Page:Man in the Panther's Skin.djvu/185

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1011. "Here on the seashore we found a man lying senseless; we succoured him till he could speak clearly with his tongue. We asked him: 'Who art thou, stranger? What business dost thou follow after?' He said to us: 'If ye go in they will slay you. It is well that I still live!'

1012. "He said: 'From Egypt we set out with a caravan and a guard,[1] we embarked upon the sea laden with many kinds of stuff, there pirates [2] (in ships) with sharp (iron) pointed wooden rams [3] slew us. All was lost; I know not how I came hither.'

1013. "O lion and sun, this is the reason of our standing here. If we return, our loss will be a hundredfold; if we embark, alas! they may slay us, we have no strength for battle. We cannot stay, we cannot go, the power to maintain ourselves[4] is gone from us."

1014. The knight said: "Whoever grieves is nought, and strives in vain; whatever comes from above, we cannot avoid its coming.[5] I am surety for your blood, I take upon myself what you shall shed; whoever fights with you, my sword will wear itself out on your foes."

1015. They of the caravan were filled with great joy; they said: "He is some knight, [6] some hero, [7] not timid like us, he has self-confidence, let us be calm in heart." They embarked, they went on board ship, they set out from the coast.

1016. With pleasant weather they journeyed without hardship; their convoyer,[8] Avt'handil, leads them with brave heart. A pirate[2] ship appeared with an exceedingly long

  1. Eri, people, nation; also, host, army, troops; 1053. Cf. Djavakhov: Gosud-stroi drevnei Gruzii, p. 62.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Mecobre, 54, 193, 1201.
  3. Sakhnisi, Ch. Dict., plough; 1016, 1021.
  4. Rchoma, ? here "to bestir ourselves."
  5. Predestination, 189, 776, 1018, 1072.
  6. Qma.
  7. Dchabuci, P., 580, 1036, 1221. The word is used in Persian in the sense of "swift, clever, elegant"; in Bokhara it seems to mean "aristocrat." In the Georgian Bible (Gen. xxv. 27) we find it signifies " boy, youth " (M., xii., xxxiii).
  8. Badraga, P.