan and Manizheh the champion does not fight his way in. A knight is trapped under a stone in a covered pit deep in Turan, and the poem sends Rostam after him disguised as a merchant with a caravan, trading in the enemy's own capital until a message reaches the girl who is keeping the prisoner alive. He finds the pit, lifts the stone — the text is clear that nobody else could move it — and takes Bizhan out. The strongest arm in the Shahnameh spends its best rescue haggling.