Amiran

In a dense, ancient forest where the treetops reached the very sky, there stood a tall, steep cliff. Not far from that forest lived a hunter named Dardzhelan. He often went into the forest to hunt. One day, the hunter approached the cliff and thought he heard a woman's cry. He looked up at the cliff, gazing higher and higher, but he couldn’t see the top—it disappeared somewhere far above. The hunter wanted to climb the cliff, but it was too steep and inaccessible. He returned home, where his wife, who was very cruel and also lame, waited. The hunter told his wife to prepare food for him for the next day’s journey, and he went to the blacksmith to order a large number of chisels and an iron hammer.

By morning, the blacksmith had prepared everything. The hunter took the food for the day, gathered the chisels and hammer, and headed to the cliff. When he arrived, he began driving the chisels into the rock. Using the iron hammer, he hammered the chisels into the cliff and climbed up them like steps. When his chisels ran out and the hammer was worn down, he finally reached the very top. He looked around and saw an entrance carved into the rock, like a doorway. He entered and found himself in a cave where Dali lay. Dali was a woman of unearthly beauty, with heavy golden braids coiled around her head. When Dali saw Dardzhelan the hunter, they fell in love at first sight. The hunter stayed with Dali. She didn’t want to let him go, but love overcame her, and she relented.

The next morning, Dali begged the hunter to return home, but he refused and stayed with her again. Now Dali pleaded even more insistently for him to go back.
"Go," said Dali, "your wife is a sorceress. She’s used to you returning home every evening. If she doesn’t see you, she’ll find out about us, follow your trail, and destroy us."
"No," said Dardzhelan, "my wife is lame; she can barely walk around the house. How could she possibly get here?"

Dardzhelan’s wife, indeed, was very surprised that her husband hadn’t returned. She waited for two days, and on the third day, she packed some food and followed his trail. The trail led her to the cliff. She climbed the steps to the top of the cliff and entered the cave. There she saw Dali and her husband sleeping soundly.

The hunter’s wife found Dali’s golden scissors and cut off her golden braids. She took the scissors and the braids and left. When Dali and Dardzhelan woke up, Dali lifted her head and felt something strange. She ran her hand through her hair—her golden braids were gone. She got up and looked for the scissors, but they were missing too. Grieving, Dali turned to the hunter and said:

"You are the cause of my misfortune. I told you your wife would destroy us. I cannot live any longer. Take a knife, cut open my belly—I am heavy—and take out my child. If it’s a girl, name her as you wish; if it’s a boy, name him Amiran. My son will be a hero. If he had been allowed to grow to term in my womb, he would have even defeated the gods; now he will be weaker. Listen and do everything I say. Once you take my son from my womb, keep him in a calf’s tripe for three months so he can mature and warm as he should have in my womb. Then place him in a cradle, take him to the Yamana River, and leave him on the shore. There, the one who is meant to will find him, baptize him, and tell him everything he needs to do."

The hunter didn’t want to cut open his beloved, but Dali insisted, and he had to do as she commanded. With trembling hands, he cut open Dali’s belly and took out a child as beautiful as the sun.

The hunter followed all of Dali’s instructions, then carried the child in the cradle to the Yamana River, left the cradle on the shore, and returned home.

Travelers passing by the Yamana River saw the child lying in the cradle and asked:
"Who are your father and mother, or who is supposed to baptize you?"
"I don’t know my father and mother, but an angel is supposed to baptize me," replied the child.
An angel came and asked the child the same question. The child answered as before. The angel asked three times, and three times the child answered the same way. The angel revealed himself, baptized the child, and named him Amiran. He gave him a dagger, told him to hide it in his boot and not to draw it unless absolutely necessary. The angel blessed Amiran, told him that no one on earth could defeat him, and left him there.

Servants of Yamana came to fetch water, saw Amiran in the cradle, and began to mock him. Amiran grew angry, stood up, grabbed the mockers, banged their heads together, broke all their vessels, and chased them away.
The servants returned home without water and with broken vessels, telling Yamana everything that had happened. Yamana grew angry, went to the river, and when he saw the child in the cradle, he was delighted: "He will be a companion for my sons Usibi and Badri." He took the cradle with the child and brought him home.

Yamana’s wife was also pleased: the boy would rock her sons Usibi and Badri. A day passed, and nothing happened. The next day, Yamana’s wife went out to milk the cows, placed her sons Usibi and Badri in the cradle, and sat Amiran in the middle, ordering him to rock the children so they wouldn’t cry. "If you don’t do as I say, woe to you," she threatened.

As soon as the mother left, Amiran found an awl and began poking Usibi and Badri. The children wailed. The mother, furious, shouted at Amiran:
"Take good care of my children, or you’ll regret it when I return! Know this—I won’t spare even Dali’s son, Amiran!"
Amiran muttered:
"You don’t know, but I am Dali’s son—Amiran."
When Yamana’s wife heard this, she was overjoyed. She stopped milking the cows, ran to Amiran, hugged and kissed him, washed him with milk, and wrapped him in the finest and most expensive cloth.

From then on, Yamana’s wife cared for Amiran as if he were her own child. Yamana and his wife were delighted that their sons had such a glorious companion growing up.

The three boys grew into young men and became true heroes. Whoever they met—from the east or the west—they challenged to battle, defeated them, and sent them away. Once, the defeated people shouted at them:
"Why do you show off your strength to us? If you’re so brave, find out why your father Yamana is blind in one eye and deal with the one who wronged him."

When they heard this, the three ran to Yamana’s wife and begged her: "Tell us how Yamana lost his eye." The mother remained silent, hiding the truth and deceiving them:
"Yamana had smallpox, and that’s when he lost his eye. I swear, nothing else happened."
Twice she answered this way, but the third time, to get the truth out of her, Amiran, Usibi, and Badri devised a trick. They returned home angry and ordered her to bake them hot khachapuri. As soon as she placed the khachapuri in the coals, Amiran and Usibi pulled them out, pressed them against her, and said:
"Tell us the truth about Yamana’s eye, or we’ll burn your chest."
Unable to endure it, Yamana’s wife told the truth:
"A long time ago, a demon feuded with Gamak and demanded tribute from him. When Usibi and Badri were born, the demon came and demanded one of the sons; if not, Yamana had to give up his right eye. Yamana couldn’t part with his son, so he tore out his eye and gave it to the demon."

When Amiran and Yamana’s sons heard this, they immediately set out to fight the demon. They asked Yamana to get them a bow and arrows made of pure iron. Yamana did so. They took the bow, tested it, but it couldn’t withstand Amiran’s strength and broke. Amiran then took thirty pounds of iron, brought it to the blacksmith, and had him forge a bow to fit his hand.
The next morning, the three of them set out to fight the dev. They walked and walked until they saw a dev in the field. The dev had a marvelous apple orchard, and beneath the apple trees, his flocks of sheep were grazing. The dev spotted the youths and shouted at them:

"Hey, if you're brave, try to knock at least one apple off my trees or throw at least one apple back onto the tree!"

Usibi and Badri tried for a long time but couldn't knock down a single apple. Amiran shot an arrow and knocked all the apples off one side of the tree, then threw them back onto the other side of the same tree. The dev then said:

"If you're brave, try to lift at least one sheep from my flock off the ground and put another one down."

Usibi and Badri couldn't do anything. Amiran first made all the sheep rise, then slammed them to the ground—almost killing them all.

The dev grew angry, gathered all his sheep along with Amiran, and drove them into his house. He locked the door from the inside, leaving Usibi and Badri alone in the yard. The dev cooked four sheep for dinner. He ate the meat himself and threw the bones over his shoulder to his sister, who was chained in the corner with an iron chain. The dev prepared to sleep and said:

"Tonight, I've had enough for dinner. Tomorrow, I'll have Amiran for breakfast." With that, he lay down and fell asleep.

While the dev slept, Amiran approached the chained sister and asked her to teach him how to deal with the dev. The sister said:

"My brother can't be killed by anything except his own sword, which he keeps in oil. But the sword is held so tightly in the oil that one person alone can't pull it out. However, my brother has a woven belt. Fetch it, tie one end to the sword, and give the other end to me. We'll pull together and might be able to extract it. Once you have the sword in your hands, approach my brother—don't strike him, just place the sword against his neck. The sword itself will cut off his head."

She asked Amiran to swear by Christ that he wouldn't betray her and that he would set her free after killing the dev. Amiran swore the oath, found the belt, tied it to the sword, and gave the other end to the sister. They pulled together and managed to extract the sword. As they pulled it out, the sword clanged so loudly that the dev woke up, but he soon fell back asleep.

Amiran brought the sword to the dev, placed it against his neck, and the sword began to cut on its own—no need to swing it. It cut and cut until it reached the middle. The dev felt something, started to stir, but it was too late—the sword had already severed his neck. Thus, Amiran dealt with the dev. The sister asked Amiran to free her, but Amiran broke his oath and killed her.

After that, all the dev's possessions belonged to Amiran and his companions. They took what they could carry, left the rest behind, and continued on their journey.

They walked and walked until they came to a dense spruce forest. There, they saw a rock with a huge dev-gvelešapi standing on it, spinning wool. The dev's spindle was the trunk of a spruce tree, and the spindle's weight was a millstone. This was the same dev who had taken Iaman's eye.

The dev saw Amiran and his companions and shouted:

"Hey, what kind of flies are crawling there? Turn back now, or I'll eat your flesh and gnaw your bones!"

Amiran shouted back:

"You scum! Don't boast too soon—you haven't eaten us yet!"

The dev grew angry, threw down the wool, and descended. They fought for a long time. Amiran shot one arrow for himself and two for Usibi and Badri. Everyone grew tired. The dev approached Amiran, opened his mouth, and swallowed him whole. Then he went home, leaving Usibi and Badri behind. As the dev entered the gates, Usibi caught up, grabbed his tail, and cut it off. The dev entered the house, but as soon as he did, his stomach began to ache.

"Woe is me, mother, my stomach hurts!" the dev cried, running to the doorposts and rubbing his stomach against them to ease the pain. But without his tail, he couldn't keep his balance and kept falling to the ground. His mother saw him in agony and asked:

"What's wrong, my son? Did you eat something bad today?"

"Ah, mother, three flies crossed my path today, and I swallowed one."

"Woe to your mother, my son, if you've swallowed Amiran, the son of Dali!"

Meanwhile, Usibi and Badri stood under the window of the house, listening to everything the mother and son said. They shouted to Amiran:

"Amiran, Amiran,
Your dagger is in your boot,
Draw it quickly—
Teach that gvelešapi a lesson!"

Amiran heard this and thought, "Truly, it can't get much worse than this!" He drew his dagger and began stabbing the dev in the groin. The dev roared:

"Ow, don't kill me! If you want, I'll spit you out, or I'll throw you out!"

Amiran grew furious:
"You scum, you wretch! I don't want to live either spat out or thrown out by you!"

"Fine," said the dev, "take out two of my ribs and climb out through my side." Amiran removed the dev's entire side and climbed out, but he left one of his eyes behind.

"Put my eye back right now, or you won't leave here alive!" Amiran shouted.
The dev said:
"Cut a piece of my liver and a piece of my lung, smear the eye socket, and your eye will be better than before."
Amiran cut a large piece of the liver and an even larger piece of the lung, smeared the eye socket, and his eye became whole and unharmed. The dev then asked Amiran to sew his side back together. Amiran took a wooden plank and stuffed it into the dev's side (*).
After this, Amiran demanded that the dev (a mythical giant) give him the right eye of Iaman. The dev did not want to give up the eye, but he dared not refuse Amiran. The dev pointed to a pillar and said:

— In this pillar lies a box, and within that box is another box. Retrieve it, and inside you will find Iaman’s eye.

Amiran found the eye and took it with him. They left the dev behind and returned home. Once there, they inserted the eye back into Iaman’s socket, rested for a while, and then Amiran felt the urge to go and fight someone else. He asked Iaman to keep Usibi and Badri at home, saying, “They only get in my way in difficult moments.” Usibi and Badri overheard this and became distressed, begging Amiran not to leave them behind.

— We don’t want to live without you!

What could he do? Amiran took them with him again. They wandered for a long time until they saw three devs in a field. The devs shouted to them:

— You would be fine young men if one of you could win the hand of the radiant Keta, the daughter of King Kekluts. Many youths have tried, but none have succeeded.

Amiran asked where King Kekluts lived and where he hid his daughter. The devs pointed the way and said:

— His daughter Keta is kept in a tower, and the tower is suspended from the sky by chains.

They left the devs and set off for the land of King Kekluts. They walked and walked until they came to a sea. The sea was vast and wide, impossible to cross. There, they saw a female dev. Amiran asked her how to cross the sea. She replied that there was no way across, but if they took her as a companion, she would help them. Amiran swore by Christ that he would take her.

She cut off her braid and laid it as a bridge across the sea. Usibi and Badri crossed first, followed by Amiran. The female dev was last to cross. But as soon as she reached the middle of the sea, Amiran struck her braid with his sword, cutting it in two, and the female dev fell into the sea. Thus, Amiran broke his oath to Christ for the second time.

The companions walked for a long time on land until they met a man named Andre-robo in a field. Andre-robo was so enormous that nine pairs of oxen and nine pairs of bulls could barely pull the cart on which he lay. They were transporting Andre-robo to be buried alive, for if he died, they would never be able to carry his body to the cemetery. One of Andre-robo’s legs hung off the cart, dragging along the ground, plowing the earth like a plow. A crowd of people followed, unable to lift his leg back onto the cart. Seeing this, Amiran hooked Andre-robo’s leg with his bow and tossed it onto the cart.

Andre-robo was amazed:

— Who has such strength that they can so easily toss my leg onto the cart?

They pointed to Amiran. Andre-robo extended his hand to Amiran, but Amiran feared, “He will crush my hand with all his strength and break it.” So, Amiran handed Andre-robo a basalt boulder instead. Andre-robo squeezed the boulder, and juice flowed from it. Then he extended his hand to Amiran again. This time, Amiran gave him his hand. Andre-robo asked Amiran to take his son with him, to treat him as a brother and never betray him. Amiran promised and swore by Christ. They carried Andre-robo away, and his son went with Amiran.

They traveled for a long time. Amiran grew tired and fell asleep. While he slept, Andre-robo’s son caught two deer bare-handed and hung them from a tree. When Amiran woke and saw the deer, he asked how they had been caught. Learning that Andre-robo’s son had done it, Amiran was displeased. He thought, “He’s just a child, and already he can do such things. When he grows up, he’ll surpass me.” Amiran decided to kill Andre-robo’s son. And so he did. Thus, for the third time, Amiran broke his oath to Christ.

They left the dead boy behind and continued on their journey to find the daughter of King Kekluts. After a long search, they finally found the tower where Keta, the daughter of King Kekluts, lived. Amiran said to Usibi:

— Jump and try to reach the chain. Maybe you can cut it with your saber.

Usibi jumped but couldn’t even touch the chain. Badri tried as well, but also failed. Then Amiran jumped, grabbed the chain, swung his dagger, and cut it. The tower fell to the ground. The three of them entered the tower. At first sight, Amiran and Keta fell in love with each other.

When Kekluts, Keta’s father, learned of this, he gathered all his troops and surrounded the tower in three rows. Seeing the army, Amiran was displeased. He ordered Usibi to go out and fight.

Usibi went out, broke through one line, and approached King Kekluts. The king blew on him, and Usibi fell dead. Badri went out next, broke through another line, but as soon as he approached King Kekluts, the king blew on him and knocked him dead as well.

Amiran grew furious and decided to fight King Kekluts himself. Keta told him:

— My father has a millstone on his head, tied to his neck with a golden chain. When you approach him, try to cut that chain. The millstone will pull his head forward, exposing his neck. Then strike with your dagger and cut off his head. Otherwise, you will not be able to kill him.

Amiran remembered her words, went out to the troops, and slaughtered all who remained after Usibi and Badri. He approached King Kekluts. The king blew on him, and Amiran fell to one knee. Amiran swung his dagger and cut the golden chain on Kekluts’s neck. The millstone pulled the king’s head forward, exposing his neck. Amiran leapt up, swung his dagger, and cut off Kekluts’s head.

Amiran returned to the tower and grieved for Usibi and Badri.

— I cannot return home without them. What will I say to their old parents when I bring back none of their sons?

Keta asked:

— Will you recognize them among the slain army?

— I will, said Amiran. Usibi has the mark of the sun on his ring, and Badri has the mark of the moon.

Amiran and Keta went out to the dead and searched for Usibi and Badri. They found them, and Keta took her handkerchief, wiped their faces, and brought them back to life.

Amiran rejoiced, for he had won Keta as his wife and was bringing Usibi and Badri home alive. They took all of King Kekluts’s treasures and set off for home. When they returned to Iaman, he was overjoyed that Amiran and his sons had come back victorious. But Amiran told Iaman that he would never take Usibi and Badri with him again, for they could not be heroes like him.

After that, Amiran went on heroic deeds alone. There was no one in the world who could withstand a fight with him—he defeated and destroyed all his enemies. Only three devs, three boars, and three oak trees remained on the entire earth. He even fought against God, broke his oath to Christ three times, and committed many other deeds. For this, God punished Amiran: He bound him with iron chains and chained him to an iron pillar driven deep into the earth. Along with Amiran, God also chained the dog Kursha, who had killed many of God’s beloved aurochs. For an entire year, Amiran and Kursha pull at the chains, dragging the heavy iron pillar upward. Just as they are about to free the pillar from the earth, God sends a bird to land on it. Enraged, Amiran swings the chain and strikes the pillar. The bird flies away, and the pillar sinks back into the earth. This repeats every year.
Kursha is an eaglet. Every spring, the eagle Orb, along with her chicks, gives birth to one puppy. As soon as the eagle sees the puppy, she picks it up, lifts it high, and throws it to the ground so that people cannot find it and tame it. However, this Kursha, who is chained together with Amiran, was found by a hunter and raised. Kursha has eagle wings growing on his sides. He is so fast and agile that he catches an antelope in two leaps, considering three leaps a disgrace for himself.

As punishment for destroying many aurochs, God chained him together with Amiran. The Svans have composed a lament for Kursha, sung by a hunter who lost him:

Kursha, my Kursha,
Kursha is lost, Kursha!
I lost you
At midnight, exactly at midnight!
Woe is me! What if
A merchant leads you, a merchant leads you?
Woe is me! What if
The Kajis have stolen you from me?
Kursha's mouth and ears
Are like gold, like gold.
Kursha's eyes, eyes
Are like the moon, like the moon.
Kursha's bark is like the thunder of the sky,
Kursha's paws are like threshing floors,
Kursha's leap is like a field.
Kursha's food, his food—
Soft, fresh bread.
Woe is me! What if
They feed you chaff, chaff!
Kursha's drink, his drink—
Fresh, sweet wine.
Woe is me! What if
They give you muddy water!
Kursha's bed, his bed—
A feather mattress and blankets.
Woe is me! What if
They lay you on splinters, on splinters!
Kursha, my Kursha,
From above, you are like a lion,
From below—like a pheasant,
You are a hero on land,
At sea—a ship!
Kursha, my Kursha,
I weep for you, I weep,
I grieve, I grieve
For a year, for a year!

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Amiran

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