Select the tale Contents Two brothers The happy cobbler The invincible Cock Lazy Hoory The paradise flower The hunter that lied A big pot of gold The master and the labourer The carnival Brother axe The foolish man The king & the peddler Travelers Nazar the brave The fox that lost its tail The dog and the cat The handless girl Black kiddy Unlucky Panoss The liar One drop of honey The sparrow The death of Kikos The talking fish The end of the wicked The Miller- King Zangi Zrangi

THE KING AND THE PEDDLER

"Hey, peddlery!
Good peddlery!
Laces, thimbles...
Pretty, sweetie
Lassies, maidens!
Bring eggs, chickens,
Buy beads, bracelets,
Ribbons, ringlets...
Cheap peddlery!
Good peddlery!"
So calling out from street to street,
Disguised as a wandering peddler,
Passed the mighty King Shah-Abas,
With crawling eyes like a viper's.
"Threads and needles! Who wants, who needs?
Come out and buy bracelets and beads!"
"Brother peddler, brother peddler,
If good needles,come to this side,"
An Armenian emigrant sighed.
The peddler walked toward the woman.
"I've got needles as sharp as sting,
For a dozen a loaf you bring."
"How expensive, brother peddler!"
"Never say so, pretty sister!
Your words, sweetie, let no one hear,
If the king's life for you is dear!"
"Let my curse be on the king's head,"
Lowering her voice the woman said.
"Never utter that awful name,
Let God keep us far from his fame!"

***

"Can a man have that much evil?
Is he really such a devil?
Hasn't he saved you from Turkish sword?
Hasn't he helped you from dry Djoogha
To this rich land of Parthia 1 ?"
"Enough, enough, brother peddler,
Don't make me speak of that demon!
We wish his legs were broken,
As not to reach our border.
His troops as flood came over our land,
Without fearing God or his hand,
Demolished our thriving Djoogha
And drove us here, to Parthia!
He has no soul, he has no heart,
He ruined God's house, destroyed our hearth.
We locked our doors, we locked and cried;
The keys we brought and then we dropped
Into Araz-sacred river.
Then we climbed up the mountain side,
And we looked back our tears to hide.
We knelt and prayed for a last time
Holy Mother of hight-Gatan!

We trust in thee, we rely on
Your sympathy, your charity,
Set us free from captivity,
Bring us back home, Divinity!
We moved crying, weeping, moaning,
Under sharp whips, sword and firing,
And readied the bank of the river.
Arax was mad, she was foaming,
Her banks floody, overflowing...
Came the command, "Cross the river!"
That was the Shah's strict order.
Fire at the rear, water lies near,
Grown-ups and young were filled with fear;
Roaring, wailing hugged each other,
Entered into tlie deep river.
Those horrid days that we then saw,
We do not wish to your own foe.
Shall we ever see the right day,
When our curse will be in full pay?"
And so they crowd round the peddler,
Captive people, poor Armenians.

"Cursed be be and his vice throne!"
Murmur the lips of the ragged throng.
Peddler's dire eyes turn in their dens,
Full of menace they threaten;
His hands and feet begin to shake,
And in fury roars the question
"How was is that the other day
For the king's life you got to pray?
You said you lived in abundance,
That your days passed in song and dance?"
"It was all lie. brother peddler,
You are a mate, as poor as we,
Why should our thoughts a secret be
From our kin-folk, as far we see?
We have to hide what we ponder
From that bloody, brutal monster.
It was all lie. You know as far
There are kings and captives on earth,
There shall not be under our star
Either true word, life, love or mirth!"
The peddler roared, flung his aba;
There stood awful King Shah-Abas,
His dagger shone and struck rigid;
An old captive fell down at once;
Fell down in blood... And so as far
There are kings and captives on earth,
There shall not be under our star
Either true word, life, love or mirth!