The Tale of Azaran-Bulbul, the Thousand-Voiced Nightingale

Long ago, there lived an old king. He had three sons. One day, the king summoned them and said:

"Our palaces and chambers have become completely dilapidated; we must build new ones."

And so they did: they tore down the old, decrepit structures and built new ones. The king gathered all the inhabitants of the capital, showed them his new palaces and chambers. Everyone shook their heads in amazement, gasped, and praised the buildings. Only one old woman said:

"May you live long and prosper, O King! Your palaces are beautiful, but not quite perfect: something is missing."

The king ordered all the buildings to be torn down and new ones erected, even better than before. And so it was done. The king's sons demolished the palaces and built new ones, even more splendid than the previous ones. The king summoned people from half his kingdom, showed them the new palaces and chambers. Everyone shook their heads, gasped, and praised. But again, the same old woman came and said:

"May you live long and prosper, O King! Your palaces are beautiful, but not quite perfect: something is missing."

Once more, the king ordered all the buildings to be torn down and new ones erected, even better than before. His sons built palaces, chambers, and royal quarters of unprecedented beauty. The king summoned all the people from across his kingdom and showed them the new palaces. The people could not praise or marvel enough.

Again, the old woman came and said:

"Your chambers are beautiful, O King, better than any, but they are worth little if the thousand-voiced nightingale, Azaran-Blbul, does not live and sing within them. Fetch this nightingale, place it in a golden cage, and let it sing, trill, chirp, and whistle in your palace."

Having said this, she disappeared.

The next morning, the king summoned his viziers and said:

"Go and find Azaran-Blbul."

They replied:

"May you live long and prosper, O King! How can we find it when we have never seen or heard of it?"

Then the king's sons said:

"Do not grieve, Father. We will go and fetch this nightingale."

And so they set off. Whether they walked for a long time or a short time, they would know better, but eventually, they came to a beautiful garden. They greeted the gardener and asked him:

"Three roads begin from your garden. Where do they lead?"

The gardener replied:

"The upper road leads to the city of Baki, the middle road to the city of Shaki, and whoever takes the lower road will never return."

"Well," said the youngest brother, "you, the eldest, go to Baki, and you, the middle brother, go to Shaki. I will take the lower road and see what happens. Whoever returns first should wait for the others here with this gardener."

The brothers parted ways, each taking his own road. The eldest reached Baki, the middle brother reached Shaki, and the youngest walked and walked along the road from which there is no return. Whether he walked for a long time or a short time, he would know better, but eventually, he came to a large house. An old, gray-haired man sat by the house. The young man bowed to him and continued on his way.

But as soon as he had taken a few steps, the old man called out:

"Hey, young man, come here!"

The young man approached, and the old man asked:

"Where are you going, my son?"

"I am going to fetch Azaran-Blbul."

"I," said the old man, "guard the king of this land and his treasure, Azaran-Blbul. I have destroyed many who sought the thousand-voiced nightingale. None who came here ever returned. But for you, I will make an exception: you did not pester or beg me."

The youngest brother put on an invisibility cap, entered the palace, and hid in a corner. Soon, the king arrived with his entourage. Servants set the tables with food and drink. After dinner, the king was put to bed, and everyone dispersed. As soon as the king fell asleep, the young man emerged from his hiding place. He saw a beautiful dagger hanging on the wall. He took the dagger and tied it to his belt. He looked around and saw the king's diamond-studded pipe on the table. He pocketed it. He approached the king's bed and saw amber prayer beads on the carpet. He took them too. He looked at the sleeping king and realized it was not a king at all but a girl of unparalleled beauty. He kissed her on one cheek, then the other, took the cage with Azaran-Blbul from the wall, and left.

He returned to the gardener, but his brothers had not yet come back.

"Well," said the youngest brother to the gardener, "take this dagger; it may be of use to you. And keep Azaran-Blbul, the thousand-voiced nightingale, safe until I return."

The youngest brother took the middle road and reached the city. Suddenly, he saw his middle brother coming towards him, swaying, knees buckling, carrying a huge sack on his back.

The youngest brother said:

"How did you come to this, brother? A king's son—and now a porter! Has our father's treasury run dry? Drop your load and come with me."

He took his brother to a rich shop, clothed and shod him, and then fed him.

"How much do I owe you?" he asked the merchant.

"Five gold coins."

He gave the merchant the amber prayer beads.

"Take these as a pledge," he said. "When I send you the money, return them to me."

The merchant did not argue, took the beads, and hung them on a nail on the wall.

The youngest brother took his middle brother to the gardener.

"Shelter my middle brother," he said, "while I go to find the eldest."

He took the upper road and reached the city. Suddenly, he saw his eldest brother coming towards him, driving two donkeys ahead of him. The donkeys were carrying sacks of garbage.

The youngest brother said:

"How did you come to this, brother? A king's son—and now a garbage collector! Leave your donkeys and come with me."

He took his brother to a rich shop, clothed and shod him, and then fed him.

"How much do I owe you?" he asked the merchant.

"Five gold coins."

He gave the merchant the diamond-studded pipe.

"Take this as a pledge," he said. "When I send you the money, return it to me."

The merchant took the pipe and hung it on the wall.

The youngest and eldest brothers returned to the gardener, called the middle brother, and set off home.

They walked and walked, whether for a long time or a short time, they would know better.

The youngest brother began to lag behind—he was very tired. But the eldest and middle brothers harbored ill intentions. They were envious that it was the youngest brother who had obtained the precious nightingale. They came to a well, covered it with a small rug, and sat on either side. When the youngest brother approached, they said in sweet voices:

"Sit down, dear brother, and rest."

As soon as the youngest brother sat in the middle, they both stood up, and the youngest fell into the well. The elder brothers seized the precious nightingale Azaran-Blbul and ran to their father, the king.

Meanwhile, the youngest brother sat in the well, freezing, shivering, and unable to get out.

A rich merchant usually passed by this road with his caravan. He was walking this way again. He wanted to draw water from the well but saw a handsome young man sitting inside.

- "Hey, what are you doing here?" he called out to the young man.

- "Well," the younger brother lied, "I was walking in the dark at night, stumbled, and now I don’t know how to get out of here."

The merchant threw him a rope, pulled him out, and asked:

- "Whose son are you, young man?"

- "No one's," replied the younger brother. "I have neither father nor mother."

- "Then be my son. I’ve lived my whole life childless."

He took the young man with him, clothed and shod him, taught him the trade, and they began to live together happily and peacefully.

Meanwhile, the young king (who, as you remember, was not a king but a disguised girl), the owner of Azaran-Blbula, woke up in the morning and saw that his priceless thousand-voiced nightingale was gone. The prayer beads were stolen, the dagger was missing, and the diamond-adorned pipe was also nowhere to be found. He called his viziers and ordered them to gather an army and prepare for a campaign.

When the king and his army reached the gardener, he was stunned: the gardener was waving his dagger in the garden, sharpening stakes. The viziers rushed to beat and thrash the gardener, but he pleaded:

- "Stop," he said, "don’t kill me. I have no use for this dagger. I’m just too poor to buy an axe, so I’ve been using it as one. A fine young man gave it to me."

The king asked:

- "Where did this young man go?"

The gardener replied:

- "He went down the middle road."

The king turned his army onto the middle road. They reached a city, entered a shop, and saw amber prayer beads hanging on the wall.

- "How much do these beads cost?" they asked.

- "Five gold coins," replied the merchant.

The king paid and took the beads. They returned to the gardener and asked where else the young man had gone.

- "The upper road," replied the gardener.

They went and reached another city, looked into a shop, and saw a diamond-adorned pipe hanging on the wall.

- "How much is this pipe?" asked the king.

- "Five gold coins," replied the merchant.

The king paid and left. Again, they returned to the gardener and asked:

- "Which road did the young man take when he left?"

The gardener pointed the way.

The young king reached the city where the old king lived with his two elder sons. He sent messengers ahead and ordered them to deliver this message:

- "Let the one who stole Azaran-Blbula come forward, or we will raze the entire city to the ground."

The old king called his sons and said:

- "Go to the owner of the nightingale."

The elder brothers went to the young king, who asked them:

- "Tell me, how did you obtain Azaran-Blbula?"

The brothers shrugged.

- "How? We entered your chambers and took it."

- "Lies," the young king said angrily. "Get out of here, and don’t let me see you again!"

He sent messengers once more. The old king couldn’t understand what was happening and declared throughout the land: "Let the one who obtained the thousand-voiced nightingale reveal himself, or else its owner will burn and trample our country, leaving no stone unturned."

This news reached the younger brother.

- "Father," he said to his adoptive father, "let’s go see what all the fuss is about."

- "What does it matter to us?" said the merchant. "We didn’t obtain Azaran-Blbula."

- "We’ll go anyway," said the young man.

They came to the old king. The young man had altered his appearance so the king wouldn’t recognize him.

- "Long live the king," said the young man with a bow. "I ask you to reward this merchant richly, and for what—that’s for me to know. In return, I’ll serve you by driving the owner of Azaran-Blbula out of your lands."

The younger brother went to the young king.

- "Long live the king," he said. "Someone alone stole your priceless nightingale, yet you want to punish all the innocent people for it. Shame on you! It was I who took Azaran-Blbula. Deal with me alone as you wish."

- "Tell me how you obtained it," asked the young king.

- "Like this. I passed by an old man, took his invisibility cap, and after you went to sleep after dinner, I took your prayer beads, pipe, and dagger, grabbed the cage with the nightingale, and left. That’s all."

- "I see," said the young king. "So it was you. Well, then, let’s wrestle. If you defeat me, the nightingale is yours. If not, I’ll cut off your head."

They grappled in *koh* (an Armenian style of wrestling), and the young man pinned the young king with one hand and held him down with his knee.

- "Well, you’ve won," said the young king. "It was foretold that whoever stole Azaran-Blbula from me and defeated me in combat would become my husband. For I am not a king but a girl—the king’s daughter."

- "I know," said the young man. "I realized it back when I saw you sleeping."

They took each other’s hands and went to the old king. In the royal chambers, Azaran-Blbula, who had been silent until that moment, began to sing in a thousand voices, so beautifully that hearts melted and souls stood still.

- "Why is it singing now?" asked the king.

- "Because," replied the younger son, "both its mistress and the one who obtained it are here. Long live the king! Don’t you recognize your youngest son?"

And he told his father everything that had happened.

At that moment, the king ordered his wicked sons to be exiled from the land. He summoned zurna players and other musicians from across the country and held a grand wedding for his youngest son.

And so it happens that all wishes come true.

May yours come true as well.

¹ Koh is an Armenian national style of wrestling.

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