{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_35577/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_35577","id":"gutenberg_35577","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35577","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Legends -- Caucasus"],"text":"</pre>\n\n\n\nProduced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net for Project\nGutenberg (This file was produced from images generously\nmade available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                           CAUCASIAN LEGENDS\n\n\n                     Translated from the Russian of\n                               A. GOULBAT\n\n                                   By\n                  Sergei de Wesselitsky-Bojidarovitch\n\n\n\n                        Hinds, Noble & Eldredge\n             31, 33, 35 West Fifteenth St.   New York City\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                             Page\n           I. The Rain                          9\n          II. Bakarr I., Tsar of Georgia       15\n         III. The Incombustible Tulip          18\n          IV. Saint Nina                       37\n           V. The Diamond                      82\n          VI. Happiness Is Within Us           95\n         VII. The Tribute of Roses            109\n        VIII. The Lot of the Holy Virgin      118\n          IX. The Comet                       128\n           X. The Jewel Necklace              139\n          XI. St. Mourvanoss                  146\n         XII. Zesva                           153\n        XIII. The Tale of Mikhian             156\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE OF THE TRANSLATOR\n\n\nLast year the Georgian people celebrated the one hundredth anniversary\nof the annexation of its country to the dominion of the Great White\nTsar. These past one hundred years have been an era of uninterrupted\nand prosperous development of this nation of chivalry and heroism as\nwell as loyalty and devotion to a great and good cause. In the third\ncentury A. D., the Georgians were converted to Christianity by Saint\nNina. Ever since they have been a mighty fortress of christendom\namidst wild and fanatic Mahometan tribes. Many a time their loyalty\nto their faith was sorely tried by the unparalleled cruelty of the\nTurks and Persians. Their capital was destroyed again and again,\ntheir churches ransacked and they commanded to tread upon the holy\nimages which they venerated from childhood upwards. But even in such\na terrible moment the Georgians showed themselves worthy of their all\nglorious traditions and thousands found their death in the River Koura\nat Tiflis, their chosen capital. For centuries this little nation\nof heroes battled with the Infidels and great was their distress,\nalmost overcome by the gigantic forces of savage enemies, when a\nprotector appeared in the north and re-established law and order,\nconfidence and happiness. Seeing that it was essential to assure a\npermanent security, the ruler of Georgia asked in the name of his\npeople to be annexed to the Motherhood of Orthodox Nations.\n\nI here reproduce a translation from the Russian of the reply of\nAlexander I. Parlovitch, Emperor of all the Russias (1801):\n\n\"Not to increase our forces, not for the gain and extension of ours,\nthe mightiest empire in the world, do we take upon ourselves the\nburden of the administration of the Georgian kingdom. Worthiness,\nhonor, and humanity alone place on us the holy duty to establish in\nGeorgia a government which may found righteousness, safety, and give\nevery one protection of the law.\"\n\nThose are the noble terms of one of Russia's noblest rulers, and\nupon them is based the policy of the administration in regard to the\nGeorgians. The Georgians, being of the same faith as the Russians,\nsympathize with the latter and are nowadays both a bulwark of the\northodox church and of the true Russian conservative governmental\nspirit. In the wars of 1853-56 and 1877-78 they fully proved their\nperfect fidelity and chivalrous readiness to assist their great\ndeliverers against the Turks. The men of Georgia are renowned for their\nheroism, while the women of that country are the most beautiful in the\nworld. The chief occupations of the Georgians are: pasturing, farming,\njewelry work, silk-manufacturing, and wine-growing. The Georgians,\ntaken as a whole, receive a considerable amount of education, and\ntheir newspapers, several of which are published at Tiflis, are very\ngood. The leading paper is the \"Iveria\" (i. e., Georgia). Tiflis,\nthe traditional capital of Georgia, is a city of 180,000 inhabitants,\namong whom are 33,000 Georgians proper. A number of other tribes or\nnationalities such as the Imeretians, Gourians, Mingrelians, Wanetes,\nKhevsoures, etc., also belong to what is called the Georgian family\nof nations. The greatest poet of Georgia is Prince Kazbek. Among the\ngrand old families we find the Orbelians, who trace their ancestry\nback to an emperor of China, the Chavchavadzes, the Growzinskys,\nBgaration-Moukranskys, Amilakvaris, Tsitsianovs, and many others,\nall of whom have rendered their native land incomparable services and\ndeserve the highest praise. The author of the legends which I have\nattempted to translate, is a native Georgian, Mr. A. Goulbat, now\nliving in Central Russia and leading a literary life. He is filled\nwith enthusiasm for his native land and its valiant inhabitants. I\nhave tried as well as I knew how to translate the legends in the same\nspirit as the author wrote them in the original, which was Russian.\n\n\n                                    Sergei de Wesselitsky-Bojidarovitch.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCAUCASIAN LEGENDS\n\n\nI. THE RAIN\n\nA LEGEND OF THE 11TH CENTURY\n\n\nAt the time of Tsar George I (the rulers of Georgia were called\nTsars = kings), in the 11th century, there lived the famous general,\nKaiours, belonging to the glorious Orbeliani family. It is known\nthat these princes trace their ancestry from an emperor of China and\nmore than once intermarried with our rulers, in consequence of which\ntheir position at the court of Georgia was an exceptionally pleasant\none. It is necessary to add to this that the submission and zeal of the\nprinces Orbeliani fully repaid this distinction. They occupied from\ngeneration to generation the post of Sparapet, that is, of general\nin chief of all the Georgian forces, and astonished the world with\ntheir bravery. When George went to war with the Greeks, Kaiours was\ntaken prisoner, and as this took place during the battle of Shirimna,\nwhere a great many Georgian leaders, among them the generals Ratt\nand Zovatt, brothers of Kaiours, were lost, the Tsar for a long time\nthought that Kaiours had died together with them. It was only when\nthe negotiations for peace began, that Emperor Vassilii the Second\nproposed to the Tsar to exchange Kaiours for fourteen fortresses,\nviz., for one in Tao, one in Baisiana, one in Artana, one in Kola,\none in Djavaheta, in Shavhetta, and so on; and besides he demanded as\nhostage George's three-year-old son, the Tsarevitch-successor Bagrat.\n\n\"I am so much indebted to the princely family of the Orbelianis that\nI would consent to give half my kingdom for them,\" answered the Tsar.\n\nAt the end of the negotiations it was decided that the\nTsarevitch-successor should remain as hostage at Constantinople\nuntil the Greeks had succeeded in introducing their administration\nin the above mentioned fortresses and in no case longer than three\nyears. There were those who criticised the Tsar for giving away\nfourteen of the best fortresses in exchange for one man, but the people\nalmost killed them. The general confidence in the warlike capacities\nof the princes Orbeliani was so boundless that many openly said:\n\"Let only Kaiours come back and by him we shall not only regain\npossession of all our fortresses, but with the help of God we shall\nobtain the foreign ones!\" There was no end to joy when he returned\nhome. More than all rejoiced his twelve-year-old daughter Tamara. The\ncaptivity of the father was a great grief to her, as in his absence\nher mother and brother died. Seeing Tamara riding forth by herself to\nmeet him, accompanied by an old gamdela (nurse) and several bitchos\n(young boys, servants), the hero Kaiours, the very glance of whom\nturned whole regiments to flight, cried like a child. Father and\ndaughter tenderly embraced and for a long time could not speak.\n\nThe cries of joy among the people ceased, all remembered the good\nprincess and the pretty boy, who had accompanied her everywhere, and\nsadness darkened the general joyousness. Kaiours was the first one\nto recover. He addressed those who had come to meet him and invited\nthem to his house, to feast with him. \"Tamara tries by her courtesy\nto take the place of my princess,\" he said, \"the Lord is not without\nmercy; during my captivity he gave me a son in exchange for the one\nwhom he took away. Plinii,\" Kaiours says, turning to a handsome\nyouth, standing behind him, \"help thy sister and me to serve the\nguests.\" All looks were now fixed on Plinii; tall, well-built, with\nfine, regular features, he bore an unmistakable stamp of aristocratic\ndescent. Feeling himself the object of general interest, he blushed\nand drooped his eyes, like our bashful young ladies, and this modesty\nat once disposed everybody in his favor.\n\nThe old nobleman Alexander, whom for his bravery and warlike successes\nthey all called \"the Macedonian,\" sat down by Kaiours and began to\nspeak thus: \"Friend, thou hast rightly said that the Lord compensated\nthee for the loss of thy son by a fine youth, whose attachment and\nfilial respect to you we all see and which dispose us in his favor,\nbut we should also like to know who he is and why thou didst adopt\nhim?\" \"During my captivity,\" answered Kaiours, \"the Lord sent me a\nfriend. He was a well-known dignitary, a favorite of the Emperor and\ndid not need the friendship of the prisoner, nevertheless not a day\nwent by that he did not visit me. We related to each other our war\nreminiscences and soon began to love each other like brothers. When I\nreceived news of the death of my wife and son, his friendly sympathy\nwas my sole consolation. He told me about his life and thus I found\nout that he had lost his loving companion on the day of Plinii's\nbirth. The boy is now eighteen years old and healthy, but not strong,\nand must be carefully looked after. Before my departure my friend\nfell ill and called me to him. 'I am dying,' he said, 'and thank God\nthat this happens before thy departure, because I am going to hand\nover to your care my greatest treasure. Adopt Plinii instead of that\nson whom God took away from thee. The doctors think that his health\nneeds a much warmer climate than ours.' I swore to love and treat\nhim like my son and hope that the Lord will help me to fulfill my\nvow!\" continued Kaiours.\n\n\"Thou didst satisfy my curiosity on one point,\" said Alexander--\"now I\nwant to find out something else, but for this we must repair to some\nother place. My heart also grieves about the son, who by the will of\nthe monarch is among the young men accompanying the Tsarevitch-heir\nto Greece. Although our separation will not exceed three years,\nyet it does seem an eternity to me.\" At these words the old men\nretired, and when they returned they were carrying bowls of horn,\nfilled with wine. With a gay countenance they addressed the feasting\ncrowd. \"Friends,\" said Alexander, \"congratulate me and help me to\nthank Kaiours, who gives me the very best he possesses: I asked\nthe gift of the hand of his daughter for my boy.\" Numberless people\noffered their congratulations and the feasting continued far into the\nnight. Kaiours and Alexander saw each other often, the latter always\nhastened to communicate any news about the son. In the meantime it\nwas discovered that the young men who accompanied Bagrat were learning\nall European languages and sciences.\n\nKaiours thought thus: \"I gave my daughter an entirely Georgian\neducation, she knows neither European languages nor those arts by\nwhich the women over there so attract young men; would she not appear\nstrange to your son?\"\n\nQuite unexpectedly was heard Plinii's sweet voice. \"Allow me to say\na word.\" The old men stared at him; he stood before them all red with\nemotion. \"Speak!\" was their unanimous answer.\n\n\"My late father did not mind spending any sum for my instruction, they\ntaught me everything that is to be learned in our country. I easily\nlearned the sciences, and if you permit me I shall be only too glad\nto educate my sister, who herself has a great passion for learning.\"\n\nPermission was given, and from then on the young people were\ninseparable. Under Plinii's direction Tamara soon acquired great\nperfection in Greek. They studied together the poets, committing\nthe finest parts to memory. Tamara's wonderful voice grew still\ngrander when she learned from Plinii how to accustom it to the rules\nof music. A harp was obtained, and for whole hours at a time they\nrejoiced in song. To the young people days, weeks, and months went by\nwith extraordinary rapidity, they were perfectly happy and for a long\ntime could not imagine how they had become so dear to each other. Being\nconfident in Kaiours's affection, they fearlessly announced to him\ntheir discovery. But as Kaiours had once given his word to Alexander,\nhe did not consider it right to break it. The lessons were stopped and\nPlinii forbidden to visit Tamara except in the presence of her father.\n\nThe young people's happiness suddenly turned to deep grief, which\nKaiours, who loved them sincerely, secretly shared. After a few days\nof such torture, Plinii could not restrain his feelings and found\noccasion to have a secret interview with Tamara. With tears in his\neyes he implored her to run away with him to Greece and there be\nmarried, but neither prayers nor tears could persuade her to become\ndisobedient to her father.\n\n\"As thy wife should be so superior to all others as thou art the most\nbeautiful man in the world,\" said Tamara, \"how canst thou wish to marry\na runaway girl? No, Plinii, let us wait! God is omnipotent! He knows,\nsees and esteems everything in due measure. He knows very well whether\nwe find it easy not to be able to see each other, and I am sure that\nif we do nothing to provoke him, he himself will find means to stop\nour separation; only this I pray thee, do not forget me and don't\ntry to find an occasion to see me secretly.\"\n\nMorning and evening, day and night, Tamara prayed to God to make an\nend to their separation, and the Lord answered her prayer. Once upon\na time, accompanied by an old nurse and a bitcho (young boy servant),\nshe started on a pilgrimage to some distant monastery where there lived\nan old man of ascetic life. To him Tamara revealed her grief and the\nold man led her into his garden. There in the presence of all he began\nto pray for her, and suddenly a terrible cloud appeared, lightning\nwas seen and fearful strokes of thunder were heard. Those who were\npresent fell to the ground from fright. At last the storm was over.\n\n\"Arise!\" said the prior, \"the Lord has heard us sinners and comforted\nTamara!\"\n\n\"But where is she?\" they asked.\n\n\"There,\" answered the old man, pointing to a magnificent fragrant\nlily, which had suddenly appeared in the midst of his garden. \"The\nLord turned her into a flower,\" he continued.\n\nThe people would not believe it. The nurse spread a rumor that the\ncrafty abbot had hidden Tamara. Forgetting godly fear and fearing\nKaiours's wrath, she insulted and cursed him. The boy servants, among\nwhom there were many Mahometans, searched the whole monastery, all\nthe surrounding woods and bushes, and not finding Tamara anywhere,\nthey killed the holy old man and burned down the monastery. The\nancient building stood in flames, also the stone enclosure, many a\nhundred year old tree, the huge library, in fact all the scanty good\nof the images. Alone the church and the lily into which Tamara had\nbeen transformed were spared.\n\nUpon hearing of what had occurred, Kaiours and Plinii hastened to the\nspot. In the church there was nobody, everything else represented\na field of coal and ashes. Tamara was nowhere to be found. Only in\nthe midst of all these ashes there grew a splendid, fresh, fragrant\nwhite lily.\n\nPlinii was the first to approach her and began to cry. Kaiours followed\nhim and was very much startled. He noticed that when Plinii's tears\nfell on the coal surrounding the lily, her tender leaves grew quite\nyellow from jealousy; on the other hand when they dripped into the\nlily she grew red from joy.\n\n\"Tamara, is it thou we see?\" asked the father.\n\nJust at that moment there came up a little breeze and Kaiours and\nPlinii heard distinctly as though the leaves spoke:\n\n\"It is I, father!\"\n\nThe inconsolable father could not stand the loss of his daughter and\nimmediately died from grief, but poor Plinii cried so much and so long\nand so fervently prayed to God that he might be united with Tamara,\nthat in the end the Lord transformed him to rain. I have heard that\nin bygone times whenever a dryness set in the inhabitants of the\nsurrounding villages hastened to the abandoned church, around which\nlilies always grew in abundance, and picked whole baskets of them. They\nscattered the fragrant harvest in the fields and gardens and the young\nmaidens sang Tamara's song. The lovely melodious composition was as\nfragrant and clean as the dear flower which they glorified. This song,\nindeed, is Tamara's very prayer, showing all her childish faith in\nGod's almightiness. It ends with an invocation of Plinii, who, they\nsay, always appears in the form of a warm, beneficial rain. I heard\neven that these lilies preserved a rare capacity, viz., sometimes\nto grow red, sometimes yellow, and our maidens thus concluded that\nthese flowers could tell one's fortune. Each maiden notices one\nflower and after the rain goes to look for it. Is the lily yellow,\nthe young girl entertains great fears as to the fidelity of her\nlover; is it red, she never doubts his attachment to her. Whether\nthis quaint custom still prevails I don't know. I am always sorry\nwhen some such tradition becomes forgotten! In our ancient legends\nthere was so much of the truthful, honorable and elevated that these\ncircumstances alone rendered them most instructive.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nII. BAKARR THE FIRST, TSAR OF GEORGIA\n\nA STORY\n\n\nBakarr the First ascended the throne after the death\nof his well-beloved and much-esteemed father, Mirian the\nConverter. Remembering the counsels of his dear, dear father, he\nturned all his glorious efforts towards converting and instructing\nthose mountain inhabitants who had not submitted themselves to the\nperemptory orders of Mirian and had thus not appeared to be baptized\nwith the rest of the grand old nation. Highly honorable in every way,\nsimple in his manners, the ever-patient Bakarr finally succeeded in\nobtaining the long desired baptism of the wild unbelievers, without\napplying any forcible and dangerous measures. Having heard of his\npeacefulness of character, the Armenian Tsar thought it opportune to\ntake the throne away from him and hand it over to Irdat, the son of\nthe deceased Tsarevitch Revv and the Armenian Tsarevna Salomee. But\nBakarr united all the qualities of a brave and excellent general\nwith the greatest virtues of an earnest, peaceful Tsar. He therefore\narranged an alliance with his dear nephew, the Persian King Kossrovve\nthe Second, and jointly with him, in a fearful and hard-fought battle\nin the province of Djavakheta, completely defeated and destroyed\nthe wretched Armenian army and turned it to disgraceful flight. The\namply terrified Tsarevna Salomee begged the Emperor of Greece to be\nkind enough to explain to Bakarr that the Armenian Tsar had not acted\nupon her advice or desire.\n\nWilling to let each one of his loving subjects approach and debate\nwith him, Bakarr on the other hand did not consider it in accordance\nwith his sublime merit to have the neighboring sovereigns mix in and\nbegin to reason about his own family affairs, and therefore he briefly\nreplied to the great Greek Emperor thus: \"Until in the family of the\nGeorgian Tsar Bakarr the First there proveth to be one who is unable\nand too weak to properly reign, the throne will belong to it, and the\nchildren of Revv ought not to bring forth the slightest pretensions.\"\nTo his ally, however, to Kossrovve the Second, he announced that the\nattack of the Armenian Tsar forced him to seriously look after the\nsafety and education of the children of his brother and sister,\nwhom Mirian willingly permitted to be married to Pkerose. Actually\nat the end of the war, the first active deed of Bakarr was the exact\narrangement about the domains of Pkerose.\n\nInstead of Rana from Bardave on, given to Pkerose by Mirian, he begged\nBakarr to give him Sammshvillde, to which the Tsar fully consented,\nconstructing a direct line as far as the entrance of the Christavstvo\n(province) of Abbots. Deeply moved by the great-heartedness of the\nTsar, Pkerose accepted Christianity and was baptized with his whole\nnation, but Bakarr occupied himself with thoroughly settling the\nwidow and children of his brother Revv.\n\nHe led them to Kouketka, and having made his way into Roustava, he\nhanded over this country to the administration of his nephews Irdat and\nBakourious with the title of kristaves, and under them their mother\nSalomee quietly lived in their company. This sovereign sacrificed\nhis whole life to the betterment and thorough reforming of his great\nmonarchy and distinguished himself by passionate uprightness. He\nconsiderably increased the churches and the church servants. By him\nwas also founded the perfectly magnificent cathedral of Tsillkanny.\n\nHe died in the year three hundred and sixty-four and was buried by the\nside of his father Mirian. Before dying he also, just like Mirian,\nhung his royal crown on the marvellous cross of Saint Nina, touched\nhis son and successor Mirdat the Second with it, and afterwards\nplaced the crown on the head of his son and openly proclaimed him\nhis rightful heir. This solemn custom was strictly observed by all\nGeorgian Tsars. Although Bakarr made absolutely no new acquisitions,\nyet his short but most wise administration had firmly united together\nall decaying, poorer, and mutually inimical parts of his government,\nand finally confirmed the actual preponderance of Christianity over\nall other religions, and therefore his reign was considered one of\nthe very best and most blissful.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIII. THE INCOMBUSTIBLE TULIP\n\n\nIn the second century B. C., Armenia was governed by Valarsass,\nthe brother of the Persian Shah Arsass the Great. At that period\nthe countries to the north of the Arabs were called Chaldea and\nPontus. In the latter lived a young hero, Morphiliziy, who at the\nhead of his followers could not only repel all attacks of Valarsass,\nbut even in a decisive battle completely defeated him; thereupon he\nannexed also the Georgian frontier counties, among others Kaeounan,\nand was proclaimed Tsar (King) by his grateful subjects.\n\nIt happened that just then Kaeounan was governed by John, a native\nof the city of Damascus, whom they therefore called Damassk, i.e.,\nthe Damascian. He was a widower and possessed but one daughter,\na perfect beauty, by the name of Nina. During the battle, Damassk,\nthrough his personal bravery, attracted Morphiliziy's attention,\nwho challenged him to a duel. For a long time the old warrior's\nexperience counterbalanced the hero's strength of the Pontitian, but\nin the end his old strength began to give way, his movements slackened\ntheir usual rapidity and he could not escape from Morphiliziy's horse,\nwhich transpierced him. Dripping with blood, he fell from the faithful\nsteed. At that moment Morphiliziy jumped off his horse and tried to\nrevive him with all his strength. The dying man opened his eyes.\n\n\"Ask whatever favor thou wishest, old hero!\" the conqueror\nexclaimed. \"In thee I found the first man whose military adroitness\nexcelled mine!\"\n\n\"Don't abandon my daughter,\" murmured John, and thereupon died.\n\nEntering Kaeounan, Morphiliziy first of all rushed to John's house\nand was astounded by Nina's beauty. \"She shall be my wife!\" he loudly\nbroke out, and immediately appointed a day for the wedding.\n\nWith fright the unhappy orphan heard of this decision. How could she,\nwho so dearly loved her father, become the wife of his murderer.\n\n\"Not for anything in the world,\" she repeated a thousand times in\none hour, and upon pronouncing that sentence, her magnificent eyes,\nwhich were usually a very ocean of goodness and mildness, were filled\nwith some terrible fire.\n\nWe must notice that in those times it was customary among our noblemen\nto choose gamdelis among the Jewesses, for their daughters. John\nhad of course followed the general custom, and little Nina, who in\nearly childhood had lost her mother, loved her gamdela (nurse) with\nall the enthusiasm of her daring soul. All of the gamdela's tastes\nwere Nina's. Her faith, her God were the same faith and the same God\nas her pupil's. Thus the nurse was the first person to come to hear\nof Nina's decision and was asked for advice. The old woman silently\nlistened to her and long did not say a word, only the features of\nher face took a painful expression.\n\n\"Why art thou so silent?\" impatiently remarked Nina.\n\n\"I am reflecting whether I shall tell thee still another cause for\nthy refusing Morphiliziy or whether it is better to say no more\nabout it.\" At last with a sad smile she broke out and at the same\ntime her piercing glance was fixed on Nina, who flew into a passion\nand turned away.\n\n\"And so my supposition is true, thou dost love the aznaoure of Cicero!\"\n\nNina threw herself on the floor and hid her grieved face between the\nknees of the gamdela. The old woman caressingly touched her long hair\nwith her wrinkled hands and began to think; at last she decided to\nreveal the result of her reflections.\n\n\"Thou art so young that I am afraid to advise thee seriously. Could\nnot a time well come when thou mayest be sorry to have made him thy\nmaster, who might be thy slave? Remember that Morphiliziy is a king,\nbut Cicero does not even belong to the aristocracy. He is a simple,\npoor nobleman of such as thy father had many; were he alive such\na marriage would hardly suit him. Besides thou art accustomed to\nluxury, while Cicero has absolutely nothing, also whatever thou hast\nthou canst never give away. The only means to unite you is for you\nto run immediately into the country of his forefathers and there be\nmarried. I tell thee openly: What disposes me in favor of Cicero is\nhis constant, endless and boundless submission to thee. I noticed it\nlong ago and have been watching him, but notwithstanding my experience\nand closest attention, I did not find a single instance in which he\nmight be blamed.\"\n\nThe hidden face of the young lady lit up with some roguish\nsmile. Perhaps she thought that the nurse esteemed her sagacity\ntoo highly. Whatever may have been her feelings, the moment she\nraised her head from the knees of the old woman, all traces of her\nsmiles vanished. She sat upon the floor at the nurse's feet and for\na long time they silently glanced at each other; each one had her\nidea. Suddenly Nina quite unexpectedly threw her white hands around the\nneck of the old woman, hid her face on her shoulder and loudly cried.\n\n\"Gamdela,\" she passionately said, \"arrange it as thou didst just now\npropose, arrange it all if thou lovest me and dost not wish that\nI should die! I don't want, I cannot--no, I will not live without\nCicero! For him I will give up with joy and distinction my riches\nor even the royal crown! What is all that to me if I am not to have\nhim? Dost thou understand, dear nurse, that I love him more than I\never loved thee, or my father; that I love him more than whosoever in\nthe world; that I love him as fishes do water. And thou sayest that\nhe could be my slave--well, do I want such a thing? I myself desire\nto be his slave and do all he commands! I love him just because he\nis poor, unknown and a stranger to every one here!\" and Nina again\nbecame hysterical.\n\nThe poor gamdela did her best to quiet the young girl with caressing\nmovements of her aged hands, she herself trembled from emotion, quietly\ncried and innerly prayed. In the end she succeeded in putting Nina\nto bed and herself called for Cicero, and with her first glance at\nthe young man persuaded herself that she was not mistaken as to his\nboundless devotion to Nina. Yesterday still all fell in love with\nthe handsome youth, in the best of health, but now he stood before\nher with a rawboned pale face and castdown eyes, even the lips grew\nwhite and their edges nervously jerked.\n\nThe old woman with precaution informed him how matters stood, and\nimmediately tried with all her might to restrain his boundless joy.\n\nWhen he had reflected a little, she ordered to prepare two riding\nhorses for the hour of midnight and advised Cicero to wait at the\nWestern Gates, whither she promised to bring Nina, dressed in men's\nclothes.\n\nUpon this occasion he was also given a belt, richly sewn with\ngold. Having done there everything that was necessary, the gamdela\nwent to Nina and prepared her for the hasty departure. Midnight\ncame. With silent steps two shades moved through the whole house and\nacross the court. At the Western Gates the impatient cavalier was\nalready waiting with an extra horse.\n\nNina quickly mounted it, with a happy smile motioned to the dear old\nwoman, and soon they disappeared in the darkness.\n\nHowever much the gamdela wished to remain at the gates, as long as\nthe trampling of the galloping hoofs could be heard of those horses\nwhich took away with them, perhaps forever, all that was dearest\nto her in the whole world, common sense did not permit this and the\nnurse returned home and passed the remainder of the night in tears\nand prayer. At sunrise the house was filled with her lamentations.\n\nThe frightened servants instantly answered her call and found her in\nthe garden on the bank of the river. By her side lay Nina's dress and\nlinen. Seeing people run, she motioned to them, and wringing her hands\nshe explained to them that Nina was drowned. Old and young rushed to\nthe river, not only the people of the household, but the whole town\njoined those seeking; nevertheless all efforts proved to be in vain.\n\nMorphiliziy's warriors upon hearing of what had taken place immediately\ninformed their lord, and were all without exception ordered to go to\nsearch for Nina. Morphiliziy himself rushed to the garden and began\nto question the grief-stricken old woman.\n\nFrom her explanations, constantly interrupted by moaning, he understood\nthat Nina long ago asked to go bathing, that the gamdela, fearing the\nswiftness of the river, had not given her permission, and that this\nday at sunrise the impatient girl had quietly slipped out into the\ngarden while the nurse was sleeping and got what she desired. Awaking\nand beholding the empty bed, the gamdela immediately ran to the banks\nof the river, but found nothing but Nina's dress.\n\nMorphiliziy himself went into the water, turned over every bush and\nstone, swam beyond the town, but found nothing at all. Everywhere he\nmet people who were on the same errand; the warriors searched, the men\nof Damask, the citizens, yes, all who could swim, were out working,\nbut in vain. The grieved sovereign came up on the bank and declared\nthat he would grant any reward to him who found Nina living or dead\nand brought her to him. A day went by--no news. And a second day went\nby; many of those on the lookout returned home with the discouraging\nnews that they had not found the girl. The town again took its usual\nlook. Morphiliziy alone did not sleep and thoughtfully sat on the roof\nof his house. The night was warm, with bright moonlight, and acted\nquietingly upon the unhappy Tsar. About midnight he beheld a shade\napproaching his house and began to look at it with anxiety. Soon he\ndiscovered that it was his favorite negro.\n\n\"Noy!\" he cried out.\n\n\"It is I, sire,\" replied the negro. \"Let me immediately report.\"\n\n\"Come up quickly!\" and Morphiliziy's heart was suddenly bent and\nfrosted and beat so hard that it caused pain. The hero put his hand\non his breast in the hope of quieting its movements, but it went on\nmost painfully and his momentary joy turned to fearful worry.\n\nIn a moment Noy appeared before him. \"Hast thou found her alive or\ndead?\" he quickly asked.\n\n\"Living,\" began Noy, \"but....\"\n\n\"Well, where is she then?... a horse, let me have a horse this very\nmoment!\" shouted Morphiliziy, but the disappointed, almost terrified\nlooks of Noy caused him to think the matter over.\n\n\"Why art thou thus silent?\" he impatiently asked the slave.\n\n\"Sire ... she is not ... alone! She lives with ... a young man!\"\n\nMorphiliziy turned his back upon the negro in order to hide the\nimpression which these words had produced on him. He sat down on a\nstool and pointing to the carpet lying at his feet ordered Noy to\nrelate everything in detail and without hurrying.\n\n\"Sire,\" said the negro--\"I wished to deceive thee! I wanted to escape\nbondage and return to the land of my forefathers. I thought of taking\nadvantage of the general disorder, went into the stable, saddled thy\nhorse, explaining that I was starting for the search, and while all the\npeople were looking for Nina along the banks of the river, I started\nin the opposite direction--straight to the sea, where I dreamt of\nfinding a ship and sailing away. At first I was unusually delighted,\nbut little by little I began to be overpowered by the fear of being\npursued. My horse flew like the wind and I induced it to go faster\nand faster. In the meantime my fear grew stronger at every step. It\nchanged to terror--into some kind of despair; I no longer let the horse\ncatch breath, but chased him like a crazy man. In the end his speed\ngrew smaller. I became furious, tore the cloth and beat him without\nmercy. He still went on a little farther and beyond his strength,\nand then rolled into the dust. This was in a forest. I unsaddled and\nunbridled him, but he did not raise himself and so I continued my\nway on foot. Suddenly I overheard human voices; I stopped and began\nto listen. Evidently these were two persons in love with each other,\nand I had nothing to fear. I cautiously approached, continuing to\nhide myself in thick bushes and trying to look at those conversing.\n\n\"To my surprise I beheld two young boys; they sat together and were\neating. 'Must we ride still farther?' asked the younger one.\n\n\"'I am very tired!'\n\n\"'It is no wonder you are tired, my little soul,' replied the older\nboy, 'why, see! we did not leave our horses for about twenty-four\nhours; I do think it would be more sensible if we remained the night\nhere; I shall light a fire as a guard against wild beasts, put under\nthee my bourka [a long black cape without sleeves commonly used all\nover the Caucasus], and watch while thou art asleep!'\n\n\"'Ah! but if we made for the village thou too couldst rest?'\n\n\"'No, my joy, I am more afraid for thee of Morphiliziy and his\nfollowers than of all the wild animals of this slumbering thicket. From\nthe latter I can always save my bride, but from Morphiliziy it is\nonly a wonder if we escape alive!'\n\n\"I understood all, and impulsively retired. Why should I then run away,\nknowing that thou wouldst give me my freedom in any case. Returning\nto that spot whence I had descended to overhear their conversation,\nI suddenly came upon a little stream and sat down on its bank. My\ncrazy race had quite exhausted my strength. I drew some bread from my\npocket, picked off some wild figs and began to eat, reflecting how I\nshould come home the quickest. Seeing where I was, there was no use\nof trying to return home on foot, but where should I find a horse.\n\n\"Having finished my meal, I arose and went to that place where a few\nhours before I had abandoned your horse; to my greatest pleasure he\nwas munching grass. I led him to the stream, let him drink, saddled\nhim and put on the bridle. To ride him would have had no sense. After\nwalking an hour he grew more lively, and I began to hope that he was\nrecovering, especially as he suddenly joyfully raised his head and\nneighed. I imagined that in the distance some other horse answered\nlikewise. I hurried in that direction; after a little while the horses\nagain exchanged compliments, and guiding myself by their voices,\nI soon met a young cavalier on a fine Persian horse.\n\n\"By his fashionable costume it was easy to distinguish him as one\nof the local aristocrats. I reverently bowed; he answered my salute\nand his eyes were fixed upon thy horse, which he fell in love with,\nlike a connoisseur.\n\n\"'Whither art thou, traveller?' he asked.\n\n\"'I am from afar, sir, sent by my ruler upon a hasty and important\naffair and must walk the rest of the way for I am incapable of managing\nthis horse.'\n\n\"'It is the very best thoroughbred Arabian steed that I have ever seen;\nthou didst excessively tire it and thou wilt certainly ruin this jewel\nfor good if you do not give him rest. I don't know thy master and don't\nwish to know his name, but even on his own land I cannot allow such a\ntreasure to be ruined. Mount then my horse, gallop away to thy lord\nand tell him that thou didst leave his half-dead horse at the tavad\nof Bidandara's. If he wishes to sell him I shall pay any price he may\ndemand; if he does not want to part with him, why then let him send\nback my horse and take back his own; at Bidandara's everybody finds\nhospitality--even animals,' and he got off his horse, took hold of\nand led away mine without listening to my exclamations of gratitude.\n\n\"I gave him time to go a long way and then chased his horse still more\nmercilessly than thine. I knew that thou wilt give him the centuple,\nand therefore thought only how I could reach thee the soonest. Upon\nentering the town he fell and I ran the rest of the way on foot. What\ndoest thou command me to do now?\"\n\n\"This moment thou wilt choose two of the best horses and lead them\nhither. We shall immediately start in pursuit; tell my lifeguards\nsecretly to catch up with us. Let them have pity upon the horses\nand take plenty of wine and provisions with them, for thou must be\nquite hungry!\"\n\nIn a few minutes the two cavaliers rode out of town and later on they\nwere followed by a whole detachment of warriors, trying to catch up\nwith them. Morphiliziy was not riding very fast, but thinking. He\nremembered that still a short time before, when but a simple army\ncommander, he had no other wishes besides military glory; all his plans\nseemed to have been successfully carried out when he was proclaimed\nKing and his name passed from mouth to mouth, surrounded with all\nthe glitter of the recent victory.\n\nThe triumph over Damask, the most glorious warrior of his century,\nappeared to him as the height of blissfulness. He remembered also that\nunusual, up to this time new to him, feeling which suddenly arose in\nhim upon beholding Nina.\n\nThe very glance at this young girl, hardly out of her teens, drove out\nof his heart and imagination everything in which he up to this moment\nhad prided himself--military glory and victories over Valarsass and\nthe accession to the throne--all vanished somewhere in the distance,\noccupied some remote spot and was no longer of any interest to him. And\nto think that this child had made fun of him! This child had managed\nher nurse and servants and warriors and even him, Morphiliziy, the\nterrible, powerful and invincible conqueror! This little girl feared\nnot his anger, was not frightened by his forces, did not tremble before\nhis might. His warrior's renown, his monarchy, his personal charms\nhad not won her. She was not at all excited or especially delighted\nover the impression she had produced upon the hero, and in just the\nsame way she treated a little boy, whom he could knock down with one\nblow like some piece of paper!\n\nHe resolved that Nina should be his wife however difficult it might\nbe to obtain her hand. She did not wish his love--she did not see the\nneed of his caresses--\"then,\" thought he, \"let her feel my strength,\nmy might, my power--yes, my wrath!\"\n\nThese reflections were interrupted by the approaching\nwarriors. Morphiliziy turned around; the moon lit up his pale face\nand sparkling eyes. The soldiers were frightened, never yet had they\nseen him look thus.\n\n\"Give Noy wine and bread--he will eat on the way, but to you, my\ncomrades in battle, I shall now unfold the secret of my soul. You know\nmy whole life, you know very well that there is not a man who could\nboast of having conquered me; you know too that my very glance can\nput regiments to flight, that my name was sufficient to make kings\nand nations tremble, and now, when I reached the height of glory and\npower, I wanted to divide them with an orphan, I wanted to place her\nupon that throne for which I am indebted to your love and submission\nto me, I wished to proclaim her Tsaritsa and share with her my glory,\nmy happiness, and my power! But she refused all these things, and me\ntoo, and ran off with a boy. Now....\"\n\nMorphiliziy's speech was interrupted, he sighed deeply and continued:\n\n\"We are out to pursue them. Think up some punishment worthy of their\ncrime. What shall be done with her?\"\n\n\"Kill them both!\" was the unanimous reply.\n\n\"That is insufficient!\" answered the Tsar.\n\n\"Drown them in the river, where they betrayed their deception!\"\n\n\"Not enough!\"\n\n\"Have them burned alive!\"\n\n\"Still too good for them!\"\n\n\"Let them be torn to pieces by wild beasts!\"\n\n\"All this is very little!\" replied Morphiliziy. \"All this is quickly\nover and does not appease my desire for revenge. They must be captured\nalive and locked up one opposite the other, so that through the open\nwindows of their dungeons they may see each other, and then I shall\nprepare my rival a spectacle that will wound him worse than fire,\nbut afterwards I shall hand over to you Nina, and then there will be\ntime to cut off their proud heads and throw them away to be eaten by\nthe dogs!\"\n\nThe Tsar grew silent, his face became still paler, his eyes stared\nout worse than before; he was so terrible to look at, that even the\nfearless warriors could not glance at him and hardly approached his\nhorse and Noy's, which they were hurrying on at full speed. The sun\nrose--they continued their ride, a whole day went by, the journey\nwent on as before, and night overtook them again when they entered\na forest. Noy announced that it was the same forest in which he had\nleft the fugitives. The moon shone poorly from behind the eternal\ntrees, it became necessary to get off the horses, which were left to\nthe care of several warriors, but the others went on and soon found\nthat little field of wild copse on which Cicero and Nina had rested,\nthey even found the place where they had been sitting.\n\nThe grass was trodden down, it bore the traces of spilt wine and crumbs\nof bread--one large shrub was cut down--but there were no branches.\n\n\"They probably burned them in a wood-pile,\" remarked Noy.\n\n\"Well, where then are the traces of the wood-pile?\" replied\nMorphiliziy. Upon noticing that from the place where they stood onward\nthe grass was trodden down and seemed to form a kind of road, all\nfollowed upon this track. By sunrise they left the forest and spread\nthemselves out over a splendid meadow, which ended in a field. The\ntrack went on across the meadow to the very field, which was beginning\nto be worked by laborers.\n\nMorphiliziy dispatched one of his warriors to ask to whom this\nfield belonged and whether they had not seen two boys on horseback\nyesterday. The soldier returned with a peasant.\n\n\"This is the field of the tavad Bidandari, we are his men and did\nnot work here yesterday, but we heard that our master had brought\nhome some two youths, one of whom is ill, and to-day by the orders\nof the proprietor, my brother went for the znabar (a kind of doctor)\non the seacoast.\"\n\n\"Why, is it far to the sea?\" asked Morphiliziy.\n\n\"Six or seven agatches\" (an agatche is a little more than six and\nless than seven versts).\n\n\"What! is there no doctor nearer than that?\" again asked Morphiliziy.\n\n\"Why should there not be one? We have a doctor in the village who is\nimmediately at the side of the patient when required, but the other\none is cleverer because he takes advantage of the sea tide in order\nto collect plants, shells, insects, and little fishes, which our own\ndoctors do not get a chance to use for their medicine.\"\n\n\"Tell thy master that the owner of the Arab horse came to thank him\nfor his favor, to pay his debt, and asks permission to come in.\"\n\nThe peasant went off, but Morphiliziy ordered his warriors to return\nto the forest, and taking Noy with him, followed from afar the running\nlaborer. He was very particular in explaining to Noy why he did not\nwish his name to be disclosed before the right time.\n\nBidandari came out to meet his guest and led him to some gorgeous\napartments where a number of fashionably attired servants surrounded\nthe newcomer, offering elegant clothes, aromatic soaps, and every\nkind of luxury customary in those times. Having washed and dressed,\nMorphiliziy came into an adjoining room where a dinner was set. The\nhost met him at the door with two large horns filled with old wine,\nwhich, joining hands, they drank at the same time, as a sign of\nfriendship. Notwithstanding that Morphiliziy had eaten almost\nnothing for more than two days, the rare and numerous dishes did\nnot dazzle him. He had to make an effort in order to pretend that\nhe was eating. At the end of the dinner the host offered him to take\na rest, but Morphiliziy said that before that he would like to talk\nwith him alone: then Bidandari, who had not even looked as though he\nhad recognized his sovereign, respectfully fell down on one knee and\nkissed the edge of the royal coat.\n\n\"You recognized me, tavad?\" said the surprised King.\n\n\"Yes, your Majesty, but I did not dare to say this before the rest,\nbecause I did not know the reason you had for not speaking openly.\"\n\n\"I came hither to carry out my revenge and I cannot do it without\nyour help.\"\n\n\"Pray tell, what is it you order?\"\n\n\"But this is against the laws of hospitality, in which your house\nhas always glorified itself.\"\n\n\"If it be impossible to receive satisfaction for being insulted\notherwise--then give orders to kill me--in such a way at least I\nfulfil my duty as to you, like a faithful subject, obliged to defend\nthe honor of his sovereign even to death and shall not be responsible\nfor what occurs in my house after my death.\"\n\n\"But, tavad, you forget that in such a case I fulfil my duty neither\nlike a Tsar, nor like a guest, but of this let us speak later. The\npoint of the affair is that in your own house my bride is hiding,\ndisguised as a boy, and I want to take her immediately with me. It\nseems to me that by handing her over to me you do nothing offensive to\nthe rules of hospitality; as to her companion, he has insulted my royal\nhonor, and it is only natural that every true subject should himself\nchase him out of his house as soon as he learns about his crime.\"\n\nBidandari sighed and his face took a sad expression.\n\n\"I ask a favor of you, sire; sooner order that I be killed than that\nmy guest receiveth the merited punishment and let me now tell you all\nthat weighs on me. Before death one is permitted to put aside every\netiquette and to speak with one's sovereign without the customary\ncourt formalities, thereupon I take the liberty of treating you like\na brilliant warrior.\"\n\n\"You forget, tavad, that I am very much obliged to you, and that you\ntherefore have the right to demand anything you like of me except to\npardon my rival. You yourself are a young and unmarried man, is it\npossible you do not understand my thoughts?\"\n\n\"Forgive me, sire, but I must again speak none but the bare truth! My\nmeeting with your negro you already know about. Wishing to come home by\nthe very most direct way, I went on a trail which by chance brought me\nup to two boys. The younger of them was shaking from malaria, he was\npale and lay upon a bourka, but the older one sat by him in despair\nand wrung his hands. On this same little meadow two saddled and tired\nhorses were feeding; by their exhausted look it was perfectly clear\nthat the travellers came a long way. I came up from behind, and when I\ngreeted them, the elder brother quickly jumped up and seized a kinjall\n(Caucasian knife or rather dagger), while the younger boy simply sighed\nand looked at me in a terrified way; he was evidently either too ill or\ntoo exhausted to make any kind of a movement. 'Fear nothing,' I said,\n'I came to offer you my hospitality, which you hardly have a right\nto refuse as you are on my lands.'\n\n\"'Excuse me,' suspiciously answered the older one--'before I accept\nyour kind offer, I should like to ask you where you took this horse\nfrom, which yesterday was still the property of the monarch?'\n\n\"I explained it. The boy reflected. 'What dost thou think of, young\nman, accept quickly my offer, and together we shall carry the sick\nbrother into a warm room, in which his illness will be over by morning,\nwhile here he may die from taking cold.'\n\n\"The boy got frightened.\n\n\"'Promise me not to hand us out to Morphiliziy alive or dead, and\nI will readily accept your invitation with gratitude; otherwise we\nshould both prefer to die.'\n\n\"I glanced at the sick boy, he evidently made an effort to smile and\nthus confirm his brother's words, but this smile lit up his face\nwith such an inexpressible magnificence that I began to be very\nmuch puzzled--after all was it not a woman? I accorded the desired\npromise. We made litters of the branches of a soft coppice. I told\nthem that I would send horses for their conveyance, but thy horse\ntied itself to the girdle and we safely brought our litter to the\nhouse. During the night the patient began to groan and constantly\nrepeated:\n\n\"'Darling Cicero, if they discover us--kill me, I wish to be neither\na Tsaritsa nor anything else except thy wife!'\n\n\"There was not the least doubt left by this time; this was a woman who\nhad run away from some detested man together with her lover. Seeing\nthat it was no longer possible to hide anything, Cicero related\nthe whole story to me. They already loved each other, sire, when\nthou didst first see her. Perhaps thou wilt say that Cicero might\nperfectly well have conquered his attachment; taking into account\nthat Nina was the object of this attachment--such a change was very\nimprobable indeed. I say further that I myself was overtaken by such\nan extraordinary feeling of delight before this utmost perfection\nof beauty that I felt as though it was not worth living on earth if\none could not possess Nina; and in consequence of all this, sire,\nthou dost partly fulfil my proper wish if thou dost order me to be\nexecuted as one bending down before thy will. To hand them out to\nyou after my promise is beyond my powers.\"\n\nMorphiliziy walked up and down the room with huge steps and nervously\ntwitching with his mouth.\n\n\"I wish to see her!\" he said.\n\n\"Oh, monarch, be gracious! Before thy arrival here, a doctor had\njust attended upon her. She has a fever from terror, she frequently\ncries, saying:\n\n\"'I am so tired that I cannot ride any farther! They pursue us--yes,\nthey pursue us!' If she should see thee now, death would surely\nset in. As a satisfaction to thy offended pride, take away my life,\nwhich has become so painful to me. I am more guilty before thee than\nCicero, because I dared to fall in love with thy bride, while he just\nworshipped a free girl and was fervently loved by her before thou\ndidst enter the town and becamest our ruler. Thou didst permit me to\nrequest rewards for ordinary services; don't let Nina perish! Don't\ndeprive her of that happiness of which she deprived thee, and even\nme!\" Bidandari wished to bend a knee, but the Tsar did not allow him\nto take such a step.\n\n\"We shall converse like young men of equal rank,\" said he. \"Leave me\nalone; in a few minutes I shall call thee.\"\n\nBidandari went out, but Morphiliziy again paced the floor. Within\nhim a terrible combat was going on. On one side his deceived love and\nwounded pride demanded cruel revenge, on the other hand the elevated\nthoughts of his soul, his well-known love of mercy and chivalrous\nnobility of soul inclined him to follow Bidandari's advice. After\nwalking a whole hour his bad intentions went away, and completely\nworn out from physical exhaustion as well as spiritual disturbance,\nhe threw himself down upon the sofa and went to sleep with the firm\nresolution to pardon Nina.\n\nBut alas! Ibliss (the devil) is always angered by any noble intention,\nbe it of a Christian, be it of a heathen, and always exerts himself\nin finding ways of preventing their being carried out. And thus\nit happened also this time. He appeared to Morphiliziy in a dream\nunder the form of Nina; she was sitting at the feet of Bidandari\nand gaily joked and laughed. Morphiliziy did his best to overhear\ntheir conversation and understood that they were laughing at his\nconfidence. Bidandari boasted about his cleverness, but Nina laughed\naloud.\n\n\"I assured him that thou lovest Cicero--that once I came upon you by\nchance; and he believed it all like a stupid child. He allows Cicero\nto marry and lets you go to Rome, whither I shall soon follow you, and\nthen only will he find out the true state of affairs. Thou must admit,\nmy Nina, that I cleverly thought up all and am worthy of a reward!\"\n\nInstead of answering, Nina threw herself on his neck and Morphiliziy\nsaw and heard how the mouths joined together in kissing. He awoke\ntrembling from furor. \"Noy,\" he cried. The negro appeared.\n\n\"Tell the warriors to bring me immediately, all chained, Bidandari,\nCicero, and her! I shall instantly ride home alone! If I stay here but\na minute longer I shall choke them all, and this is little! A horse,\nI say, a horse!\"\n\nIn a moment he was already riding off home, but at sunrise on the\nfollowing day they brought to his house the three guilty ones. He came\nout on the roof, all wicked, dark, terrible! All his former noble\nfeelings had disappeared for good, he gave himself up to the work\nof pitiless revenge. Silently he pointed to Nina and his house. The\nwarriors understood and led her there. Cicero made a desperate\neffort to run after her, but the heavy chains and powerful arms of\nthe soldiers held him fast. Then the Tsar pointed to Cicero and to\nthe house situated opposite him. Cicero was led off there. Before\nhim there remained but Bidandari.\n\n\"Cut off his sly head!\" shouted Morphiliziy, with such anger that a\nflame came out of his mouth at these words. The warriors fell upon\nBidandari, but hardly had his head been divided from his body, when a\nwonder occurred. The day was bright and clear, without a single cloud\nin the sky, but at this moment an immense black cloud descended unto\nthe corpse and hid him from the eyes of those standing about. All\nstared with the greatest attention. Little by little the cloud went\noff, but on the spot where Bidandari stood a magnificent white tulip\ngrew up.\n\n\"He is a witch!\" cried Morphiliziy, and again the flame was seen\ncoming out of his mouth and nostrils.\n\n\"Bring the messenger of charms, the old gamdela, and knock her down\nbefore this cursed tulip!\"\n\nWhen they cut off her head and the blood was spattered unto the tulip,\nits centre grew strikingly red with pale rosy stripes on the leaves,\nwhich rendered it still more beautiful.\n\n\"Now,\" said Morphiliziy angrily, \"drag Cicero to the window, stand\nby his side and don't let him turn his head. I should like him to\nsee everything that is going to occur opposite!\"\n\nAnd he roared like a madman, and the flame again came out of his\nmouth, nostrils and ears. \"Away with the remaining people from here,\"\nhe shouted in conclusion. The square was instantly cleared.\n\n\"Hand me Nina over here!\" was Morphiliziy's last command as he\nentered the house and took a place at a window opposite the one to\nwhich Cicero was lashed. They brought up Nina, half dead from fear.\n\n\"God of Israel! save me!\" she cried out.\n\n\"Nobody will save thee from me!\" wickedly answered Morphiliziy,\nand seizing Nina and embracing her he brought her to the open\nwindow. Opposite, Cicero was making astounding but futile efforts to\nfree himself from his chains.\n\n\"Call to my God--Cicero! He is stronger than that man!\" cried\nNina. In this moment she glanced at her feet and fainted from\nterror. Morphiliziy was also astounded. He saw that her feet grew\ntogether and formed one black mass. He rashly tore her clothes off her\nbody, but the transformation took place still faster; her whole body\nburned and grew black, and in a few minutes from her hands there jumped\nout a splendid butterfly and joyfully flew across the square to meet\nanother one who had come out of Cicero's dungeon. Both of them hurried\nto the gamdela's body and to the white tulip and circled around them.\n\nHow could one describe Morphiliziy's wrath? To express his anger he\ncould no longer find any human words. Some horrible, fearful sounds\ncame out of his mouth together with flames. With terror his warriors\nlooked on as he threw himself about on the square and as his eyes\nflashed. Little by little he turned completely into a flame. Fiery\ntongues began to climb out of the window, slipped down to the\nsquare and everywhere rose into the air, hoping to burn the poor\nbutterflies. In vain did they fly all over the place, everywhere the\nflame chased them, at last they hid themselves in the tulip, which\nhastened to shelter them with its leaves. The whole fury of the fire\nwas now fixed upon the unhappy little flower. Just then the body of\nthe gamdela was transformed into a shower. As much as Morphiliziy\nharassed his enemy, the faithful gamdela fought against him; thus,\nnotwithstanding all the badness of Morphiliziy, he did not succeed in\nburning the tulip, but the white leaves only ornamented themselves with\nall the colors of the flame. In the end the nurse finally conquered\nher enemy. He went down into the ground and shows himself only when\nthe Lord wishes to punish sinners.\n\nOh, how dreadful he can then be! He shakes the whole earth,\nhe tears to pieces its interior and forms deep precipices where\nformerly flourishing cities stood, lets whole villages fall to ruins,\ndestroys hundred-year-old edifices, rips up gardens, fields, meadows,\nforests. In a word, Morphiliziy became a perfect subterranean fire\nand hourly curses new generations, while the good, faithful gamdela\ndaily renders thanks to Him who turned her into a beneficent shower,\nwithout which men and beasts and plants and everything that is good\non earth would perish.\n\nWhen danger had vanished the leaves of the tulip opened themselves,\nthe butterflies hopped out and hastened to Damassek's house. There\nthey took again their former aspect. They were married, sold off\nall of John's wares, and with incalculable riches went away to\nRome. Before their departure they dug out the tulip and took it\nalong with them. Cicero's country is also favored by heaven just like\nours. There they purchased an elegant house, a magnificent garden,\nand the very best spot of this garden was reserved for the tulip. With\ntheir own hands they planted and took care of it, and soon the whole\ntown delighted in the splendid flower, which, refreshed by frequent\nshowers, grew in size. In a few years the whole garden became one\nfield of tulips.\n\nCicero's and Nina's numerous children played around them, while a\nshower refreshed them morning and evening. Nina and Cicero always\nwent into the garden at that time, and with gratefulness kissed the\nbright leaves, remembering their dear gamdela whom people now bless\nthe world over, as a reward for her faithfulness and love.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIV. SAINT NINA\n\nA TALE\n\n\nThe fourteenth of January is a day of great solemnity throughout\nGeorgia. This is the fete of Saint Nina, who converted us to\nChristianity. Nina's father, Zavonlon, was, according to tradition,\na relation of the great and holy martyr, George, who married Sossanna,\nthe sister of Yovenalii, patriarch of Jerusalem, whose family came from\nKoloss. He and his sister became orphans in early childhood and went\nto Jerusalem, where Yovenalii accepted an appointment as secretary,\nwhile Sossanna entered the service of Sarah, a woman of Vifleem. In\nthe meantime Zavonlon travelled from Kappadokia to Rome to be presented\nto the Emperor, and reached there just at the time when the Brandjis,\nwho had revolted, appeared in the valley of Patalania. Zavonlon did\nnot let them reach Rome, but turned them to flight, captured the Tsar\nand leaders, and handed them over to the Emperor. When, however,\nthe monarch condemned them to death, they began to cry and implore\nZavonlon to convert them to Christianity.\n\n\"Lead us to the temple of thy God,\" they said, \"before having us\nkilled. Thou didst capture us and having sacrificed us to God thou\nwilt not be responsible for our death, magnanimous hero!\"\n\nThen Zavonlon went to the patriarch and informed him of all that had\ntaken place. Without saying a word to the Emperor, the patriarch,\nwith the help of Zavonlon, baptized them, let them partake of the\nHoly Communion, and taught them the Christian faith. At sunrise on the\nfollowing day the Brandjis rose, attired themselves in funeral robes\nand started for the place of execution. They prayed, thanked God,\nwho had saved them by baptism, and said:\n\n\"We are immortal even after death, because the Lord hath glorified\nus by giving us permission to partake of the Holy Communion. Yes,\nlet His name now be glorified! now, henceforth, and evermore! Woe to\nour fathers, who died in ignorance and remained in the dark, we shall\nnot taste the sorrowful, but the joyful fruit. Approach, executioner,\nand cut off our heads!\"\n\nAt these words they willingly stretched their necks under the\nsword. But Zavonlon, who could no longer stand this spectacle, rushed\nto the Emperor in order to implore his pardon for them.\n\n\"I give them to thee; do with them whatever thou wilt!\" said the\nsovereign. Zavonlon lost no time in returning to the spot of execution\nand succeeded in saving those sentenced.\n\nThereupon they began to beg him to lead them home to their native land\nin order to preach there about the Faith of Our Lord Jesus Christ,\nand convert those desirous of leaving paganism. Zavonlon went to\nthe patriarch, got some priests, and with the Emperor's permission\ndeparted, accompanied by the Brandjis. When they had but one more day\nof travelling before them, a rumor spread in their country that the\nTsar was alive and meant to return with his courtiers. The sections\nof Kkhozamo, Kkhosa, Goakchladja or Gardadja, Kkhonebag, Kkhjirag or\nKindtjag, Zadja, Zaza, Zarda, Zamra and Tkmoka hurried to meet them,\nand were reached on the banks of a great and deep river; the water\nwas blessed and they entered it and came out at one special spot\nwhere a priest laid his hand on them.\n\nZavonlon stayed with them till they were baptized and converted,\nput everything in perfect order, left the priests and went away,\noverwhelmed with gorgeous presents.\n\n\"I shall take these treasures for the decoration of the tomb of the\nLord,\" thought Zavonlon, and started for Jerusalem, where he gave\neverything to the poor. At that time Yovenalii (in monkhood he had\ntaken the name of Zadass) was patriarch of Jerusalem, and made friends\nwith Zavonlon, while Sarah of Vavilon recognized him and learned to\ncherish his capacities. Besides, she said to the patriarch: \"Zavonlon\nis the father of the Brandjis (original inhabitants of Barcelona)\nwhom he converted, and to whom he gave the Holy Baptism; he carried\nout the commands of God, and thinking the matter over, I counsel thee\nto let him marry thy sister Sossanna\" (probably Susanna). Sarah's\ncounsel was carried out and the young couple left for Colossus,\nZavonlon's fatherland.\n\nSoon the bride gave birth to a daughter, Nina. When she was twelve\nyears old her parents sold their whole property and settled in\nJerusalem. Here Zavonlon was made a monk by the Patriarch German\n(because Sossanna's brother had already died), and became divorced\nfrom his wife. Pressing his daughter to his breast and covering her\nface with tears, he said:\n\n\"My dear and only child, I leave thee an orphan, and recommend thee\nto our Heavenly Father, God, who nourishes all live beings, because\nHe is the father of orphans and the Judge of widows. Fear nothing,\nmy daughter, but try to imitate Mary Magdalen and the sisters of\nLazarus in their love to God. If thou lovest Him as much as they did,\nHe will also refuse nothing to thee.\" Having embraced her once more,\nhe crossed the Jordan and started to preach the teachings of God among\nwild nations, where the only God, creator of all beings, knew that the\ntime was ripe. Sossanna, on the other hand, by order of the patriarch,\nlooked after the poor women, but was put in the service of Niapkhora,\nan Armenian woman from Doroim.\n\nShe stayed two years at her house, learning the laws of God, because\nat that time there was nobody in all Jerusalem so well acquainted with\nthe Old and New Confession and who had such a broad and enlightened\nmind. Niapkhora was honorable and truthful and imitated Abraham in\nhospitality. Her house was always open to all pilgrims coming to\npray at the Tomb of the Lord. More than once she happened to receive\nChristians who had been Jews and had inhabited Georgia. From them\nNina heard a story how, at the time of the Babylonian captivity,\nsome Jews had settled down at Mtzkhet and how they yearly sent some\nof their people to the Easter celebrations at Jerusalem. They also\ntold her that in the second year of Aderka's reign in Georgia, they\nfound out about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ through these very\nmessengers. Within thirty years at Mtzkhet delegates arrived from\nthe preosviashtchennik (clerical title) Anna with the following news:\n\n\"He to whom the wise men brought presents is now grown up and teaches\nus a new faith; thereupon we are sending word to the Jews in order to\nfind among them teachers of the law and to tell them: 'Come ye all,\nwho uphold the law of Moses and clear up our perplexity! Let all those\nacquainted with law immediately leave the foreign lands and hasten\nwith all possible speed to the fatherland, in order to confirm and\nguard the faith of our forefathers, carry out the laws of Moses,\nsave the common folk from being dazzled by the new teaching, and\nfurthermore, put the guilty one to death.' Elios, a man who was no\nlonger young, of the tribe of the Levites, decided to go to Jerusalem,\nleaving his mother, a descendant of the high priest Ilia, to the care\nof his sister Sidonia, because the old woman herself said:\n\n\"'Go, my beloved son, whither the Lord and his holy law call thee,\nbut mind my remarks: thou as a man well instructed in law shouldst\nnot allow them to have a godless intention. I beg thee--do not have\na hand in spilling the blood of this man. Thou knowest that this is\nthe carrying out of the ancient prophecies, believe this one with\nall thy heart as I believe in him!'\"\n\nTogether with Elios went a young Hebrew, Longinos, a warrior from\nKarssan, and they reached Jerusalem just at the time of the crucifixion\nof our Lord, as they arrived on a Friday.\n\nWhen they drew lots, a Greek tunic fell to the share of Elios, but\nLonginos received the garment of the Lord, which he carried back to\nKontais (this garment used to hang in the centre of the church in\na crystal vessel up to the time of Shah Abass, who sent it away to\nRussia). When they began to crucify our Lord, by chance the sound of\nthe hammer and nails came to the mother of Elios, and she exclaimed:\n\n\"Good-bye, kingdom of Israel! Unhappy ones--you are lost\nforevermore! By your craziness you kill your Vladyka and the\nSaviour of the world, and thus you become the wilful murderers of\nyour Creator! Woe ye unhappy ones! There is no lamentation equal to\nyour distress! Woe to me, because my ears have heard these mournful\nsounds!\" and with these words she gave up her soul to God. When,\nhowever, Elios returned to Mtzkhet bringing the robe, Sidonia came\nout to meet him, and crying and weeping threw herself in his arms\nto tell him of her mother's death; and lo! she came to glance at the\nrobe. She recognized it as having belonged to the Lord Jesus Christ,\nand the thought that her brother had helped along his death filled\nher heart with indescribable sorrow. Having placed on her breast the\ninvaluable holy relic, she died.\n\nThe news of her death spread all over Mtzkhet and reached the Tsar,\nwho wished to see the dead woman. Coming to her body he was struck by\nthe beauty of the robe, giving out a heavenly glow, and he wanted to\nput it on, but no power under the sun could tear the relic out of the\narms of the deceased. Elios buried his sister together with the robe,\nand thus saved it from further attempts of the unbelieving.\n\nThese tales made a strong impression on Nina's soul, she often and\nlong reflected how she might seek out the place where the robe was,\nand tried to obtain information from her governess. \"My child,\" said\nNiapkhora, \"I see that by thy strength thou are equal to a lioness,\nwhose roar hushes up the growling of all quadrupeds. Thy capacity\nfor penetration puts thee on a footing with the female eagle, who by\nher flying exceeds the male eagles and with her little eyes sees all\ncreation; having beheld the booty she inspects it with her piercing\nglances, just as the fire experiments with the gold, and makes for it\nwith spread-out wings. Such will be thy life. Thy voice will be heard\nall over the world and thy booty is to enrich God. Now I will explain\nit all to thee. Thou knowest that the immortal God had compassion for\nthe mortal inhabitants of this world and came to earth in order to\nassemble around him the nations and save the whole world. His first\ngood deeds were applied to the Hebrews, among whom he made the dead\narise, made the blind see, and healed the sick. Astounded, they sent\nout messengers all over the world in order that the Hebrews might\nmost rapidly assemble at a great council.\n\n\"'We are perishing,' exclaimed the messengers, 'hurry, gather ye all!'\n\n\"Then from all countries there came together people, educated in\nthe laws of Moses--they came together to openly oppose themselves to\nthe Holy Ghost and, namely, do what was necessary to the world. They\ncrucified the Lord Jesus and drew lots to get his robe. The robe was\nhanded over without quarreling to the Man of Mtzkhet. Thou knowest\nalso that upon the burial of our Lord they placed guards at his\ntomb, but that he arose according to prediction, and in the tomb\nthere remained nothing but the shroud, which the Apostle Luke took,\nbut no one knows to whom he gave it. As to the vesture of the Lord,\nwhich was not found in the tomb, many conclude that the Apostle\nPeter took it without telling anything about its further fate. I in\nmy turn am more inclined to believe what we heard from the Hebrews\nof Mtzkhet. The crosses are hidden here at Jerusalem, but this place\nis unknown to everybody until the Lord doth open it in times to come\nby his chosen messenger!\"\n\nHearing these words, Nina raised herself and thanked God and asked:\n\"Well, where then is that land where the robe was discovered?\"\n\n\"The town of Mtzkhet is in Georgia. This is a mountainous land, the\nborderland of Armenia, and its inhabitants still continue to practise\nidolatry. The Chaldean magis have a strong influence over the people,\"\nreplied Niapkhora.\n\nAt that time there arrived from Ethesus a woman who had come to visit\nand pay homage to the Holy Sepulchre and who stopped at Niapkhora's.\n\n\"Is the Empress Helen still in the shade of unbelief?\" asked Niapkhora\nof her.\n\n\"I am her servant,\" answered the newcomer, \"and know all her wishes,\nboth open and hidden. She would like to become a Christian and be\nbaptized.\"\n\n\"Let me go to the sovereign,\" Nina began to ask of her mistress,\n\"perhaps our Lord Jesus Christ!\"\n\n\"Let us first ask the blessing of our most holy Patriarch German,\"\nanswered Niapkhora, and went to him.\n\nSoon they called in Nina and placed her on the steps of the ambo;\nthereupon German put his hands upon her shoulders and having\nsighed from the depth of his soul, he said: \"Vladyka, Immortal\nGod! To Thee I commit this orphan, the daughter of a sister of\none of Thy servants, and send her to preach Thy faith and announce\nThy resurrection everywhere where Thou desirest it to be carried\nout! Heavenly Jesus! be Thou her companion during the journey, her\nprotector in danger, a refuge, a leader and a teacher as Thou hast\nbeen from century to century to all those who feared Thy holy name!\"\n\nThat very night the Virgin appeared to St. Nina in a dream, to whose\nhappy lot Iveria fell when she together with the apostles drew lots\nto see who should go to preach the faith of Christ in Georgia. In\nthe hands of the Heavenly Queen there was a vineyard cross, which by\nher command was tied with some of Nina's hair. The Most Holy Virgin\nhanded the cross to the sleeping girl and ordered her to go in her\nstead to convert the Iverian people. The Saint awoke with the cross\nin her hands and hastened to announce to her mother all that had\noccurred. With happy emotion Sossanna listened to her, kissed her,\ncrossed herself, and blessing her, let her start out, commending Nina\nto the care of God.\n\nFrom her mother Nina went straight to the Ethesian woman, whom\nshe began to hurry up to start out, as her heart was burning with\nimpatience; and notwithstanding the uncertainty and length of the\njourney, her readiness to do everything to serve God was so great that\nshe did not have the least fear; this ardor was not left unrewarded\nby the Leader of Hearts. He Himself appeared to St. Nina, quieted\nand strengthened her for the coming expedition.\n\nHaving reached Ethesus, the Saint, in the house of her companion,\nfound the Tsarevna Ripsime fleeing from the Diocletian torments\ntogether with fifty friends. Soon they were joined by three hundred\nmaidens and Saint Gaiane, her nurse. Ripsime grew attached to Nina,\nbecause the Ethesian woman told her the latter's story, and the\nSaint took advantage of the kind feelings of the Tsarevna in order\nto instruct her still more in the faith; and in the course of this\nyear she baptized the Queen, Gaiane, and seventy men of her suite.\n\nThey passed two years together at the monastery of Poss-Rhoss. Just at\nthat time Emperor Maximian sent his eunuchs everywhere to seek out the\nbeautiful and good girls and bring them to him--without distinction\nof rank, extraction, or even religious belief.\n\nThe messengers arrived at the monastery of Poss-Rhoss, beheld Ripsime,\nand struck by her unusual beauty, they did not yet decide to take her,\nbut began to enquire about her family. Having found out that she was\nof royal rank, they considered her worthy of becoming Maximian's wife,\npainted her portrait and went away. Hardly had Maximian glanced at\nher portrait, when his heart flamed up with some strong passion. He\nannounced that in the whole world there was no equal perfection of\nbeauty, that Ripsime was worthy of becoming his wife, that their\nmarriage should be celebrated with unheard of till then solemnity,\nand he immediately sent messengers to all parts of his immense\nmonarchy so that each subject might come to take part in the nuptial\nfestivities. In the meantime the saints trembled from fear because\nthey knew that this Tsar was like a vessel of anger, sly like a\nsnake in heaven, also not clean, and idolatrous. They imagined that\nthe Tsarevna's portrait would cause them to be very much grieved,\nand having fasted a long time, they prayed to God and decided to\nrely on His holy mercy and secretly run away from this place. And\nthus the seventy sisters set out for Armenia, in the neighborhood\nof Vagkarshapat, and reached a splendid town called New Dovin, where\nthe Tsar himself resided.\n\nHere they took up their quarters in poor huts, which surrounded\nthe town from the north and west and were used for pressing out the\ngrapes. Here with laborious work they earned their own living. Having,\nhowever, discovered that the Tsarevna Ripsime with her nurse and\ncompanions had disappeared in some unknown place, Maximian became\nperfectly furious and sent messengers to look everywhere for her.\n\nHis ambassadors arrived at the court of Trdat, Tsar of Armenia,\nwith the following letter: \"The autocratic Emperor to his nearest\nbrother, friend and comrade Trdat--I salute thee. Thy friendship\nis our most faithful ally; I inform thee above all that the sinful\nChristian nature is very harmful to us, because it forces the nations\nto disregard our mightiness and not respect our Majesty. Their religion\nconsists of the following points: they serve a dead and crucified man,\nadore wood and consider it glorious to die for their Lord. Although\nthey fear not the Jews, they nevertheless fear Him, whom the Jews\nkilled and crucified. In their blindness they defame monarchs, scorn\nthe gods, attribute absolutely nothing to the powerful brightness of\nthe sun, moon, and stars--saying that these are the creations of the\ncrucified. They anger the whole world to such a degree that fathers and\nmothers separate themselves one from another, not awaiting death. In\nvain do our commands and terrible tortures exterminate them, for\nthey appear in still greater numbers! Having by chance seen a young\nChristian maid, I wished to marry her, but she, instead of desiring\nto be united with a Tsar, rebuked me like a dirty being and secretly\nran off into thy lands. Investigate this affair, my dear brother,\norder a search to be made, and as soon as thou findest her with her\ncompanions, put to death the latter, but send splendid Ripsime hither,\nor if she pleases thee, take her, for thou wilt not find such a perfect\nbeauty in all Greece. I hope that thou art in good health--adieu,\nserve the gods!\"\n\nHaving read the letter, Trdat began the search, and soon found the\nsaints. Ripsime produced on him exactly the same impression as on\nMaximian and he also made up his mind to have her become his wife. But\nthe Saint flatly refused him, and so he tortured her together with\nthirteen companions on the fifth of October; and Saint Gaiane and\ntwo others on the following day. The remaining succeeding in hiding\nthemselves; among them was also St. Nina, who by God's instructions hid\nherself in the branches of a prickly rosebush, without flowers. Here\nshe beheld a bright star coming down from the clouds; it served\nas a footstool to a deacon, in whose hands there was a censer;\nout of the latter there came such an abundant perfume that the sky\nreally darkened. The deacon was accompanied by innumerable heavenly\nbeings. This was the instant when the martyrs breathed their last\nbreath, united themselves with the heavenly forces sent out after\ntheir souls, and together with them rose to heaven.\n\n\"Lord Jesus!\" exclaimed the Saint, \"why dost thou abandon me with\naspics and snakes?\"\n\nIn answer to this lamentation, a voice was heard from Heaven, saying:\n\"Arise and start for the North, where there is a great harvest,\nbut few workers!\"\n\nAnd thus the fourteen-year-old child went out to convert a whole\ncountry. She guided herself by the voice of God and overcame all\ndifficulties: the length of the journey and physical exhaustion,\nand the fear of wild animals and wicked people and the cold and\nhunger and want! She went as the apostles went; without a staff, and\njust like them, she conquered kings, converted whole nations, healed\nthe sick and glorified the name of that God who had called to her:\n\"Arise and go!\" Without losing a moment's time she left for the North.\n\nThe dear one constantly reminded her of the following words: \"There\nis a great harvest but few workers!\" and in this she seemed to think\nthere was an explanation of the fact that on her fell the godly\nchoice. Near Khertviss her strength began to fail. From continuous\nwalking she had become quite lame and was forced to stop and go into\nwinter quarters--enduring innumerable privations. In time her health\nwas so much restored that she started again on her expedition.\n\nHaving reached the frontier of Djavakhetta she stopped on the bank of\nLake Pkaravno, known also under the designations: Pkdrnav, Paraban,\nPkanavar, and Tanaravan; from this lake flows out a river called\nthe Mtkouar of Djavakhetta, from which are to be seen high mountains\ncovered with snow even during the summer months. They are the cause\nof much cold weather in all the neighboring towns and villages. Fear\nseized Saint Nina.\n\n\"O Lord!\" she cried out, trembling, \"accept my soul!\" and she fell\nto the ground. For two whole days she could not master her fright\nnor continue her journey. At last hunger forced her to ask for food\nof some poor fishermen trading on the lake and of the shepherds who\nguarded their herds on the banks of the lake.\n\nThe latter often used to invoke their gods at night. These were called\nArmaz and Zaden, and the heathen inhabitants of the lake districts\npromised them rich sacrifices if they only guarded the herds from any\npossible evil. Hearing that their prayers were spoken in Armenian,\nto which Saint Nina was somewhat accustomed as she had served at\nNiapkhora's, she dared to ask them whither they had come.\n\n\"I am an Akovanian from Elrbienik on the banks of the Lopatsh-Tskan\"\n(this is the left arm of the Alasana, Plinii calls the inhabitants of\nthis region Loubienis), said one of them.\n\n\"We are Kakhetines from Sapourtzle and Kindsar near Mouknar,\" murmured\ntwo others.\n\n\"But I am a Touissian from Rabatt,\" added a third one.\n\n\"Here is one from the great city of Mtzkhet, where there lives a Tsar\nand where we have temples of our gods; in summer we all drive our\nherds to the banks of the Pkarnav, thus saving ourselves from the\nunbearable heat of our countries. The reason that the lake has so\nmany names is that each of us pronounces its name according to his\nown language. In the autumn we disperse to our many homes to escape\nthe cold of this district.\"\n\n\"Where is Mtzkhet?\" asked Nina with a fainting heart.\n\n\"This river unites itself with another one which comes from Kola,\nchanges its name to Mtkonar and flows to Mtzkhet.\"\n\nShe looked at the sides of the river: it was an endless plain. She\nbecame frightened upon beholding its boundless limits. Having sighed\nover the great length of the coming journey, she put her head on a\nstone near the source of the river and fell asleep.\n\nIn a dream there appeared to her a man of middle height with flying\nhair, and handed her a written roll, which ran as follows: \"Carry this\nin all haste to the idolatrous Tsar of Mtzkhet!\" Saint Nina cried\nbitterly and began to implore and pray: \"O Lord! I am a woman, an\nadventurer, uneducated, I am unable to say much; now how in the world\nam I to go into a strange land to heathen nations--to a mighty Tsar?\"\n\nThen the shining man unfolded the roll in which were written ten\ncommandments as on the tablets of Moses, and gave them to St. Nina\nto read. She awoke with the roll in her hands. The following were\nthe contents of the roll:\n\nI: Amen--I say unto ye, go on then, for this testament will be\nproclaimed all over the world, will go from mouth to mouth, and hardly\nwill it be known when documents will appear to commemorate the event.\n\nII: Make no difference between men or women. III: As thou goest,\ninstruct all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the\nSon and the Holy Ghost. IV: The world is the language of enlightenment\nand thy glory, O Israel! V: This good deed of heaven will be practised\nthe world over. VI: He who accepts you, accepts Me and he who accepts\nMe accepts Him who glorified Me. VII: Mary loved the Lord exceedingly,\nfor she always obeyed his commandments. VIII: Not cutting off the\nbodies of the murderers, the souls of those who are powerful shall\nnot linger. IX: The speech of Jesus to Mary Magdalen: \"Go, O woman,\nand announce my fraternity!\" X: \"Teach them to promptly and rigidly\nobserve all these commandments and then I shall be with you, in all\ntimes and to the end of the world--Amen!\"\n\nHaving read the roll, Saint Nina became convinced that this apparition\ncame directly from the Lord. She ardently prayed that the Lord might\nsoothe her, and committing herself to his will, she immediately\nfollowed the course of the river. At first it flowed towards the West\nthrough wild and sterile countries. The journey became still more\nterrible through the number of wild animals filling these deserts\nwith their fearful roaring, but not one of them attempted to approach\nand touch the protege of God. Only when the river turned to the East\ndid they begin little by little to disappear. Driven on by fear she\nforgot exhaustion and went rapidly ahead, hardly stopping a minute to\ncatch breath. Soon after the turn of the river Saint Nina overtook\nsome travellers going to Ourbishi or Ouriat-Oubani (which means\n\"Street of the Hebrews\"), and joyfully followed them, but at Ourbishi\na disappointment awaited her; instead of believers of the real God she\nfound people who bowed down and adored fire, wood, and stone; her heart\nburned with indignation, but the Lord comforted her by instructing\nsome Jews to give her a hospitable reception, which she made use of\nfor about one month, when the following spectacle aroused her feelings:\n\nShe beheld a great crowd of people going towards Mtzkhet, and as\nshe heard from her host that there were Hebrews there, she followed\nthe people in the distance and thus happened to reach her point\nof destination upon the fete of Armaz. Before reaching the bridge\nnear Mogontka this large crowd stopped like one man to bow down to\nthe fire, and Saint Nina cried bitterly at the loss of such a large,\nlarge number of human souls, ransomed by the most precious blood of our\nLord Jesus Christ. On the sixth of August, 324 A. D., on the day of\nthe Transfiguration of the Lord, Saint Nina, according to tradition,\naccomplished her first wonder. Upon that day appointed for the feting\nof the idol Armaz, it was the duty of the Tsar and Tsaritsa to take\npart in the ceremonies. From early in the morning numberless crowds of\npeople, like flowers in the field, filled the streets, shouting and\nhurrying, each one trying to excel his neighbor in ornamenting their\nrespective houses with carpets, fine shawls and other such articles,\nall along the road by which the royal cortege was to pass. First there\narrived the Tsaritsa Nana, surrounded by the wives and daughters of the\naristocracy. She was followed by the Tsar with a numerous suite. Songs\nof praises and blessings were heard among the crowd of the nation. With\ngreat pomp the procession ascended the mountain to adore their god,\nwho was cast of clean gold, while at his side there stood two inferior\ngods of silver, who wore gold cuirasses and in their aquamarine eyes\nhad artificially made rolling emerald pupils. These last idols were of\nhuman proportions and inside of them a mechanism was hidden, through\nwhich their hands (in which there were sharp swords) cut down all\nthose who dared to approach the chief god without making a sacrifice,\nor all those who adored other and foreign gods instead. On the Roman\nbridge, Saint Nina joined the procession.\n\n\"What in the world does all this mean?\" she asked of a Jewess.\n\n\"This is the god of gods--Armaz, who calls the people to do him\nhomage. No other idol can compare with him, because each of us puts\non his best garment to-day and holds a flag in his hand as a sign\nof joyousness.\"\n\nIn the meantime the procession had reached its destination. The Tsar\nbowed down to the ground, surrounded by whole clouds of incense. The\nsacrificers offered their victims. The Tsaritsa, the nobility,\ninnumerable hordes of people followed the example of their ruler to\nthe greatest displeasure of the Saint, who with all her heart prayed\nto Him, who had made her glorious and lo! a short-breathed West\nwind came up, at first softly, then always stronger and stronger,\nand finally turned into an oragan.\n\nLosing their breath and feeling choked, the Tsar ran away and the\nsacrificers and the nation too, but the orcano turned into a perfect\nrain of stones--not allowing even half of those fleeing to seek\nshelter. Stones of such a size poured down that not every grown up\nman could raise them with both arms, and they continued to ransack\nthe temple and idols, until all had been turned to ashes and dust.\n\nThe heathens fled in terror; this mountain, such a short time before\nso crowded with people, had now been totally cleared of men and\nupon it sat only Nina, who was not at all terrified by the fearful\nspectacle. She saw in this a new proof of the all mightiness of her\nown God, and under his powerful protection she quietly lay down and\npeacefully fell asleep on a huge block of stone.\n\nThe next day, by the order of the Tsar, one of the noblemen went to\ninspect the scene of the disaster of the preceding day. He beheld\nSaint Nina, concluded by her dress that she was a traveller from\nsome distant land, and with customary Georgian hospitality, invited\nher to stop at his home. But his offer was by no means accepted by\nthe Saint. She continued her journey along the banks of the river\nand finding on the road an eye of one of the gods, she took it along\nwith her. Upon reaching the junction of the Koura and Aragva, where\nformerly there stood a town and a fortress, she resolved to take a\nrest and pass the night at that point of the cape, where till then\nthere still remained the ruins of the church of Favora.\n\nAt that time beautiful, well-shaped, high birches grew there, with\nmagnificent shady branches. They were planted by Tsar Bartom, who\noften rested in their shade; this custom was long observed by the\nnobility and well-known men and almost every sunny day some one from\nthe aristocracy passed the day under the branches of the birches. On\none of these trees Saint Nina painted a cross and lived under it\nin constant prayer till the twelfth of August. On that day came to\nrefresh herself with the coolness of the famous trees, the lady of\nthe royal court Krokhana with her servant, a Greek woman. The latter\nby the order of her mistress asked the Saint who she was, what she\nwas undertaking, and whether she did not need something. The Saint\nsaid that she was \"Tevee,\" i. e., a prisoner of war (which does not\nmean that she was a servant, as some writers out of pure ignorance\nexpressed themselves in describing her life) and did not tell of her\nreal extraction. Krokhana immediately invited her to follow her to\nthe palace, but the Saint refused even this invitation.\n\nWithin three days, i. e., on the day of the Assumption of the\nHoly Virgin, she crossed the Mtkovar and entered the royal fruit\ngardens. Near the place where now stands the church of the Katholikoss\n(Patriarch) and a pillar erected by God, there lived in those times\na guardian, whose wife Anastasia hastened to come out to meet the\nstranger. She embraced her like an old and dear friend, kissed her,\nwashed off her dusty feet, rubbed her exhausted body with strengthening\nfragrant butter and having offered her bread and wine, asked her to\ntake a rest and to recover after the long, long journey. Here the\nSaint remained nine months, frequently visiting Ourbishi, where some\nHebrews lived, in the hope of finding out something more about the\nLord's robe; and indeed the Lord blessed her attempts. She made the\nacquaintance of Abiatkar, the descendant of Elios, whom she quickly\nconverted to Christianity together with all his family. \"When she\narrived,\" said Abiatkar in his tale, remembered in Georgian History,\n\"I received a letter from Jewish priests in Antiochia, in which they\nexpressed themselves thus\":\n\n\"The Lord divided the kingdom of Israel into three parts, which were\nowned by the Romans, Armenians, and Barbarians. There will be no more\nprophets; all that he told us through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost\nwas fulfilled, we are scattered all over the world and our fatherland\nis occupied by the Romans. O Jews! let us now weep with our nation,\nfor we offended God, the Creator of all beings.\"\n\nLooking over now the books in which Moses teaches us: \"each one who on\nearth calls himself God shall be put to death!\" Why is it possible then\nthat we sinned in killing Jesus of Nazareth? We actually see that in\nancient times, when our forefathers sinned before God and forgot Him,\nHe lowered them to servitude and made them experience all the horrors\nof captivity; but when they turned again to Him and invoked Him, He\nsaved them from need. From the scriptures we know that this happened\nseven times in ancient history. Now, then, when our fathers put their\nhands on the son of a poor woman, God deprived us of his mercifulness\nand support and lo! our government fell to pieces, we were separated\nfrom our temples and our nationality was forgotten. That was about\nthree hundred years ago. The Lord does not hear our prayers and does\nnot send us help, from which we conclude that perhaps this man was\nsent by God. Thus did they write me several times and aroused doubts\nin my soul, to explain which, I applied to Saint Nina. I asked her\nwho was Jesus and why the Son of God became a simple man.\n\nThen Saint Nina opened her mouth and from it flowed out words of life\nas abundantly as the waves in the depth of the sea. From her very\nmouth I found out everything contained by the Christian books, and\nshe explained to me their profound meaning. I felt like a man aroused\nfrom sleep, like a madman coming back to his senses. She filled my\nheart with pity for our forefathers, made me convince myself in the\ntruths of the New Testament, and from her words I indeed recognized\nin him Jesus Christ, the Son of God, crucified, resurrected, and\nhaving come with glory; nay, I understood that He was the one who\nhad been promised to those believing. I saw many other wonders yet,\naccomplished by Saint Nina at Mtzkhet in my time, and together with\nmy daughter Sidonia was converted and received the Holy Baptism,\nbeing cleansed of all wickedness. I received that which the prophet\nDavid had vainly wished: I heard a choir of voices glorifying the New\nTestament, the object of his sighing; and we were favored with the\npermission to partake of the Holy Communion, of the body and blood\nof our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb that perished for the sins of the\nworld, the best and most compound of victuals. O Lord, strengthen\nthis faith in my heart to my last breath! All that I shall after this\nrelate, I myself heard, with my own ears from my mother, my father,\nor read in books, recording the words spoken by our ancestors.\"\n\nAfter this follows the story already known to us about the robe. On the\ntomb of Sidonia under a huge cedar grew up a fragrant bush loaded down\nby a numberless quantity of flowers and leaves, and from its branches\na whole bush was formed, under which Saint Nina let herself down,\nnot knowing how near she was to the aim of her desires. All nights\nshe passed here in prayer, and lo! in one of these sleepless nights\nof prayer a shining man appeared to her and, pointing to the fragrant\nbush, ordered her to take up some earth under it to use for healing\nthe sick. The next morning as usual Anastasia came to her, offering\nher wine, bread, fruits, and cheese. Having noticed that her eyes were\nfilled with tears, Nina asked her the cause, and so found out that both\nshe and her husband were deeply grieved by the fact that they had no\nchildren and attributed this misfortune to Anastasia's illness. The\nSaint immediately applied holy earth and Anastasia was cured.\n\nLet us now return to Abiatkar's tale. During that period Saint Nina\nsaw one and the same dream three or four times in those few minutes\nin which she used to rest. A horde of blackbirds bathed itself in the\nriver, came out of the water whiter than snow, and rushed towards\na peach tree actually growing near her bush. In the apparition it\nappeared covered with wonderful buds and flowers. With great haste\nthe birds gathered and all rivalled one another in bringing them to\nthe Saint as to the owner of the garden; afterwards united around\nher in a circle and sang most marvellously.\n\nThe Saint related all these events to my daughter Sidonia, who\nexclaiming very loud, expressed herself thus: \"O Prisoner; thou\nthat didst take off our chains! I know that thou art the reason of\nall that hath now taken place, that by thee we are made to discover\nand acknowledge the past spilling of the blood of the Heavenly Man,\nfor that deed the Hebrews and their kingdom perished, they were\ndeprived of their temples and a strange people took the place of\ntheir greatness. Jerusalem, O Jerusalem! how thou dost spread thy\nwings in order to protect under them nations from every part of the\nworld, thy children only remained without shelter and are scattered\none by one all over the earth! Now there comes to us here a woman,\nborn in a foreign land, who makes over our whole kingdom!\"\n\nThen addressing the Saint, she said: \"That, which thou sawest,\nclearly predicts to us that this place has been changed by thee into\nreligious gardens, in which thy pupils and followers whitened by thee\nlike birds will eternally gather heavenly fruits, singing praises\nand glorifying God!\"\n\nThe Saint openly preached the message of Christ, telling the people\nthat up till then they had been entirely misled. She pointed to the\ngrape cross which had already accomplished many wonderful cures\nwithout applying any medicine, simply by holding it to the sick\npeople. She was joined in her converting expedition by seven Jewish\nwomen whom she had baptized. Among them also my daughter Sidonia,\nand I myself helped them with all my strength, trying to deserve the\nglorious name of Paul, which the Saint had bestowed upon me upon my\nbaptism. Knowing well the Jewish law, and being instructed by the\nSaint, it was easier for me to convert the unbelieving and some of\nthem becoming rebellious, wished to assault me with stones; but Tsar\nMirian sent out several of his attendants to deliver me from their\narms, because the news of the glory of the wonders accomplished in\nGreece and Armenia came to him and so he did not prevent Saint Nina\nand her pupils from preaching the truth, which he sympathized with.\n\nBut the devil, who had for a long time raged against the true\nbelievers, won the heart of the Tsaritsa Nana, who kept her husband\nfrom becoming a Christian. The fasts, vigilance, and prayers of the\nSaint astounded the heathens and they frequently asked her the cause\nof such actions.\n\nFilled with joy, she naturally took advantage of such moments to\nunceasingly preach to them the religion of Christ, and Anastasia\nand her husband zealously assisted her in such a time. Once they\nbrought to the Saint a dying infant, whom all physicians considered\nabsolutely incurable. The mother of the baby was a fierce adorer\nof idols and did not cease to injure the faith of Christ, and even\nprevented others from accepting the teachings of Saint Nina. Only\nthe complete hopelessness forced her to apply to the wonderful girl.\n\n\"I am not educated in human science,\" said the Saint, \"but the Lord\nJesus Christ, whom I serve is strong enough to heal him.\"\n\nAnd with these words she placed him on her foliage couch, on which,\nhaving knelt, she usually pronounced her long prayers and kept\nher almighty vigilance, and having crossed him with the vineyard\ncrucifix, she sent him away, healthy and happy. But his mother, who\nnow fervently believed in the Christian faith, loudly glorified the\nLord Jesus Christ. A little later the Tsaritsa fell ill and they sent\nfor the marvellous doctor to the palace.\n\n\"I cannot go into a heathen house and therefore request the Queen\nto come to me,\" was the answer of the Saint. Nana submitted. Her\nson Revv and some ladies of the court were obliged to carry her in\ntheir arms. Numerous crowds of people accompanied the procession\nwith visible curiosity and concealed their dissatisfaction; but this\ndissatisfaction turned to excessive joy when she was cured and with\ntremendous attention did the crowds of heathens listen to Sidonia,\nwho had educated the Tsaritsa in the true faith; after that she was\nbaptized by Abiatkar and returned to her husband, a fervent Christian.\n\nHere it will be opportune to tell why Tsar Mirian once upon a time\nwas so much in favor of Christianity. Hardly any other monarch in the\nworld could boast of such great success in war as Mirian; he conquered\nmuch and always had good luck, nowhere and never did he lose a single\nbattle, and he justly deserved the term \"the invincible.\" But that\nwhich seemed to all mere luck, was nothing less than the intention\nof God, leading him this road to learn the truth.\n\nIn the year 312 the Persian Tsar Sapor sent a messenger to Mirian with\na proposal to unite their forces and jointly attack Greece. Mirian\nconsented, and soon their army, the number of which the contemporaries\ncompare with grass in the fields or the leaves of the trees, fell\nupon the Emperor Constantine, who did not dare to oppose himself,\nand with sorrow saw how they ravaged one Greek province after another.\n\nThe clergy encouraged its sovereign, assuring that the Lord would not\nlet the unbelievers possess a Christian kingdom. A dream convinced\nConstantine still more in this idea. He hastened to become baptized\nand led his army by a flag on which was represented a cross of stars,\nsurrounded, according to the apparition, with the words: \"By this\nI conquer!\"\n\nSoon the handful of Christians conquered the hordes of heathens at\nAndriansora. Both tsars with the remainder of their troops were\nturned to flight and pursued by Constantine who, following them\non their heels, invaded their dominions. The Persian Tsar, having\nabandoned his ally, ingloriously fled, but Mirian defended the towns\nand fortresses in Georgia until all his generals had perished; then\nhe sent an embassy to Constantine with peace proposals.\n\nConstantine, who feared a second invasion of the Persians, consented\nto peace only with the imperative condition that in case of a war\nwith the Persians, Mirian should assist him with an army, but to\nmake sure of the observance of this condition, he took Mirian's son\nBakour as a hostage. Mirian's failure in the war with Constantine,\nthe incomprehensible fear which had forced him to turn to flight,\nhim, Mirian, whom all considered fearless and invincible and who up\nto this time had known no fear, gave him an exalted opinion of that\nGod whom Constantine worshipped, and he frequently thought about His\nincomparable mightiness. The wars in which he was allied with Trdat,\nhad led him astray, although, after the war with Constantine and the\ndisaster at the fete of Armaz his faith in the religion of the false\ngods was very much shaken, but the furious opposition of the Tsaritsa\nNana made also this second deep impression vanish.\n\nNow, however, when the newly converted woman wished to bring him to\nthe light of truth, she was met with indifferent curiosity and cold\ninquisitiveness, instead of the former hearty interest. Mirian had\nalready succeeded in forgetting that impression, which the victory\nof Constantine and complete fall of Armaz had produced upon him, he\ninterrupted her fiery, persuasive speeches with the question how he\ncame to see her healthy once more. The Tsaritsa spoke the truth. Her\nhusband knew very well what a tremendous contrast there was between her\nexperience and all then known means of curing, and he would not believe\nat all that the simple appliance of a cross could have as consequence\na complete restoration to health. The court ladies, witnesses of the\nwonder, were then summoned to appear, and very naturally confirmed\nthe words of the Tsaritsa. But the Tsar was not yet convinced.\n\nIt was then ordered that any one of the eye-witnesses should be\ncalled up, and lo! a whole crowd of people came to testify the truth\nof what had taken place. Among others there was also Abiatkar, to\nwhose tale we shall now return: \"The sovereign noticed me and began\nto inquire about the Christian teachings. He knew much in the Old and\nNew Testament, and thus I had to explain rather than merely relate,\nand so it was easier to converse with him than with the uneducated\nheathens. After that time he often sent for me.\n\nOnce he told me that in the Book of Nebrotk the following version\nwas written: \"During the construction of the tower of Kaskinie in the\ncity of Khagkan (Babylon), Nebrotk heard a heavenly voice, which said\nto him: 'I am Michael, to whom the Lord confided the administration\nof the East, go thou out of this town, for the Lord does not wish\nthat thou shouldst see that which He hid from human eyes. Leave\nthe building, for otherwise God will certainly destroy it. In the\nfuture there will come a Heavenly King, whom thou dost want to see,\nand although He will be hated by the cursed nation, the fear of His\nname will cleanse the earth of all sins, kings will renounce their\nthrones in order to live in poverty. He will look upon thee with\nmercy in disastrous times and will save thee!'\"\n\nI did my best to convince the sovereign that this is the confirmation\nof that which we have already read many a time in the Old and New\nTestaments. He agreed with me, but continued to adore the idols and\nthe fire, notwithstanding the prayers of the Tsaritsa, who constantly\npersuaded him to be baptized. The devil held him still another year\nin his claws after Nana had been converted. On that account I could\nnot convert even a single heathen, while Saint Nina daily converted\ndozens of people, untiringly preaching to the people the truth. She\ncontinued to pretend that she was a prisoner of war, not telling anyone\nwhence she came and whither she intended to go. Much time went by,\nthe Tsar interfered with the Saint and remained deaf and dumb to the\nprayers of the Queen; and the visits of Abiatkar did not lead to the\ndesired result. He conversed whole hours with him and every time let\nhim depart unpersuaded in the truth.\n\nOnce there arrived from Khorossan a courier of the Sossanid family,\nwith messages from the Shah of Persia who suddenly fell ill. The\nTsaritsa Nana sent for Saint Nina, who again refused to come to the\nhouse of the idolatrous Tsar and requested the sick man to repair\nto her house. King Mirian, who was not yet fully convinced of the\nmightiness of the Christian God and had not entirely renounced his\nformer religion, wished himself to accompany his dying guest, whom\nthey bore in their arms.\n\n\"Through what power dost thou effect thy cures?\" said the Tsar,\nturning to the Saint. \"Art thou not a daughter of Armaz, dost thou\nnot belong to the number of the descendants of Zaden, notwithstanding\nthat thou callest thyself a stranger? Dost thou not secretly bow down\nbefore them and seek their moral support? And do they not give thee the\npower of healing, which nourishes thee wherever thou art? I know that\nthou didst convert people to the faith of a foreign God for the sole\nsake of trying their fidelity afterwards. Glory to our gods, who have\ndisclosed the truth to me! I shall respect thee as I do the governess\nof my children and cover thee with honors in this mighty city, where\nthou didst hide thyself under the pretense of being a prisoner, but\ndisplay no more before me and do not speak about the Christian faith.\n\n\"Our great gods only are the actual healers of the world! The sun\nshines because they illuminate it, they send down rain, give fertility\nto the earth and nourish blessed Georgia. Armaz and Zaden know all\nsecrets. Gatz and Gaim, the ancient gods of our forefathers are worthy\nof the confidence of all mortals! If thou wilt cure this mtvar I will\nshower riches upon thee, make thee a citizen of Mtzkhet and a servant\n(mere priest) of Armaz. Although they (the idols) were destroyed by\nan unusual storm and hail of stones, yet the spot where we adored\nthem did not perish. Ytkrondjan--the Chaldean God and our Armaz\nare constantly fighting. It is known that our god once directed the\nsea against his enemies and that is the reason why they now revenge\nthemselves by letting this disaster occur just as the rulers of the\nearth constantly do. Carry thou out then, my order!\"\n\n\"O King!\" answered Saint Nina, \"as the representative of our Lord\nJesus Christ and the prayers of His All-holy Mother and all saints\nexisting, I am sent by God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, the Father\nof all great and small beings, from man down to the last degrees of\ninsects, through His indescribable mercy, like a piece of coal out\nof the stove of His goodness in order that thou shouldst learn to\nbelieve in and reach heavenly heights, the sunny world, the depths\nof the sea, earthly magnitude! Find out and acknowledge now thou,\nO Tsar, Him who covers the sky with clouds, who fills the air with\nthe sound of thunder and shakes all creation, who lights up the sky\nwith lightning, makes the tops of mountains slip off or turns them\ninto volcanoes! Before His voice the foundations of earth tremble and\nmountains disappear like sea-waves! Know thou all this and admit thou\nthe invisible God, living in heaven, who has sent His Son begotten of\nHim, to earth in the form of a mortal man, who having accomplished\neverything His Father wished Him to do, rose to Heaven in sublime\nglory. Dost thou not see that this, the eternal, only and true God\nlooks after the needs of the humble and turns His face away from the\nproud? O Tsar! the time is already approaching when even thou shalt\nknow and recognize God and verily shalt behold the wonder of light,\nwhich there is in this town. I am speaking of the Lord's robe; and\nthe sheepskin of Illina, and many other treasures indeed, are hidden\nhere, which God will point out to thee. I shall cure thy archimage\njust as I healed thy wife in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ and\nby the strength of His honest cross. The Tsaritsa already informed\nthee that she recovered from her illness only after she had sincerely\nrenounced the idol-worship. Now her mind has broadened out and with\nardor she does everything that is ordered in the Christian law--nay,\nthat other people may learn from her righteous way of living!\"\n\nThen, upon the command of the Saint, they placed the image facing the\nEast. The Tsaritsa fell down on her knees and began a prayer under\nthe cedar while the Saint raised the hands of the sick man towards\nHeaven and ordered him to loudly repeat thrice:\n\n\"Renounce thou Satan! Bow thou down before my Lord Jesus Christ,\nthe Son of God!\"\n\nBut from great weakness the sick man could not speak. Then the Saint\nbegan to implore God to restore him to health, with tears and great\nlamentations, and her pupils stood by her side.\n\nOne day and two nights she continued her prayers, and when at last\nthe invalid had repeated the holy words for the third time, the\nbadness of his soul suddenly abandoned him, he became a healthy man\nand a Christian, together with his family and servants and glorified\nthe Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost! Mirian began to fear the\nwrath and revenge of the Persian Tsar and wanted to have the Saint\nimmediately executed--alone the desperate lamentations and tearful\nsupplications of his beloved wife could cut short his anger, and\ndissatisfied, he decided to seek distraction in hunting. This is how\nSidonia, daughter to Abiatkar, and pupil to Nina, relates the event:\n\n\"On Saturday, July the twentieth, a royal hunt was appointed in the\ndirection of Mouknar. The devil disturbed the royal heart, awakening\nin him the old love for idols and fire, and so he firmly resolved\nto exterminate all Christians with the sword. Four of his nearest\ncouncillors accompanied him upon the hunt, and to them he turned and\nmade the following speech:\n\n\"'We are worthy to be punished by our gods for forgetting their glory\nand permitting Christian witches to preach their law and teachings\nin our country. Through their witchcraft they accomplish wonders,\nbut not at all by the might of their God. I have now made up my mind\nthat all those who pay homage to and adore the Crucified shall perish\nby the sword, and furthermore, I insist that an effort shall be made\nto increase the love of serving the gods, the real rulers of Kartla\n(the native word for Georgia). I shall propose to my wife to abandon\nthe faith of the Crucified, and if she doth not fulfil my order,\nI shall forget her love for me and have her put to death with the\nrest!'\" With joyfulness the heathens listened--it seemed to them as\nthough the monarch's speech had come out of their own hearts. They had\nlong reflected about such an event, but did not dare to express their\nthoughts, knowing the attachment of the sovereign for his wife. Now\nthey strongly supported his views and encouraged him in his actions.\n\nIn the meantime they had already passed Moukkvar and Mirian ascended\nthe high mountain Tekkhotk (in Armenian Tkakoutk) in order to look\nat Kaspii and Ouplis Tzikke. When, however, he reached the tiptop,\nalthough this was just at noon, the sun suddenly disappeared before\nhis eyes and day turned to night. An impenetrable fog covered all the\nsurroundings and the Tsar himself not noticing this, rode a long way\noff from his followers. An unusual thought weighed upon him.\n\nSurprised, he wished to ask whether all the rest were also in\nthe fog or whether he alone was dazzled, but nobody answered his\nquestions. In vain he rode over the mountains covered with bushes,\nhis horse constantly stumbled and fell, the trees scratched his\nface and tore his clothes, the Tsar was involuntarily trembling,\nwhile his exhausted and tortured horse at last succumbed to fatigue\nand rose no more, thus depriving its reckless rider of any hope of\nsaving his life. Then he remembered his former doubts and understood\nWhose hands were pushing him down.\n\n\"I called to the gods, but they did not help me!\" he exclaimed. \"Now I\nshall turn to Him who was crucified on the cross, whom Nina preached\nabout and with whose help she succeeds in healing men. Is He not\nstrong enough to deliver me from this disaster? I am already fully\nin the darkness of terrible sin and do not know whether this darkness\nhas come for all, or whether I alone am punished with blindness.\n\n\"If Thou wilt save me, God of Nina, then I pray to Thee, lighten\nup darkness and show me where my palace stands! I will accept the\nreligion of Thy name, I will erect and glorify the wooden cross, I\nwill build a temple of prayer, following the teachings of Saint Nina,\nand become a true Christian.\"\n\nWith hearty and sincere repentance in his heart, he swore to become\na Christian, and hardly had he succeeded in closing his lips when\nhis eyes opened. The sun shone for him with all its gloriousness,\nhe climbed off the fallen horse and stopping at the place where he\nhad had the vision, he raised his hands towards the East and exclaimed:\n\n\"Thou art the King of kings and the God of gods announced and\nproclaimed by Saint Nina! Let Thy name be glorified by all people in\nHeaven and on earth. Thou didst deliver me from peril and didst open\nmy eyes; now I found out that Thou wishest to save, comfort and draw\nme towards Thee, according to the words of Thine arch-angel. Blessed\nbe the Lord! On this spot I shall erect a cross, yes, I will glorify\nThy holy name and let the remembrance of this marvellous event be kept\nupright for centuries and centuries to come.\" Having taken precise\nnotice of the spot he went away, but in the meantime his attendants,\nwho had been everywhere vainly looking for him, came together to\ndiscuss what was to be undertaken next.\n\n\"Yes, let all my nation glorify the God of Nina!\" suddenly rang out\nthe Tsar's voice, \"for He is the Eternal God and to Him alone is due\nglory from century to century!\"\n\nThey gave a fresh horse to the King and he rode home very happy,\nand best of all--both mentally and physically cured!\n\nIn the meantime the Tsaritsa had already heard the report that\nMirian had disappeared and a little later she received news that he\nwas already returning. With great haste she rushed out to meet her\nbeloved husband and an innumerable crowd of people followed after\nher. They arrived together at Kindsa, which lies in Gkartk.\n\nAs to Saint Nina, she was pronouncing her usual prayer in the rose\nbush, and several of us were there with her. Gradually as the Tsar\napproached the whole nation began to be greatly moved and excited,\nbecause he shouted in a loud voice:\n\n\"Where is the stranger, who, from now on, will be my mother, because\nher God saved me from death?\"\n\nHaving found out already that she was praying, the Tsar branched off\non a side road and his suite followed him. Before reaching the rose\nbush Mirian left his horse and coming up to the Saint, he humbly\nbowed to her, saying:\n\n\"Now make me worthy of invoking thy God, who has indeed been my\nsaviour!\"\n\nHaving taught him a little, Nina on the very spot ordered him to bow\ndown towards the East and adore the Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nBut the people, who did not understand the point of the whole affair,\nbegan to be rebellious, seeing the Tsar and Tsaritsa humbly kneeling.\n\nOn the next day Mirian dispatched ambassadors to Rome to the Emperor\nConstantine, with a request to speedily send some priests to baptize\nthe nation, and with a letter from Saint Nina to the Empress Helena,\ninforming her of the wonders which had been performed on Tsar Mirian\nnear Mtzkhet, through the strength of our Lord Jesus Christ. The\nday the Tsar was converted the Saint sent to Saint Gregory Nansien\nasking for instructions as to what she should do next. By his advice\nshe personally destroyed the new idol Armaz, which they had already\nsucceeded in placing on a mountain beyond the Koura, and to which\nthe people daily bowed at sunrise, climbing up to the roofs of their\nhouses and turning their faces towards the sun. In its place she\nerected a cross on a hill near Mtzkhet, beyond the river Aragva. But\nas this cross was roughly made, the people kept away from it until\nthe Lord had glorified it. While expecting the arrival of priests,\nthe Saint and her followers preached the word of God day and night,\nuntiringly preparing the nation before being baptized, and they went\nfrom Klardjet to the land of the Alanes and from the Caspian gates\nto the land of the Massajettians, while the remaining pupils of the\nSaint spread all over Georgia.\n\nThe Tsar had already become an active and energetic Christian before\nthe return of the ambassadors. He said to the Saint: \"I am burning\nto construct a house of God, let us now choose the site!\"\n\n\"Let thy mtavares (provincial governors) solve that question and have\nit arranged so that thou and the nation will draw the utmost profit\nout of it,\" replied Saint Nina.\n\n\"No!\" said the King, \"I love thy rose bush and wish to sacrifice\neverything in order to erect a temple on that spot. I shall have\nmy vineyards, great cedars, fruit trees, and fragrant flowers cut\ndown. Dost thou not remember how in thy vision the black birds became\nso white that it was blinding, and having perched themselves on the\nvineyard trees, filled the air with heavenly songs? Now we will turn\nthis visible vineyard into an invisible one, giving us eternal life,\nand let us build in it a house of worship and prayer before the\narrival of the Greek priests!\"\n\nImmediately they began to get the materials together. For the church\nseven pillars were necessary. Thereupon a great cedar was cut down\nwhich furnished six pillars, while the seventh was made out of a\nlarge pine. When the wooden walls had been erected they fixed the\nsix pillars, each one in a place specially prepared for it, while\nthe seventh, which was unusually large and was meant for the cupola,\nthey could by no means lift from the ground. They hastened to report\nthis to the Tsar, who ordered all the people to make for the building,\nand he himself went there too. In this affair all then known means of\nraising weights were used, but neither the numberless arms, nor any\npossible art could succeed in obtaining the desired result. And Tsar\nand people asked each other with the greatest surprise: \"What can this\nmean?\" And having labored till night they went back to their houses\nin great sorrow. Saint Nina, however, with twelve of her followers,\nremained by the pillar, washing it with her tears and praying and\ngroaning. About midnight a terrifying vision began; we saw how the\nmountains of Armaz and Zaden were trembling as though somebody were\nshaking them in order to block up the course of both rivers. Mtkouar\nreturned and inundated the town, by reason of which the air was filled\nwith cries, lamentations and groaning, while the Aragva flowed towards\nthe fortress and its waves dashing against the fortress walls, made\nsuch a fearful noise that we ran away in terror, but the Saint shouted:\n\n\"Do not be afraid, sisters, the mountains still stand in their places\nand the rivers have not altered their course, and the nation quietly\nsleeps. Although that which you beheld did not happen in reality,\nyet this was not a mere dream, for the mountains of unbelief were\nthoroughly shaken up in Georgia, for the rivers of innocent children's\nblood, which flowed in honor of the idols, dried up, for legions of\ndemons, chased out of this region by the mightiness of the Cross are\npitifully combatting, seeing how their waves of wrath cannot carry\nout anything nor harm the fortress of Christ's faith. Come back and\nlet us pray!\"\n\nThen all these sounds quieted down and everywhere one could distinguish\nsilence once more. The Saint stood up with raised hands and prayed that\nwhat had been begun by the Tsar should not be destroyed. But before\ndawn the vision repeated itself, and this time more terrifying than\never: it seemed as though an immense and terrible army had attacked\nthe city from three different sides.\n\nHaving forced the gates open it completely filled the\nstreets. Everywhere a fearful emotion had spread, shrieking and\nmurdering took place. Pools of blood flowed at every corner. In some\nplaces the people threw themselves upon the enemy with arms in their\nhands; some of them from terror and confusion turned against their\nown countrymen. Here one was killing the other--there a second one was\nexpiring, a third one's heart was perfectly broken by the lamentations\nof his family. Suddenly a loud, loud voice was heard:\n\n\"The Persian Tsar Kkhouara! The king of kings Kkhouaran Kkhouara has\nordered that the sharpness of the sword should spare the Jews!\" Only\nupon hearing this cry did I begin to come back to my senses, but\njust like ten of my companions, I could not exactly remember how\naffairs stood. We were still imagining warriors turning around us\nwith swords in their hands, who knocked down and killed everybody\nand everything. And once more a cry was heard: \"Tsar Mirian is taken!\"\n\nThen the brave worker of Christ's vineyard said: \"I know that he\nwho is shouting is in great distress. Give thanks unto God, for the\nenemy is overcome and Georgia saved, and this very place too!\" She\ncheered us up like an experienced doctor, like a sincere teacher,\nlike a great apostle! Afterwards fearlessly throwing herself upon\nthis regiment of robbers and destroyers, she angrily asked them:\n\n\"Where then is the Persian King Kkhoua and Kkhouaran-Kkhonafa? Only\nyesterday you left the land of Sab and hurried hither with a terrible\nand most numerous army in order to destroy the city and exterminate\nthe inhabitants. Ye Northern and Western winds, chase them away into\nthe dark mountains and bottomless precipices, for He arrived before\nwhom you turn to flight!\"\n\nWith these words she raised her hand and made the sign of the cross.\n\nInstantly all fell to pieces and were swept off, great silence set in\nand we all began to congratulate her upon the glorious victory and\nthank God for the happy and favorable end of such a terrible vision\nand for His revealing to the Saint through this event the future\nflourishing state of the country. When, however, it began to grow\nlight, the other women fell asleep, while I, Sidonia, could see how\nthe Saint continued praying, raising her hands to Heaven. Suddenly\nthere stood before her a youth, shining with indescribable brightness,\ndressed in a fiery-blazing garment and said three words to her, from\nwhich the Saint fell down with her face on the ground. The youth\nstretched out his hands towards the pillar, raised it and put it in\nthe right place. In my astonishment I approached and asked: \"Why,\nmistress, what is this?\"\n\n\"Bow down thy head!\" she replied, and wept from fear. A little later\nshe rose, ordered me to get up too, and we left this place together.\n\nIn the meantime our sisters had waked up and actually saw that the\npillar, which had seemed to them enveloped in flames, was coming down\nfrom Heaven and was approaching its destination. When it was within\ntwenty loktays of the ground it stopped. Hardly had daylight appeared\nwhen the Tsar, tortured with impatience and anxiety, hastened to the\nbuilding which he was burning to see finished. From a distance it\nseemed to him that the strokes of lightning were rising to Heaven. He\nhurried on. In the end, unable to conquer his curiosity, he actually\nran. His whole suite and innumerable hordes of people rushed after\nhim, doing their best to speedily reach and help to put out the fire\nin the burning edifice, and lo! a wonderful spectacle now presented\nitself to the eyes of all present.\n\nThe extraordinary illumination was not caused by a fire as supposed:\nit came from the pillar, blazing with light. Softly did it come down\nfrom Heaven, supported by the arms of two angels, placed itself in the\nright spot, and was firmly fixed without the help of human hands. O,\nhow great was the general delight! Happiness and emotion spread all\nover Mtzkhet.\n\nThe Tsar, Tsaritsa, dignitaries, and people without distinction of\nrank or class, shed tears of emotion, all glorified God and praised\nSaint Nina, for great wonders were accomplished on that day. In the\nfirst place a blind-born Hebrew, who approached the pillar, which\nhad been placed by God, began to see. Secondly, the sepetsouli (i.e.,\npage) Kha Mazaepouki had been entirely paralyzed for eight years. His\nmother took him in his bed and had it carried to the shining pillar,\nafterwards turning to Saint Nina, she said in an imploring voice:\n\"Look, O mistress, at my dying baby, I know that He about whom thou\ndost preach is the God of gods!\"\n\nThen the Saint moved up to the pillar and having put her hand on the\nboy, said to him: \"Thou dost believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God,\nwho hath come to save the world? Be healthy and from this very day\non glorify God, who hath cured thee!\" And the boy got up in perfect\nhealth, and Tsar and nation were seized with fear. All the sick\nhastened to the spot and were healed, but as many could not stand\nthe wonderful light coming out of the pillar, the Tsar ordered to\nhave it covered with wood, which, nevertheless, of course did not\nprevent the people from approaching the pillar and getting cured.\n\nThe work of completing the church was immediately taken in hand,\nand it was arranged so that the pillar should be left in its above\nmentioned place. In the meantime the ambassadors of Tsar Mirian had\nalready related to the Emperor Constantine and the Empress Helen, his\nmother, about the conversion of their sovereign to the faith of the\ntrue God, and this filled their hearts with joy, for Mirian offered\nthem his friendship and help in conquering and destroying the Persians.\n\nThey hastened to send Bishop John (upon the advice given by\nthe Antiochian patriarch Evstafii) and with him two priests and\nthree deacons. Upon this occasion Constantine wrote a letter of\ncongratulation to Mirian, filled with blessings and expressions of\nthankfulness to God, and sent him some gorgeous presents, but above\nall an invaluable gift--namely: the image of Rouiz with five hundred\npieces of holy relics. The Empress Helen also wrote a letter in which\nshe highly praised the resolution of Mirian and encouraged him. The\narrival of the bishop, priests, and deacons at Mtzkhet was a day of\ngeneral feasting, for Tsar as well as people were equally thirsting\nto be baptized.\n\nImmediately a proclamation was sent to all the kristavs, military\ncommanders, and dignitaries of the monarchy to gather around the Tsar,\nand all started for Mtzkhet. Thereupon began the general baptizing:\nSaint Nina baptized the Tsar and the priests the Tsaritsa and princes.\n\nBishop John on the other hand blessed the Mtkouar, and together\nwith the deacons having found a place near the bridge Mogoutka,\nopposite the house of the priest Elios, he baptized in these waters\nall dignitaries and courtiers; that is the reason why this spot is\ncalled Mtkavartka-Sanatklavi, i.e., \"the place where the Mtkavares\nwere baptized.\"\n\nFarther down the river, both priests, the deacon and the bishop,\nafter having baptized the nobility and dignitaries, baptized the\npeople, who hurried towards them as much as possible--begging to\nquickly receive the great favor. Just so the prophecies of St. Nina,\nwho was constantly and uninterruptedly repeating to them that he who\ndoes not let himself be baptized, would never behold the real light,\nawakening in them the greatest enthusiasm. Thus nearly all Georgians\nand fifty Hebrew families from the house of Varrava were christened.\n\nTo the Hebrew-Christians the Tsar granted the suburb of Tsikhe\nDide. This was in the year 327.\n\nAlone the mountain inhabitants and Mirian's brother-in-law, Pkeros,\nwho had received the province of Ran as a dowry from his bride,\nbeginning from Bard, did not pay attention to the Tsar's summons and\nremained heathens, having respectfully remarked to the Tsar that his\npower over them could not be extended to their form of religion. When,\nthrough His great mercifulness, the Lord deigned to show to the holy\nTsaritsa His living cross, Tsar Mirian hastened to send to the Emperor\nConstantine the Bishop John, asking him for a piece of the wood of\nthe holy living cross. To this request he joined the wish to have\nmany priests, in order to send them out not only into all provinces,\nbut also to each single city of his government to educate, enlighten,\nand baptize the people all over Georgia.\n\nAt that time an invitation was also sent to architects, for it took a\ngreat many to erect and establish churches throughout the kingdom. The\nEmperor received the ambassador with great rejoicing and handed him\nthe pieces of the holy living wood on which had lain the holiest legs\nof the Saviour of the world, and two nails from the Lord's hands. The\npieces of the holy living wood are called Nerkveli in Georgian. Emperor\nConstantine handed great riches to Bishop John, ordering him to erect\na church with this money in the newly converted country, but to divide\nup the remaining treasures among the other Georgian churches. He also\nsent with him many priests and architects and having flattered and\ncomplimented the envoy and bishop, allowed them to start for home.\n\nHaving reached the province of Eroushatk, they left there one architect\nand a priest, ordering them to establish and erect a church, and giving\nthem the necessary sum for that undertaking. The priest besides was\ngiven charge of the most holy nails, which were to be kept in this\ntemple. When they again arrived at Mangliss, they did the same thing,\nleaving the holy Nerkvelis, and then soon reached Mtzkhet. But Mirian,\nwho had been awaiting their arrival with such impatience, was deeply\ngrieved by the fact that they had been staying out longer on the\nway than he had expected them to do, and besides--had left in the\nprovinces both invaluable holy relics; but Saint Nina comforted him\nby the following words: \"Quiet down, O Tsar! It was necessary that\neverywhere on their route they should proclaim and firmly establish\nthe name of the Lord--while thou in the grand capital art in possession\nof quite as great a treasure, viz., the robe of the Lord!\"\n\nThen the Tsar sent for Abiatkar, and with him came quite a large number\nof Jews. When, however, he asked them questions about the robe they\nrelated how it was under the wonder-working pillar and added to this\nthe whole report of Sidonia, which we have already told.\n\n\"Blessed be Thou, O Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living\nGod!\" exclaimed the Tsar, raising his hands toward Heaven, \"merciful\nand charitable in saving us from the devil and the land of darkness\nand having built this church, nay, having brought Thy robe hither\nfrom the most holy city of Jerusalem to spare it from the hands of the\nJews, who hath not acknowledged Thee and to hand it over to our care,\nto a foreign and strange nation, honoring and fearing Thee with all\ntheir heart!\"\n\nImmediately the church was begun, first commencing with the\ncourt. \"Let the name of our Lord Jesus Christ be blessed,\" said\nthen Saint Nina, \"and of God the Father, who hath sent His son, who\nleaving the all-shining heavenly regions, came down to earth, was\nwithout doubt born of the seed of David, of the branch of Joachim,\nof the most holy and most pure Virgin and her thou didst make the\ncause of our salvation, earthly enlightenment and glory of Thy people\nO Israel! Of her was born the God man, the light of all believing,\nthe image of God, baptized with water and with the Holy Ghost, was\ncrucified and interred, rose on the third day--going up to His Father,\nwhither he comes with glory, for He is worthy of all glory, honor,\nand adoration, together with the Father and the Holy Ghost now,\nhenceforth and evermore! Amen.\"\n\nWhen all were really and successfully baptized, the royal son Revv\nreminded them about the famous tree, which grew in the court and had a\nmarvellous power to heal even the most desperate mortal wounds. It was\nnoticed more than once that even the snakes, when wounded by mortal\nshots, if they ate the leaves of this tree or the buds falling from\nit, immediately were healed.\n\nHaving found out about this, Bishop John said: \"This land was really\nand truly destined by God to have the holy faith introduced in it, and\nby His godly attention this marvellous tree grew up and was preserved\nto our days. Now, however, when the might of Christ had been spread\nall over Georgia, it does seem advisable to make a cross out of it,\nwhich will be an object of veneration for the whole country!\"\n\nAnd so, on Friday the twenty-fifth of March, three hundred and\nthirty A. D., the Tsarevitch Revv, together with the bishop and\nmasses of people, set forth to cut down the tree, the branches of\nwhich, notwithstanding that it was in the winter season, were quite\ngreen. This tree was so beautiful that having cut it only slightly,\none hundred men took it up in their arms together with its branches\nand leaves and carried it into the town, where they placed it near\nthe church.\n\nTo the general astonishment it really kept its freshness and beauty\nduring thirty-seven days, as though it had been replanted with a root\nor been constantly refreshed by living water. When, however, all the\nbushes were covered with leaves and the fruit trees with flowers, on\nthe first of May, a Saturday, Tsar and people entered the church and\nwith ardor and joyfulness made crosses out of it. The following day at\nsunrise a cross of stars descended from Heaven, and having let itself\ndown to the church, seemed to have turned itself into a crown of stars\nwhich remained visible to the whole nation until sunset. Then two stars\nstarted forth from it: one flew towards the East and the other towards\nthe West, while the cross, keeping its heavenly glitter and beauty,\nquietly directed itself to the spring which had been created by the\ntears of Saint Nina, and having gone up by the river Aragva to a stony\nplateau, rose to Heaven. As this vision repeated itself daily and was\nseen by all the people, the Tsar asked the Saint to explain its reason.\n\n\"Send thou,\" she said, \"into the highest mountains in the East and\nWest, to follow up and watch the direction which the stars take and,\nthere where they stop we shall each time erect a cross to glorify\nour Lord Jesus Christ!\"\n\nThe Tsar lost no time in ordering guards placed on the summits of the\nmountains. This was on Friday, and Saturday, according to custom, at\nsunrise the wonder again repeated itself. The next day arrived the men\nwho had been keeping guard on the Kvobtka-Tkavv, and said to the Tsar:\n\n\"The star stopped just above the mountain Tkkot and then went down\ninto the Caspian Sea and disappeared.\" But others who had also kept\nguard on the Keretk, said:\n\n\"We beheld a star which came straight to us and stopped in the village\nof Bode.\" Thereupon Saint Nina said:\n\n\"Take both these crosses and establish one on the mountain Tkkot as God\nhath instructed ye, while the other ye shall give to the servant of\nGod--Salome, who will plant it in the town of Oudjarmo, because Bode\nor Bondi is a simple hamlet with few inhabitants and thus should not\nbe put on a footing with a capital, which has a large population, and\nso Bondi, too, will soon see that it is a place pleasing to God.\" The\nwords of the Saint were most punctually and correctly carried out on\nthe seventh of May.\n\nIn consequence of the marvellous heavenly apparition, a third cross,\ntaken up by men and preceded by Saint Nina, was solemnly carried to\nthe foot of the stony plateau.\n\nThere the Saint, the King, and the people passed a whole night praying\nat the spring which had been created by the tears of Saint Nina. At\nthat spot many wonders and cases of healing took place too. The day\nfollowing they ascended the mountain to the top of the rocky plateau\n(now known by the designation Djouar), the Saint gave the example and\nafter her Tsar and people, rich and poor, the prominent and religious\nfell down with their face resting on the ground and prayed to God\nwith many tears and great lamentations, so that the mountains were\nfilled with the sounds of crowds praying. Then the Saint, having put\nher hand upon the stone, said to the bishop:\n\n\"Come thou and make the sign of the cross on this stone.\"\n\nAs soon as the Saint's command had been executed, the holy cross\nwas well fastened to a rock by the hands of the Tsar and his\nfamily. Innumerable crowds of people bowed down before the cross,\npraising and blessing the Son of God and believing with all their\nhearts and souls in Him and in the Holy Trinity. Even the most\ndistinguished Mtavares did not leave the holy church, the fiery\npillar and the holy cross, and were witnesses of the perfectly unusual\nwonders and most marvellous cures.\n\nThe Sunday of the Easter Full-moon was chosen by Mirian for celebrating\nthe holy cross, and this custom was observed all over Georgia up to\nthe governor-generalship of Yermolow.\n\nOn the first Wednesday after the fete of the Holy Trinity, a new\nwonder occurred. A fiery cross showed itself above the cross on Mount\nDjuarr, while above it there seemed to be a crown, consisting of twelve\nstars. Besides, the mountain gave out an indescribable fragrance. This\nvision was seen by everybody, and many of the unbelieving were\nbaptized on that memorable day, while the faith of the Christians\nwas very much strengthened, and they loudly glorified God. At the\ncross still another wonder took place. A light seven times brighter\nthan the sun was lowered from Heaven unto the cross and angels went\nup and down this apparently fiery road--as the sparks fly from the\nbursting crater. Even the very mountain was shaken as though a strong\nearthquake were taking place during the wonderful apparition.\n\nThis wonder called forth general surprise, and all those present\npraised God more and more, and as such wonders repeated themselves\ndaily before the eyes of the whole nation, people from every town and\nvillage of the kingdom streamed in to bow to the cross. At that time\nthe Tsarevitch, a grandson of Mirian and the only son of the crown\nprince Revv, was taken with a hopeless illness, but his father placed\nhim in front of the cross and with tears in his eyes, said:\n\n\"If thou, O holy cross, wilt heal my son, I will erect a shrine\nfor thee!\"\n\nAnd the child came back to life and was taken home by his\nfather--restored to perfect health. The Tsarevitch immediately returned\nwith the greatest joy in order to thank God and begin to carry out\nhis solemn promise. Soon a marble chapel was built, into which Revv\ndaily came to give thanks unto God, and used to bring rich gifts. Ever\nsince that moment a still greater number of the weak and sick were\nattracted by the holy cross, and having been cured, they joyfully\nglorified our Lord Jesus Christ and the strength of His honorable\ncross. A blind youth who had fasted for fully seven days and had been\npraying as long before the cross, got back his sight and glorified God.\n\nA woman who had the misfortune of having the devil in her for eight\nwhole years, was deprived of the power of reasoning and here tore\nher clothes to pieces and became idiotic--there became greatly\nweakened. For twelve days they held her in front of the cross; in\nthe end the Lord healed her and she returned home, healthy in body\nand soul, lauding God and honoring His holy cross. It happened that a\nlittle baby fell from a certain height and was instantly killed. His\nmother put the breathless corpse near the foot of the cross and from\nmorning till evening unceasingly prayed with tears constantly in\nher eyes.\n\n\"Woman!\" they said to her, \"take him away and bury him, for he is dead,\nand thy prayers will be of no use!\"\n\nBut she continued praying and loudly lamenting without giving up hope\nthroughout the night, the next day and a third day, and lo! to the\nseventh day.\n\nOn this seventh day, however, in the evening, the baby came back to\nlife and was carried off living and healthy by his mother, who did\nnot cease to praise and thank God. Such great wonders persuaded many\nfruitless husbands to resort to the strength of the holy cross, and\nhaving begged with real faith, they became the fathers of numerous\nfamilies and daily came to adore the cross and bring gorgeous\npresents. Not only the sick who personally came to pray at the foot\nof the cross were successfully cured, but also the warriors combatting\nfar, far away from Djouar, if they only implored the help of the cross,\nbecame able to defeat their enemies and unharmed returned to Mtzkhet\nto justly glorify God. Many infidels, when in great need, addressed\nthe cross with prayers and receiving salvation from destruction,\nhastened to Djouar to give thanks unto God and be baptized. Besides\nthese already mentioned, masses of other suffering people were healed\nand the unhappy comforted by invoking the holy cross, created by\nthe almightiness of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, and\nto them is due all glory, honor, and veneration, now, henceforth,\nand evermore. Amen.\n\nAt that time Saint Nina, the Tsar, and the nation received a message\nfrom the patriarch from Rome. Just then, too, arrived a deacon from\nthe land of the Brandjees in order to congratulate Saint Nina and\nask her to pray for them. He also brought a letter from his Tsar to\nSaint Nina, whose father had baptized all Brandjees. At Jerusalem\nand Constantinople a report was spread that the sun of truth was now\nshining in Georgia and Jee--from all possible regions they sent letters\nasking to give precise details of the wonders which had happened\nat the pillar and the rose bush and of the extraordinary cases of\ncures. Having carefully inquired about all this, the brandja-deacon\nglorified God and went home with numerous letters containing the longed\nfor statements. Then the Tsar spoke thus to the Saint and the bishop:\n\n\"It is my wish with the power of the sword to force the mountain\ninhabitants as well as my brother-in-law Pkheros to serve the Son of\nGod and to oblige them to venerate and respect the honest cross!\"\n\n\"God doth not order thee to convert them with the sword!\" was their\nunanimous answer. It is thy duty to convert them after having pointed\nout to them with the help of the New Testament and the cross--the road\nof truth leading to life eternal and how to be thankful to the Lord,\nwho lightens up the terrible darkness of their souls.\n\nSaint Nina, together with the bishop, left for the mountain regions,\nand the Tsar ordered the kristav (most likely district governor)\nto accompany them. Upon arriving at Tsorbanne, they called together\nthe mountaineers, inspected Dsrbin, Tchartal, Tkkhela, Tsilkammy, and\nGorangor. They assembled the Tchartalians, who were almost like wild\nbeasts, the Fkholians, the Gondamakavians, and to all these tribes\nthey preached about the holy cross of Christ. But they did not want\nto listen, and so the royal kristav drew his sword and destroyed\ntheir idols and subjected them.\n\nFrom there they went into Yaletia (the present Mtaletka) and taught\nthe nations of Tionet and Ertso (in Armenian Erdzoitk), who received\nthem well and were baptized, but the Fkholis (nowadays the Pchaves),\nsettled over to Doushet. The remaining mountain inhabitants also\nrefused to become Christians, for which the Tsar doubled their taxes\nand thus forced them to emigrate. It is true later on, Saint Avive,\nbishop of Nekretsa, converted several of them to Christianity, while\nthe rest are even to this day infidels. Saint Nina started for Ranne\nin order to enlighten Pkeros, but as she approached Kouket and reached\nBondi, she was obliged to make a longer stop. Kakhetians streamed\nthere in great number, questioned her and many became persuaded in the\ncorrectness and truthfulness of her teachings. At Bondi, however, she\nfell ill. Hardly had the news of this deplorable event reached Revv and\nSalome, who lived at Oudjarmo, when they hastened to the Saint and also\ninformed the Tsar and Tsaritsa. The sovereign gave orders that Bishop\nJohn should bring over the Saint, but she really preferred to remain\nwhere she was, and so the Tsar set out for Bondi with a numerous suite.\n\nThe whole nation rushed to the invalid, whose glance was illuminated\nwith true heavenly brilliancy. With love and veneration did the true\nbelievers cut off little bits of pieces from her garment and covered\ntheir souvenir with kisses. The Tsaritsa and the princesses crowded\naround her, showering blessings upon her, and with tears and sorrow\nthey looked forward to their separation from their teacher, protector,\nand healer. The Princess Salome, Kherosh Avrizounelle (in Armenian\nPerojavr Sounetsi), the kristaves and mtavares began to implore the\nSaint to relate her life to them, saying:\n\n\"Who art thou? How didst thou come into our kingdom to save us? Who\nwas thy instructor? O mistress, do let us know the history of thy\nlife! Why shouldst thou speak of captivity--O thou happy, happy\nTsaritsa, who hast delivered us from the burdens of captivity? For\nthrough thee we found out that the Son of God had been predicted\nby prophets, that after Him the work of spreading the new faith was\ncarried out by twelve apostles, and as many as seventy-two pupils. But\nof all this immense number, thou alone wert given and sent unto us\nby God. Why in the world dost thou then call thyself a prisoner and\nforeigner?\" Then the Saint continued:\n\n\"Children of the Faith, Tsaritsa and princesses--all ye who are\nsurrounding me, I now see that you may be compared with the ancient\nwomen in their faith and love to Christ. You desire to know the\nbiography of His insignificant servant. I consent, for I feel that my\nend is approaching and I shall sleep the eternal sleep in which she\nwho gave birth to me is already resting. Take ye then the inkstand and\nwrite up the history of my life, so that your children shall discover\nhow great your faith in God was, how constant and unchangeable your\nlove to me and what wonders you were allowed to be witnesses of.\"\n\nThen the Princess Salomee and Kherosh Avrizounelle began to record\nthe events, while the Saint related to them all that we have here\nundertaken to describe. She advised the Tsar to replace Bishop John by\nthe priest Jacob when the time should come. John held a final mass,\nand Nina received from his hands the Holy Communion, after which she\ngave up her most righteous soul to the Lord of Heaven and earth,\nin the fifteenth year after her arrival in Georgia, in the year\nof our Lord three hundred and thirty-nine. Her death caused great\nsorrow and mourning in Mtzkhet and Oudjarmo. They buried her at Bondi\n(the present Sidjack) in accordance with the sworn oath which she had\nreceived from the Tsar. As this was at that period a little known and\nunimportant village, the Saint had evidently chosen it from extreme\nhumility. The Tsar and his noblemen were deeply grieved by this choice,\nbut of course did not venture to oppose her last will.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nV. THE DIAMOND\n\nA LEGEND\n\n\nAt the time of Tsar Artchill the First, who was married to Marion,\nthe daughter of the Greek Emperor Julian (363 A. D.), many Greeks\nsettled over into Georgia, among them the painter Martin. To his\ncare the inner ornamentation of the church of Stephan Tsminda (i.e.,\nof Saint Stephen) was left. This great house of worship had been\nplanned and constructed at Mtzkhet by the all honorable Artchill,\nnear the gates of the Aragva, near the towers and bastions erected\nin its neighborhood for national defence. Martin was a perfectly\nhonorable and reliable man and very clever and gifted in the execution\nof his orders. The paints which were at his disposal assumed such a\nmarvellous, nay overwhelming resemblance with reality, that several\nof the saints represented by them appeared as though they were alive,\nand astounded faithful and esteemed believers many hundred years after\nhis death. On one of the walls he had undertaken to reproduce the\napparition of the most Holy Virgin to Saint Nina. The latter was seen\ndown on her knees stretching out her arms and receiving a holy cross\nmade of fine vineyard branches. The fear, happiness, love to God and\nperfectly boundless submission to His holy will were expressed not\nonly in the character features of the Saint, but in every movement,\nnay, in every fold of her garment. The union of all these various\nthoughts was above picturesque sciences and naturally called forth\nthe amply justified astonishment of the contemporaries of Martin and\nof the very latest visitors to the temple. Yes, indeed, the Greek\nMartin was a great, great artist. And therefore he loved his art so\nmuch that it seemed dearer to him than all the world put together,\nwith the exception of his daughter Poullkheria.\n\nAt the period when our tale begins, the portrait of Saint Nina was\nalready carefully finished off, and the artist was applying himself\nover the figure of the most Holy Virgin. As humble as he was clever\nand ingenious, he alone, it appeared, did not notice the beauty of\nhis productions, and while just then all those standing about were\nfilled with amazement and extreme delight, he sighed while comparing\nhis master works with those shining, marvellous, indescribable, and\nexceptionally extraordinary pictures which his poetic imagination\nseemed to behold moving as it were in the air, and which were so\ndear to his elevated soul. How in the world should he represent the\nfeatures of the most Holy Virgin?\n\nThat was a question which tortured him day and night. Every time\nhe reflected about them he thought he could see the sweet, short,\ndear face of his daughter, and with terror in his heart he attempted\nto drive away this imaginary apparition. It seemed to him like some\nwicked, harsh, impossible insult. Again he did his best to find a\nproper type which would have nothing earthly about it, and once more\nthat same loving and beloved little face of Poullkheria presented\nitself to him. At last in perfect despair he went to the Katholikoss\n(this fully corresponds to the rank of a patriarch), John the Second,\nimploring counsel and prayer. One day and two nights they fervently\nprayed together near the holy djouar (thus was named the place near the\nfountain of tears of Saint Nina, not far from the cross erected in that\nvery vicinity; djouar in reality means cross). On the second morning\nthe Katholikoss ordered the painter to immediately return to his home.\n\n\"Lay thyself down at the feet of our great converter,\" said he,\n\"and go to sleep, for I do heartily believe that in a dream thou art\ndestined to see namely those features in which the most Holy Virgin\nmust be represented!\"\n\nMartin went to the place appointed, fulfilled the command of John,\nand a third time saw the features of Poullkheria; she appeared to\nhim with some especially magnificent heavenly radiance.\n\n\"But how shall I reproduce this astonishing light?\" murmured the\npainter, and began to strictly observe the fasts and pray like the\nancient prophets and other true servants of the Lord. For a whole week\nhe constantly went through all the different religious services and\nate nothing, nor did he drink anything. On Saturday, after partaking\nCommunion, he took a meal and lay down with the intention of sleeping\nunder the portrait.\n\nIn the dream he beheld already the heavenly Tsaritsa, viz., just as\nit was customary and necessary to reproduce her. Hastily he jumped\nup and drew out on the wall with charcoal the all glorious and all\nimpressive picture. This was the very first representation of the kind,\nand it completely satisfied and pleased the artist himself! The worry\nwhich had long been weighing down on him was changed into inexpressible\nhappiness and good fortune, and he hurried to the holy djouar (cross)\nwhere with tears he thanked and sang praises unto God. The following\nday just at sunrise Martin rose, awoke Poullkheria and led her off\nwith him. Hardly had he arranged her as was his desire, when an\nunknown youth came up to them.\n\n\"Old man!\" he said, respectfully bowing, \"I also want to work on\nthe image of the Heavenly Queen, instruct me how it is necessary\nto dispose of thy colors.\" With great incredulity Martin stared at\nhim. The gorgeous garment, the graceful movements showed plainly\nthat he was a man not accustomed to hard labors. \"It is not at all\neasy to teach how to apply the colors,\" he answered. \"Take off thy\nexpensive and most elegant robe and thy delicate hands will not\nstand difficult, exhausting work.\" The youth nevertheless insisted,\nand Martin having rapidly explained to him what to do, began the work\nand soon forgot him and Poullkheria and all creation, and was utterly\nabsorbed in his magnificent inner world. In the meantime Poullkheria\nfollowed the newcomer. He was a tall, well-built, handsome youth,\nbroad-shouldered with a slender waist, which was pinched in by a\nfine gold belt with decorations of highly precious stones, and how\nthese various-colored stones played and shone and reflected! when\nhe had placed it on a huge marble piece and he easily and quickly\narranged on it a heavy stone, which her father moved from place to\nplace--very slowly and only gradually. The youth did not pay the\nvery least attention to her--he was evidently worried and pulled\ndown by some outside event. Deep sighs from time to time came out\nof his breast, and in the end Poullkheria remarked that a tear fell\nunto the edge of the marble slab. It now really seemed as though he\nas well as Martin had wandered off into some unknown world and had\nforgotten everything earthly. Martin painted without interruption for\nseven hours; and in a like manner, without taking any rest, worked\nthe sweet newcomer. Glancing at their indefatigable application,\nPoullkheria became frightened and feared that her posing might never\ncome to an end, and so began to weep most bitterly. The features of\nher face suddenly assumed another look and thus her father began to\nbe thoughtful and remember all that had taken place.\n\n\"Enough, my poor darling child!\" he said with delicacy, and addressed\nthe youth. Immense spots of paint and butter were now to be seen\non various parts of his costly attire, his hair was indeed in the\ngreatest disorder and his face red from exhaustion. Martin really\ndid not know how he should thank and reward him.\n\n\"Tell me at least thy name, thou good youth!\" he said, turning to\nthe boy.\n\n\"Mirdat.\"\n\n\"Why--is it possible?\"\n\n\"Be silent!\" interrupted the youth and went out, but Martin looked\nafter him with inexpressible astonishment. Only in this moment did\nhe recognize in him the Tsarevitch-successor, the great and famous\nvictories of whom the whole East was talking. Yesterday only he had\nreturned from a victorious expedition to Rome, and they were convinced\nthat he would soon start out again. How was it possible that during\nthese very few days of rest he wished to take upon himself such a\ntiresome and dry work? Afterwards he thoroughly inspected what he\nhad achieved and was perfectly overcome by the number and variety of\ncolors and shades arranged and used by him.\n\n\"If he accomplishes his new war as rapidly as the first, I shall have\nenough colors left up to the time of his return,\" reflected Martin,\nand gayly and joyfully went home with his dear little daughter,\nwho all along the route questioned him about Mirdat. Having dined in\nhaste and slept a little, Martin once more continued his labors and\nwas steadily busy until sunset.\n\nThus the undertaking went on day after day with the difference only\nthat Mirdat no more appeared. It seems that he had left for Movakanne\nand soon after had pacified it for his father. It is not useless to\nrelate what happened to Mirdat upon his first expedition.\n\nThe provinces of Ranna, Movakanne and Aderbadaganne since the most\nremote times belonged to Georgia, and only during the reign of Tsar\nMirdat the Fourth, grandfather of our hero, they came under the control\nof the Persians. Satrappe Barzabode administrated them. Having taken\nRanna, the Tsarevitch-successor Mirdat wished to call out Barzabode in\na duel. Barzabode took up his quarters in an abandoned tower beyond\nthe city, but Mirdat surrounded it from evening on--supposing that\nduring the night it would be impossible for him to slip out and escape,\nand so he resolved to give rest to his exhausted and wornout warriors\ntill morning. In the night he made an inspection tour of his brave\ncamp, and passing quite close to the tower on the grassy slopes,\nhe overheard a sweet conversation. He stood still and paid close\nattention. The sweet voice, hardly hearable, pronounced the word:\n\"Batono!\" (\"Sir.\")\n\nHe raised his head and almost fainted from extreme astonishment and\ndelight: on the roof there stood a girl of indescribable beauty. The\nmoon was shining on her and gave her long, regular features some secret\nmysteriousness and unusual charm. And suddenly her coral mouth opened,\nand from it poured out a low, inspiring and enchanting speech. She\nimplored the young military commander to save her from the clutches\nof her very old father.\n\n\"Who and what can dare to oppose itself to thee? Thou dost conquer\ntowns and provinces. Thy powerful army defeats and submits even hero\nprinces. Whomsoever or whatsoever thou mayest look at in this world,\nthou canst always consider it thine own, for it doth not come within\nthy reach only when thou dost not wish it so. Thou hast wonderful\nbeauty, common sense, mind, strength, and bravery, while I never\nhad anything except a dear father. He prided himself in his warlike\nglory--thou didst darken it! He had won for himself the entire\nconfidence of the Shah, thou didst destroy it. He boasted about the\ninvincibility of his warriors, while thou didst conquer and baffle\nthem. Thou above all didst have my way of looking at things and my\nimagination. Thy all powerful type did victoriously enter my soul\nand doth drive out from it the poor, terribly degraded character of\nmy old father!\"\n\nAnd at these solemn words the beauty fell down on her knees. \"O do\nnot tear him away from me!\" she murmured, reproachingly, stretching\nout her arms towards him.\n\n\"There will be no duel!\" unexpectedly said Mirdat; he turned around\nand quickly went to his tent. This young lady was the daughter of\nBarzabode, Sagdoukta. From that moment onwards Mirdat loved her with\nall the mightiness and emotion of his hero-prince's heart, and there\nwas deep, deep grief and depression in his soul. Was it possible to\nsuppose that the Tsar would permit him to marry the daughter of that\nsatrame, to whose care certain provinces had been intrusted and who\nof late had been deprived of the right of administrating them?\n\nHaving reflected a little he made up his mind to leave a comparatively\nsmall number of warriors in the places which he had but just\nsuccessfully conquered, while with the remaining soldiers he returned\nto his father in order to ask for fresh instructions. Everywhere they\nmet and received the young conqueror with great ceremony and delight;\nradiant faces were surrounding him, the joyful cries of the people\nfilled his ears, while in his heart it was all dark and heavy. With\nunbelievable effort he finally forced himself to answer the general\nand most hearty greetings constantly showered on him with a caressing\nsmile, and on the following day, when he safely reached his beloved\nhome, he immediately went to continue and work for the glorification\nof the most Holy Virgin, invoking her assistance and protection. The\nsame was his object when he reached his native town after his second\ngreat victorious campaign in Movakanne. But this time Martin, who\nhad already succeeded in finishing the expression of the face of the\nHeavenly Queen and having spent some time in reproducing her garment,\nnow took the matter more easily, and indeed, frequently watched and\nglanced at his busy assistant. Having noticed the running tears of\nhis daughter, he let Poullkheria go home, and turning to him, asked\nhim what might be the cause of his great sorrow.\n\n\"Thou hast helped me so much,\" said Martin, \"that I should really\nlike to render thee some good service, good youth; perhaps my old age\nmakes me fit and enables me to give thee some highly useful counsel.\"\n\n\"Thy grey hair testifies that already long, long ago the time went by\nwhen thou wert excited and moved by those thoughts and plans which\ncalled forth my tears. Nobody except the most Holy Virgin is strong\nenough to make my terrible grief go by, viz., because I love with\nall my heart a splendid girl to whom the sovereign will never give\nme his consent to be married.\"\n\nSaying these words Mirdat went, with a painful expression on his\nface, but Martin understood this most simple clear explanation quite\ndifferently, and through this mistake he let his most honest and\nloyal soul almost perish. This soul was perfectly clean, enlightened,\nfree of sin, and shining like the most costly diamond.\n\nAnd so once upon a time, during a dream, some heavenly angels cut\nout the soul and brought it to the Lord. \"O, Vladyka!\" they said,\n\"look thou at this brilliant diamond--this is the soul of the Greek\nman Martin, who hath given up his whole life to the glorification of\nThy name. There is not one vice which can possibly obtain admission\nto or seek refuge in it, for it doth entirely belong to Thee! Looking\nat it and admiring it, we are frequently thinking that upon the death\nof Martin this diamond will be fully worthy of ornamenting Thy holy\nthrone.\"\n\nThe sweet, sweet angel voices quieted down, while from the depths of\nthe earth the devilish laughing and ridiculing were heard. \"Why dost\nthou so rejoice--miserable Satan?\" asked the guarding angel by order\nof the Eternal God.\n\n\"Very soon this diamond will be spoiled, darkened, and I shall become\nthe happy possessor of it!\" replied the devil. Thereupon,the good\nangels began to bitterly cry, but the Lord comforted them. He gave\ncommands that the soul should again be placed and fixed in the body\nof the sleeping painter, and also informed the angels that in case\nMartin should ever happen to listen to and obey the sly devilish\ninstructions and thus have his soul darkened, that they should\nfind means to bring it back to God, although it be by the heavy,\nnay distressing, road of worldly grief and tears.\n\nAnd quickly the angels descended into the church of Stephen Tsminda\n(that is of Saint Stephen) and put the blinding diamond back into\nthe slumbering Martin, but after them Satan came up and began\nto persuade the Greek that his daughter had completely won the\nheart of the Tsarevitch and that he himself would become a royal\nfather-in-law. And thus at last vanity stained the diamond with dark\nand dirty spots, its shining lightness began to go out more and more,\nwhile the perfectly extraordinary and marvellous beauty seemed to\nbe covering itself with a dark skin, and Martin daily continued to\ngive himself up to worthless vain thoughts. And see, the diamond was\ndecaying and would soon lose all of its unusual qualities. In the\nmeantime Mirdat conquered and pacified Aderbadaganne.\n\n\"What dost thou wish me to give you as a reward for thy highly\nvaluable services?\" asked the delighted, enthusiastic Artchill. Mirdat\nreverently fell down on one knee and kissing the lower end of the royal\ngarment, asked for permission to be married to the daughter of the\nconquered satrappe. The loving father replied with an amused smile: \"As\nlong as thou didst administrate Ranna, Movakanne, and Aderbadaganne,\nSagdoukta seemed to have hold of thy heart, and it seems to me that\nthe very best way for thee to get out of this dangerous position is\nto claim the honor of obtaining her hand!\"\n\nImmediately an embassy was dispatched to Barzabodus, who received\nit with indescribable joy and delight. Sagdoukta, supplied with a\nmost gorgeous trousseau and dowry, was conducted to Mtzkhet where\nthe marriage ceremony was performed and the innumerable fetes\nconnected with it continued for many days. The Tsar gave his son\nthe city of Samshrilde with the province surrounding it. Besides\nthrough her beauty, Sagdoukta distinguished herself still more\nby her very remarkable mind and, which was in those times rare,\na general education.\n\nMirdat sent for the very wisest and most learned men of his age, living\nin Samshvillede and intrusted them with translating into Georgian\nthe holy New Testament, and thoroughly explaining it to the Tsarevna\nSagdoukta, who already fully believed in our Lord Jesus Christ, and\nhaving gone through and accepted the holy baptism, intended to have\na cathedral of Zion erected at Samshvillede. For the planning of the\ninner walls a most precise and talented artist was necessary.\n\nMirdat just then remembered his old friend Martin, and sent some\nattendants to look for him. But when their point of destination\nwas reached, he was no longer among the living. He had succeeded\nin finishing his work in the church of Stephen-Tsminda at the time\nof the last campaign of the Tsarevitch in Aderbadaganne, received a\nright royal reward from Artchill, but instead of returning to Greece\nas would have seemed natural, he remained at Mtzkhet, hoping to bring\nthem to a favorable issue.\n\nHe daily went to the merchants of gorgeous weavings, chose the most\nprecious objects, and composed of them a most valuable and rich\ncostume for his Poullkheria.\n\nThe very most talented and experienced tailors under his personal\ndirection were employed in ornamenting with and sewing on these\ngarments precious stones of one exquisite color, and besides\nthat jewels. Trying first one thing, then another on his beloved\nPoullkheria, for whole hours at a time he watched and interested\nhimself in her superhuman beauty, and with full confidence displayed\nbefore her the pictures of her future greatness. On hearing all these\ncompliments and glorious prophecies the shining eyes of Poullkheria lit\nup with still greater joyfulness. Her clean heart could not understand\nor appreciate the many foolishly vain thoughts and intentions of\nher father. She loved Mirdat, indeed, not because he just happened\nto be the son of a King, but on account of his bravery, goodness and\nperfect honesty. That was why, notwithstanding exceedingly powerful\ntemptations, the soul of Poullkheria remained as neat, without a sin\nand immaculate as when she had not had such notions; but Martin's\nsoul daily lost its splendor and became covered all over with dark,\ndark spots.\n\nIn the end Mtzkhet was bursting with joy, for a report spread from\none quarter to another that Aderbadaganne had been successfully taken\nby storm. Triumphant receptions were now universally prepared for the\ngreat victor, and young and old rushed into the street with colored\nflags or flower branches in their hands. Poullkheria in her newest\nattire, and by her very side Martin, stood on the steps of the church\nof Stephen-Tsminda (i.e., of Saint Stephen).\n\nWhen the powerful procession came up to them, the Tsarevitch got\noff his horse and went into the empty temple. Martin, unnoticed,\nfollowed on after him and clearly beheld how he went straight to\nthe finished image of the most Holy Virgin and having fallen on his\nknees was fervently praying. When, however, the prayer being over, the\nTsarevitch rose, Martin ran up to him and quickly whispered in his ear:\n\n\"This great day the Tsar, my master, will not refuse thee anything.\"\n\nBut the Tsarevitch, persuaded that he alone was in the church, was\nevidently and most visibly struck and moved by this unexpected witness\nof his all hearty and sincere prayer. He did not recognize Martin, did\nnot remember even his words, but hastened with all his might to go out\nof the church, while Martin thought that his own affairs were taking\nan unusually pleasant turn and greatly rejoiced. A few days went by,\non the large square of the city a glashatai (kind of herald) made his\nappearance with a number of trumpeters, and having called together\nthe people, they formally announced to them the coming marriage of\nthe Tsarevitch-successor Mirdat to Sagdoukta, the daughter of the\nPersian satrappe (probably district governor) Barzabode.\n\nA slight noise was heard, and a moment thereafter a cry which was\nsharp enough to tear one's soul to pieces and which attracted general\nattention. On the ground lay Poullkheria, not showing any signs of\nlife. A thin, pale colored rivulet of young boiling blood was slowly\ncoming out of her mouth. Kneeling before her was Martin, who, indeed,\nwas giving himself every possible trouble to stop the abundant flow\nof blood. Somebody out of the crowd was desirous of running to help\nher, but he looked back with a really terrified glance, and like\na regular madman, having seized her in his vigorous arms, rushed\noff with her to Stephen Tsminda. Here he placed her at the foot of\nthat wonderful picture for the execution of which she had served as\na model and completely lost his senses. And, nay!--he actually saw\nhow the cupola moved and opened itself, and how two angels gradually\napproached Poullkheria. In their hands there was just as grand a kind\nof a white transparent, indescribably magnificent garment as the one\nwhich dazzled their eyes.\n\nInstantly they took off the costly robe and clothed her in the attire\nwhich they had brought along. Poullkheria came back to life and looked\naround with the greatest astonishment as the rays of the sun, one after\nanother, reflected upon the opening of the cupola, and approaching\nslowly, the angels came down, who quickly and intelligently drew\nout two wings from them, quite as beaming with light as their own,\nand made them grow on to Poullkheria, and having manoeuvred with\nthem several times, the new angel without the least trouble raised\nherself from the earth and joyfully did the angels of the Almighty\nGod sing a marvellously, nay extraordinarily, sweet greeting song to\ntheir dear new companion in arms, inviting her to fly off with them\nto the Throne of God.\n\nThe new angel departed from the house of worship with a last, tender\nparting glance and having beheld her father, she began to implore the\nangels to also take him with them into the World of Life Eternal. The\nangelic song now stopped, their faces were darkened with sorrow,\nand painfully they announced that willingly they would have prepared\nfor him at first a more desirable spot in the all glorious and all\nwonderful domains of Heaven, but that he threw away his splendid chance\nby wicked and useless vanity. The tears ran down in floods from the\neyes of the former Poullkheria, and these tears of hers, as clean\nand fresh as the morning dew, dropped down unto the face of him who\nhad died and brought him again to life and this time to a happier one.\n\nMartin jumped up, being fully aware of and perfectly ready to\nacknowledge his sinfulness. Abundant tears of remorse came out of\nhis eyes and two more angels appeared on earth.\n\nThey gathered these tears and washed out with them the wicked, sinful\nsoul of Martin and the dark, dark spots of vanity on this most precious\nof diamonds grew quite white. When, however, the diamond again acquired\nits former harmless and utterly immaculate look, they radiantly bore\nhim up to the throne of God, where he is shining and enlightens with\na marvellous talent and adroitness those artists who are working for\nthe glory of God, but Poullkheria guards their shining, clean souls\nfrom any sinful or irreligious infection.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVI. HAPPINESS IS WITHIN US\n\nA LEGEND\n\n\nIn the fifth century (458 A. D.) the Ossians stole and led off the\nsister of the Georgian Tsar Vachtang the First, known under the name\nof Gourgasslan (the lion wolf). The then three-year-old princess\nwas called Mikrandoukta. When, however, Vachtang had conquered and\npacified the Ossians, killed their commander-in-chief, Great Bagkatar,\nand seven of his brothers, and brought the sister safely home, he\nalso took with him as a captive the very youngest of the Bagkatorian\nbrothers, Mirian, whom he had left alive upon the repeated prayers\nof Mikrandoukta. The boy, who had been a playmate of the Tsarevna,\nwas appointed page and grew up at the royal court.\n\nAs he grew older his attachment for Mikrandoukta constantly increased,\nbut he never so much as ventured to reveal to her his thoughts and\nfeelings, neither by his speech, nor his looks, but used to go to an\nout of the way spot of the royal garden and there began to bitterly\ncry. Gradually, however, as he became a man, his wooings took a more\nrefined form and were frequently put down in exquisite verses. A\nlarge number of little pieces of poetry are in circulation among the\npeople under the name of \"Wooing of the Knight,\" for when he reached\nhis fourteenth year, the Tsar made him his body-knight. His comrades\nwere of course jealous of this exceptional distinction and heartily\ncongratulated him, but he, deeply grieved by the final departure of\nthe princess, went into his favorite resting place; there a song came\nout of his lips, which for whole ages was known and went down from\ngeneration unto generation.\n\n\n    THE SONG OF THE BODY-KNIGHT\n\n    (Literal Translation)\n\n\n    \"Why did they lead me into the high royal palace,\n    To thee as thy page,\n    Thy most winning eyes\n    Did fill my soul with burning fire.\n\n    \"Although I descend from a powerful Vladyka\n    And am now at least the Tsar's favorite knight,\n    Nevertheless I cannot even testify my love to thee\n    Nor exchange words with thee through sweet, sweet glances.\n\n    \"It is as though a mighty fortress was separating us\n    So fearfully high and immobile,\n    And my humble glance does not dare to penetrate\n    E'en to the grand old royal window.\n\n    \"In love, however, I am thy slave, O dear princess,\n    I am quite able to pick up a quarrel with the king,\n    For I do pride myself in having just as fiery a soul,\n    Nay, just as great a heart.\n\n    \"Both of us are still in life's early stages\n    And the same blood runs in our veins,\n    And if I cannot boast of such great royal fame\n    I may at least be proud of my strength and powerful determination.\"\n\n\nAnd, as though wishing to give his powerful strength a fair trial,\nthe youth struck out with his fist against the stone and lo! the rock\nbegan to shake and split. When he looked at his fist he noticed that\nthere was blood on it, and thereupon Mirian was more downcast and\ndepressed than ever before.\n\n\"What possible use can my hero prince's strength be to me when my\nheart is harder than stone?\" he exclaimed, and again tears flowed\ndown his face.\n\nAnd so from the mixture of tears with dripping hero-blood, a little\nspring formed itself, which flows at the edge of a precipice--then\nagain it makes its way through high, high stone blocks, like a wild\nanimal and, having successfully overcome them, it cries and hops\nabout like a child. Mikrandoukta did not at all share the intense\nattachment of Mirian and took no notice of it. Attaining her growth she\nmarried the Shah of Persia. On the day of her departure Mirian came\nto his little spring, fixed the sword between two stones and threw\nhimself against it with such violence that the sharp blade went right\nthrough him. His youthful body slipped into the water, but the burning\nblood swelled the little rivulet and gave it a marvellous power of\nresistance. To this well known spot from that time onward, all true\nlovers streamed in, and if anybody has a really good chance over\nthe turbulent, fairy-like stream, he will take to writing excellent\nverses and his love will be crowned with the most complete success;\nif, however, he expects and awaits inspiration, he must certainly\ngive up all hope forever and his passion will, alas! slow down and\ncome to nothing.\n\nThe first man who experienced these strange feelings and went through\nthe whole thing was the negro Nebrotk. He fell deeply in love with\nhis mistress, and even went so far as to venture to open his secret\nto her. The incensed and very frightened mistress immediately ordered\nthat he should be drowned. They threw the unhappy \"darky\" in the\nstream of tears of the stremiannoy (body-knight) and went off; he at\nfirst lost consciousness, but later came back to his senses and came\nout on the opposite bank, completely cured of his useless passion. As\nhe still felt uneasy and could not think of daring to return to his\nmistress, he built a little log house for himself on the bank of\nthat ghastly precipice near which flowed the rivulet, and not knowing\nwhat to do with himself he wrote down the whole history of his life,\nthen investigated the source and course of the remarkable stream and\nregistered that too.\n\nHaving thoroughly established himself in this most interesting region,\nhe began to look after all those who happened to approach these\nimportant domains of fate, invited the travellers and pilgrims to\nhis house, asked each one the story of his or her life and diligently\nand carefully recorded them. Soon a whole bouquet of most varied and\nentertaining tales was gotten up, reminding one of the all famous\nArabian stories, and I can only regret that my memory prevented me\nfrom remembering but very few of them. I can understand very well all\nthat Nebrotk relates about himself. Once upon a time, in the night\nhe was awakened by some sweet, sweet singing, and having hastened\nto rise and go out, he smelt a strong and remarkable fragrance. He\nturned and peeped right into the precipice.\n\nThe moon was lighting up its bottom; the enormous rocks glistened\nlike pure silver and gold, while the water shone like the finest\ndiamonds. With great satisfaction--nay, delight--he glanced at this\nheavenly picture, and suddenly his eyes were fixed on and could easily\ndistinguish two human heads on the surface of the water. He began\nto pay more attention; a very handsome youth--a negro--and quite as\nbeautiful and splendid a white girl were standing in the water up to\ntheir throats, and having lifted their arms high out of the water, they\nwere playing with some wonderful, bright, gleaming threads. Correctly\nthese nets were fastened and refreshed with clean, clear water,\nand they seemed to stay in the air without any sign of motion.\n\nLater he distinguished the following details: These nets of threads\nwere fastened to an immense leaf of some sea plant and in this massive,\nfairy-like floor, which was all aglow with emeralds and gold, there\nstood a figure exceeding all human beauty. The whole scene was wrapped\nin a slight watery fog and a soft moonlight. The longer Nebrotk paid\nattention and looked at the surprising spectacle the more easily he\nsucceeded in making out that all the charm of this extraordinary scene\nwas concentrated in the form of a perfectly magnificent woman. In\nher hands there was some kind of a long feather, consisting entirely\nof sun rays, with which in the course of her sweet swim she reached\nand touched the different plants and flowers, and indeed, as though\nsubjected to her peremptory commands, they gave out an indescribable\nfragrance and each little flower united with the marvellous choir which\nhad gently awakened Nebrotk and sang softly, sweetly, beautifully.\n\nNebrotk got perfectly passionate, so anxious was he to understand the\ncontents and exact meaning of this fragrant, flowery little song, and\nholding his breath, he began to take the greatest pains and was enabled\nto hear: \"Astkchicka! O Astkchicka! O Astkchicka! O Astkchicka!\"\n\nThat struck him as most peculiar, and having once more fixed his\neyes on the head of the woman, he beheld a glistening, darling little\nstar. This was exactly Astkchicka, i.e., Venera, whom the Tsar Vachtang\nthe First had chased out of all his temples and houses of worship,\nand her adorers as well as her sacrificers and those who had been\nso benefited by her--all without exception had to abandon her in the\ndeepest grief and disappointment. Then, however, she found two tender\nlovers. He was an adventurer, viz., a fisherman, but she the daughter\nof a very wealthy gardener. The goddess promised them her complete\nprotection, and they without further reflections threw away their\nonly property, i.e., their garments, and naked they went into the\nwater in order to construct something for their kind benefactor. And\nsee! the expelled goddess decided to rise and establish herself\nnear the interesting \"rivulet of the tears of the body-knight\"\n(stremiannoy), and to that spot she directed her numerous admirers.\n\nHaving seen Nebrotk, Astkchicka waved with her all shining feather, and\nfrom the motions she made, a bridge really and truly formed itself. She\ncame down to earth, and having turned around to look, she again waved\nwith her feather. On one side there was a bush of yellow roses, on the\nother side one of white roses. Their buds were instantly transformed\nand actually turned out as garments for her loving servants who were\nhastening after her. Thereupon she slowly returned to the hut of\nhumble Nebrotk and with a new motion of her bewitching feather changed\nit into a perfectly marvellous, brilliant, nay, most elegant royal\npalace. Nebrotk stood like one struck by lightning. With a clever but\nsly smile upon her beautiful face, Astkchicka ordered her servants to\nlead him off to the stream and put him down on the estrade abandoned\nby her. But hardly had these orders been complied with and fulfilled\nwhen the pillars of the estrade gave way and broke down together\nwith the negro. The terrible, yes frightful, cry of the drowning man\nperfectly silenced the sweet chorus of the flowers. The servants were\nfrightened and anxiously looked at the water, and after a short time\na half god came out of it; he was white with a golden crown imperial,\nin which only the fiery black eyes reminded one of the drowned negro.\n\nAll four settled down in the fairy-like palace and were blessed\nwith indescribable happiness. This was indeed a kingdom of love,\nunhindered and unrestrained by any laws. Nebrotk perfectly adored\nAstkchicka, and the fisherman Naboukodonozor the gardener woman\nRoussoudanna. The host was quite in love with the goddess and the\nservant with the gardenkeeper, although both were merely common\nnegro slaves. But even in the fairy-like palace under the protection\nof the very goddess of love, there happened to be a spot especially\ndesigned for animated secret conversations between lovers. In one of\nthese unhappy moments the conditions and peculiar qualities of the\nstream became known to Naboukodonozor, and the fear that the magic\nforce of the water should influence Roussoudanna found a refuge in\nhis soul. It is of course well known to all of you that suspicion\nis the enemy of love. Naboukodonozor seriously began to think that\nRoussoudanna had fallen in love with him. Seeking the reason of\nthis imaginary adoration he suddenly came upon the idea that she\nwas occupied in involuntarily comparing his black skin with the most\ngodly white complexion of Nebrotk, and in consequence of this horrid\nsupposition his heart began to be filled with emotion and passion,\nwhile after passion came ungratefulness to Astkchicka and a very\nrevolutionary spirit; afterwards she transformed Nebrotk, who had\nreally done absolutely nothing for her, into a half god, while the\nlatter, who had successfully brought her to this enchanting resort,\nshe simply abandoned and left a negro and slave.\n\nAnd during the night he walked along the bank of the stream and sang a\nsong of his great grief, and suddenly the old cedars, the high, high\npeach trees, the grand old nut trees composed a beautiful chorus and\nan all powerful song, blowing everything before it like a huge wave,\nreached the palace and suddenly awakened the goddess--but Nebrotk\nquietly went on sleeping and heard nothing. Stepping lightly,\nAstkchicka softly and cautiously went out to the rivulet, where\nNaboukodonozor, with his back turned towards her, was bitterly crying,\nand blushing terribly, she knocked him over and sent him flying into\nthe water.\n\nWithout a word or motion did Naboukodonozor enter the water, and just\nso he came out--more magnificent even than Nebrotk, and throwing\nhimself at the lovely feet of the goddess he covered them with\nkisses. Astkchicka did not at all object to such proceedings, but\ndid not let him get out of sight, and it seemed very evident that she\nalso was in love with him. The slave, encouraged by the concessions\nof his mistress, seized the godly hands and began to kiss them just\nso madly. Suddenly, however, Astkchicka roughly pulled them away,\npassed them around his neck and having given him a kiss on his lips,\nshe instantly disappeared. Some wonderful extraordinary fire ran over\nthe whole body of poor Naboukodonozor from this rare, but dangerous\nkiss. A new feeling got hold of him, viz., a boundless desire inspired\nhim to run off to the goddess, but the very thought that she was able\nto treat, nay, caress, Nebrotk in the same affectionate way, completely\nkept him from making a fool of himself. He threw himself on the ground\nand tried with all his might and main to extinguish the burning fire\nwhich was raging inside of him, rolling in the soft sweet grass and\nmercilessly treading down the highly fragrant flowers, while the moon\nseemed to be offended with its greatest favorite and bashfully hid\nitself behind a massive cloud. The perfect and impenetrable darkness\nat last forced the crank to come back to his senses; he then went\nhome exasperated, most dissatisfied, and wicked in his intentions.\n\nRoussoudanna was quietly sleeping and knew of nothing that had taken\nplace in the night, and what must have been her astonishment, when in\nthe morning she beheld Naboukodonozor with a pure white complexion\nand golden hair. Upon the question what had occurred to him, he\npassionately replied that he had just gone to a stream, let himself\ndown into the water and had come out in the very state she saw him.\n\n\"Pay attention and be careful to remain faithful to me,\" she\njokingly said, and went out to gather fruit for the \"dejeuner\" of the\ngoddess. After a while Nebrotk also woke up and asked Naboukodonozor\nthe same question.\n\n\"I followed in thy steps and see! the result has proved to be the\nsame,\" was his short answer. Nebrotk looked at him rather suspiciously,\nand unwilling to believe the truth of the story, he went to the goddess\nto inquire about the affair and to see how matters were getting on\nin general.\n\n\"I came to a decided conclusion that it was most unkind and unjust\nnot to do for my real savior what I had deigned to do for thee,\"\nwas the godly reply, which made Nebrotk very uneasy and filled his\nheart with renewed passion.\n\nRoussoudanna wept and wept, Naboukodonozor got terribly provoked,\nNebrotk was deeply impressed and full of emotion, while Astkchicka\nvainly exhausted all her eloquence in trying to explain that her\npalace was a refuge for independent love, not subjected to any laws\nwhatsoever. General dissatisfaction, suspicion, grief, and tears\nwere alternately seen and heard in the fairy-like palace. Poor, poor\nRoussoudanna could not dry her eyes. Once upon a time, going to look\nfor fruit, she went out of her way and got completely lost. The sun was\nalready quite red when she sat down to take a rest after such a hard,\nsteep walk. Her dark, undecided intentions and thoughts concerned\nagain Naboukodonozor and the magic conditions and qualities of the\nrushing stream, and her grieved feelings turned against the goddess.\n\n\"Why under the sun do they call thee the benefactor of men?\" she\npassionately exclaimed. \"Thou didst win and encourage us with the\npromise of thy protection as long as thou didst need us, but now that\nthe situation has changed thou tookest my lover Naboukodonozor away\nfrom me and thus why should we help thee to escape and lighten the\nking's terrible wrath?\n\n\"In all probability his God is far stronger than thou, when thou\nrunnest away from him.\n\n\"O Christian God, save me!\" rang out from the grieved soul of\nRoussoudanna.\n\n\"O Lord Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy upon us!\" Such was the\nexclamation of an old man's voice, and indeed unhappy Roussoudanna\nsoon beheld an old man approaching her and making his way among the\ntrees and bushes.\n\n\"What is the matter with thee, my dear child?\" he kindly asked, coming\nup to her. Roussoudanna naturally said that she had lost her way, that\nshe was very much exhausted and did not know how to continue her route.\n\nThereupon the old man led her to his home. He lived somewhere in the\nimmediate neighborhood, not at all far off, in the grotto of a high,\nhigh rock where he nourished himself with the milk of wild goats\nand with dates. With the greatest pleasure he placed before her his\nwhole stock of provisions, brought her a pitcher of water, carefully\narranged the sofa of leaves and inviting her to take a good rest,\nhe went out. Having refreshed herself, Roussoudanna began to watch\nhim most attentively through the gate of the grotto and there she saw\nthat he had walked a little way off and then had fallen on his knees\nand begun to pray. She witnessed how his good, kindly face suddenly\nlit up with some marvellous, perfectly heavenly, happy, and joyful\nexpression, and she ardently desired to find out from the poor, but\ngrand old man, what this sudden, really indescribable joy meant in\nthe course of his long, laborious, honorable life.\n\nAt last the old man finished his fervent prayer and began to gather\ndates; having got together a huge pile, he gayly carried them into\nthe grotto. The guest met him at the entrance.\n\n\"I thought that perhaps you would not have enough to eat with just\nthose dates which you found in my poor dwelling house,\" said the\nkind-hearted host, turning to her, \"and see here, I am bringing thee\nsome more still,\" and he put down the deliciously sweet fruits right\nbefore her.\n\nRoussoudanna, perfectly astounded by such unusual and unheard of\ngoodness and thoughtfulness, thanked the old man with tears in\nher eyes.\n\n\"What does thy painful grief consist in?\" he asked--and continued\nthus: \"It is possible that the needs of life have been weighing down\non thee?\"\n\n\"Oh no, wise, dear old man, I have never known what it is to be\nin need.\"\n\n\"Well then, did not some severe illness pull thee down and mercilessly\ndeprive thee of thy strength?\"\n\n\"I am in perfect health and have a strong constitution.\"\n\n\"Perhaps some dreadful worries did not give thee rest.\"\n\nA (the woman). B (the hermit).\n\nA: \"I really have nothing to be worried about.\"\n\nB: \"Then did not regularly and faithfully carried out duties exhaust\nthee?\"\n\nA: \"No, dear hermit, for I was living in a fairy-land palace from\nwhich the following torments were entirely excluded: need, worry,\nwork, and illness.\"\n\nB: \"Worldly attractions and habits may have led thee off the good\ntrack and restrained thy liberty?\"\n\nA: \"We were by no means subjected to any such rules, nor even to\netiquette.\"\n\nB: \"It is possible that the laws of your palace were extremely severe\nand therefore made you feel very depressed?\"\n\nA: \"But really, we acknowledged no laws.\"\n\nB: \"Well then, perhaps the wealthy proprietor of the palace abused\nhis might and compelled you to do certain disagreeable things which\nwere unjustifiable?\"\n\nA: \"Not in the least, for Astkchicka was sole mistress and\nadministrator of the palace.\"\n\nB: \"There now remains but one supposition, viz., that she united such\npeople as would naturally perfectly hate one another?\"\n\nA: \"Why, not at all, we all gathered around her in the mighty name\nof love.\"\n\nB: \"Ah, aha, I understand the matter,\" the old man unexpectedly broke\nout, \"you came together over there in the name of love and it is most\nstrikingly evident that there is some defect about your love.\"\n\nA: \"Thou art wrong, old man,\" energetically rang out of Roussoudanna's\nmouth as she suddenly interrupted him. \"I can bear witness and prove\nthat nobody ever and so strongly loved his dear ones as I loved my\nexcellent darling Naboukodonozor!\"\n\nThe grave hermit glanced at her quite differently--yes,\nsuspiciously. \"My child,\" was his brief reply, \"that which the idol\nworshippers falsely call love, is by no means that holy feeling which\nwe understand under that term. Their love is one of those innumerable\nexamples of self-worship and vanity.\"\n\nRoussoudanna's face was all red from blushing, while her eyes were\nfilled with tears.\n\n\"Oh no, that cannot be so,\" she exclaimed with a trembling voice,\n\"with the greatest joy would I suffer any possible privations,\nevery imaginable torture, in order to give him pleasure and satisfy\nhis desires.\"\n\nThe hermit sighed deeply. \"Is it possible then,\" he said with a\ndoubtful, inquiring tone, \"if thou dost indeed truly love thy fellow\nmen and women, that nobody in this wide world is either capable or\nstrong enough to put an end to thy unhappiness? Relate to me now\nwhat the real source of thy misfortune came from and in what manner\nit was able to assume such tremendous dimensions.\"\n\n\"Naboukodonozor, whom I love more than anybody or anything in the\nworld, got to loving another woman!\"\n\n\"Well, what of it?\" quietly asked the old man, \"is this the only\ncause of thy great sorrow? How can one call it unhappiness if this\nmade his fortune and rendered him contented?\"\n\n\"Some would have thought that she might like such a course of events\ninstead of regretting it.\"\n\n\"What is the matter with thee, O wise hermit?\" She was perfectly\noverwhelmed with joy!\n\n\"Now, my dear woman, rely ye simply on me, for I will undertake to\nexplain it all right to thee, as for me, it was a source of sorrow\nand doubt.\"\n\n\"O thou remarkable man, dost thou really not understand that for me\nthis circumstance was worse than all the tortures of poison?\"\n\n\"But thou only just a short time ago didst assure me that the very\nheight of happiness for thee was to stand every privation, nay, all\nsufferings, simply in order to give him pleasure and act in accordance\nwith his wishes and aims.\"\n\nThereupon the hermit again opened his mouth and sang songs of praise\nand thankfulness unto God, the Almighty Master of Heaven and earth; and\nsee! his happiness was founded on love, but on love to a being, a being\nwhich was perfect. He always submitted his love to the righteous laws\nof God; this was not a senseless inspiration, but an action free of\nany earthly, foolish bonds, of elevated and religious aims and seeking\nnothing but rest and comfort for the moment--going always by the road\nof honesty, truth and veneration of all that is upright and good!\n\nHis love was trying to perfect itself, approach if possible that\ngreatest example of utmost perfection which was shown to us by our\nLord Jesus Christ.\n\n\"Happiness is a sweet, sweet little flower,\" said he, \"which is quite\nunable to grow among unrighteousness, unfairness and wilfulness--only\nby the lawful way of Christian love to God, veneration and love to his\nneighbors, can he strive to live properly and give those magnificent\nfragrant flowers, for which you are all constantly looking and which\nyou are as yet unable to find. Following out the orders of my God it\nwill be easy to find happiness, for His perfect and most merciful\nlaws restrain the will of the individual man only there, where it\nproves necessary for his thrift and condition in general. Thou, it is\ntrue, didst live in a fairy-land palace, from which all illnesses,\nneeds, worries, and labors had been excluded. You did not fear nor\nobey any legal authorities, nor laws, nor customs. It was love that\nfirmly united you all. Well, tell me then, were you indeed happy\nand successful?\"\n\n\"Oh! no, not at all!\" answered Roussoudanna. And once more the old\nman tenderly addressed her and convinced Roussoudanna, baptized her,\nand taking a staff, at the top of which a cross was reproduced, he went\noff with her to the fairy-land palace. Reaching the rivulet they beheld\nNebrotk gathering the necessary fruit. With despair and terror did he\ninform them that Astkchicka now considered Naboukodonozor her husband,\nwhile he was forced to serve his rival and nobody paid any attention\nto--yes, had utterly forgotten the existence of Roussoudanna. Then she\nasked him to sit down and told the inhabitant of the castle all that\nhad happened to her, and in her young voice the speech about perfect\nendless and eternal love sounded still more convincing. Love is eternal\nwhen it is well planned and arranged, it is endless if free of sin\nand perfect if subjected to the almighty laws of the eternal God,\nFather of Heaven and earth.\n\nAll were deeply impressed, and now the hermit continued the speech and\ntold them about the all-powerful strength of God, before whose serene\nappearance all false, worthless gods take to flight, and about His\nextreme wisdom and knowledge, rapidity of decision, mercifulness and\nrighteousness, and see! Nebrotk immediately wished to be converted\nand baptized. At the end of his powerful and persuasive discourse,\nthe old man simply touched the fairy-land palace with his staff and\nin a few seconds it completely disappeared like an apparition. Then\nhe instructed Nebrotk and Roussoudanna in real Christian love and\nin the obligations of married life and then performed for both the\nwedding ceremony, and having fervently prayed to the Creator they all\ntogether went to work erecting a perfectly new log house for the young\nmarried couple, in which the happy mortals passed many blissful years,\nwriting down the stories and tales of the various travellers. Some\nof them I shall perhaps tell you of another time. To my sorrow my\nmemory did not preserve that artistic, yes, clever way of relating,\nwhich this little collection of legends more and more clearly explains\nto one--bringing us over and over again to the great truth.\n\n\"Happiness is within us.\" The imperfection of Nebrotk and Roussoudanna\ncame at first from the imperfection of their mutual love, which loves\nitself as much as the beloved. Then, however, gradually as they were\ntaught to love their neighbor more than themselves, yes to love him so\nmuch as not to offend each other and not grumble and growl over little\ndefects and mishaps which regarded their personalities alone and from\nwhich the neighbors should not suffer, did they teach themselves and\nconceive how well it was to rejoice over the blissfulness of others,\nto think only about others, to wish to seek pleasure and happiness only\nfor others and to put all their energy and delight in the contentment\nand comfort of others; this great happiness finally made its beneficent\nway into their souls and admitting everything they said.\n\n\"Happiness is within us--\" and then they needed no more fairy-land\ncastle, from which all cares, illnesses, needs, and labors were\nbanished. They found time and also strength to live an actual and true\nlife among all its turmoils and difficulties, to know how to guarantee\none's shining happiness, and then they heard not the fairy-land\nsong of the flowers, the fragrant song of the youngsters saved by\nthem for a joyful, diligent, and Christian life, and they rejoiced\nin the song of thankful young people, who by their example of love,\nhad been saved from many a sorrow and suffering. These young people\nhad thoroughly learned how to live a happy life and this chorus did\nnot stop as long as they lived on earth.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVII. THE TRIBUTE OF ROSES\n\nA LEGEND\n\n\nIn our most blessed and favored country, where the sun shines so\nbrightly, where the flowers have such a sweet, sweet fragrance, where\nthe birds sing so melodiously, long ago in bygone times, when neither I\nnor my father nor my forefathers had been born, there lived a young and\nsplendid couple in the Aule of Mokde [Note of the Translator: Aule is\nthe common term for a very small village or rather mountain hamlet in\nthe Caucasus.] They were always most hospitable and everybody praised\nthem, but the Lord, who always delights in seeing the religious and\nthe poor well treated, fully rewarded them and abundantly furnished\nthem with rich presents, thus clearly showing them his appreciation\nfor their good deeds. They had everything that could be desired:\nyouth, beauty, good health, riches, and reputation, they sincerely\nloved one another and their inner happiness was as great as their\nouter appearance and great success. Their children were healthy,\nclever, good and lovely to look at. Their elder son, little Timitch,\ndistinguished himself especially through his strength and ability;\nhe was endowed with most fiery eyes, once sparkling like flashes of\nlightning, then again as soft and innocent as the eyes of a young\nmountain goat.\n\nFor nine years the happy husband and wife lived thus, when suddenly\nbetween the aules of Mokde and Khamki a very bloody strife ensued and\nled to much destruction of life and property. During this strife,\nwhen the father of Timitch was mercilessly killed as well as his\nbrothers and sisters, while the mother was taken prisoner and led off\nas a captive, Timitch himself was saved by some inexplicable wonder\nand soon became the favorite and greatest pride of the whole aule. In\nthe meantime his mother, who was still a beautiful and youthful woman\n[in our country the women can be married at the early age of twelve]\nwas sold and taken away to Turkey, where her wonderful appearance was\nthe chief ornament of the Sultan's harem. In this select collection\nof beautiful and highly attractive women, her good looks and sweet\ndisposition cast a dark shadow over all the rest--just as our bright\nsun dims all other planets.\n\nThe Sultan got perfectly wild with delight over her, and he incessantly\nshowered most precious weavings, gorgeous carpets and splendid stones\nof one color and priceless shawls--in a word everything that the rich,\nrich East could produce lay at her graceful feet. Nevertheless in\nthe midst of all these flatteries and endless temptations she always\nremained faithful to her husband. It needed a marvellous mind and\ncharacter like hers, while utterly refusing to fulfil the wishes of the\nSultan, to still remain the governess of his heart and the immediate\nobject of his kind and thoughtful attention. In these proceedings a\nlucky circumstance firmly assisted her--viz., the fact that she had\nbeen preparing herself to become a mother already four months before,\nwhen she happened to be taken prisoner. The loving and enchanted\nSultan decided to patiently await the birth of the baby, which was\nforeign to him, and then marry his unusual captive, who was of royal\nblood and thus fully had the right to be an empress. The nearer she\napproached the time when a child should be born, the gayer the future\nSultana became, so that those surrounding her really imagined that\nshe had forgotten her husband. But oh, how terribly mistaken they\nwere! Indeed, the eventful day came and a daughter Tousholi was born.\n\nWhen they brought her the baby she long looked at it and tears came\nin floods out of her magnificent eyes, afterwards she made the sign\nof the cross on it and gave orders that it should be carried off.\n\n\"Call Samson to me,\" she said. Samson was the eunuch, given\nand attached to her personal service by the Sultan and who had\nfaithfully done his duty by her side. She knew how to win his esteem\nand confidence, especially as he was himself a Christian (of course\nquite secretly). When he arrived she ordered him to take up the opakalo\n(probably a kind of Eastern fan) and protect her, while sleeping, from\nuncomfortable and noisy flies; but she did not want to sleep--this\nwas simply a sly device to make everybody leave her apartment and get\nout. She profited by this occasion to tell Samson the following facts:\n\n\"Samson, to thee I trust the new-born daughter Tousholi, promise me if\npossible secretly to make a Christian of her, as sincere and earnest\nin her belief as thou thyself. Among all these unbelievers thou wert\nnot a slave to me, but a true and faithful friend and a tender and\nthoughtful brother. By the almighty mercifulness of God I am destined\nto live not much longer, for I hope to-day already to be able to unite\nmyself with my dear husband, while thee I ask to take the place of this\ndear orphan's parents. Thou knowest my whole history, my strength does\nnot enable me to speak to thee as freely as I should like. For the sake\nof the outward appearance I shall leave Tousholi nominally to the care\nof the Sultan, and I am convinced that at first everything will go\nright with you. When, however, your situation changes, I hope indeed\nthat you may find means to return to Mokde and look up my first-born\nchild, whose natural obligation it is to be the powerful protector\nof his defenceless sister and her very aged educator, but now give\nme my little kindjall (Caucasian dagger)--fear nothing, I shall not\ncut myself open, for I have not even the strength to do that.\"\n\nSamson placed in her now feeble hands the handsomely ornamented little\nkindjall, artistically decorated with precious stones and fastened to a\nmost gorgeous girdle. This was the wedding present of her husband and\nshe never left it out of her sight. The submissive old man, through\nhis tears beheld how the face of the sick woman suddenly lit up and\nhow, her eyes flashing with some extraordinary fire, she bravely\npulled the little kindjall out of the sheath and put its thin blade,\nwhich was as sharp as the tongue of a snake, up to her lovely mouth.\n\n\"She sincerely kisses it,\" thought Samson, and quieted himself; but\nthe precious little kindjall had yet another resemblance with the\ntongue of a snake, of which the faithful servant knew nothing. It\nwas indeed poisoned!\n\nHaving heroically swallowed the deadly poison, the sick woman\ncommanded Samson to instantly inform the Sultan that she desired to\nsee him. The all-powerful adorer of this Christian heroine immediately\nmade his appearance and was utterly distressed when he saw the signs\nof approaching death already marked on her magnificent features. In\nhis anger against those standing about, he threatened them with\nperfectly atrocious punishment if they did not that moment find\ndoctors able to bring his favorite back to life. In the meantime\nwith a weak but expressive and comprehensible movement of her hand,\nthe patient showed that she desired to be left alone with him. All\nthe rest disappeared in a second and she broke out thus:\n\n\"My minutes are counted, I am dying, not paying you back in any way for\nyour innumerable marks of kindness to me, and nevertheless I wish to\nask yet another favor of you: be a father to my new-born daughter! It\nis my firm and irrevocable wish that my true and ever-faithful\nSamson shall stay by her and bring her up in none but my own dear\nreligion; when, however, you are tired of her, simply send them to\nMokde to my son Timitch, and even if he be no longer living, I am\nfully convinced that the excellent daughter of my loving husband\nwill always find protectors and friends among the good and kindly\ninhabitants of Mokde.\" With these serene words she breathed her last\nbreath. The tremendous fury and utter despair of the Sultan went\nbeyond any description. The court body-doctor and the arifa (i.e.,\nthe lady who administrates the harem) were hung without delay, but\nSamson and his sweet little pupil were given very fine and expensive\napartments with magnificent board.\n\nEvery ten days the old man was obliged to bring little Tousholi to\nthe Sultan, who having tenderly caressed her and given riches to the\nfaithful servant, let them retire, giving the strictest orders that\nthose who surrounded them should never hinder, trouble, or disturb\nthem in any way. Thus three long years easily went by. The childish\nfeatures of the face of Tousholi now acquired a most striking\nresemblance with the marvellously beautiful features of her late\nmother. The courtiers began to notice repeatedly that the Sultan\nafter a time had fallen in love with her, was earnestly reflecting\nabout something and frequently sighing. Thus the visits, which used\nto last but a few minutes, now became very long indeed, while little\nTousholi, with her childish caresses, gained the affection of the\nSultan more and more. Immediately two parties sprang up: the first,\nwishing to make Tousholi their excellent instrument in order to get\nthe upper hand and overrule the Sultan, and thus naturally, constantly\nand unceasingly chanting her praises and flattering her to the skies;\nthe second, which had resolved to make her perish and from this reason\nnever letting one occasion go by without trying to snap at her and\npull her down from her exalted position.\n\nDuring the fearful struggle of these two desperate parties, Tousholi's\nchildhood went by and she was already a grown-up maiden, when the\nkind-hearted Sultan died. His successor by chance belonged to the\ndangerous and inimical party, and so the sharp and careful Samson\nbegan to energetically demand to be allowed to go away to Mokde. The\npermission to start for the home journey was given with great joy and\nsatisfaction, and very soon they had already arrived at Mokde. Here\nthere was no difficulty in finding out Timitch. He was known by young\nand old alike. The old servant silently took from Tousholi's baggage\nthat precious girdle with the kindjall, which he had handed to her\nmother just a few hours before her untimely death and passed it to\nTimitch, drawing his attention to a splendid all-sparkling round\ntablet. On it were inscribed the dear names of his glorious parents.\n\n\"This is the remarkable girdle which was always around the waist of\nmy all-beloved mother!\" cried out the youth.\n\n\"Well, say now I prythee where is she staying? How can I possibly\nreward thee--oh, thou grand old man? Art thou sent by her?\"\n\n\"I verily came to this memorable village by her sacred will,\"\nreverently answered Samson. \"While dying she ordered me to lead thy\nsister to thee and hand her over to thy mighty care and protection.\"\n\n\"What, my sister? Well, well, is it possible that not all sisters\nand brothers perished together with their splendid father?\"\n\nSaying this he closely looked at the young girl and was evidently\nstruck and impressed by her perfectly unusual beauty.\n\n\"The resemblance with your mother ought to be sufficient to convince\nyou of the truth of my words.\"\n\nAfterwards innumerable questions and answers were mutually\nexchanged. The old man and Tousholi settled down in the house of\nTimitch and Samson heartily rejoiced, seeing soon how the youngsters\nbecame friends. But nevertheless there was nothing to rejoice\nabout! The twenty-year-old Timitch, fiery, not given to reflections,\nunaccustomed to restrain himself in any way, was entertaining such\nintentions as would make Samson's hair stand on end if he thoroughly\nunderstood their meaning. What is there strange in the fact that the\ntwelve-year-old Tousholi was unable to guess at the thoughts of her\nbrother and firmly trusted him in everything with all her simple\nchildish sincerity of soul. The passionate attraction of Timitch\ngrew not with days, but with hours, and once during a promenade,\nwithout being at all disturbed by the presence of grave old Samson,\nhe actually went as far as to tell her of his peculiar intentions.\n\nSamson, astonished and disapproving the plan, threw himself in between\nthe young people and was stupefied when seeing a dagger pointed\ntowards him, but the terrified Tousholi speedily hid herself near\na precipice. Seeing the immediate danger, the dying faithful Samson\ncursed the wicked and lawless boy, and lo! suddenly a great wonder\ntook place.\n\nTimitch was transformed into a wind and began to crazily blow\nand whistle over the precipice, but the submissive and ever loyal\nservant was turned into a gigantic rose bush, in the midst of which\na rose of unusual size was growing and constantly blooming. By the\nwill of God, angels with marvellous, all-glorious singing slowly let\nthemselves down into the precipice, majestically lifted out from it\nthe magnificent body of Tousholi and carefully placed it in the very\ncentre of the superb rose, the all-fragrant leaves of which gradually\nclosed up and thus buried inside of them the deceased. Attracted by\nthe all-glorious angelic singing, the faithful inhabitants of Mokde\nran together in crowds to the rose and many of them clearly saw how the\nangels gracefully interred Tousholi in the rose. But Timitch could by\nno means quiet down; with anger and greatest passion he threw himself\nupon the rose bush and wished to break it down, but the more he shook\nthe lovely branches, the closer and firmer did they stick to the rose\nand the better did they defend her from his unjustified attacks and\ndepredations. When, however, he finally succeeded in carrying off the\ntender, tender leaves of the rose, Tousholi was no more to be seen,\nfor her body had completely evaporated in the marvellous fragrance.\n\nThe religious inhabitants of Mokde enclosed the beloved holy rose with\na very massive stone wall, called this spot Tousholi, and yearly when\nthe first beautiful rose came out they celebrated a fete, which has\nquite a character of its own and is popularly known as \"the tribute\nof roses.\"\n\nThe ceremony consists of the following points: Every young girl\ngathers a tremendous full bunch of rose leaves and standing one\nbehind the other, they await the exit of the very oldest man in the\nvillage. He comes out, dressed in a white suit and bearing in his hand\na white flag, the point of which is richly decorated with roses and\ncovered with sweet little bells, while at the end a large wax candle\nburns. Putting himself at the head of the procession, the old man\ngives a solemn signal and the procession duly and martially directs\nitself towards Tousholi; behind it at a considerable distance followed\nyoung people, leading sheep and bringing along with them the customary\nofferings, i.e., horns, balls, hatchets, silks, etc. The procession\nwinds around Tousholi three times with beautiful singing in which is\ndescribed in detail all that we have mentioned above--then the girls\nin their turn enter through the great fence and put down in a certain\nplace their splendid fragrant offerings, softly adding:\n\n\"Saint Tousholi, help and assist me! Holy Samson, shield and protect\nme from the cursed Timitch and all of that kind!\"\n\nOn the top of a pretty mound, formed by the magnificent rose leaves,\nthe old man solemnly fixes his standard, saying: \"Saint Tousholi,\nmake me wise, Holy Samson, help me to guard and defend all these\ntender maids from the cursed and all-hated Timitch and all those who\nfollow his wicked example!\"\n\nAfter this earnest speech the old man sits down at the foot of\nthe graceful flag, while at his own feet the young girls settle\ndown. Then the young people enter the enclosure and kneeling on one\nknee pronounce a most reverential greeting discourse to the hermit\nand the maidens and then they turn about and face an opposite corner,\nwhere they curse Timitch who hath wickedly cast a dark shadow over\ntheir beloved aule; afterwards they cut up the sheep and gayly feast\nwith all those present. When I was but a very small boy I happened to\nbe in this place and was favored with seeing with my own eyes one or\ntwo roses inside the enclosure, which it appears is existing even in\nour advanced and enlightened days. These roses are really unusually\nlarge in size, but nevertheless neither a grown-up girl nor even\na new-born youngster can possibly find place inside the flower. I\nunderstand that at that time they used to say with regret, that the\nfete of \"the tribute of roses\" did not repeat itself yearly! Thus\nlittle by little ancient customs disappear and antique amusements\nare superseded by new ones, which are not always successfully chosen;\nonly grim Timitch never changes, for he is quite as restless now as\never before, here moves and weeps like a child, there makes a row,\nyes rebels like a robber and lawlessly destroys whole buildings. His\ndislike for roses never ceases, and as soon as he sees a sweet little\nflower he immediately begins to blow around it with impatience and\nanger until he hath scattered the beautifully fragrant leaves far and\nwide over the country. Now the story of Tousholi is already forgotten,\nbut her name, among the Chechenzes, is given to all such interesting\nplaces, where they go to make sacrifices and fervently pray.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVIII. THE LOT OF THE HOLY VIRGIN\n\nA TRADITION\n\n\nWhen, by the special wish of the Lord, the apostles drew lots to\ndecide who was to go out into foreign lands and preach the gospel of\nChrist, the enlightenment of Georgia fell to the share of the Holy\nVirgin. The Lord appearing to her exclaimed: \"My mother, taking\ninto account thy desires, I have come to the conclusion that this\nnation is more worthy than all others to have a place in the list of\nheavenly joys and blessings. Send thou then into this fine country,\nwhich hath fallen to thy lot, Andrew the First and hand him thy\npicture, which, from being placed against thee, represents thine holy\nface!\" Then the Most Holy Mother of God announced to the apostle:\n\"My dear pupil Andrew, I am very much grieved by the fact that the\nfaith of the name of my son is not being preached nor advanced in the\ncountry, whose enlightenment hath fallen to my lot. When, however,\nI desired to start out for the journey my son and my God appeared\nto me and ordered that I should send to my separate province with\nthee my image and His, so that I should be the real cause of the\nconversion of these people and be their everlasting and ever tender\nhelper and protector.\" \"Most holy one, yes, let at all times the\nwill of thy Godly son and thine be carried out and fulfilled to the\nsatisfaction of all the world.\" Then the most Holy Virgin washed her\nface and having pressed it well against a platter, she left on it her\nreproduction with her predicted son in her arms. Having handed the\nimage to Saint Andrew, she said: \"Yes, may the mercifulness and the\noverwhelming help of Him who was born of me be with thee everywhere\nwhere thou choosest to go. I myself will invisibly help to increase\nthe complete success of thy preaching tour and my province of future\nenlightenment will always remain under my constant, nay, never ceasing\ncare and protection.\" The holy apostle, having thereupon fallen at\nthe feet of the most Holy Virgin, thanked her with tears in his eyes\nand joy in his heart, went to preach the faith at Trebizond, taking\nalong with him Simon the Canonite. But here they did not remain long\nand continued their journey to Edjis. Seeing the perfect craziness\nof those stupid inhabitants, who were more like entirely senseless\nanimals, the apostle directed himself towards Georgia, and arriving\nin Great Adtchara, began his holy work; for even here the inhabitants\ndid not profess the faith of the only true and real God and committed\ndeeds which were so shameful that it is unsuitable even to refer to\nthem in any imaginable way. They showered many indignant insults upon\nthe apostle, who simply and most patiently bore them all with the help\nof God and by being occupied in constant prayer before the image of the\nmost Holy Virgin--and lo! the Lord fulfilled the ardent desire of his\nheart and brought the inhabitants upon the righteous way, but on the\nspot where the reproduction of the mother of our God was standing,\nthere appeared an abundant and truly splendid fountain flowing to\nthis day, and in which the saintly apostle baptized the inhabitants,\nwho had gathered there from all the surrounding towns and villages.\n\nHe blessed and ordained the deacons and priests, explained to them in\ndetail the holy principles of the faith as well as the church laws and\nsuccessfully constructed there a church in honor of the Holy Virgin\nMary. When, however, he wished to leave, the adoring people stopped\nhim with the following remarkable words: \"If thou art actually going\naway, leave us at least the image of the Mother of our God as a place\nof refuge and protection in case of trouble and need.\" Then the Saint\nordered made a platter of just the same size as the image and put\nthem together.\n\nImmediately the reproduction was transferred to the new slab without\nany injury to the former image. Immediately afterwards, the apostle\nhanded the newly made image to the inhabitants, who, having received\nit with joy, placed it with great honors in their fine church, where\nit hath remained to the present day. Then they said good-bye to\nthe splendid apostle, thanking him for his many good deeds, kissing\nhim with true love and affection, and with him they sent one of the\nnewly converted by the name of Matata. Going through the valley of\nKkeniss-Tskall he led Saint Andrew up to the summit of a mountain, on\nwhich the Saint formally erected a cross in honor of our blessed Lord\nJesus Christ and that was the reason why this exceptionally favored\nmountain began to be universally called \"Rouiss-Djouar,\" which means,\n\"the iron cross.\"\n\nAfter that they went down into the valley of Odzrche and soon reached\nthe frontiers of Samtske, where they took up their headquarters in\nthe village of Mount Zaden. Seeing that the inhabitants over there\nbowed down to and wickedly worshipped idols, they sincerely prayed\nto the image, which had triumphantly accompanied them everywhere and\ninstantly all idols fell and were broken to pieces. Then they continued\ntheir route to Astbour, which was formerly called Tchoukall-tchett\n(the river of lilies) in Armenian and really lies just opposite\nSakrisse, and arranging themselves, they settled down to rest near an\nidolatrous temple, nowadays Dzvel-Eklesia. At that time this country\nwas administrated by a widow by the name of Samsgvari, which means\n\"frontier,\" who had but one son and he too had just died among\nthe depressed and mourning subjects of his mother. That same night\nfrom the guarding fortress a powerful light was seen over that spot\nwhere the image of the Mother of our God was placed, and at sunrise\npeople were immediately sent to find out who was there and what their\nbusiness was. Returning to the city, the envoys announced to Samsgvari,\nthat it was the light from the reproduction of some wonderful Virgin,\nwhom two foreigners had evidently brought with them; that they knelt\nand prayed before this strange image and that they preached the faith\nof a new God, who could make the dead rise.\n\nThe widow immediately sent for the saints and questioned Andrew:\n\"Who are thou, whence didst thou come and what in the world is the new\nfaith about which thou speakest so much, for verily I say unto you,\nup to this time nothing approaching it in the very least has ever\nbeen heard of?\"\n\n\"I arrived from Jerusalem,\" energetically answered the apostle,\n\"and am the servant of our Lord Jesus Christ, who doth make the dead\nrise again. I preach about Him as about God and the King of all\nkings. Know ye then that He who believeth in Him and lets himself\nbe baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost\nwill receive all he asketh for with true faith and will be healed of\nevery illness.\" Upon hearing these sounding words, Samsgvari fell at\nhis feet with tears in her eyes and cried out:\n\n\"Oh, have thou pity for my widowhood and terrible unhappiness and with\nthe strength of thy God bring back my only son to life. I will duly\ncarry out and fulfill to general satisfaction everything that thou\ncommandest me to do, without uttering the slightest objection, only\nin order that I may behold again my dear son alive, for he is the only\ndescendant of our great family, for I have really no other children.\"\n\n\"Well, if thou believest in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only\ntrue God, He will certainly give thee all that thou dost ask of Him\nwith faith.\" Then the widow with tears of joy said to the Saint: \"O\nservant of the only real and true God, I do sincerely believe in Jesus\nChrist, of whom thou preachest and whose holy name thou announcest to\nthe world at large. I, however, beg thee to increase my strength of\nbelief in Him, the Saviour of the world.\" Having heard these sincere\nwords with pleasure, the apostle chased away the musicians and the\ncurious, leaving only Samsgvari and her relations, and taking the\nimage of the most Holy Virgin, he placed it on the corpse of the\nlittle child and falling on the ground he began to pray, the tears\nabundantly streaming down the fine features of his fervent face, and\nwith many sighs he stretched out his arms towards the image and then\nrose, took the little boy by the hand, and truly! the boy seemed to\nawake as though from sweet slumber, and Saint Andrew handed him over\nto his mother.\n\nAll those present were silent--so struck were they with surprise,\nwhile the widow, seeing her beloved son restored to life, was filled\nwith utmost joy, jumped up and threw herself at the feet of the Saint,\ngratefully thanking him and covering his knees with tears. She, with\nall her heart, believed in the Lord Jesus and was baptized with her\nson and all his household. Afterwards she sent out her servants to\nall the Samtsetskian mtavares with official letters, containing the\nfollowing passages:\n\n\"I, Samsgvari, the widow of your kristav, do joyfully announce to you,\nmy brethren, a most happy event for all nations, for there arrived\nfrom a strange land, a man who preacheth the faith of a new God,\nthe reproduction of whom made my blessed son arise from the dead;\nhasten ye therefore, so that we may choose the only true and sincere\nfaith and decide whom it becomes us to obey and adore.\" Having heard of\nthis wonder, the Meskhians rushed in from every spot of the monarchy\nin such numberless crowds that they actually filled the whole valley\nof Sakriss, and they all stared with perfect astonishment at the\nrisen son of Samsgvari. But the sacrificers of Artemis and Apollo,\nthe temple of which was situated in that part of the country, firmly\nresolved to oppose themselves to the Saint and cried out:\n\n\"Artemis and Apollo are great gods,\" and after them many of the people\nshouted the same, while others nevertheless exclaimed: \"We must all\nnecessarily submit before such an unusual wonder!\" Rebelling and\nquarrelling in every way began to make itself felt. In the end it was\ndecided to open the gates of the temple, to solemnly place the holy\nimage between the idols, to set up proclamations on both sides of the\ngates, place guardians and pass the night in religious prayers. \"Pray\nall you want to your false gods,\" said the faithful followers of\nHim whose religion conquereth all others, \"we, however, will pray\nto our only real and true God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and at sunrise\nwe shall see: if your gods get the upper hand and are victorious, we\nwill follow your example. If, however, they are defeated by our God,\nthen let all present give praises unto Him the Only one.\"\n\nHaving carried out everything according to the agreement, at very\nsunrise they opened the doors of the temple and beheld the idols,\nfallen and broken to pieces in the dust, while the image of the\nMother of our God was surrounded with glitter and light like the\nsun. Then they understood the importance of the new religion and the\nwhole nation unanimously exclaimed: \"Great is the God of Christians,\npreached about by the holy apostle Andrew,\" but the sacrificers begged\nthe Saint to forgive them their sin of unbelief, and all having assured\nhim of their repentance, were baptized in the name of the Father and\nof the Son and of the Holy Ghost and loudly sang praises unto God,\nwho had safely saved them from the deadly grasp of the merciless devil.\n\nThen Saint Andrew made up his mind to go into other wild countries\nand preach the principles of the New Testament, but the widow\nand the nation implored him not to go away from them until he had\nsuccessfully taught them all the laws of the faith. Every single day\nthe nation gathered in tremendous crowds and the apostle carefully\nexplained to them the rules and details of the religion and all the\nnecessary church rules, consecrated for their service a bishop, many\npriests and deacons and again started for his great and dangerous\nmission. Samsgvari and the nation renewed their ardent entreaties,\nbut the Saint tenderly replied to them:\n\n\"My dear children, do not lead me into temptation, for my duty calls\nme and prescribes to me to render also other cities and villages\nhappy.\" \"Well, if thou must absolutely abandon us,\" they mournfully\nanswered, \"so leave us at least the image of the most Holy Virgin\nto strengthen our never-ceasing confidence in the new faith and\nas a means of mutual protection.\" \"This image,\" said Saint Andrew,\n\"formed itself from simply being touched by the body of the Mother\nof our God,\" and he went on explaining to them how by the extreme\ncondescension of the Lord the apostles drew lots to find out where\neach one should go to preach and that Samtsketia fell to the share\nof the Virgin Mary. He joyfully related how instead of herself she\nhad sent her portrait into the provinces belonging to her sphere of\nenlightenment as a means of confirmation and protection to the true\nbelievers and promised that she would always be with them in spirit\nand soul now, henceforth and evermore. Messkhi and Samsgvari, having\nfound out that they were under the spiritual regency of the Heavenly\nTsaritsa, were filled with indescribable joy, but the desire to be\nable to possess her image made them still more radiant.\n\nWith tears of emotion in their eyes they solemnly placed it in a small\nchurch, which had been speedily constructed and consecrated in the name\nof the Holy Atskourian Virgin. Nowadays they usually call this church\n\"Dzvelle-Ekletsia,\" that is \"ancient church,\" as the present edifice\nis built of stones which had served to construct the first church and\nstands on exactly the same spot. Then Saint Andrew went to preach\nthe Holy Gospel in Nigalia, Djavakhetia, Artakanna and Kola, where\nhe remained very long, enlightening the depraved unbelievers. From\nthere he directed himself to Klardjetta, then to the land of Parthia,\nArmenia, and for the fete of Easter safely arrived at Jerusalem.\n\nWhen, however, Tsar Aderke discovered that the Kartlians and\nMesskhians had finally abandoned the faith of their forefathers,\nhe sent several kristaves to them, who by force officially obliged\nmany to return to a regime of darkness and falseness. Nevertheless\nsome true and faithful followers succeeded in concealing images and\ncrosses and loudly praised God that the apostle was no longer in their\npresence. The Tsar, however, grew very angry against the kristave of\nKlardjette for his not having held up the Saint, who, passing Easter\nDay together with the remaining apostles, again bravely started on a\nlarge preaching tour in Georgia. Crossing the lands lying near Fao as\nthe Choroke, he thoroughly inspected the villages, preaching everywhere\nand to everyone the Holy Gospel of Christ, and soon reached Svanetia.\n\nHere at that time a woman reigned, who accepted the apostle's saintly\nblessing with false and pretended good feelings. Matata with the\nremaining pupils stayed in these domains, but Saint Andrew and\nSaint Simon went farther to Ossetia, where they got to the town\nof Posstaphore and from there they soon successfully arrived at\nthe Bosphorus, where with the almighty and conquering help of God\nthey were favored with the gift of being able to accomplish many\nwonders, and converted to the only real and true faith and baptized\ntremendous numbers of people. Afterwards they went back to Abkhazetia\nand farther to the city of Sebasst, the present Tikkoum, where many\nmore unbelievers were also converted to the religion of Christ. Here\nSaint Andrew left Simon the Canaanite with several good pupils and\ncontinued his route to Djivetta, peopled by a wild vile nation, filled\nto overflowing with disgraceful sinfulness, love of cruelty and without\nany religious feeling whatever. They actually did not want to listen\nto him and unanimously made up their minds to kill him, but lo! the\nLord protected his faithful servant, ordering him to instantly depart\nfrom the wretched creatures. But this nation remained in unbelief\nto this day. The tomb of Simon the Canaanite is in Nikopsia, between\nAbkhezethe and Djikerk, on the frontier of Greece. Having confirmed the\nAbkhazians and Megroes in the new faith, Saint Andrew left entirely\nfor Skythia. Soon afterwards Tsar Aderke died and the kingdom of\nGeorgia was divided among his two sons Bartomme and Kartamme.\n\nDuring their rigid administration in the year 70 A. D., a rumor began\nto gain ground that the inhabitants, who were under the supreme\nauthority of Rome, absolutely refused to submit themselves to the\nEmperor Vespasian and energetically rebelled. The Emperor ordered\nhis son Fitt to persuade the Jews to quiet down, but they did not\ncease to make a fearful row and locked themselves up with their\narmy in Jerusalem. Then the Romans surrounded this town and began\nto mercilessly besiege it. The besieged were suffering from terrible\nhunger and diseases and the nation from despair began a terrific civil\nwar. In a short time there perished such a quantity of Hebrews, that\nthey threw one hundred thousand corpses out of the town; besides that\nthe streets and houses were filled to overflowing with dead people. In\nthe end the Romans made their way to Jerusalem, ruined it completely\nand destroyed the temple, so that according to the holy words of the\nSaviour, not one stone remained on top of another.\n\nEver since then the Jews have overrun every part of the world and\nno longer have any own fatherland. Many of them arrived at Mtzkhet\nand settled down with their compatriots, among whom were also the\nsons of Varrava, delivered by the Hebrews instead of Jesus Christ,\nwhen they were invited to let one of their prisoners free. During the\nreign of the grandsons of Bartome and Kartaume the kings Azork and\nArmazeli, the latter found out about the existence in his monarchy of\nthe miloti of the prophet Ilia and instantly gave orders to look for\nit among the Jews, but the Lord did not allow this extreme treasure\nto fall into the hands of the ruthless pagans, his searchings finally\nturned out to be vain attempts and to all questions the Hebrews simply\nanswered that it was concealed in the earth near a magnificent cedar,\nwhich had grown over the tomb of Sidonia. Consequently Saint Nina more\nthan once commanded Abiatkar to question his father where it indeed\nwas situated, but the old man every time gave one and the same answer:\n\n\"The spot, where is hidden this holy garment, about which in its time\nthe true believers will sing praises unto God, is like the place on\nwhich Jacob beheld the staircase leading up to Heaven.\"\n\nThis was the only occasion when they seriously disturbed the\nHebrews, all the remaining time, however, before and afterwards,\nthey constantly received and treated them exactly according to the\nrules of true Eastern hospitality and made them feel quite at home\nin their new fatherland. In the year one hundred and eighty-six\nA.D., Revv ascended the Georgian throne. The word \"reva\" signifies\n\"conqueror,\" but the nation gave this serene sovereign a designation\nstill more suited to him and still more honorable, for they rightly\nnamed him \"the just sovereign,\" for his very first great public act\nwas the repression of privateering and robbing in the army and the\nprohibition to bring children to be offered to the gods.\n\nAlthough Revv the Just was himself an idolator, yet he did have some\nkind of a vague idea of the New Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ,\nhighly esteemed His true followers and even strictly forbade to chase\nthe Christians, who had held their own in small numbers among the\nworthy descendants of the most enlightened apostles. These little\nmarks of attention were sufficient to support Christianity, which\nstood high in the eyes of many men in the country. From this bright\nmoment onwards the number of Christians began undoubtedly to increase,\nalthough of course slowly, but every year so that by the arrival of\nSaint Nina they were already forming a considerable and by no means\nto be despised class.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIX. THE COMET\n\nA LEGEND\n\n\nOn a steep, steep mountain path, leading directly to the monastery\nof John of Zadenne, a young girl was slowly walking. Her lovely sweet\nhands were all covered with blood as she was holding on with all her\nmight and main to the prickly bushes; it being absolutely necessary\nto stick to them, so as not to fall into a deep abyss. Having safely\nreached a little square she stopped in order to quiet down and catch\nher breath; for in front of her another just as difficult ascent was\nawaiting her and she felt that it was her duty to rest and save her\nremaining strength. Having stood a while, she cautiously sat down and\nbegan to look at the path by which she had dared to come. Far in the\ndistance one could see a horseman. The well trained horse like a cat\nhung on to the mountain, taking advantage of the most insignificant\nlittle trail or plateau and of every imaginable hardly noticeable\nhighland road. Small stones rolled away from under its feet, the dry\nold branches of many a bush trembled and broke with a sharp cracking\nsound while the horse galloped--approaching always nearer and nearer\nthe terribly exhausted woman-traveller.\n\nComing up with her, the rider reverently bowed. He also intended to\nlet his faithful horse have a good rest on the little plateau and\nnaturally he began a conversation with the sitting maid. From what\nshe told him, he found out that she was called Salougvari and that\nshe undertook this pilgrimage, wishing to pray at the sacred tomb of\na most holy, saintly hermit for the restoration of her dying mother's\nhealth. The young people went on talking for some time and the gallant\nrider offered her to continue her journey, holding on to the tail\nof his horse. This means of mountaineering is considered by us in\nGeorgia the very safest and far less exhausting than all others. When\nthey reached the summit he rode into a deep thicket, growing on the\nedge of the mountain, on which stood a monastery; the horseman's way\nof treating her changed completely and his extraordinary speeches\nterrified Salougvari. She, having abandoned the tail of the horse,\nin an instant ran off to the monastery and like a frightened little\nbird made her way into the church.\n\nThe glances of all those praying turned with astonishment to the\nrunaway wanderer and this unusual surprise grew still greater, when\nafter her a horseman bounced in on a foaming steed and with his hat on\nhis head and not paying the slightest attention to the solemn church\nservice simply began to search with his piercing looks for poor,\npoor Salougvari, who had taken refuge at the very tomb of the famous\nsaint. Having beheld his fellow-sojourner, he rashly knocked against\nhis horse and with one bold bound, he arrived close by her side.\n\nIn that memorable moment, the ground suddenly shook and actually\nopened itself, swallowed up the fiery and insulting horseman and again\nmajestically closed itself up with such marvellous rapidity that those\npresent were struck as though by lightning and could not utter a word.\n\nIt is of course well known that somewhat below the monastery in the\nvery mountain the temple of Zadenne was cut out, which soon became\nthe permanent residence of demons, and indeed these latter rogues,\ndaily coming out of their horrid dwelling places, very much disturbed\nSaint John and his numerous scholars until he gave orders that the\nentrance into the vast abandoned cave-region should be firmly barred\nand closely blocked up. Our bold horseman had the most peculiar--yes\nwonderful feeling in the neighborhood of this whole temple or house\nof worship. Upon a height there stood the gigantic reproduction of\na handsome old man sitting on a massive throne, between his feet lay\na ring-formed snake--the true symbol of eternity--while in his hand\nhe held lightning. This was all artistically cut out in marble. The\nelegant crown, which decorated the wise brow of the old man, had\nstill preserved some signs of pure gold; here and there precious\nstones were shining. This was decidedly the kingdom of coldness and\nof some secret magic-like half-darkness. The light was able to shine\nin only through the opening holes of the mountain and through the\nholes yet left between the perfectly immense stones with which the\nentrance was surely and safely barred.\n\nHaving thoroughly recovered after his strange incident and quite\nunexpected fall, Aderke (it was thus they called the horseman)\nbegan to carefully inspect and search the cave. His attention was\nespecially drawn by one spot, shining like a diamond. It appeared\nthat this was a tremendous piece of mountain salt, on which a ray\nof light which had managed to get through one of the mountain holes\nwas gayly playing. Other such pieces were falling down in long, long\ndivisions from the cupola-like, vaulted ceiling. Thirst was torturing\nAderke. Thinking that this was simply ice, he began to direct all\nhis efforts towards successfully breaking off a respectable piece,\nbut notwithstanding his most desperate jumps, he could not accomplish\nanything. Then he naturally imagined that from the sides of the cave\nmuch lower down he might be able to get something and began to go\naround it in a circle, trying to find here or there some possible\nopening, on which he might firmly stand and make his way. Passing\nclose by a great piece of salt, he overheard some very distant voice\nwhich was singing a soft, marvellous song. Aderke began to listen\nmost attentively.\n\n\"Powerful sire,\" called out the extraordinary secret voice, \"I have\nbeen awaiting thee for many years, dispel thou as quickly as possible\nthis darkness and lead me forth into the region of freedom. Oh! have\npity upon me!--I implore to be given freedom only with the exalted\naim of submitting to thee, to serve and wait upon thee, to love thee\ntenderly, yes, to be thine ever obedient slave. Thou didst happen to\ncome hither, pursuing a most handsome mortal being; look now at my\nfeatures; you can plainly distinguish them through my dark prison. The\nmore the extreme brilliancy of my subterranean dwelling darkens her\ndreadfully poor saklia (hut) the more the glitter of my beauty darkens\nher exceptional charms. She did not even venture to look at thee,\nfor she feared thy caresses. I, however, did not take my eyes off\nfrom thee from the time that thou didst fall to the feet of mighty\nZadenne, I constantly admire thee with a perfectly passionate glance,\nI love thee, I call thee to my side: come, oh come thou quicker!\"\n\nWild with excitement and deeply impressed by that most passionate song,\nAderke entirely forgot his unhappiness, forgot also the thirst which\nwas torturing him, he began to stare more closely at the salt masses\nand through their transparent grim old walls he began to be able\nto distinguish the tender outlines of a young and pretty woman. He\nknocked with his vigorous fist against the cold, cold mineral wall,\nbut the powerful blow did not leave the slightest trace; then he pulled\nout his kindjall and thrust out his arm still stronger against the\nsalt shapes, which were almost turning to stone. It slightly trembled;\nAderke now turned to the pedestal of the idol, detached from it a large\npiece of fine marble and using it instead of a vigorous hammer, began\nto diligently knock it as hard as possible against the long handle\nof the kindjall. The opening evidently made considerable progress.\n\nIn the meantime, through the little opening which had been made in\nthe pedestal, there slipped out a lizard, after it a snake, then a\nflying mouse and finally a little devil. Coming out of their wonderful\nambuscade, they were all of exceedingly small proportions, but these\nproportions grew larger and larger every minute. The lizard seemed to\npossess a perfectly formless human face, the snake had wings grown\non to its body, the mouse seemed to have the head of an owl with\na tremendous beak and fiery sparkling eyes. The little devil, far\nsmaller in size than the rest, cleverly jumped at the mass of marble\nwhich was nearest to Aderke and by a well known signal ordered them\nto begin the furious attack. First the lizard moved and trumpeted\nwith some kind of an awful, not human voice.\n\n\"Let thou go my prisoner, insolent adventurer, or else we shall\njointly cut thee up in pieces!\"\n\nAderke, astonished by such reasoning, turned around. The unusually\nenormous lizard stood on its hind legs and seemed to be all prepared to\nattack and swallow him up. The flying mouse made a noise and waved with\nher big wings, howling out some terrific metallic sound; the snake\nstretched out and slipped up to him with perfectly awful hissing,\nwhile the beastly little devil joked and insulted him above his head\nand filled the air with unbearable, bad odors. Aderke, seeing what was\ncoming, bravely pulled out the sword and daringly struck at the snake,\nwho was just making ready to spring at and wind itself around his feet.\n\nThe excellent sword cut it right through, but unfortunately without\ndoing it the very least harm. It quickly set to gathering together its\nfearful rings and went back to the idol. Aderke energetically rushed\nafter it and fainted from terror. From the pedestal sprang out one\nafter another innumerable and varied poisonous monsters, one more\nterrific--yes, fearful, than the next. Then there were also people\nwith snakes' heads and snakes with birds' wings and birds with fishes'\ntails and fishes with heads of living people. All these awful monsters\nhastened to abandon their ambuscade, crowded and pushed each other,\nslipped over each other, quarrelled in a most undignified manner,\nbit each other, struck and scolded each other; here one monster was\nhissing, there a second one was making a violent speech, a third one\nlet out from his mouth such a horribly disturbing whistle that the\ncold ran over one's whole body. In the midst of this tremendous row a\nhuman cry of distress reached Aderke; he turned around. The lizard was\ndoing his best to widen out the opening which he had forced through,\nwhile the snake with an evil meaning and aggressive hissing hastened\nto occupy each newly opened little crack. Aderke wanted to run and\nhelp the poor, poor woman-prisoner, but the flying mouse threw itself\ntowards the entrance and having spread out its wings guarded with\nits own body its outrageous comrades. In the meantime the remaining\nmonsters seized Aderke by the legs and would not allow him to budge\na step from the place where he stood. Thereupon he bravely drew out\nhis pistol and with a sharp and rare shot smashed to pieces the salt\nblock. At this moment the monsters unanimously took hold of him and\nhe of course lost consciousness, so that he did not see how out of\nthe blazing brilliant niche formed by his pistol shot, a splendid\nyoung woman rushed forth to meet him.\n\nBefore her the monsters reverently stepped aside. \"Away with you!\" she\ncried out in a most commanding voice. \"Take him up cautiously and carry\nhim after me,\" pointing to Aderke, she ordered some strange bear with\nbirds' legs and with a crane's beak to carry out her commands. The\nmonster instantly submitted to the explicit instructions and,\ncontinuing to respectfully follow her imperious commands, he went in\nwith his burden, up the steps of the pedestal to the very idol and\nplaced Aderke at its feet. \"Now,\" said the young woman, \"your power\nover me has ended, having got back all my former freedom, I have\nalso regained all my past influence and power. Tram, tram----tara,\nall to your respective places!\" she continued in a most decisive\ntone, and the horrible monsters one after another rushed back to\nthe high pedestal. When they had taken up their proper positions,\nshe bent down and raised the piece of marble thrown away by Aderke\nand cleverly----yes, powerfully, barred the entrance. After that she\nagain went up to the idol, fell down on her knees and said: \"Great\nZaden! Here you have a gift fully worthy of you as a grateful reward\nfor my happy deliverance. If it pleases your serene majesty that I\nshould not go away from this, thine abandoned temple, trying with\nall my energy to be equal to the task of replacing your former most\nnumerous servants, so for my sake give me back this dead man, call\nhim back to life, start up in his heart a sincere attachment to me and\nwe shall both be your constant, loyal and ever watchful servants. The\nheavy stone eyelids of the idol opened themselves, its eyes sparkled,\nand from this momentary sparkling Aderke instantly came back to life\nand was able to stand on his feet. At the same time the idol with a\nterrific crash and shaking fell to pieces and disappeared in the dust.\n\n\"Who art thou--magnificent creature?\" was his first question.\n\n\"Let us go into my transparent dwelling place,\" she replied, \"I shall\nplace thee on my exquisite crystal sofa and quietly entertain thee\nwith my interesting stories and dear caresses.\"\n\nThey jointly went into the niche. Through the sweet little opening\na small, small ray of light streamed in and perfectly marvellously\nplayed upon a smooth, salty ceiling, showering down millions of\nbeautiful sparks and blazing with all the colors of the rainbow. The\nbeauty sat down, put Aderke's head on her lovely knees and while he\nwas endeavoring to fall asleep, she told him her whole history.\n\n\"I am the daughter of the Moon and of Zaden, they call me Aipina. My\nfather actually decided that I should appear to the glance of people\nonly to prophesy some peaceful event, the rest of the time I am\nordered to remain secretly hidden in the grim walls of his temple,\nwhich at that time was a place of general worship and sacrifice. The\npeople used to crowd about here from morning till night with very\nrich offerings. Numerous sacrificers burnt their offerings, while\ntheir female companions in long white garments sitting on golden\nseats prophesied the future. But notwithstanding all this excitement\nit was stupid for me, and one fine night, when my mother had covered\neverything with her soft, magic, fairy-like light, I wilfully managed\nto get out of the temple and flew into the sky, blazing with my highly\nbrilliant tail. Mother became frightened by my daring to commit such\nan act and hastened to hide herself. Then I alone began to gayly run\nup and down on the horizon, busily chasing the many stars and pushing\nthem on with my tail. Among the heavenly lighters a most astounding\nand terrific plot came up and they hurried to get me out of the way\nas quickly as possible, and my father angrily informed me that my\nperfectly crazy undertaking had made him fail.\n\n\"It came to pass just so, for on that day a poor, poor monk arrived\nand settled on the mountain. Zaden of course ordered the monsters to\ninstantly chase him out of the dwelling which he had chosen, but the\nhermit by some marvellous sign of his hand deprived them entirely of\nany strength. Many pilgrims, who had arrived from afar with offerings\nto pay their sincere respects to Zaden, upon seeing the newcomer on\na height, peacefully sitting between wild snakes, naturally went up\nto him in a wide circle and spared no time or strength in order to\nsatisfy his intense curiosity. He, however, took full advantage of\nthis to make them give up the faith of their forefathers and instruct\nthem in some religion, the chief peculiarity of which was hatred of\nour old, old gods.\n\n\"In the end the unceasing attacks of the monsters began to bore the\nmonk: he therefore gathered all his hearers and together with them\nstrongly barred the grand entrance of the temple and quietly left the\nplace. Through inexperience I had at first wickedly laughed at his\ngreat efforts: what use was it when Zaden, at his own will guiding\nand directing thunder and lightning, used to smash their edifices to\npieces in no time at all, while the old man in going away touched the\nhard stones with the same marvellous movement of the hand which had\ndestroyed the power and strength of the monsters, and Zaden immediately\nfelt that his godly qualities and peculiarities began to abandon him\nforever. As a punishment for my most stupid volunteering, he deprived\nme of the shining form of a comet and transformed me into a woman, whom\nhe commanded to guard the poisonous monsters. They hastened to fix me\nin this salt wall, but Zaden, who grew weaker every minute, in a last,\nbut tremendous, outbreak of wrath worked out the following decision:\n\n\"'Thou wilt be entirely in the power of these awful monsters until\nthou art able to find a mortal man who delivereth thee, and then they\nwill again fully obey thee!' This was the last sign, not only of his\npower, but also of the life of my father; ever since then he turned\nhimself into a breathless idol and sat immovably on his marble throne\nfor several centuries. Through the holes of the fallen house of public\nworship the water flowed unto his most royal crown and meanly washed\naway from it the highly precious ornaments. Lizards climbed over\nhis face, the flying mice quite fearlessly sat down on his powerful\nshoulders and hands, the snakes wound around his legs! He remained\ninsensible to everything and not strong enough to protect and defend\nhimself. I must say I had an awfully stupid, dull time. Days, months,\nyears, even centuries went by and actually nobody appeared. I had\nalready quite given up all hope when kind fate led thee hither. Now\nwe must absolutely find means to get out of this place. I for my part\nknow that from this temple there leads a subterranean passage to the\nnumerous catacombs with which this mountain is overfilled and from\nthem we can go wherever it pleases us.\"\n\n\"But who will show us this passage?\" asked Aderke.\n\n\"I have a good friend among the monsters; it is the bear with the\ncrane's nose. During all the long and dreary years of my unjust\nconfinement he daily nourished me. With his long, long beak he managed\nto make a little opening in my dark dwelling, looked for and gathered\nthe hives of wild bees, who had taken refuge in the holes around here,\nand fed me with their honey. He was at first a man of the same faith\nas our enemy the hermit and chanced to be banished hither for having\nridiculed some servant of his God.\"\n\nAt these words Aipina struck the palm of her hand; the bear took away\na stone and climbed out; then she informed him of the object of the\nwhole undertaking and he, having warned them that the way would be long\nand exceedingly tiresome, hastily entered their cave and attentively\nand vigorously began to try with his beak where the mass of salt was\nthinnest. When, however, such a place had been successfully found,\nhe and Aderke pushed against it with their whole weight and after\nlong and repeated attempts they pierced a rather small hole, through\nwhich it was very evident that they should have to go.\n\nFirst the bear slipped through, after him Aipina and Aderke. The\npassage was cut out in the rocky part of the mountain and was so close\nand small that it was necessary to go one behind the other and to\nstoop over. Having advanced a little farther they joyfully came out\non a small square with a much higher cupola-like ceiling. Through a\nlittle crack a dim ray of light was seen. They sat down to rest and\nhaving looked about somewhat they came to notice something gleaming,\nyes, burning like gold. This turned out to be a fine glass vessel with\nfour pretty handles. It was of gold color with thin white patterns\nand filled to overflowing with ancient Greek silver coins.\n\n\"The first thing found is naturally due to thee,\" said Aipina in a\nvery gracious tone. And the bear having taken up the vessel on his\nlong thin beak again set forth on his journey. It was necessary to\nfollow on by just so narrow and low a passage--only fully twice as\nlong--as the first. It led them into a large round cave, which was\nexceedingly high. At the very top there was a rather large opening,\nthrough which the light could easily penetrate. At the side of one\nwall stood a wooden grave without a roof, and in front of it an\nold, old candlestick of red clay. To the tremendous surprise of our\ntravellers, the whole room was illuminated by the fine blue flame of\na very rare wick. They went nearer and saw that in the tomb there\nlay a hermit, very likely a saint, because his body was splendidly\npreserved. \"Let us take a rest,\" said the exhausted Aipina, sitting\ndown on the floor. The bear slowly lowered his vessel to her feet,\nbut Aderke did not let his eyes lose sight of the deceased, as though\nhe was trying hard to remember some familiar features, and suddenly\nhe succeeded in his mental researches and with awful screeching and\njumping threw himself on the bare floor in front of the grave.\n\n\"Forgive me, oh, Holy God,\" he cried out, \"forgive me that severe\ninsult which I inflicted upon thee in my state of craziness and\nfor which I have been so cruelly punished.\" And with most sincere\nand hearty repenting he prayed to God and the Saint to pardon his\nterrible sin. Aipina heard him with eyes and mouth wide open, but\non her the words of Aderke produced quite a different impression. He\nunderstood how fearfully he had offended God and his proud heart was\nfilled with perfect remorse.\n\nHe fell down on his knees by the side of the monster and wept\nbitterly and long over his wicked actions and earnestly implored to\nbe pardoned. The all-merciful God accepted the tears of both great\nsinners and sent them a deliverance which was quite as marvellous as\nthe punishment. An unusual light was shining into the cave and in a\nsecond blinded the praying men; when, however, they again began to\nbe able to distinguish the different things, Aipina was no longer\nto be seen, but on the spot where she stood there shone a blindingly\nmagnificent comet.\n\nAderke glanced at the bear--he had been transformed into a very\nhandsome youth, in his hands, under the rays of the comet, burned\nand played with various colored fires the remarkable, ancient glass\nvessel. In an instant the comet began gradually to draw nearer to the\nopening in the vaulted ceiling. The gleaming windings of her long,\nlong tail safely guided both the astonished persons and attracted them\nafter her. Soon they had successfully completed the march through the\nlong and narrow entrance road of the cave and began to rise higher\nand higher until they had triumphantly reached the summit of the\nmountain. Then the comet let herself down to the doors of that same\ntemple, in which Aderke had so terribly misbehaved on his arrival in\nthe said region. Aipina was again transformed into a simple woman and\nbegan to request Aderke that he should make her a slave and servant of\nthe omnipotent God who had accomplished such great deeds of creation.\n\nIn the meantime the sunrise service was just beginning and the\nmonks began to come out of their cells to celebrate their morning\ndevotions. The first stroke of the bell was then heard. Aderke and his\nfaithful companion took off their caps and reverently made the sign of\nthe cross. In this minute to them came up the monk who usually stood\nat the tomb of the Saint, when poor Salougvari had taken speedy refuge\nnear it. He found out Aderke and furiously looked at him. But the\nmost humble and submissive speech of the really repenting man quickly\nquieted his anxious feelings. Aipina was converted and really and truly\nbecame the wife of Aderke, while his comrade in the hour of trial,\nwho had made use of his fortune in order to buy up a very extensive\nvineyard near the poor saklia (hut) of Salougvari, happily married\nher and took over into his house her widowed mother. All three lived\nlong and happily and very frequently visited Aderke and Aipina, who\nwere by no means behind them in sincerity of love and perfect harmony.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nX. THE JEWEL NECKLACE\n\n\nIt was the twenty-second of December, the day of our holy\n\"Fate-decider\" Anne. In a poor saklia (native hut) not far from\nthe road leading into town there sat a very young, beautiful girl,\nsurrounded by a number of children. She was bitterly crying. On\nthis day the father of this unhappy family died in jail; and that\nsame terrible day, when he was taken away from his home and locked\nup against his will, the poor mother breathed her last breath. For\nwhat reason they had imprisoned him, the children did not know. They\ntenderly loved their father and in their true childish imagination\nit seemed to them as though he could not be wrong in any department\nof life whatever. The last time that they had seen him, he informed\nthem that people would come and punish him even before the fete, and\nso they diligently prayed for his deliverance and salvation to the\nholy martyr Anastasia--and, behold! on the day of her celebration,\nshe cut the cords and bands which prevented him from enjoying the\nblessings of home life and delivered him forever from prison as well\nas from the terrible punishment.\n\n\"Zenobi!\" remarked one of the children, \"I want to eat.\" \"Sit ye\nall down,\" replied the young girl, rising and drying her mournful\ntears. She covered the table with a simple blue cloth with white\nflowers and placed on it a star-formed vessel, on which a whole\nmountain of rice was seen.\n\n\"Pray ye first and then eat to your hearts' content,\" she said.\n\n\"But thou, darling, wilt thou not join our company?\" asked the\nolder boy.\n\n\"I will eat afterwards; just now I have no time, but I will readily\neat up all you leave!\"\n\nZenobi forced herself to smile although tears were really choking\nher; this was all the food which remained in their house, they had\nno money whatever--how and with what were the children to be fed\nthe next day? That was the question which constantly came into her\nmind and kept her from being quiet. Wishing to conceal her worry,\nshe went out--but her brother took advantage of her absence in order\nto somewhat restrain the appetite of the children.\n\n\"Leave something for Zenobi,\" said he, \"for I believe she has eaten\nnothing since morning; all the bread which was left she divided among\nus without keeping a single piece for herself.\"\n\nNoticing also that the quantity of rice was constantly diminishing,\nhe assumed a more decided tone:\n\n\"Enough!\" he suddenly broke out, rising from his chair. \"Pray ye to\nGod and go out to play in the street, the sun is shining in all its\nwonderful glory--lose no time while it is warm and comfortable!\" and\ntaking the smallest of the children by the hand, he read aloud the\nafter-dinner prayer and went out.\n\n\"Zenobi!\" he cried, coming out, \"we have all finished.\" The young girl\nentered the room, hastily crossed herself and with anxiety sat down\nand began to eat the rice, but she had not succeeded in swallowing the\nfirst morsel, when the door of the saklia opened itself and a poor,\npoor hermit came in.\n\n\"In the name of the Infant Jesus let me get rested, refresh myself\nand have something to eat!\" said he. Zenobi immediately rose; hunger\nwas torturing her, but she did not hesitate for a moment to offer\nhim her forlorn repast.\n\n\"Yes, may God be blessed, who hath sent a guest even to our poor\nsaklia for such a great celebration!\" she answered; \"eat--while I\nprepare thee a comfortable bed,\" and having done everything to make\nthe foreign traveller feel as much at home as possible, she went out\ninto the street, in order to keep the children quiet during the sleep\nof the wise old man.\n\nAfter two hours he came out, sat down along by the saklia on a huge\nstone which took the place of a bench, and pleasantly called the\nchildren. His touching, caressing voice and his great good eyes\ninstantly won him forever the sincere love of the dear children,\nthey gayly ran up to him, while he pulled a small apple from his\npocket and a Sitzevian handkerchief.\n\n\"If you bring me four quills from this fine thorn-bush,\" said he,\npointing to a very large bush growing within a few steps from the\nsaklia, \"I will arrange a very nice and amusing toy for you.\"\n\nWithin a minute the children stood again before him--this time their\nhands full of quills. The hermit thereupon took up four of them and\nfastened with their help the corners of the large handkerchief to\nthe apple--afterwards wound a handkerchief around the whole concern\nand threw it so high into the air that it really looked like an\ninsignificant little dark point. The children in amazement did not\nlose sight of this point and soon beheld a small balloon lowering\nitself in their direction; the air filled out the handkerchief,\ngiving it thus the look of a small air balloon, which, gracefully\nflying between earth and sky, gradually descended to their poor\nhome. There was no end to the children's delight, each one of them\nwished to toss the dear toy higher than the first.\n\nWhile they were going through various exercises, running and making\na lot of noise, Zenobi sat down at the side of her delightful guest\nand began to ask him from what place he came.\n\n\"I, my child, come from the capital,\" he said; \"to-day there is an\nunusual commotion over there. The heralds proclaimed on all the city\nsquares that the sovereign would spare no reward to him who would\nbring the best imaginable necklace into the palace and that by the\nFete of Circumcision of the Lord.\n\n\"In the nation a report is being spread that the only daughter of the\nwidower-Tsar took some kind of a most terrible disease which not even\nthe most experienced or energetic doctor is able to define or heal\nin any way. Something extraordinary, unseen, unheard of! Heavy bands\nwere tying down the young Tsarevna by the hands and legs and deprived\nher of free movements, so that she actually resembled a corpse much\nmore than a live being.\n\n\"In this night she had had a very remarkable dream--as though some\npowerful voice had promised her to cut the bands which kept her down,\nupon the Day of the Circumcision of the Lord, if by that day she had\nsucceeded in finding a necklace for her magnificent neck which by\nits splendor exceeded all ornaments of the kind until then known.\"\n\nSaying this, the old man rose. \"I should like to reach that house\nto-day,\" he said, \"it is high time to set forth for the journey;\nbut how can I express my gratitude to thee, my dear child, for thy\nwonderful hospitality?\n\n\"Well, do not despise these lavashees (little breads), and may the\nLord increase every kind of food in your most hospitable house.\"\n\n\"Amen,\" said Zenobi with all her heart, taking up the lavashees and\nlooking back at the departing hermit. A little later she began to\nassemble the children around the house.\n\n\"Thanks to our guest you will have very dainty lavashees for supper\nthis evening,\" she said to them, entering the saklia.\n\nBut what must have been her complete surprise when she saw her\nstar-formed vessel standing on the table and filled to overflowing\nwith rice. There was so little of it left when she had offered her\ndinner to the stranger; where then had this veritable mountain of\nrice come from? She stared at her older brother and their astonished\neyes soon met each other.\n\n\"Isn't all this wonderful! How quickly the saintly blessing of the\nwise hermit was fulfilled,\" said he, and, falling down on their knees,\nthe whole family began to pray most ardently and afterwards joyfully\nsat down to their well deserved and this time plentiful supper. In\nfront of each child lay a fresh lavash (roll), on which Zenobi had\nthoughtfully piled up a large amount of rice. Having eaten the rice,\neach one ate a lavash too and all were perfectly satisfied, but there\nyet remained some rice and lavashees. Zenobi gathered the remains and\nthe next morning the dish was again as full as ever and there were\nenough lavashees for all. Thus the wonder repeated itself for eight\ndays in succession, but on the Eve of the Circumcision of the Lord,\nthe dish looked just the way it did when they took it off the table,\nneither rice nor lavashees had increased. Zenobi decided to lay up\nwhat was left for dinner and let the children go to walk without a\nbreakfast. In order to induce them not to think of melancholy events,\nshe wisely reminded them of the excellent toy which the dear old\ntraveller had left with them. They immediately ran off to find the\nhandkerchief and indeed had a very hard time; in the end Zenobi\nherself started out for the search and managed to find it in some\nremote, dark corner.\n\nIt was filled with something heavy and she naturally imagined that\nit must be rice. Delighted by this thought, she quickly placed the\nhandkerchief on the table and untied it; inside of it there was a\nmagnificent, blindingly beautiful jewel necklace! The children stood\naround in a circle, their little mouths opened as wide as possible.\n\n\"Let us run this minute to the town,\" exclaimed the older boy, \"I say,\nlet us run, Zenobi, dear, we will still succeed to get the necklace\nto the palace before midnight!\" And taking each other's hand, brother\nand sister ran on the road with what they had found by accident. The\ntown was not very far; by noon they were already on the palace square,\nin the very centre of which a long, long table was erected.\n\nOn it they opened and inspected the necklaces which various people\nbrought and the Royal officials carefully put down in a large book\nthe names of the strangers interested. These were extremely numerous\nand our poor little acquaintances hardly had the patience to wait for\ntheir turn to come. The official unbelievingly looked at their humble\nattire and the poor, insignificant handkerchief. Having placed the\nobject on the table, he nevertheless untied the handkerchief.\n\nA cry of complete astonishment rang out from the mouths of all those\npresent, and before the poor orphans had time to think the matter over,\nthey were already standing in the bedroom of the suffering Tsarevna\nand saw how the Tsar, her father, with a trembling hand placed the\nnecklace on his invalid daughter's neck. Then turning to them, he\nnaturally asked who they were and where under the sky they had found\nsuch an unheard of and extraordinary treasure.\n\nZenobi with true childlike straightforwardness related all that\nhad taken place to the Tsar, who patiently listened to her simple,\nyet most pathetic speech, in which one could clearly make out her\nwarmest faith in God and her thankfulness and gratitude to the holy\nmartyr Anastasia; he actually felt very much moved and sweet tears\nwere to be seen in his great eyes.\n\n\"Take my guests,\" he said to those near him, pointing to Zenobi and\nher brother, \"feed them, let them drink and appease their aroused\nfeeling and great anxiety, but when they are rested, clothe them in\nthe finest costumes and bring them hither.\"\n\nThen he ordered his aides-de-camp to bring the image of the all-holy\nFate-decider and having placed it on the pillow of the little\nprincess, he gave orders that the prayers for her speedy recovery\nand convalescence should begin.\n\nBy order of the King, the doors of the palace were solemnly thrown\nopen and all who desired to pray were allowed to enter the enormous\nprecincts of the bedroom. The number of those praying increased hourly;\nnot long before midnight the chamberlains and ladies of honor of His\nMajesty the King conducted our dear little acquaintances, attired\nin gorgeous costumes, which gave still greater charm and beauty to\ntheir natural handsomeness and grace. The grieved Tsar made a sign,\nindicating his wish that they should stand in a line with him;\nall eyes were fixed on Zenobi, who, not noticing anything special,\nquietly fell down on her knees and instantly began to pray with all\nher heart and soul.\n\nExactly at midnight the Tsarevna raised her head and happily looked at\nthe loyal people who had been praying for her; then made the holy sign\nof the cross--then actually sat up in bed! The King rushed towards\nher and took her up in his arms. The child put her arms around her\nfather's neck and sweet, sweet tears flowed out of the eyes of both,\nand how open-heartedly and sincerely they sang, together with the\npeople present, a true song of praise to the holy martyr Anastasia! At\nthe end of the prayer, the Tsar led the Tsarevna to Zenobi and said:\n\n\"After God and His holy servant thou must certainly thank her,\nwhom He chose to be the instrument of thy precious recovery, yes,\nmay she take the place of thine all-beloved late mother!\"\n\nAll present naturally hastened to bring their loyal and dutiful\ncongratulations to the Tsar and his bride, but the little Tsarevna\nquite overwhelmed Zenobi with caresses and kisses.\n\nImmediately some noblemen were sent after her brothers and sisters,\nwho from that time onwards lived at the palace and were educated\ntogether with the dear little princess.\n\nZenobi, however, having become Queen never forgot the poor, the\nreligious and the queer, and the Lord blessed her with the birth of\na son, who immediately became heir-presumptive to the throne. The\nreign of her husband was most peaceful and happy, and having lived\nto an advanced age in model mutual accord, the reigning sovereigns\ndied both on the same day, reminding their son never to forget the\nOnly Real and True Faith, the Faith of Our Lord Jesus Christ.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nXI. SAINT MOURVANOSS\n\nA STORY\n\n\nMourvanoss was the first saint in our highly honorable royal family,\nlater on so abundant in holy martyrs, preachers and leaders. In the\nyear three hundred and ninety-three A.D. the Georgian King Varaz\n(ovenne)-Bakarr was favored with the birth of a son Mourvanoss,\nthe birth of whom had been predicted to his mother by angels. This\nmother was namely the grand-daughter of Revv, the son of Mirian\nand daughter of Trdat, that is to say third cousin of her husband\nthe Tsar Varaze-Bakarr, the grandson of Bakarr the First and son to\nMirdat the Third. Bakarr the First loved very much his dear nephews,\nespecially the younger of them, Bakourious. The son of Bakarr the\nFirst, Mirdat was almost the same age as Trdat and the cousins\nfrequently passed the time together, their children grew up under\nthe shelter of this friendship and did not notice how their childish\nfriendship went over into love. Although the parents had absolutely\nnothing against the marriage, yet the youthful Tsarevna was always\ntormented by the thought that they were not acting in accordance\nwith the holy laws of the church, which strictly forbade marriage\nbetween two third cousins. Most honorable, good, simple, merciful,\nhelping everybody in case of need or unhappiness, she as Tsaritsa\nstill went on tormenting herself with the acknowledgment of her sin\nand, see! the Lord really wished to quiet and comfort her and as a\nsign of forgiveness sent angels, who announced to her that He blessed\nher marriage by the birth of a saintly baby.\n\nWhile still at his mother's breast, Mourvanoss regularly observed the\nfasts, refusing to suck the breast on Wednesdays and Fridays. Hardly\nhad he learned to talk when he earnestly began to commit to memory what\nhe had heard in the church and gradually as he grew older instructed\nhimself always more and more in the holy scriptures.\n\nWhen Varaze-Bakarr died, Mourvanoss and his brothers and sisters\nwere children, and as guardian over them they chose the uncle Trdat,\nhaving also handed over to his administration the kingdom until the\ncoming of age of the children of Varaze-Bakarr and his daughter, who\nhad already died, while, however, the younger son of Varaze-Bakarr,\nFaremanne, from his second wife, was being educated at the home of\nthe kristav of Sammeshvillde. Notwithstanding his very advanced age\nTrdat reigned most wisely; he was a thoroughly God-fearing, sensible\nand cautious man. Thanks to his extreme wisdom the Persians were\ncompletely conquered, the righteous state of affairs again introduced\ninto the country and many churches restored and newly erected.\n\nUnder him died the well-known Bishop Yovv and was superseded by\nTlia. Although he of course paid tribute to the Persians, yet\nhe understood how to get back from them Rousstave where he then\ntriumphantly built a church. He also finely restored Nekreziy.\n\nMourvanoss was already fifteen years old, when the Greek Emperor,\nTheodosius the Younger, came upon the throne and the relations between\nGreece and Persia became worse and worse.\n\nThe new Emperor fearing that other nations might unite and make common\ncause with his enemies, offered Trdat an alliance, to assure which he\ndemanded some one of the children of Varaze-Bakarr as hostage. Good\nTrdat, who equally loved all his grandsons, was in the greatest\nconfusion, while reflecting whom he should select, when to him appeared\nMourvanoss and energetically announced that he was going to Greece,\nwhere he had long desired to be, as it was the centre and capital of\nthe whole Christian world, and with general consent and approbation he\nstarted off for Constantinople. There he devoted himself to fasting,\npraying and preaching, rebuking the tremendous worldly splendor with\nwhich the Emperor constantly surrounded him.\n\nTo drown unnecessary gossip he clothed himself in a vlassianitsa of\nmost ordinary goat wool. To the general astonishment of the people he\nsoon acquired a complete and perfect knowledge of the Greek and Syrian\nlanguages and ardently studied philosophy. The Lord now rewarded him\nwith the exceptional gift of being capable of healing the sick. Thanks\nto his petition the remains of the martyrs, who had suffered torment\nand death in Persia, were safely transported into old Georgia. Once\nupon a time, on the eve of the Most Holy Baptism of the Lord, intending\nto pass the whole night in devotion and prayer, Mourvanoss ordered\nhis servant to bring him some butter for the little lamp.\n\nBut he brusquely answered him: \"Thou art a royal son and, instead of\nreigning as it becomes one of thy rank, thou livest as a monk without\neating a morsel from one Sunday to another,\" and he did not go for\nthe desired butter. But the Tsarevitch filled the little lamp with\nwater instead of butter, and, lighting it, accomplished with this\nmarvellous light his holy, holy prayers. Seven whole days and nights\nthe wonderful light did not once go out, and during that period our\nLord Jesus Christ appeared to the Saint to invisibly accompany and\nprotect him everywhere. With the help and favor of God the Tsarevitch\ncarried out many wonders, healing the sick with the water of his\nlittle lamp. The Emperor namely had a eunuch who used to like to come\nand pray together with the Saint.\n\nThe Tsarevitch thought of leaving the Imperial Court accompanied by\nthe eunuch, but Theodosius, having heard of the plan, sent a guard\nto watch them. Nevertheless through the almighty mercy of God they\nsucceeded in avoiding being closely observed by them and during the\nnight ran away. An all-shining holy pillar went in front of them,\nguiding them and illuminating their road.\n\nUpon the appearance of the pillar the following words were heard\ncoming out of it: \"He who doth follow me will never fall into the\nregion of darkness and unbelief!\"\n\nFinding a respectable vessel, they after a few days arrived in a port\nthen unknown to them, where they were immediately locked up in the\nlocal prison. But that same night a terrific earthquake with perfectly\nawful noise took place there and many, many people perished through\nit. To the commandant of the city appeared a perfectly unknown man,\nthe very voice of whom reminded one of tremendous rolls of thunder.\n\n\"Deliver thou this minute the true servants of God!\" he called out,\n\"otherwise this wicked town will be turned to ashes.\"\n\nThe frightened official immediately had the prisoners led out and\nfreed and they started off for Jerusalem, where at that time there\nlived the runaway from Rome captive, Tsar Pipinoss, with his wife\nMalienoss. They were very religiously inclined, had entirely given\nup all worldly habits and pretensions, became monks and lived at\nJerusalem in two different monasteries, which they themselves had\nerected. They caressingly received the newcomers. Having rested a\nlittle, the saints went to the tomb of the Lord, where they also\nbecame monks. Mourvanoss was named Peter and the eunuch John.\n\nWho can possibly describe their charitable deeds! They shone like\nilluminators, instructing and converting all and everything simply\nby the splendid example of their own lives! They constructed two\nmonasteries and connected with these a house of refuge of strangers\nfor Georgians and Greeks, where the Tsarevitch humbly waited upon\ntravellers, and while occupied with such actions he reached his\ntwenty-fifth year. This monastery was named after the most Holy\nVirgin. At this time the devil suddenly pounced down upon him in the\ndisguise of a stranger and began to argue with and insult the Saint\nfor having renounced all his rights to the crown and for having humbly\nserved his own servants, but the righteous hermit Peter soon found\nout with whom he had to do and angrily chased him out of the hospice\nof strangers. Then our Lord Jesus Christ for a second time appeared\nto him and drew his attention towards the sky, where the Saint now\nbeheld a temple, in which fully fifty tsars of indescribable beauty\nwere singing hymns unto God and glorifying His Holy Name. In the\nnumber of these select Christian worshippers the Lord also promised\nto add the Tsarevitch Mourvanoss.\n\nHe was sixty-five years old when the patriarch of Jerusalem,\nAnastasius, made him a full priest. He went off into a desert, where\non the banks of the Jordan he founded yet another monastery.\n\nJohn accompanied him everywhere. Here he successfully healed a man\npossessed with the devil, and delivered John from a tumor which\nhad formed itself on his face and threatened to deprive him of his\nsight. When, however, John once more fell ill and suffered from some\ndeadly disease, the Saint implored that his life might be prolonged\nfor still twelve years.\n\nHe then visited and inspected all the Egyptian and Skithian\nmonasteries and returned to his own monastery with a hospice for\ntravelling strangers. At the time of hunger, he by the strength of\nhis righteous prayers filled the monastery dwellings with bread and\nberries and the cellars with butter and wine.\n\nIn that year good John peacefully died and he was solemnly interred in\nthe monastery of the most Holy Virgin, which is to this day known under\nthe designation of \"the monastery of the Georgians.\" Soon afterwards\nthe Bishop of Mayum died and the inhabitants having called together\na meeting, unanimously chose Peter the Georgian to be bishop in the\nplace of the deceased, and the patriarch fully approved their choice,\nbut the most humble Peter, not knowing how to avoid such a high honor,\nthought of throwing himself down from an elevated spot in order\nto break either a hand or a leg and so appear disqualified for the\nelection unless he should possibly succeed in hiding himself by flight.\n\nThen the Lord appeared to him a third time with a quantity of angels\nand ordered him to accept the bishopric. Many a time the good and\nGod-fearing people in Mayrounne heard the voice, which before had\nannounced various news to the Saint. At the time of a great dryness the\nholy prayers of the Bishop brought down innumerable wonders. Fruitless\nparents were comforted by the birth of children; the sick were healed\nand recuperated, fruitless trees were instantly covered with fruit;\nfishermen who until then had always been unsuccessful in their\nattempts, now pulled out of the water laden nets. The Lord besides\nall this favored him with the exalted gift of becoming a prophet and\nenabled him thus to see the saintly souls in Heaven. Bishop Peter was\nalready eighty-one years old, when the all-holy fathers Tsaya and\nZenomme died and the ever-fortunate Bishop saw their sacred souls\nrising to Heaven. The all-reverent Peter had been obliged to stand\nmuch in the course of his life from the monophysites, through whose sly\nproceedings he was for a short time deprived of his righteous pulpit,\nto the great grief of the true believers. Emperor Leo Frakiisky had\nhardly ascended the throne, when he hastened to restore the Mayioun\nbishop in his rightful position. But he did not long keep his throne,\nfor he soon felt the approach of his death and announced these solemn\nnews to all those who belonged to his parish.\n\nAt that time Father Athanasius was favored with a superb vision: the\nsaints were praying to the Lord that he should order them to bring\nup to their heavenly abode the all-holy bishop Peter, who had done so\nexceedingly much in converting thousands and thousands of unbelievers\nto the one True and Holy Faith!\n\nWithin ten days the wish of the saints was carried out. The Saint\npassed these ten days in constant prayer, on the tenth day he conducted\na communion service, communed himself and also many true followers,\nblessed the enthusiastic crowd and having tenderly parted with all\nhis dear folks he returned to his cell, where he serenely died and\nwas borne to Heaven by the mercy of the Almighty God on the second\nday of December.\n\nMany righteous and holy followers saw his soul carried by saints\npreceded by the holy martyr Peter of Alexandria, and heard their\npraises and songs of \"Glory to God.\" Many till then incurable were\nhealed simply by being brought up to and placed against his holy\nbody. The holy Roman Pope Gregory Diologue dedicated a magnificent\nfuneral oration to his precious memory in his all-famous book.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nXII. ZESVA\n\n\nTwo horsemen were giving chase to some wild goats. Quickly did their\nmost daring horses run, but still faster did the light little goats\nsave themselves by flight, jumping across narrow gorges with one bound,\nspringing on small plateaus, and in a word as though favored with\nhaving wings they seemed to fly through bushes and low shrubs. Now,\nhowever, they made for a very high mountain covered with bushes and\nforests and rapidly found their way among green branches and blooming\ntrees, ascending higher and higher. The pace of the pursuit of the\nhorsemen considerably slowed down as the various plants were every\nnow and then the cause of unexpected delays, while their victims,\nthe goats, were able to catch breath between each long jump and thus\ngot on rather well and without much difficulty.\n\nThe comparatively large horses were of course forced to go out of\ntheir way in order to avoid knocking up against trees, which barred\nthe trail, and even where the grass had been smoothed out the animals\nwent rather quietly and the energetic horsemen saw themselves more\nthan once obliged to cut and bend down massive branches which formed\nthe chief impediment in the whole undertaking. When after long and\nrenewed attempts they safely reached the summit of the mountain, the\ngoats had completely disappeared, and looking in various directions\nin order to discover the hiding place of the fugitives, the plucky\nhorsemen cast their glances at that part of the mountain at the foot\nof which spread itself out like a fairyland the perfectly magnificent\nvalley of Alazana. And how beautiful she looked on this rare sunny day,\nall shining with soft sweet rays, separated from each other by a large\nnumber of various colored shades, one more perfect and exquisite than\nthe other.\n\nNow she would seem to take a bath in some pale, rosy waves, produced\nby an unknown marvellous battery of light, then again she so dazzled\nin precious gold and finally blazed with emeralds and the branches of\nits quite innumerable vineyards. There was also the sea of clusters,\nwhich could be distinguished through its little fruit garden, and\nlike gigantic flower bushes they concentrated in themselves an amazing\nvariety of flowers from the very most conspicuous to the darkest and\npalest. In astonishment did the hunters stop. Till then none of the\nToushines had known about the existence of the highly blessed and\nfavored Kakhitia. Being illuminated and showing all of her blinding\nbeauty, she indeed seemed to them a perfect paradise and attracted\nforever their exultant glances. And the hunt and goats and everything\nelse was forgotten. They stood there in perfect adoration of this\nunusual perfection of beauty and being unable to resist any longer\nthe force which drew them nearer and nearer to the happy land, they\ndescended into the gorge of Pankisse. On the River Bazzarisse-Tskali\nthey chanced to come upon a detachment of Tartar frontier guards,\nwho immediately surrounded the newcomers, and having dealt with them\nin the most insulting and truly shameful manner, again chased them\ninto the mountains from which they had come. Arriving at home, the\nindignant Toushines made a halt near that river, where the nation\nusually assembled when it was necessary to decide some important\naffairs. Here did they also announce the facts of their perilous\nadventure and demand a revenge. Soon by the summons of the Elder\nthere came together not only the Toushines, but also the Pchaves and\nKhevsourians, called in to give their advice.\n\nThey all unanimously decided to take terrible revenge for the insult\ninflicted on their countrymen. The Pchaves and Khevsourians promised\ntheir assistance and with general consent the whole army was divided\ninto two parts. One division was to conceal itself in the gorge of\nPankisse, while the other should direct itself towards the Baktrionan\nfortress, which was situated to the east of Alazana and was in those\nremote times considered a very powerful fortification. Nowadays we can\njudge of it only by its ruins, which, however, all testify its past\ngrandeur and mightiness. It was impossible to cross the river otherwise\nthan over the bridge, which the sly Tartars covered with ashes in order\nto always find out the exact number and direction of new arrivals. But\nthis ingenious slyness was not long hidden from the searching eye\nof Zesva, the valiant leader of the detachment. He ordered to stop\nthe horses near the outer gates and, riding at full speed across the\nbridge, he succeeded in hiding himself in a valley before the Tartars\nfound time to appear. The latter, guiding themselves by the direction\nof the traces, started in pursuit of their antagonists, but with every\nstep getting farther and farther away from those to capture which was\ntheir intense desire. In the meantime the night came on and, profiting\nby the darkness, the Toushines reached the foot of the very fortress\nwithout being noticed by anyone. Having ordered his warriors to rest,\nZesva, without breaking the silence, took up a hammer, covered it\nwith cow-hair felt, unloaded from his horse a very large maprasha\n(i.e., a pair of sacks tied unto the steed) filled with strong iron\ntusks and knocked the first great nail into the battlements of the\nfortress, and standing upon it and reaching as high as possible he made\na second one stick, and thus he continued until he had made himself a\nkind of ladder of iron hooks to the tip-top of the high rampart wall,\nwhence he jumped down and in a flash threw open the heavy gates.\n\nLike a rushing stream did the Toushines make their way into the\nfortress, while the first rays of the rising sun were falling upon\nthe grim old fortifications. The Tartars, half asleep, ran out\ninto a field, but in vain for now they were met by the Pchaves and\nKhevsoures, who had ventured out from the gorge of Pankisse. The\nTartars, surrounded on all sides, were exterminated to the last one\nand the field of honor of Allavanne, on which the glorious fight had\ntaken place, was from now on known under the name of \"Gatzvetila\"\n(from the word \"gatsveta\"--\"they are killing\").\n\nThe magnanimous and lion-hearted Zesva handed out all the rich booty\nof this ever-memorable day to his faithful allies, i.e., the Pchaves\nand Khevsoures, while Gatzvetila became the common property of all\nToushines. Nowadays this historic spot is known under the designation,\n\"Field of Allavanna.\" Some people pretend that this name comes from the\nGeorgian word \"ali,\" i.e., \"flame,\" as on this field, after the fire of\nthe battle, the Tartar blood went on smoking for a long time; others\nsay this name originates from the Kshtinskian words \"al\" = vladyka and\n\"va\" = here. This latter supposition, it seems to me, must be nearer in\napproaching the truth, as Allvani was one of the country palaces of\nTamara, the ruins of which were not kept, although traditions confirm\nthe existence of a palace on the above-mentioned field.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nXIII. THE TALE OF MIKHIAN\n\nA LEGEND\n\n\nA wonderfully gorgeous reception was being prepared at the Turkish\nCourt. The Sultan had taken it into his head to brilliantly celebrate\nand entertain the all-famous hero-prince Solagge, a Mikhian by descent,\nwho had just arrived in his domains. At the door the Vizir met the\nguest with open arms and explained to him what a fortunate concurrence\nof circumstances it had been that had granted Turkey the chance of\nbeholding him within their borders. Solagge wanted to reply, but the\nVizir, without listening to him, continued his pompous speech and\nthus obliged his guest to hold his tongue. The Vizir had received\ninstructions from the Sultan to seek out means under pretense of\nfriendship and veneration in order to have the famous hero perish,\nand so the sly Ottoman official proposed that he should fight a duel\nwith an Arab giant and boxer, promising in reward for victory the\nposition of a Pasha of Achaltsisk. Solagge refused the reward, not\nwishing to abandon little Mikhia, to serve which he had devoted his\nwhole life, but the duel he accepted, and so the Vizir personally\nbrought him a rare and expensive horse with a golden saddle, gold\nstirrups, etc., saying: \"Here you have a steed worthy of a future\nPasha of Achaltsisk.\" On a Friday the whole town came together on a\nwell-known square. Proudly did the Arab rival parade on his foaming\nhorse. Solagge reverently bowed to him, but the former, instead of\nreplying, simply rushed at his antagonist with a hatchet in his hand.\n\nNotwithstanding the perfectly unexpected attack, Solagge all the same\nsucceeded in repelling him, but a second and even a third hatchet\ncame flying after the first. The clever Mikhian missed their aim and\nwithout trouble succeeded in protecting himself against all of them and\nwas soon on the point of attacking his enemy. Like a regular tornado\nhe pounced down upon his rival and at full gallop let his own hatchet\nfall on him. He cut the Arab through and through and threw him off his\nhorse to the ground. Wishing to speedily arouse the dissatisfaction\nof the people, the moullahs (i.e., priests) surrounded the corpse,\nread aloud the Khoran and filled the air with their hideous mournful\nlamentations and cries. But the nation, greatly delighted over the\ndaring exploit of Solagge, remained perfectly insensible to their\nnever-ceasing weeping and howling.\n\nWith great signs of distinction was Solagge conducted into the palace,\nwhere the Sultan, after a most friendly and hearty reception and\npleasant congratulations, rewarded his excessive chivalry with gold\nand precious stones and again offered him the position of a Pasha of\nAchaltsisk, but Solagge refused even a second time.\n\n\"Remember thy wonderful strength and the extraordinary mightiness\nwhich thou wilt be able to dispose of!\" said the Sultan.\n\n\"O Sovereign!\" replied the famous hero, \"I sincerely thank thee for\nthe honor thou bestowest upon me and the extreme confidence which thou\nhast in me, but know thou then that being inspired by the mercy of\nGod with that serene strength which hath drawn unto me thine elevated\nattention, I nevertheless do not feel the least need in obtaining\nany other power, whatever it may be, besides the one which gives me\nthe love of my fellow-citizens.\"\n\nAnd Solagge remained true to his word and passed his whole life\nin poor Mikhia, protecting the slighted, punishing the lawless, and\nnever died, for even down to our days he lives with boundless glory in\nnational songs and legends, blessed and adored by every generation,\nas a shining example of courage and uncorrupted and sincere love for\nhis native land.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<pre id=\"pg-footer\">","title":"Caucasian Legends","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":51741}