12.
And from Arzroum
They went to the fortress of Mantzkert.
In that fortress there was a king named Tevatoros.
[33] The two brothers stood at the gate of his palace.
The gate-keepers asked them:
—Who are you?
—We have come to serve the king, they replied.
The gate-keepers told the king that
Two men had come to enter his service.
Sanasar and Baghdasar [then] went to the king,
Bowed their heads, prostrated themselves seven times,
On the eighth time they crossed their hands
And stood before him.
When he saw the two fair and comely lads,
The king liked them. He asked:
—What do you need, my sons?
Why have you come to us?
The boys replied:
—Above the earth we trust in God,
And on this earth we trust in you, O King,
To sustain and protect us
And safeguard us with your watchful eyes, [so that]
With the grace of God,
No one may be ashamed of the other. The king asked them:
—Where do you come from, my boys?
—Nowhere we know of, they replied.
—Have you anything,
Have you a father and mother?
—We really have nothing, they replied,
We have no home, no place, no country.
Since the day we have been born from a mother,
We have seen no father and no mother—
Only ourselves as two orphan lads.
The king asked them:
Will you tell me then why you are roaming?
—We have come to you, we want to serve you.
Very pleased with the lads, the king ordered:
—Take these boys to fine living quarters,
And set beds in their room.
[34] They placed the two brothers in a single room,
And took food to them from hour to hour.
The king liked the twin lads;
He appointed Sanasar his head steward,
And Baghdasar his cup bearer.
They were kept in service for a year.
At the end of a year the vizier said to the king:
—Let us put the twins to a test
To see whether they possess any talent.
The king agreed.
They summoned the boys to the king's presence.
The king said to them:
—My sons, we will hold a tournament at sunrise tomorrow.
The boys retired to their room
And remained there till dawn.
They rose at early morn, put on their armour,
Mounted their horses, and went to the arena.
With his soldiers the king went there, too;
He said: —Sanasar,
Take your stand with my soldiers on one side;
I, Baghdasar, and the vizier will take our stand
On the opposite side.
Sanasar said: —No, my King.
—How would you have it then, asked the king?
—Let me and my brother stand together on one side;
You, your soldiers, and the vizier on the opposite side.
—As you wish, said the king.
The tilt began; they assaulted each other . . .
When the king looked around,
He saw none of his soldiers. They all had been downed.
—Doom to your household, vizier,
You have doomed my house, said the king,
To this day these two young men thought
That we had virile males amongst us;
They just proved that they are men, we are women.
The vizier said: —If that is what you believe,
[35] Put them out of your city. Let them go.
On the same day brigands drove the city's cattle away.
The king ordered thirty horsemen
To join the twin brothers in the pursuit of the bandits.
Sanasar said: — O, King,
We do not need those thirty horsemen,
We two alone will chase them.
Sanasar and Baghdasar took their arms and rode on.
They overtook the brigands,
Shot them, slaughtered them;
The surviving brigands they rounded up with the cattle
And herded them back to the city.
The king shackled, imprisoned the thieves,
And provided generously for Sanasar and Baghdasar.
In the morning the twin brothers took a stroll.
They saw a group of young men playing a shield-game—
Holding shields, they were hitting each other with sticks.
They said: —Let us get into the game.
While playing, everyone that the twins touched
Fainted, fell to the ground.
People went to the king and complained:
—Come and see what the twins have done.
The king summoned the two boys and asked:
—What is this you have been doing, boys?
The boys replied: —Long may the King live,
All this happened in the game.
The king said to them:
—You are powerful, aznavour ["noble", "giant"] men,
How could they cope with you?
Never get into such a game again.
The boys promised: —We will never do it again.
[36] It was a large city. There was a wedding.
After the wedding the young men left to engage
In cudgel-play on horseback.
The king said to Baghdasar:
—Join the games, have some fun.
As they entered the arena, the horsemen halted.
The twin brothers took position on one side,
The horsemen faced them on the opposite side.
Both sides engaged each other.
At his turn, the elder brother [Sanasar]
Was wielding the cudgel [lightly] without hitting hard,
While the younger brother [Baghdasar]
Was hitting hard and breaking limbs.
Two or three young men suffered injuries.
This seemed unfair to Sanasar;
The twin brothers withdrew from the game
And returned home.
Sanasar set a tray, full of fruit, on Baghdasar's head;
Together they went to the king's divan.
The parents of the [injured] young men were at the Court,
Complaining to the king and saying:
—O King, send those young men away; they are powerful.
If you do not, they will hurt you.
But when the parents saw the fruit
That Sanasar brought in,
They thought no more of their sons,
They fell upon the tray and ate up the fruit.
13.
One of their playmates told them:
—The king is angry at you;
He is going to put you out of this town.
Sanasar said to Baghdasar:
[37] —Brother, we have no permanent place here,
Let us go and build our own home.
We labored so hard,
The wretched building still remains unfinished.
Baghdasar replied: As you wish, brother. Let us go.
Don't serve the king his food in the morning,
And I will not give him his wine.
We will not appear before him.
When the king awoke from his sleep,
He did not see the brothers.
He summoned them.
The boys came to him and asked:
—O King, what is our fault?
Why do you want to put us out of your city?
The king said: —Sons, the word is already out of my lips;
I am going to send you away.
Retire to your room now,
Think over and let me know which part of my land
You would like to have. I will grant it to you.
You can go and settle there.
The boys pondered and decided:
—Let us return to the place where
We have set marking stones [for our home].
We will go and settle there.
They stayed in their room through the night.
Early in the morning they went to the king
And stood before him.
The king asked: —Where do you wish to settle, sons?
They replied: —Long may the King live,
It is true, we have no father, no mother,
But how can we conceal it from God,
Even if we conceal it from you?
We have labored on a wretched building
That we have left unfinished and come here.
And they said to him:
[38] —We have laid the foundation of our home
At a place near a spring.
We beg you now to give us leave
To go back, build our home, and settle there.
King Tevatoros said to them:
—I asked you at the beginning
If you had a father and mother;
And you told me that you have nothing, no home, no place.
Now that you have a place of your own,
You may go. May you fare well, a thousand times well;
Go, build your home and fortress.
Sanasar and Baghdasar then said:
—Long may you live, O King,
One more favor we would ask for.
We could not settle there alone;
We beg you to send a few poor
And a few rich families with us
And build their homes near ours,
So that we may get together at night and chat.
The king took pity on them
And chose forty families to go with them—
Ah, what families!
And to each family he gave one donkey
And one spinning wheel.
In the morning he sent his vizier to the city
To have the forty families move out with the twins.
He gave them fifty sacks of flour
And other provisions.
The people packed their belongings;
The twin brothers bade farewell to the king
And departed with their caravan.
Riding over the mountains,
They reached the spring
And the foundations of their fortress.
Here Sanasar asked Baghdasar:
[39] —Shall we build our fortress
Or the homes of these poor people first?
Baghdasar replied:
Let us build their homes first, then our fortress.
Those poor people cannot be exposed to the sun.
And they started to build.
Sanasar was so strong that
He dug foundations of ten houses in a day,
While the other brother brought the logs;
They labored together,
And, within four days, the twin brothers
Erected the walls of forty houses.
They cut down big logs from the mountains,
Lugged them and, without trimming,
Placed them on the roofs,
Covered the rooftops, finished the houses,
And placed the settlers in their homes.
While the boys were building the houses,
They were taking their meals
In a different settler's home each day,
Eating up the provisions of that family.
The twin brothers started building their fortress
Soon after the settlers had occupied their houses.
Sanasar carried huge rocks on his shoulders
To the site of the fortress;
His brother, too, carried big stones
To the site of the fortress.
Then they went to the [neighboring] city
And hired a master-builder and laborers.
Seeing the huge rocks, the master-builder said:
—I cannot handle these rocks.
Sanasar went to the city again
[40] And hired another master-builder.
Seeing the huge rocks, the master-builder asked:
—Sanasar, how are we going to set these rocks?
I cannot handle them.
—Who can handle them then? asked Sanasar.
—No one can, replied the master-builder.
—How are we going to set them then?
—That I do not know, replied the master.
Sanasar then said to him:
—Master, you hang the plumb line, mark the places,
And I will set the stones.
In this way they built their fortress—
Lugging mammoth rocks,
And working with the masters.
Sanasar and Baghdasar were so strong that,
Single-handed, they put stone pillars on pillars
And set thrusts.
In this manner they worked for a whole year.
At the end of a year
Their house and fortress came to completion.
Then they built a little church.
All that remained was a name for the fortress
And the house.
But they did not have a name.
14.
Sanasar then said to Baghdasar:
—We did well. We finished our house,
Now we need a name for it. What shall it be?
Baghdasar replied: —Brother, that is up to you.
Building it was our task, naming it is your task.
He stopped every passer-by and asked:
—Give a name to our house.
But no one could think of a name.
Many men came to the place, but they stood
With their lips sealed; they could not say a word,
[41] Others also came and gave a name,
But they found the name unbefitting.
Time went on ... Talking it over one night,
Baghdasar said to his brother:
—You will do well. If you go
And find a venerable old man,
Bring him here, feast him,
And let him name the fortress.
Early in the morning
Sanasar arose and went here and there;
He saw a white-bearded fatherly man
Who, with the help of a plough-boy,
Was furrowing the arid soil
With six pairs of buffalos yoked to a plough.
When the elderly man saw the giant,
His hands began to tremble; he stopped the plough.
Sanasar went to him, greeted him,
Held his arm, and said:
Babig, let me take you to our home.
The elderly man said: —Take your hand off me.
Sanasar said: —Don't be afraid, babig.
Come to our home as our guest;
I will take you there and bring you back.
The elderly man agreed; he went with him.
As they came near, he felt tired and said:
—You took me far enough; I am tired.
Sanasar said: —Yes, yes, babig, we are getting near.
Holding his arm,
He put him on his horse,
Took him to the house and set him on the floor.
At home they had supper,
And talked throughout the evening.
Sanasar asked: —Babig, do you know
[42] Why we have brought you here?
The old one said: —Hi, brave stripling,
Do you think I know? How could I know
Why you have brought me here?
Sanasar said: —Hi, babig,
You are an elderly, venerable man,
You have roamed the world.
We just finished building this house
We do not know what name to give to our fortress.
Babig, I brought you here
So that you will give a name to our stronghold.
Give a pleasant name to our home.
Let us see now what name you will give.
The elderly man said: —Very well,
Then he said:
—I would die for you, my lads,
What name would you like? What name shall I give?
They said: —Venerable father,
It is not what we like; you choose what you like.
The elderly man said then:
—It is dark now. In the morning we will take a stroll,
I will look around and think of a suitable name.
They went to sleep; arose in the morning,
Washed themselves and offered prayers.
The elderly man ate a hearty meal,
Went out to the courtyard, walked around and around,
Listened to things good and bad,
And said: —I do not see all you have built
So that I can give a name.
Sanasar said: —Babig, let me take you on my back
And make the round of our fortress,
So that you can see everything and give a name.
Sanasar took him on his back,
Made a round of the fortress.
The elderly man looked around
[43] And saw mountains on mountains.
Sanasar took him out from the western door
In the morning,
Made the complete round of the stronghold
And returned to the same door in the evening;
There he stopped.
People had thought among themselves:
—Let us face the elderly man on his return,
The first word that escapes his mouth
Will be the name of our fortress.
They asked: —Babig, what have you to say?
The elderly man surveyed the massive building,
Looked at the upper tiers,
Saw huge rocks carried to higher levels,
Walls built of massive boulders;
Stunned [by this immensity], he asked:
—Am I to give a name to all this?
Lord bless your household,
What name shall I give to this stronghold?
Lord's bounty to you!
How powerful you must be to raise these huge rocks!
Oh, what Sassoun [enormous] rocks!
How did you raise those Sassoun rocks
To those upper tiers?
How did you set those stone pillars on pillars?
This is not a house you have built,
This is a Sassoun stronghold you have erected.
Oh, what a Sassoun stronghold!
This is not a house. This is Sassoun.
Sanasar said: —That will do, babig,
Say no more, give no other name.
Ay, babig, the name is set,
The name is Sassoun.
[44] What could be better than that name?
When you told us that we had set
Sassoun rocks on rocks, pillars on pillars,
You gave a name to our fortress, Sassoun, Sassoun,
And a name to our House, the House of Sassoun.
The fortress, thereafter, was named Sassoun,
And the House was named the House of Sassoun.
After they had named the fortress,
Sanasar said to the elderly man:
—Babig, stay with us,
I will take good care of you.
The elderly man said: —For Lord's sake,
Take me back to my homestead,
To my own land. Here I have no roots.
Sanasar took the elderly man
Back to his homestead.
15.
What was their mode of life, their occupation?
The twin brothers roamed the mountains during the day;
They went as far as the lake shore,
Hunted game, and returned home at sunset.
One day Sanasar said to Baghdasar:
—Brother, let us go to the lake shore,
Find a good horse and bring it home with us.
Being fire-born, they knew that
There were marine horses.
They went to the lake and sat at the shore.
Sanasar said to Baghdasar:
—Brother, let us go into the lake
And see if we will sink.
[45] Baghdasar replied:
—Brother, life is sweet; I will not go into the lake.
Sanasar said to his brother:
—You stay here; I will go alone;
If I do not sink, you come,
But if I sink and drown, do not come;
You stay here and stay alive.
Sanasar took courage,
Invoked God,
And dived head-on into the lake.
By the will of God, the lake parted
And appeared as dry land to Sanasar,
But seemed a sea to Baghdasar.
Standing alone at the lake shore,
Baghdasar wept and lamented:
"Oh! My brother went into the lake and disappeared,
My brother went into the lake and drowned."
Not seeing him again,
Overcome by anguish, he lost consciousness
And fell on the ground.
Going into the lake,
Sanasar walked as if he were on dry land.
He reached a garden at the bottom of the lake,
Where he saw a palace and pavilion,
And a pool [in the garden].
Water flowed in front of the palace.
There he saw the marine horse, Kourkig Jelaly, [Majestic Colt]
Tied to a post, equipped with a saddle of mother-of-pearl,
And a Lightning Sword hung on the side.
There he also saw a chapel.
As he entered the chapel, he looked around.
He fell asleep and had a dream.
The Mother of God appeared to him in his dream
And said: —Arise, Sanasar,
[46] Here stands the Battle Cross;
Kneel down seven times and pray;
It will be yours if you are worthy.
You will place it on your right arm to ward off blows.
The marine horse, Kourkig Jelaly,
Is waiting there, saddled and bridled,
With the heavenly Lightning Sword hanging on his side.
You will mount him and get the Sword if you are worthy.
Open the trunk nearby and take
The shirt of mail,
The girdle of armour,
The helmet of mail,
The shoes of mail,
The heavy mace of the warrior,
The strong spear, bow and arrows,
The bugle-horn, the impregnable shield;
You take them all. Here they are.
You will bathe in the palace pool;
And you will grow, gather strength and courage.
Your strength will grow sevenfold,
And seven will grow sevenfold;
You will attain your heart's desire.
Sanasar awoke from his sleep and said:
—What a strange dream!
I wonder if it is true or false.
He went where he had been directed,
Opened the trunk and found everything
He had seen in his dream.
He saw a helmet of mail
That would not rest on his head
With two litres of cotton stuffed in it;
An armour belt
That girded his waist seven times,
A pair of shoes of mail
That with a litre of cotton in each
Would still be too big for his feet.
[47] He came out of the chapel,
Went to the palace pool and bathed,
Drank the water of the fountain and fell asleep.
He slept for a short while; attained the grace of God;
He grew, gathered strength, courage,
And became a fiery being.
Then he vested himself.
He put on the shirt of mail,
Girded the armour belt that now encircled his waist.
He put on the helmet of mail; it rested on his head.
He put on the shoes of mail; they fitted his feet.
He took all the vestments and arms;
Knelt and prayed seven times,
Girded on the Lightning Sword.
The angels placed the Battle Cross
On his right arm
As a safeguard against blows.
Gathering courage, he tried to mount the horse.
Kourkig Jelaly turned to him and asked:
—Earth-born, what are you doing,
What have you in mind?
Sanasar said: —I am mounting you.
The horse said: —I will take you to the sun to burn.
Sanasar said: —I am sea-born,
I will roll under your belly.
The horse said: —I will take you down
To the bowels of the earth, the infernal regions.
Sanasar said: —I am sea-born,
I will cling to your back.
He sprang on his back, mounted the horse;
As the horse took him to the sun to burn,
He rolled under the horse's belly;
As the horse took him down
To the bowels of the earth,
He clung to the horse's back.
The horse then reared and pranced,
[48] Ran here, ran there,
Stood on his hind legs with froth in his mouth,
But he could not throw Sanasar down.
At last he came to his senses,
Stood, submitted to Sanasar's will
And said: —I am your steed, you are my master.
Sanasar drove his horse through the garden.
A path opened in the sea;
In an instant he reached the surface,
Came out [of the water] to go to his brother.
Sitting at the shore, Baghdasar was weeping;
When he saw a mountain set on a mountain
Coming toward him,
He said [to himself]: —That beast will devour me,
It drew my brother into the sea,
Now he will draw me, take me into the sea.
Not recognizing his brother,
Baghdasar, frightened, ran away crying.
Sanasar called: —Baghdasar, don't run away.
He went to him and asked:
—Why are you crying, lad?
He replied: —Who should be the one to cry if not I?
I am one of twin brothers;
My brother went into the lake and drowned.
Now I am left alone.
Who should be the one to cry [then], if not I?
Sanasar asked: —Ay, lad,
Could you recognize your brother if you saw him now?
—How could I not recognize him? [replied Baghdasar.]
—I am your brother, said Sanasar.
—My brother was not as tall as you:
He was only one measure taller than I.
Where did he find that horse?
Where did he find that armour?
Sanasar held his brother, kissed him on the forehead
And said: —Baghdasar, I am your brother,
[49] I am Sanasar, don't be frightened, don't cry.
Baghdasar, too, kissed Sanasar on the forehead
And said: —Brother, while you were afloat,
I was watching you;
When you disappeared, I sat and lamented.
Again they kissed each other on the forehead
And left together for home.
16.
The twin brothers were settled in Sassoun.
One night in his sleep Baghdasar
Had a nightmare. What a nightmare!
The Great Idol, in the guise of a goat,
Came over his head and began to grunt;
He would not let him sleep all night.
This he kept up for a month.
At the end of the month,
Baghdasar became sick with jaundice and was morose.
Sanasar asked his brother:
—Why are you ill?
You were in high spirits while we were laboring,
Now you are so despondent.
Baghdasar said:
—Brother, you don't know that I cannot sleep at night.
The Great Idol has not let me sleep for a month.
In the guise of a goat, during the night,
He hops around me and grunts over my head till daybreak,
Allowing me no sleep.
Brother, I am going to Baghdad;
Either the Khalif sacrifices me to the Great Idol,
Or I sacrifice the Khalif.
Sanasar said:
—God protecting you, the Khalif cannot slay you.
Baghdasar said then:
—Brother, it is not proper for me to go alone;
Let us go together, slay the Khalif,
[50] Set the temple of idols on fire,
Throw the bad men into the flames,
And pay a visit to our unfortunate mother
To see how she is faring.
With a few companions they started on their journey
And arrived at Baghdad as they had planned.
They pitched their tents
In a field outside Baghdad.
Sanasar said to his brother: —Baghdasar,
Hurry, take to mother the good news of our arrival.
People went to the Khalif, gave him the good news:
—Light to your eyes! The boys have come back.
The Khalif, overjoyed, said:
Mighty is our Great Idol,
He has brought back the sacrificial offerings
I had pledged to him.
Turning to his men, he said:
—You were taunting me,
Do you realize now the mightiness of my idols?
He sent messengers to tell the boys:
—The Khalif says, 'Welcome my lads,
You knew that it was the feast day of my idols.
I am going to sacrifice you to them.'
The boys sent word: —We knew that your idols are mighty,
We came to be sacrificed to them.
The following day, the two brothers
Went to the Khalif.
They saw him with his arms on his hips,
Pacing the roof of the throne room.
Seeing Sanasar and Baghdasar, he shouted at them:
—You bastards, you curs, where have you been?
Where did you go, why didn't you come sooner?
Didn't you know that wherever you went
The Great Idol would bring you back?
[51] They replied: —We would die for you, Father;
Ever since we were born,
We had not seen the world.
While we were roaming the world,
We forgot [the pledge we had made].
We sought refuge in the east, we could not escape;
We sought refuge in the west, we could not escape;
We could not escape your idols.
Mighty, very mighty is your Great Idol,
He would not give us rest even at night.
The Khalif said: —Well then, let us go to the temple,
I want to sacrifice you to the idols.
The boys said: —Long may you live, our King,
We are children of royal blood,
It is not befitting for us to be taken
And sacrificed secretly.
We beg you to summon all the people
To witness your sacrifice and glorify the idols.
—Very well, said the Khalif,
I will summon, gather all my subjects
As you wish.
The boys returned to their tent,
Then went to their mother.
The Khalif issued a decree, saying:
—I am going to sacrifice
My two sons to the idols.
Come, glorify the idols.
People came in droves from cities, towns, and villages.
They came in thousands and filled the plain—
No room remained for a dropping pin.
Through the night, Dzovinar, the boys' mother,
Kept awake till dawn
And shed tears over her sons.
Starting to leave, Sanasar said:
[52] —Baghdasar, hold the horse in leash.
I am going to the temple;
Rush the horse to me as soon as you hear my call.
He went to the Khalif,
Who, delighted in seeing Sanasar, exclaimed with elation:
—I would die for you, Great Idol!
How you have brought back by his own will
The sacrificial offering I had pledged to you!
Soon you will bring back by his own will
The other sacrificial offering, too.
Then he asked Sanasar: —Son, where is your brother?
Why didn't you both come sooner?
Sanasar replied:
—My brother is young, he is coming later.
Take me, sacrifice me, while he is on his way.
The Khalif said: —Bend down then so that I can slay you.
Sanasar said:
—Why, Khalif! Does a man offer his sacrifice
At the altar of a sanctuary or in the open field?
Let us go inside the temple. You sacrifice me there,
So that your offering will be acceptable.
The Khalif said: —Vallah, you are right.
Then taking the sword, he said:
—Come, son, let us go,
Prostrate yourself before the Great Idol,
So that I can sacrifice you.
The Khalif and Sanasar together entered the temple.
Sanasar said to the Khalif:
—When we left we were young
And not aware of the mightiness of your idol.
I have not worshipped him,
I do not know how to prostrate myself
In the manner pleasing to the idols.
Will you bow and kneel down,
And prostrate yourself before the idols first,
So that I can see the proper way,
[53] And do as you do.
The Khalif bowed and knelt down,
And said: —This is the way, lad; do it this way.
Sanasar bowed and knelt down.
The Khalif drew his sword, ready to slay him.
Sanasar, realizing that the Khalif
Was really going to cut off his head,
Invoked: —By the Bread and Wine and the Eternal Lord;
And gave the Khalif such a kick
That he rolled head over heels three times
And lay on the floor.
Sanasar grabbed the Khalif and tied him up.
The Khalif's men sent an alarm to the city,
Gathered soldiers and came [to the temple];
People in hordes throughout the city rushed to battle.
Sanasar shouted: —Baghdasar, the horse!
Taking the horse, Baghdasar dashed to his brother.
Sanasar jumped on the horse.
[Seeing the hordes] he exclaimed: —Ay, ay!
If these people were cotton, and I were a flame,
I could not burn them up;
If these people were a blazing fire, and I were water,
I could not put out the fire.
The horse then spoke:
—Sanasar, why are you frightened?
Invoke your God,
As many as you slay with your Lightning Sword,
So many more I will slay with my tail;
As many as you mow down with your Lightning Sword,
So many more I will mow down with my breath;
As many as you slay with your Lightning Sword,
So many more I will trample under my hoofs.
[Mounting their horses,]
The two brothers drew their swords
And raced back and forth in two rounds;
[54] The dust, raised by the hoofs of the horses,
Clouded the sky.
They fell upon the hordes and crushed them as ruthlessly
As the horse crushes its oats.
The Khalif's men fell and fell
And lay like matting on the ground.
The two brothers dismounted,
Took the Khalif to their mother.
From head to foot they tied him to a post,
Fastened his head to a pillory,
Lit a candle on his head,
And sat down at his feet;
Placed pomegranate wine on the table,
Drank the red wine before his eyes,
Feasted, and made merry.
17.
Word reached their grandsire, [King Gagik],
That Sanasar and Baghdasar have become so strong!
They have seized the Khalif, bound him to a post,
And, sitting at his feet, have been feasting.
The grandsire, [hearing this,] invoked:
—O, Lord, you could take my soul,
If you would only let me see those boys.
Gagik, the cross-worshipping king,
Wrote a message, gave it to Kamy [the Wind] and said:
—Take this message to Baghdad
And give it to my grandson, Sanasar.
Kamy took the message and through the keyhole
Dropped it into Sanasar's hand.
Sanasar read the message
That his grandsire had written:
—A thousand greetings to my grandson:
The instant this message reaches your hand,
[55] Lather your head there, shave it here.
Sanasar said to Baghdasar:
—I am leaving. Don't let the Khalif escape.
Mounting his horse, he rode to his grandsire,
Who recognized him by his resemblance to his mother.
They feasted and talked at such length that
Sanasar failed to think of his mother and brother.
Baghdasar went out hunting and every day shot
A wild sheep and brought it home.
The household gathered, feasted on it
And made merry.
One day, while he was at the chase,
The Khalif, bound hand and foot,
Said to the maidservant:
—Don't you see how miserable I am? Mercy on you!
Loosen my bonds a little.
The maidservant untied the rope and put it aside.
The Khalif was set free. What did he do?
He went to the city, called on everyone,
Summoned the surviving princes,
Held a council with them and asked:
—What shall we do to save ourselves?
One of the princes said:
—Sanasar is away and Baghdasar is alone;
Let us go and kill him.
Another prince said: —We are not able to kill him;
Let us have a feast, get him drunk,
Take him and throw him in a ditch,
Pile bush and rubbish on him, and let him perish.
The Khalif said to his men:
—Take seven camel loads of sour wine
To Akhmakh Mountain [Mountain of Fools];
[56] Tomorrow I will fool Baghdasar and take him there.
We will give him wine,
Get him drunk and kill him.
The men did as they were told.
That evening,
When foolhardy Baghdasar returned from the hunt,
He saw the Khalif set free, but said not a word.
The Khalif said to him:
—Baghdasar, do you know what I am thinking?
He asked: —What are you thinking about, Khalif?
The Khalif said: —Let me free; I will take you to Sev Sar [Black Mountain].
There I know of a place
Full of wild sheep and other wild game.
Let me free. We will go there tomorrow, hunt them down,
Hold a great feast and camp there
Until your brother returns.
Baghdasar said: —Very well, we will go.
The Khalif in this way coaxed Baghdasar to go with him.
The following day they mounted their horses and left.
When they reached Akhmakh Mountain,
People on all sides, holding cups of wine,
Hailed him: —Thousand welcomes to Baghdasar,
And offered their cups to him.
No one drank the wine the servants brought;
Everyone offered his wine to him.
In this way they all beguiled him
And filled him up with the seven-year-old sour wine.
[The wine went to his head.]
As they kept on offering toasts:
—Thousand welcomes to Baghdasar,
Baghdasar shouted:
—Damn with your "thousand welcomes,"
Fill up the troughs, I will drink it all up.
[57] Baghdasar drank all the wine and became so drunk
That he passed out, fell unconscious.
The Khalif then said to his men:
—Take your maces, fall upon him.
They took their maces, started at him,
But fearing him, hurled their maces from a distance.
They kept throwing mace after mace
At Baghdasar from all sides—
So many maces that their blows
Made a ditch forty kazes deep;
But by God's will, none of the maces hit Baghdasar.
Sanasar [at his grandsire's] stepped out,
Looked up to the sky
And saw that Baghdasar's star was dimmed.
He said to himself: —My brother is in danger.
Turning around, he said to his grandfather:
—Grandsire, I am leaving; my horse, quick.
I will get either to my brother's corpse or to his bier.
His grandsire said: —Mercy on you!
At this moment your brother comfortably
Is feasting with his mother.
While he is rejoicing there,
You can rejoice with us here.
Sanasar could wait no longer;
He took out his horse himself,
Mounted him, and within the wink of an eye,
Arrived at his mother's house.
—Mother, where is my brother, Baghdasar?
—The Khalif took him to Akhmakh Mountain
On an outing, outdoor feasting.
—Alas, they have tricked my brother, said Sanasar.
They are going to kill him.
Hardly had he said this,
When he dashed out, reached Baghdasar.
[58] He found Baghdasar intoxicated with wine,
Dead-drunk, lying unconscious,
And people on all sides hitting him with their maces,
And striking him with their swords,
Trying to kill him.
Sanasar, raving mad, invoked God and fell upon them.
Hurling his heavy mace,
He hit, slew the Khalif who, under the blow,
Went down into the earth seven kazes deep.
Then he slaughtered all the other men.
Sanasar stood over his brother,
Poured water on his head, washed him,
And massaged his heart to revive him.
He called: —Baghdasar, Baghdasar.
Regaining consciousness, Baghdasar
Raised his head and said: —Ah, mercy on you!
You did not let me enjoy my sound sleep.
Sanasar said: —Mercy on you!
Stand up now and look around.
The twin brothers returned to the city.
Baghdasar then proclaimed to the people:
—Whoever believes in what I believe,
Let him come, pass beneath my sword.
People from the cities and towns hurried,
Came, and passed beneath his sword.
And their mother, Dzovinar Khanum,
Bowed, knelt and prostrated herself, saying:
—I thank Thee, Thou Creator of heaven and earth,
For your mercy in delivering us and our people
From the hands of that tyrant.
18.
They stayed there [in Baghdad] for a while,
Then they took their mother and her handmaiden
[59] And started for Armenia.
As they approached the city of King Gagik,
They camped beside a spring.
Seeing a man, a passer-by,
They called him over and said to him:
—Take good tidings to the King,
Many greetings to him and Kerry Toros,
And tell them, "Your Dzovinar and her twin sons
Have arrived in good health.
They are camping at the spring,
Light unto your eyes!"
King Gagik and Kerry Toros went out to meet them.
They embraced, kissed each other, wept and rejoiced,
Ate and drank and toasted.
The King and Kerry Toros then said to them:
—Let us start for the city.
They all left together, reached the city,
Went to the King's palace,
And held a feast for seven days and seven nights.
Then Sanasar said to the king [Gagik]:
—Grandsire, I have a request.
The King asked: —What would be your request?
Sanasar said: —We have built a home of our own,
May we go there?
The King replied: —Son, I have no heir.
Upon my death, my kingdom
Will be yours and will be your domain.
They said: —No, our King, long may you live,
We came, paid you a visit;
Thank God, we found you alive and in good health.
Our longing is satisfied. We are going to our home.
While they were preparing to leave,
Their mother, [Dzovinar], advised her twin sons:
—My sons, ask the king
To bequeath to you Dzovasar, Maratgachour,
[60] Jabaghchour-Bazhin, and Koten.
If he vows on 'the Bread and Wine and the Eternal Lord/
He will grant your request.
Sanasar then said to the king:
—We have one more request.
—Sons, said the king,
Whatever you wish other than our soul,
On the Bread and Wine and the Eternal Lord,
We will grant it to you.
They said: —Will you bequeath to us Dzovasar,
Maratgachour, Jabaghchour-Bazhin, and Koten?
The king said:
—Yes, my sons, we bequeath them to you.
Dzovinar and her twin sons took leave,
Mounted their horses, and took to the road.
Kerry Toros went with them, too.
Sanasar headed the caravan that climbed its way
To the stronghold of Sassoun.
Sanasar was very strong—a powerful man.
He built boundary walls
Around Sev Sar as far as
Dzudzmagakit and the outskirts of Moush,
Reaching the range of Seghan Sar [Table Mountain],
The plain of Jabaghchour,
And the headwaters of Mourad River [Aradzany (Arsanias), a tributary of the river Euphrates]
He ruled over all these territories.
Sanasar built four big gates to his stronghold,
And kept them constantly closed.
Mounted on his horse, Kourkig Jelaly,
He went [to the chase]
And hunted many wolves and beasts.
[61] Before long he extended his domain as far as Msr,
The bridge of Batman and the Valley of Ankugh.
Sanasar became a great pahlevan [hero].
His fame spread throughout the world.
Many people, hearing of him, said [to one another]:
—Brother, why do we stay here
Where thieves all the time
Rob and plunder our belongings?
By the grace of God we will move to Sassoun,
Where Sanasar and Baghdasar,
Two mighty pahlevans rule;
Where they collect no taxes and tributes;
Where men will not plunder our possessions.
And little by little people moved to Sassoun.
And Sassoun grew, became a big city.