But they were unable to discover the
church door, since the Lord hid it from them. They started to
strike about with mallets, [15] but did not find the door. Then
terrlfled by dews, they fled the place, for it was nighttime. The bodies of the fallen saints remained unburied where they had fallen for 3 days, since everyone had fled. After 3 days the church attendants and abbot T'odik came and saw those who
had died. They were overcome with grief and wept. Then they took
the remains and buried them in the garden [i mej
draxtin] on the south side, by the graves of Anton and Kronides
who had come from Caesarea, following St. Gregory. They then erected
a cross over them, and many healings were associated with that
spot.
Now some people had come from prince
Mushegh in order to learn about the [Iranian] troops. When they
saw the destruction which had been wrought, they were stunned
and swiftly went and informed prince Mushegh. When he heard about
it, he remained silent as a corpse for 3 days. The troops gave
him a letter [containing] the Christian laws and consolation,
and they said: "Oh blessed asparapet, righteous offspring
of blessed hope, do not grieve for them. For their prayers will
be a secure fortress for the land, intercessors and aid for us
to God. You should thank God the more that in your lifetime those
men achieved such virtue, and were peacefully translated to God
with martyrs' deaths--from labor to tranquility, from a llfe of
eating plants to the softness of Paradise. They shall always be
intercessors [16] for us. But now be consoled and dispatch Mihran
who has come against us." Then [Mushegh], resembling someone
awakening from sleep, ordered that they summon Vahan (whom he
had made prince of Taron while he himself was the marzpan
of Armenia). And [Mushegh] said to him: My son, [g21] Vahan, you
know that throughout the 120 years of my life I have been waglng
war, wiping blood rather than sweat from my forehead with the
blade, and [you know] that I personally have arranged and waged
83 battles. Now I am old and quavering. My helpers are God and
you, and no one else. For my own son died at 12 years of age.
Now, my son, remember this: if you die for the sake of Christianity
and for the Church you will be a martyr, and if you fall in battle
over material things, do it bravely. For I have
no other heir. My country belongs to you and to your descendants
after you. Now go and hunt [Mihran] wisely and may St. Karapet
be your aid and buttress and may the prayers of the holy clerics
be on all sides of you.
Vahan accepted the assignment. He started
to organize emissaries and to send them to [Mlhran] so that he
be reconciled and depart. But [Mihran] replied: "No, I shall
not leave until I capture prince Mushegh and take him to the king
of Iran." Now Vahan sent to him saying: [17] "If you
give me the lordship and authority of the country, I shall hand
over to you prince Mushegh and I shall come to you, having rebelled
[from Mushegh] striking fear [in him] at an opportune tlme".
[Mihran] summoned [Vahan], for he was pleased with the proposal.
Then he descended to Mush awan while Mushegh was in Oghkan
stronghold.
Now the soldiers who had slain the clerics
went against Astghon stronghold and remained there for 2 days, but
since they were unable to take it, they went to Mihran and revealed
to him all the details regarding the lay of the stronghold. As
soon as Vahan arrived, [g22] Mihran requested Astghon from him,
but Vahan replied: "It should not be done that way, lord.
Instead, give me 4,000 men so that I may go against the secure
fortresses where [Mushegh's] close ones and treasures are kept.
Perhaps if I am forceful, they will not surrender to me thinking
me a rebel. Now let us first go to Oj city, then elsewhere."
Mihran gave 4,000 select cavalrymen to him, and he took them to the gates of Oj city. Having conspired with those inside the city to set a deadly snare, to trap the
soldiers. In the morning he arranged with the city to let the Iranian troops inside. Since the access was narrow, only a few soldiers at a tlme were able to enter.
Meanwhile those inhabitants on the other side of the entry were
[18] seizing those entering and throwing them into houses, where
they robbed them of their clothing and beheaded them. They threw
the bodies into a ditch which could not be seen, outside the wall.
Now of the 4,000 soldiers, [Vahan] had left 50 men in the village
called Xarj wlth the instructions that when he sent someone to
them they should go to Mihran and ask for more troops. Vahan sent
to the 50 men for more soldiers. They returned to Mihran and got
2,000 select men from him and went back to Vahan. And Vahan worked
in such a way that the Iranians were unable to know what he was
doing.
Now when they had come to the gates
of Morac', Vahan gave the citizens the Iranians' horses and clothing,
summoned the people to the gates and advised them that as soon
as the Iranians caught sight of them, they should head into the
city together, sounding the trumpets of victory and leaving the
gates open so that the Iranians would think that [their own side]
had taken the city. And they did just that. When the Iranians
saw people entering the city in a body they were delighted and
they too began to enter. Now Vahan hastily came before the [Iranian]
soldiers and gave them glad tidings, and sent 20 of the Iranian
troops to take Mihran the good news that they had seized the city.
Then he himself returned [to the city] with the Iranian troops.
As soon as many of them had entered the city and [19] others were
stlll entering, they began to get suspicious and wanted to turn
back. Now Vahan followed and started to cut them down and throw
them into the marsh. Vahan on one side, and the city's inhabitants
on the other side, caused 40 men to drown in the marsh. Other
[Iranians], trapped inside the city, were beheaded and their severed
heads were ranged on the wall. And that day a count was made:
6000 less 2 heads were discovered. [Vahan] ordered that all the
noses and foreskins of the slain be cut off and thrown into pouch(es).
Then [Vahan] took his 700 men and came
to Mush awan. He left 300 men at Meghu pass and 200 lancers
at Ccmak in Sanasun [Two mss.: erku hariwr ayr ashtenawors
i Sasanay c'eghen t'oghoyr i Cmakn. One ms.: i Sarasanay],
while he came to Mihran with 200 men. He entered [Mihran's] chamber
and spoke with him as follows: "I have come to you as a fugitive
from your troops for they neither let me into the city nor would
they give us our share of the booty. Instead, they detained my
men in the city and I have come as a refugee." Now Mihran
resolved to send 1,000 men against them, but Vahan said: "They
have even rebelled against you, for after taking the booty and
plunder from the city, they plan to pass over to the Byzantine
side." At this Mihran became all the more angry and ordered
that 2,000 men be sent against them. Vahan advised the troops
not to ford Meghti river at night, but to encamp and cross the
next day. "Perhaps," he said, "some enemy may [20]
attack and you are unfamiliar with the terrain. Let 1,000 men
go by way of Ccmak, and 1,000 by the plain." Giving them
guide(s), and taking leave of Mihran, he went to put them on their
way. As soon as they reached the spot where he had ordered them
to separate [g24] he sent 100 men with the body going via Ccmak
and he with 100 men went after them.
As soon as they reached the bank of
the Meghti river, [Vahan] encamped his men so that they might
sleep. Then he, preparing his trap, ordered [his] servant(s) to
loose the horses for pasturing, and not to pay further attention
to them. Then suddenly they sounded the trumpets before and behind
[the Iranians], trapping them in the middle. In a few hours
they had their heads, which they threw into the river. No one
was able to escape. Then with the [slain Iranians'] horses before
them, they passed on to Ccmak. While they had fought and won this
battle and were advancing, yet before they had come to Ccmak,
[Iranian troops] remained there encamped without a thought until
[Vahan's men] came, for Vahan had 80 advised them. Seizing the
bridgehead, a loud sound was given around them and [the Vahaneans]
began to cut [the Iranians] down mercilessly. Now one [of the
Iranians who] had hidden himself in the marsh, mounted a horse
and fled toward Mush. Two men took off after him, and crushed his
head on the other side of the river. His brains spilled out of
his nostrils. The other man took up some [21] sand and, offerlng
it [to the corpse] said: "Take this salt, Iranian cook."
And thereafter that spot was called Arhaghe ("take the salt")
until today. An awan was even built there. As for those
whom Vahan had driven into the marsh, some were unable to get
out, while others fell into the water and drowned. [Vahan's men]
cut off and kept the noses and foreskins of those who fell on
the land, throwing the heads into the marsh and onto the field.
Then, rounding up 2,000 horses, [Vahan] had them led to Eghanc'
fortress (which is still called Eghnut) [3 mss. Oghnuberd, Oghnut].
The next day, once again he came to Mihran.
Vahan ordered his servants to prepare a meal and to call Mihran.
Now the latter [g25] because of illness, had taken to his room and allowed only Vahan to come to him. Vahan was [pretending to be] the door man and he turned away those princes
who arrived, saying: "The marzpan of Armenia was unable
to attend dinner." So these men gathered in a tacar
and soon were in their cups. Vahan took the pouch containing the
noses and foreskins and brought it before [Mihran]. Now [Mihran]
was horrified and exclaimed: "What is this? Tell me!"
And [Vahan] accurately narrated the whole story, step by step,
not concealing a single thing from him. [Mihran] became enraged,
seized [22] a spear from his servant's hands and
wanted to strike Vahan. But [Vahan] took the sword which was before
him, cut off [Mihran's] foreskin, put it in [Mihran's] mouth and
said: "So you're the one who insulted God and who had the
pillars of the land, my clerics, slaughtered." Then he cut
off [Mihran's] nose and showed it before his very eyes. He tore
open [Mihran's] stomach, had the servant remove the liver and
stick it in [Mihran's] mouth. Plunging the knife into the stomach,
he left it in there, standing upright.
When he had only cut off the foreskin,
he said: "Give me the password respected [banic' nish
ew patuer] by the Iranians at Apahunik', and I shall
let you live." [Mihran] gave him the respected password,
said with numerous oaths which only the two men knew. As soon
as he said it, taking the knife [Vahan] plunged it into his heart
and he died there. [Vahan's] servants took and kept his bloody
clothes, cleaned the floor of blood and positioned him in bed
and covered him as though he were asleep. Then [Vahan] himself
summoned to the room Mihran's Iranian secretary [dpir]
and bade him write greetings and the password [to the general
at Apahunik', to the effect that] after 3 days the latter should
mount the hill above Kot' valley with only [23] 1,000 men so that
they might see each other. The secretary wrote as Vahan said.
He stamped the letter with Mihran's seal-ring and called
out 10 of Mihran's loyal servants, giving them the letter [g26]
to take to Varshir who had 1,000 men with him, and was in Apahunik'.
Taking the letter, [the messengers] departed. Now Vahan called
[Mihran's] nuncio and told him: "Go summon such and such
prince." And he did so. When the prince came and entered
the darkened street, there were only 6 men about here and there.
While he wished to enter Mihran's room, they quickly seized the
trumpets so that no sound would be broadcast to the others.
They stabbed a knife into his heart and threw the corpse into
the other room where the nuncio and the secretary had been put
in jail on pretexts.
[Vahan] himself began to summon the
princes to council, and so took them by deceit. On that day he
killed 86 princes. As soon as he had finished with the princes
he went into the tachar where the [Iranian] troops were.
He assembled these men inside, taking outside his own people and
people from other districts. Then he started to expose them saying:
"Was it proper for you to rob the pearl-adorned crown
of the marzpan?" Then he ordered them all to strip
to see [24] [whether they had stolen anything]. Removing all the
clothes, he shut [the Iranians] up inside the tachar. In
another [tachar he detained] 1,903 men. Shutting the doors
of the tacars, he had the head of Mihran brought and hung
in front of the open window. Showing it to them he said: "Here
is the head which thought to demolish the blessed [church of]
Karapet and to burn the clerics to death." Then he ordered
both tacars burned and said to [the Iranians]: "You
bother me for forcing [me] to have the tacars burned. But
if God and St. Karapet wish it, I shall leave this wood to atone. But I will behead
you and your king. For I labor to build, and you are naked and
chilled. But burn for the remission of my [g27] sins and for those of my
fathers, and be not ashamed; and let these houses be your tombs,
thanks to the Iranian king."
The flame was whipped up with oil until
the city was intoxicated with the smell of their burning flesh.
Then [Vahan], gathering up [the Iranians'] loot and treasures
had them taken to secure Oghkan. And he had prince Mushegh conducted
to the city. [Vahan], taking along 3,000 men, went before Vashir.
He went up on a mountain, laid traps in 3 places , and then
sent to Vashir the secretary and the [25] nuncio. They went and
called him, for he had encamped on the bank of Ciay Sea. However,
the nuncio and the secretary did not know what had transpired
since Vahan had not allowed them to approach the troops but they
had come along afterwards, separately. When he burned the tacar(s),
on a pretext he had sent them elsewhere so that they would not
know what had happened. When [Vashir] saw the clothing worn by
the princes, he thought that the troops were Mihran's. Now
when [the emissaries] went and related Vahan's words as if from
Mihran, Vashir took along 1,100 soldiers and came onto the mountain.
When they neared the spot, Vashir left 100 men in a remote place,
should other enemies appear. He then came to Vahan and entered
his tent, thinking he would see Mihran. As soon as Vahan saw him
he said: "Vashir, whatever were you planning? You wanted
to change the land of Armenia to the faith of the Iranians. And [Vahan] ordered the doorman
to keep the troops detained far off, and he beat Vashir severely
until he got from him the password for summoning the troops. [Vashir],
compelled by his pains, gave the password to the troop commander
and the princes to come to where he was immediately.
[Vahan] had the Iranian secretary write a letter and he bribed
him to write it in such a way that the troops would come the next
day. "For," [he claimed],"the Byzantines are coming
against us." He also used the seal-ring of Vashir and
[sent] a letter to that detachment encamped [26] at a distance.
He ordered the troops to return, had the princes [g28] summoned
one at a time, and cut off their heads. And the other soldiers
did not know what was happening until a certain prince fled and
returned to his camp.
When Vahan learned that his activities
had become known, he informed those men who were waiting in the
ambuscade. They came up from the rear and made [the Iranians]
flee to the fortress side of Kot' valley. Those at the back of
the ambuscade rose up. Then the men of the fortress came
out against [the enemy] with rocks and stones and mercilessly
cut them down. One hundred men fled to Apahunik'. When the ambushers
saw this, they fell on them and seized them. The next day, the
other Iranian force started to arrive on the hill at the same
place. Vahan went before them and had them encamp, saying: "Leave
your horses to pasture until evening and in the evening we shall
descend upon the Byzantine troops in the plain." [The Iranians]
consented and did as he urged. Suddenly the ambushers came and
cut loose the troops' horses. They made them flee across the Aracani
and brought them out to K'ark'e. When the Iranian soldiers saw
what had happened, they cried out in unison: "Vay, woe to us, we are lost." And the name of that place was called K'ori (Lost).
[27] Now Vahan took troops and sent
them down into the valley itself [or: "made them encamp in
the valley. The ambushers sprang out here and there, and trapping
[the enemy] in their midst cut them down, not pitying anyone.
And [Vahan] ordered that 40 men be spared to inform the Iranian
king of what had happened. He had the head of Mihran taken to
the Iranian king with this message: "As soon as this marzpan
came to our country and when, with the troops at odds,
they sought to raise a brigade, they were unable to do it. Now
since the Byzantines are our enemies, we did not dare to go to
them and we scowled at you, while there was no brigade of your
soldiers. So [g29] we cut off that head and played with it. Now
we have heard that you have come from Sahastan to Bostr city where
the land is flat and like a meadow. I know that you play polo.
Take then the head of your nephew (sister's son) and let it serve
as a [polo] ball from generation to generation." When the 40 men
took Mihran's head to king Xosrov, he became agitated and unsettled
and flushed with eternal shame. Yet the next year, swaggering
once again, [Xosrov] sent other troops.
That very year the [church of] St. Karapet,
which was located at Innakneann collapsed because there was a very
severe earthquake causing the houses below/south of [the church]
to crumble. Now the [28] church (since its foundation was on the
[earthquake line]) moved and cracked. The prince of Taron, Mushegh,
gave much treasure and ordered stone masons to [re]build it. However,
they were unable to build it in a fitting manner, since the Iranian
troops were harassing them. That very year Mushegh [re]built St.
Karapet and then died. He is buried by the Arcrunid prince on
the eastern side.
After the passing of Mushegh, Vahan
sat on the throne of his principality as prince of the Mamikonean
tun. With many priests and 20 bishops they held a feast
of rejoicing at the places which had been spared which were hallowed
to the faith, at [the church of] St. Karapet and in the monastery
of the bishop of Glak. [Vahan] liberated and gave to the Church
18 villages, erasing their names from the royal diwan.
That same year the abbot of Glak monastery,
the venerable T'odik, died. He is buried in the same place, called
Hayrblur, to the right of the church on the northeastern side.
On the abbot's throne [as successor] sat the lad Step'annos, son
of the Arcrunid prince, whose mother had been struck down. [Step'annos']
parents are buried at the same monastery. [Step'annos] effected
many improvements in the district of Taron. [g30] For they held
him superior to a bishop, since he was abbot of [29] a monastery
and had under his control 398 clerics. He was so virtuous that
everyone considered him to resemble Yovannes Karapet (John the
Baptist).
[Step'annos] requested of St. Karapet
that the mouths of beasts which were attacking the Church's luminaries
be sealed. By his very modest conduct he reprimanded the prince
of Hark' who had [for a wife] his brother's wife. [Step'annos]
induced [the prince] to separate from the woman, to become a cleric,
and to construct a church in T'il awan, Ekegheac' district.
Once again king Xosrov (bearing
in mind the death of his sister's son Mihran) held a muster of
soldiers to go against the Byzantines a second time. He sent his
father's brother, Vaxtang, with 30,000 select men and horse. Now
when the latter arrived in Apahunik district, he sent tax-collectcrs
to Hark', Hasteank' and Taron. The gawarhapets then wrote
[to Vaxtang], saying: "If Vahan will pay [taxes], we shall too. If not, you will leave here empty-handed." When Vaxtang heard this reply, he grew arrogant and insolent. He left
a lieutenant [koghmnapet] in Apahunik', and all puffed
up he came to the border of [30] Taron. He [re]built the great
ruined city of Jiwnakert and changed the city's name to that of
his wife (whom he brought with him) Porpes--that is, "savory''
[hamegh]. He planted vineyards and orchards and converted
to an atrushan the cathedral which was founded by St. Sahak. On the Tawros mountain he built a stronghold and named it Garhar, [g31] since some people had
fallen off the mountain there, onto animals, thinking they were
[being pursued] by cavalry. He changed the name of Gorhoz mountain to Grhgurh after
his son, Grhegurh, and passed the summer days on it. He sent many
gifts to Vahan and a letter with this import:
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