A47 The Snake’s Dilemma

Arsen Mikhaylov of Arzni, Armenia in Arzni, Armenia

xa ʾurxači, ⁺bar-naša, váyələ ʾurxa bərrəxša. ʾu mən-dəpnət meša ⁺vartu pacurəl k̭at-nura ⁺bəlláyələ ʾu-meša bək̭yadəl. ʾu-pacurəl xa-ʾilana ⁺rama ⁺ʾallu črixəl xuvva mən-nura rik̭əl xuvva, mən-nura mən-⁺ʾultux rik̭əl, purtəlləl l-ilana, l-rišu cəlyəl. ʾilana꞊da mən-xutu bək̭yadəl. ʾu-zultu ⁺pašúṱulə, p̂-idu vayəl k̭esa, p̂-īd ⁺bar-naša. ⁺pašuṱo l-ʾo-xuvva mara ta-⁺slí park̭ənnux. xuvva bi-k̭esa ⁺bəslayəl mən-ʾidət ⁺bar-naša ʾu-carmuxəl b-k̭dalu. čarmúxələ l-k̭dalu mara ʾadi bət-⁺nesənnux. mara k̭a-but-mú ⁺byayət ⁺nesətti? la ʾana k̭atux purək̭li mən … k̭yada? mən-nuyra purək̭li k̭atux. ⁺bar-naša marəl k̭a-xuvva. mara k̭a-diyyan mírəna ʾaxnan ⁺bəddayax ʾana꞊da xuvva ⁺bəddayən k̭at ⁺bar-naša mən-cullə xərba mə́ndilə. ʾicət xzilux ⁺tama garəc ⁺nesəttə. ⁺bar-naša ⁺raba xərba ʾu-pī́s gu-da-brita. ʾitar ⁺bar-naša mara yala ⁺xlapux ʾavən, ⁺ʾaxər ʾatxa lela ⁺k̭aydət dunyə. ⁺ʾaxər ʾana k̭a-diyyux xayyux purk̭eli mən-nuyra. ʾa ⁺raba nonuyəl bi xuvva k̭at-lá ⁺nāslə. mara ⁺spay ʾən-lḗt hammunə ⁺ʾalli, xuvva mara, ta ⁺bak̭rax xa-mən-⁺ṱlá … nāš, mən-xá-naša, tre-nāš ⁺bak̭rax ya našə, ya məndi biyyan tapək̭ ⁺hayvana, ṱ-avəd cú-məndit ʾavəd. ⁺bak̭rax xazzax ⁺hala … ʾət-məjjət ʾana ⁺xə́lṱəvən yan ⁺ṱrúsəvən k̭at-⁺byayən k̭atux ⁺nesən, k̭a-⁺bar-naša. mara ʾazax. ʾatxa čurməxxa l-k̭dalət ⁺bar-naša xuvva ʾurxa bərrə́xšəna. bətpak̭əna bi … xa tora. mara šlámalux ʾáxuni tora hənna bədráyələ. šlama xuvva. ʾayya muyyona dax꞊t xuvva mən-tora ⁺bak̭urəl. mara ʾa ⁺bar-naša ⁺byayən ⁺nesənnə. mu marət? ⁺nesənnə yan la ⁺nesənnə? mask̭əttənnə, xina? ⁺nesənnə mātni. mara pruk̭ jaldə ⁺nuslə, cma꞊t lelə b-rišux xa məndi tuxmənnə. cma꞊t c-⁺amsət jaldə ⁺nuslə ʾa-naša! mara k̭a-mú ⁺ʾaxər? ⁺bar-naša mara. tora k̭a-but-mú ʾatxa tanuyət ⁺ʾaxər? k̭a-but-mú ⁺nāsli? ʾana purk̭un mən … nura k̭a-da-xuvva, purk̭un k̭at-lá-ʾak̭ədva. marən xuš b-ʾurxux, ⁺ʾavva ⁺byayələ ⁺nāsli. mara but-hadax ʾaxtoxun ⁺raba pīs. ⁺bar-naša ⁺raba pīs-mə́ndilə. ⁺bar-naša mən-móriša hal-⁺bérašə, m-⁺bara ⁺barranta k̭a-diyyi hal-yuma gneta xəšca ⁺bəṱrayən ʾupra, maplúxilə. xa vadra miyya yavil, xa-p̂ərc̭a miyya yavil, xa-p̂ərc̭a꞊da laxma yávilə ⁺bixalən. k̭a-da꞊da ʾaxtoxun ⁺bar-naša garəc la xayyə mara, garəc ⁺nāsni. har-ʾica c-⁺amsət ⁺nuslə. pisuta ʾud k̭atu. xuvva ⁺nuslə mara. xuvva k̭a-⁺bar-naša mara ⁺šmilux ʾaxuni mu-mərrə ʾa tora? ʾadi b-⁺nesənnux. mara ⁺xlapux ʾavən xá-mənne꞊da ⁺bak̭rax ʾita. mara ⁺bak̭rax. bitáyəna, xač̭č̭a bitáyəna, ⁺raba bítayəna b-urxa. bətpák̭əna b-xa-⁺ʾaynət miyya. ⁺ʾaynət miyya bətpák̭əna biyyo. mara šlámalax xati ⁺ʾayna. xuvva šlama bədrayəl ⁺ʾal ⁺ʾayna. mara b-šena ʾáxuni xuvva. ʾa-mút ⁺šúlulə? ʾa m-ica bitá? mara ʾa ⁺bar-naša ⁺byayən ⁺nesənnə. mu marət? dūz꞊ivən yan-lá? mara jaldə ⁺nuslə. cma ṱ-ila jaldə pruk̭. la-šuk̭ pāšni. mara k̭a-but-mú? ʾa-⁺bar-naša mara ⁺ʾaxər k̭a-mú? ʾana k̭a-diyyax mu꞊īn vída-ʾana? k̭a ⁺ʾayna mara. mara mádənxa pratta, mádənxa pratta, k̭edamta, ⁺hala həč-xa ⁺hayvana, həč-xa məndi lēl jvija, ⁺bar-naša bitayəl patu ʾidu ⁺xallulḗl gav ⁺ʾayna, ⁺ʾaynət miyya. ʾu miyya bəštayəl mara. prak̭tu꞊da bərrak̭əl gu-miyya ʾu-bərrəššəl. k̭a-da mara ʾat məndit pyaša lēt k̭a-⁺davva jaldə ⁺nus. xuš mātni ⁺ʾavva naša, la šuk̭lə ⁺sāǧ. mara ⁺šmilux? xuvva mara k̭a-⁺bar-naša, ⁺šmilux ʾáxuni mu-mərrə? ʾadi b-⁺nesənnux k̭at-metət. mara ⁺xlapux ʾavən, xa xa-naša꞊da ⁺bak̭rax ʾitar, ⁺nusli jaldə jahannam xina ʾadi ⁺bar ʾatxa ʾatxa ʾátxəla. ʾət-d-ṱlá꞊da ⁺bak̭raxxə ʾita ⁺nusli. mara ⁺spay ʾazax. ʾurxa bərrə́ššəna mədrə. ʾatxa bi-ʾurxa bitáyəna xá-xa-ga gašúk̭əna mən-dó riša xa ⁺tala. ⁺rxaṱa ⁺rxaṱa bitayəl bərrak̭əl. mara ʾáxuni ⁺tala, xa-clí cli! xuvva k̭āl bədráyələ. mara mu ⁺byayət mənni? mara cli k̭a-dá ⁺bar-naša ⁺byayən ⁺nesən. mu marət? ⁺nesənnə ⁺yuxsa la? mara ʾana bəlyazən jaldə ⁺nuslə, jaldə xuš mā́tni-⁺ʾavva. la šok̭ətlə ⁺sāǧ. mara ʾa-⁺bar-naša mara k̭am? ʾita ʾa-⁺tala ⁺tala biša váyələ la xač̭č̭a. ⁺tala ptaləl k̭a-da-xuvva mara ʾina mu꞊ila vita? k̭am ⁺bənnasut? m-ica dvik̭ut ⁺ʾavva muyyut? mara. dax ʾatxa samm dəryut, b-k̭dalu čurməxxət? mara ʾáxuni, nuyra píləva, meša bək̭yádəva. ʾana꞊da bək̭yádənva, čríxənva l-ilana. ʾa-⁺bar-naša zultu muttalə, k̭esu muttilə, k̭a-diyyi purək̭lə. ʾadi čurməxxən b-k̭dalu ⁺byayən ⁺nesənnə. mara ʾáxuni, jaldə ⁺nuslə, cma-ṱ-ila jaldə, cma꞊t lelə b-rišux xá-məndi vida. ʾina dax-dū́z? mara ʾatən ⁺ʾalduyit ʾatən. ⁺tala k̭a-xuvva márələ. ʾana lēn hammunə nura ʾavə pila bi-ʾilana. ʾatən mən-ʾilana ⁺ʾamsət ⁺salət bi-k̭esa ⁺ʾal-k̭dalət ⁺davva naša. mara xuvva, mara dax lēt-hammuna? ʾana c-⁺amsən mən-ʾilana ⁺salən bi-k̭esa ⁺ʾal-ʾidət ⁺bar-naša. mara lēn hammuna ʾáxuni, dax-dū́z! duglə dagulət! ʾana bəlyazən mara. malyuzən, bərrəššən. ⁺bari píləna nāš k̭at-k̭aṱlili. ʾana bərrak̭ən. ʾina lēn hammuna ʾatxa ⁺šula ʾavət vida, ʾat-⁺ʾamsət mən-k̭esa mən-ʾilana ⁺salət l-idət ⁺bar-naša. mara ʾagar lēt hammuna, c-⁺amsən xač̭č̭a maxzənna k̭a-diyyux, xuvva marəl k̭a-⁺tala. mara d-⁺sli! xazzən ⁺hala c-⁺amsət ʾa-⁺šula ʾodəttə. xazzən ʾita tanənnux ⁺nuslə yan-lá. ʾa-xuvva ⁺bəsláyələ, ʾaxči čarəx ⁺ʾal-ʾilana. ⁺tala k̭a-⁺bar-naša mara bur la-⁺spay naša jaldə b-rišu bluslə! rišət xuvva bluslə. cma꞊t ⁺səlyəl m-k̭dalux l-⁺arra rišu bluslə. ⁺masət ⁺k̭aṱlətlə. k̭am švik̭ut? ʾa ⁺bar-naša ʾalbal mxayəl xuvva, ⁺mask̭utul. mara ʾáxuni, ⁺vay ʾávənva xlāp diyyux, k̭a-⁺tala marəl, ʾat m-ica brilux ⁺ʾal-dá duca? m-ica tpək̭lux biyyan? mut ⁺spayuta ʾodən k̭a-diyyux k̭at park̭ən m-xut-dá ⁺spay ⁺šūl-diyyux k̭at-vədlux k̭a-diyyi? purək̭lux k̭a-diyyi mən-mota. xuvva ⁺bənnásiva, ʾana k̭atu ⁺spayuta vídənva. mara həč xa-⁺spayuta ⁺lazəm lela. ⁺bari píləna ⁺sayadə bi-susavatə, bi-⁺taziyyə, bi-calbanā́n. ⁺byáyəna dok̭i xánk̭ili. vena bitá! ʾannə tre ʾurxaváy ʾatxa ptáləna mara. ʾana gani ⁺ṱašənna laxxa xut-hənna. ʾannə mənnux ⁺bak̭ri, cli-ʾat b-da-ʾurxa, maxzi xuš ʾazi. mara ⁺ʾal-⁺ayni, ⁺ʾal-⁺ʾayni, ba-ʾá mara ⁺spayútəla. ⁺ʾal-garət ⁺ʾayni ʾa-⁺šula ʾodənnə k̭a-diyyux. d-mara ʾana ⁺bəslayən ⁺tamma gani ⁺ṱašənna. ʾatən har-tilun, tani ʾatxa xəšlə. mara ⁺ʾal-⁺ʾayni. ʾa ⁺bəslayəl ⁺varel gu-de-⁺čək̭k̭urta, gu-de-⁺čā́l. ganu ⁺ṱašuyol ⁺tala. mən-do-yba bitáyəna suysaváy ⁺ʾallé ⁺sayadə bi-túp, bi-calbanā́n ʾan-⁺taziyyə. mara šláma-llux ʾáxuni ⁺bar-naša. b-šena. mara laxxa la-xzilux xa-⁺tala bərrák̭əva? la ⁺dilux bi-dəm-ʾurxa xəšlə? ⁺ʾavun garəc taniva bi-dá-ʾurxa xəšlə ʾa-⁺tala. ⁺bar-naša mara dūl-laxxa ganu ⁺ṱušyo. dūl ⁺ʾultux ganu ⁺ṱušyo. dbíšəna ʾan-calbə b-rišu bədvák̭una, bəxnák̭una, ⁺palúṱuna, máyuna. xina-gá, zambəllilə, ⁺ʾaxlilə. ʾa-⁺tala k̭a-⁺bar-naša mara. yala ʾáxuni, k̭a-but-mudi ⁺ʾaxər k̭a-diyyi ʾatxa vədlux? la ʾana k̭a-diyyux xayyux purk̭eli? mara ʾáxuni, ⁺paxlətti, ⁺ʾamma xasyáttila ʾatxa. ʾana lipən, gu-də́mmila garəc zabnə́nvalux. ʾayya꞊da məttəltət ⁺ṱala ʾu-⁺bar-naša k̭at-⁺šəmyox mən ʾavahatan baba savan.

ʾita ⁺bayyən tanən ʾatxa ⁺bar-naša zabunəl k̭a-⁺tala, ⁺tala ʾō꞊t mən-cullə bíšələ k̭at ⁺spay ⁺bəddayəl mujjur ʾazəl. ʾina ⁺bar-naša k̭at vayəl ⁺tala xayyu purk̭é, xayyət ⁺bar-naša, ⁺bar-naša k̭a-dó ⁺tala zabúnələ. ⁺mak̭ṱulul b-dan-calbə, b-dan ⁺ʾavčiyyə, ⁺sayadə. lēn ⁺bəddá cma ⁺ṱusa muyyítəla ⁺ʾal-⁺bar-naša gana. ʾannə ⁺tala, ⁺ʾaynət miyya, xuvva, ʾu-tora. ʾannə cullə ⁺ṱúsəna ⁺ṱusə muyyén-ʾana but-ṱ-ila ⁺ʾal-⁺pəslət xayyət ⁺bar-naša. k̭at gu-mətxət xayyu ⁺bar-naša cma ⁺māsni ʾavəd ⁺spay ⁺šulā́n ʾu-cmá xərba ⁺šulā́n gav-⁺bar-naša ganu ʾəttən. ʾu-mən-dayyən m-⁺uydāl꞊da ʾana lé-⁺ʾamsən ʾadi pašk̭ənnə ʾoxa ⁺xabrət k̭at ⁺šəmyun mədrə mən ʾavahati m-babi savi k̭at gu-dá məttəlta húk̭yuna. ʾe-⁺dān prak̭ta k̭at calbanā́n ʾu-ʾan-⁺ʾavčiyyə ⁺šarúyəna ⁺bixala k̭a-do-⁺tala parpusu, ⁺č̭ambúruna, ⁺tala k̭a-⁺bar-naša mara ʾe ʾáxuni ʾət-məjjət꞊da ⁺bar-naša ⁺xalvanaya, ⁺mísələ. ʾadi ⁺manaya ⁺davvó ⁺xalvanaya ⁺myasta mu꞊ila ʾana lēn ⁺bəddaya. ⁺xalva ⁺bəddayət mu꞊ilə? ⁺xalvət yəmma. ʾita ⁺tala k̭a ⁺bar-naša mara ʾay ʾáxuni k̭a-diyyi zubənnux ʾatən. ʾət-məjjət꞊da tanúyəva k̭at-⁺bar-naša ⁺xalvanaya ⁺misəl, mənnu hašyar garəc ʾavəd. ʾatxa c-⁺amsən ʾatxa pašk̭ənna, ʾina ⁺manayu but-ṱ-ila ṱ-oya gu-xa pušak̭a xina ⁺ʾamsitun biyyu tapk̭itun.

A wayfarer, a man, is walking along the road. Having entered a forest, he notices that a fire is blazing and the forest is burning. He notices a high tree on which a snake had encircled itself. The snake has escaped from the fire. It has escaped from below, wound itself around the tree, and remained on its top. The tree is burning from below. He stretches out his stick. In his hand there is a wooden stick, in the hand of the man. He stretches to the snake and says ‘Come, come down, I’ll rescue you.’ The snake comes down on the stick from the arm of the man and encircles his neck. It encircles his neck and says ‘Now I shall bite you.’ He says ‘Why do you want to bite me? Did I not rescue you from the conflagration? I have rescued you from the fire,’ says the man to the snake. It says ‘They have said to us, we know, and I as a snake know, that man is the worst thing of all. Wherever you see him, you must bite him. Man is a very evil and bad creature in this world, in this creation.’ Then the man says ‘My boy, may I be your substitute, but this is not the custom of the world. After all, I saved your life from the fire.’ He pleads with the snake not to bite him. It says ‘Fine, if you do not believe me’ the snake says ‘Come let us ask one of three people, three … people, one person, two people, let us ask, either people or whatever meets us, an animal, whatever he may do. Let us ask and see if it is still the case that I am truly wrong, or am I right to want to bite you,’ the man. He says ‘Let’s go.’ With the snake wrapped around the man’s neck, they set off on the road. They meet an ox. It says ‘Greetings, my brother ox.’ The snake offers greetings. They have transmitted it (the story telling) of how the snake asks the ox. It says ‘I want to bite this man. What do you say? Should I bite him or not bite him? Should I paralyse him? If I bite him, he will die.’ He says ‘Finish (the job), bite him quickly, while he has not thought of doing something against you. As quickly as you can, bite the man!’ He says ‘But why?’ The man says. ‘Ox, but why are you saying this? Why should it bite me? I have saved it from the fire, the snake, I have saved it so that it would not burn. I say: “Go on your way.” It wants to bite me.’ It says ‘Because you are very evil. A human is a very evil thing. A human being makes me work until the evening, from first light until the setting of the sun, in the dark and I plough the earth. He gives me a bucket of water. He gives me a little water. He gives me also a little food and I eat. For this reason you, a human being, must not live.’ It says ‘He must be bitten. Bite him wherever you can. Do evil to him. Snake, bite him’ it says. The snake says to the man ‘Did you hear, my brother, what this ox said? Now I shall bite you.’ He says ‘May I be your substitute. Let us ask another one.’ It says ‘Let us ask.’ They go. They go a little, they go a lot along the road. They meet a spring of water. They meet a spring of water. It says ‘Greetings to you, my sister spring.’ The snake greets the spring. It says ‘Welcome my brother snake. What is the matter? Where are you coming from?’ It says ‘I want to bite this man. What do you say? Am I right or not?’ It says ‘Bite him quickly. Finish (the job) as quickly as possible. Do not let him live.’ He says ‘Why?’ The man says ‘But why? What have I done to you?’—he says to the spring. It says ‘At dawn, at dawn, early in the morning, when no animal, nothing has moved, the human comes and washes his face and hands in the spring, the spring of water, and he drinks the water’ it says. ‘When he has finished, he spits in the water and goes away. Therefore’ it says ‘You are not something worthy of living. Bite him quickly. Let that man die, do not leave him alive.’ It says ‘Did you hear?’ the snake says to the man ‘Did you hear my brother what it said?’ Now I shall bite you so that you die.’ He says ‘May I be your substitute. Let us ask another person, then bite me quickly, the hell with it, so be it after that. Let us ask a third then bite me.’ It says ‘Fine, let us go.’ They go along the road again. They come along the road and suddenly see on one side a fox. It runs and runs, it flees. It (the snake) says ‘My brother fox, stop, stop!’ the snake shouts. It says ‘What do you want from me?’ It says ‘Wait. I want to bite this person. What do you say? Should I bite him or not?’ It says ‘I am in a hurry. Bite him quickly and let him die quickly. Do not leave him alive.’ The man says ‘Why?’ Well, the fox is not a little wicked. The fox turns to the snake and says ‘But what has happened? Why are you biting him? Where did you catch him and bring him from? How have you put poison in him and encircled his neck?’ It says ‘My brother, fire had broken out and the forest was burning. I also was burning and I had climbed up a tree. This man put out his staff, put out his stick and saved me. Now I have encircled his neck and I want to bite him.’ It says ‘My brother, bite him quickly, as quickly as possible, before he does something against you. But how can it be true?’ it says ‘You are tricking me,’ the fox says to the snake. ‘I do not believe that fire broke out in the tree and that you could come down by the stick onto the neck of that man.’ The snake says ‘What do you mean you do not believe (me)? I can come down from a tree by a stick onto the hand of a man.’ It (the fox) says ‘How can that be true! You are telling lies. I am in a hurry’ it says ‘I am in a hurry. I am going. People are coming after me to kill me. I am fleeing. But I do not believe that you have done this thing, that you are able to go down from a tree by a stick onto the hand of a man.’ It (the snake) says ‘If you do not believe, I can quickly show you,’ the snake says to the fox. It (the fox) says ‘Come down! Let me see whether you can still do that. When I see, then I shall tell you whether to bite him or not.’ The snake comes down and is about to climb on a tree. The fox says to the man ‘Go, you bad man, quickly stamp on his head! Stamp on the head of the snake. While he has come down from your neck onto the ground, stamp on his head. You can kill him. Why have you let him (go)?’ The man at once strikes the snake and paralyzes it. He says ‘My brother, oh may I be your substitute,’ he says to the fox ‘How did it happen that you came to this place? How did it come about that you met us? What good deed can I do for you so I can return the favour that you have done to me? You saved me from death. The snake was about to bite me, (although) I had done it a good deed.’ It says ‘A good deed is not necessary. Hunters are chasing me with horses, with greyhounds, with dogs. They want to catch me and strangle me. Look they are coming! These two roads are bending like this,’ it says ‘I shall hide myself here under …. If they ask you, stand on this road and show them (the road) and let them go (on it).’ He says ‘Of course, of course. Well, this is a good deed. Of course I shall do this for you.’ Then he says ‘I shall go down there and hide myself. As soon as they come, tell them that it (the fox) has gone.’ He says ‘Of course.’ It goes down and enters the hollow, the hole. The fox hides itself. From the other side horses come, on which there are hunters with guns, with the greyhound dogs. They say ‘Greetings, my fellow man!’ ‘Greetings!’ They say ‘Have you seen a fox running away around here? Do you know which way it went?’ He should have said ‘The fox went this way.’ But the man says ‘It has hidden itself over there. It has hidden itself under there.’ The dogs attach themselves to his head and seize him, they strangle him and bring him out. They then tear him apart and eat him. The fox says to the man ‘My brother, why did you do this to me? Did I not save your life for you?’ It says ‘My brother, forgive me, but this is my nature. I am accustomed to it, it is in my blood, I had to betray you. This is the story of the fox and the man, which I have heard from our forebears, our father and grandfather.

So, I want to say that the man betrays the fox in this way, the fox, which is the most wicked of all (animals), which knows well how to go about things. The man, whose life the fox had saved, the life of the man, the man betrays the fox. He causes it to be killed by the dogs, by the hunters, the hunters. I do not know how many examples have been adduced about mankind. These, the fox, the spring, the snake, the ox, these are all examples, I adduced examples about the way of life of mankind, whereby in the course of the life of a man, he does as many good deeds as he can and (I show) how many bad deeds there are in man himself. I cannot now explain everything together relating to this tale which, as I say, I heard from my forebears, my father and grandfather, that which they related in this story. In the end, when the dogs and the hunters begin to eat, tear apart the fox, tear it to pieces, the fox says to the man ‘Hey, my brother, it is true that man is a mammal, he has sucked (milk).’ Now I do not know what the significance is of this mammal and sucking. You know what milk is? The milk of a mother. So, the fox says to the man ‘Oh, my brother, you have betrayed me.’ They spoke the truth—that man is a mammal that has sucked (milk) and one has to be cautious of him. That is how I can explain it, but you could find another explanation of its meaning.