Part 17

"But thou groanest there, My Sia-Manto, and shall I not weep? Thy groans, that pierce my heart, call forth my tears. There is a great storm on Mount Ararat. Here are thy bow and arrow, O my love. Thou didst not heed me when I prayed to thee. 'Nay, lay thy bow and arrow down,' I said; 'Chase not the wild bull, he too has his mate; Nay, let them live, like us, and love, like us.' O thou wild bull, thou fearful, cruel bull, Thy horns are steel, thou huge and dreadful bull That didst part lovers on Mount Ararat. The top of Ararat is wrapt in mist; And Sia-Manto's bow and arrow gleam Like pearls. Alas! who ever heard before Of game that killed its hunter? O my love, I told thee, 'Sia-Manto, do not go; Let the wild bull go after his own love. Dost thou need game, I am enough for thee. Oh, do not, do not go!' Yet who can tell? Perchance 'twas Heaven that had ordained it thus. The Will above cannot be changed below. Rocky and bushy is Mount Ararat, And cold and deadly are its winds and storms. O Sia-Manto! show me now a way To reach thee where thou art, that I once more May hold thee in my arms, and die with thee. Oh, hither come with shovels and with spades To turn the earth and rocks, and bury here Both Sia-Manto and his love with him!" She shut her eyes, and casting herself down, Fell on her lover, uttering but one word-- "My Sia-Manto!" and he echoed it-- "My Guje-Zare!" with his latest breath. Then silence! In each other's arms they died. There in the Spring men still may see two flowers Bud forth, twin blossoms, like as like can be: Two butterflies come there to light on them. They represent the hapless lovers twain Who lost their lives upon Mount Ararat.

NOTES

[1] "Bedik" means in Armenian,--"little Prince."

[2] Navasard is the Armenian New Year, which falls on the 23rd of August.

[3] The Armenian mother tells this tale to her child when she puts it to bed. Its effect upon the little one is very quieting, so that the child often goes to sleep before the tale is finished.