Once upon a time in Arabia, the glorious Tsar Rostvan ruled, and he had his only daughter - the beautiful Tinatin. Anticipating the near old age, he ordered Rostevan to raise his daughter to the throne during his lifetime, which he informed the viziers about. They favorably accepted the decision of the wise master, because “Though the damsel will be a king, the creator created her. A lion cub remains a lion cub, be it female or male. ” On the day of Tinatin’s accession to the throne, Rostevan and his faithful spaspet (commander) and foster pupil Avtandil, who had long been passionately in love with Tinatin, conspired the next morning to arrange hunting and compete in the art of archery.
Having left for the contest (in which, to the delight of Rostevan, his pupil turned out to be the winner), the tsar noticed a lone figure of a horseman dressed in tiger skin in the distance, and sent a messenger after him. But the messenger returned to Rostevan with nothing, the hero did not respond to the call of the glorious king. The enraged Rostevan ordered the twelve soldiers to take the stranger to the full, but when he saw the detachment, the knight, as if waking up, brushed away the tears from his eyes and swept away the intentions to capture his soldiers with a whip. The same fate befell the next detachment, sent in pursuit. Then Rostvan himself rode behind a mysterious stranger with a faithful Avtandil, but, noticing the approach of the sovereign, the stranger whipped his horse and “as a demon disappeared into space” as suddenly as he appeared.
Rostevan secluded himself in his chambers, not wanting to see anyone but his beloved daughter. Tinatin advises his father to send reliable people to look for a knight around the world and find out whether he’s a man or a devil. The messengers flew to the four ends of the world, came out of the earth, but the one who knew the sufferer was never met.
Tinatin, to the joy of Avtandil, calls him into his chamber and orders him to search for a mysterious stranger throughout the earth for three years in the name of his love for her, and if he fulfills her order, she will become his wife. Going in search of a knight in tiger skin, Avtandil in a letter respectfully says goodbye to Rostevan and leaves instead to protect the kingdom of his friend and close Shermadin from enemies.
And “Having traveled All Arabia in four transitions,” “Wandering around the face of the earth, homeless and wretched, / He visited every small corner for three years.” Having failed to attack the trail of the mysterious knight, "running wild in heartache", Avtandil decided to turn his horse back, when he suddenly saw six tired and wounded travelers who told him that they had met a knight who was lost in thought and hunted clad in tiger skin. The hero showed them worthy resistance and "dashed off proud, like a star from the stars."
For two days and two nights Avtandil knight chased until finally he crossed a mountain river, and Avtandil, climbing a tree and hiding in his crown, did not witness how a girl came out to meet the knight (her name was Asmat), and embracing, they wept for a long time over the stream, grieving that they had never been able to find some beautiful virgin. The next morning this scene was repeated, and, having said goodbye to Asmat, the hero continued his mournful path.
Avtandil, talking to Asmat, tries to find out from her the secret of such a strange behavior of a knight. For a long time, she does not dare to share her sadness with Avtandil, finally tells that the mysterious knight is called Tariel, that she is his slave. At this time, a clatter of hooves is heard - this is Tariel returning. Avtandil hides in a cave, and Asmat tells Tariel about an unexpected guest, and Tariel and Avtandil, two majnurs (that is, lovers, those who have dedicated their lives to serving the beloved), joyfully greet each other and become twin cities. Avtandil was the first to tell his story of love for Tinatin, the wonderful possessor of the Arabian throne, and that it was her will that he wandered in the desert for three years in search of Tariel. In response, Tariel tells him his story.
... Once in Hindustan there were seven kings, six of whom were revered by their lord Farsadan - a generous and wise ruler. Tariel's father, the glorious Saridan, "a thunderstorm of enemies, / Managed his inheritance, adversaries of exactions." But, having achieved honors and glory, he began to languish with loneliness and also voluntarily gave his possessions to Farsadan. But the noble Farsadan refused a generous gift and left Saridan as the sovereign ruler of his inheritance, brought him closer to himself and revered as a brother. At the royal court, Tariel himself was brought up in bliss and veneration. Meanwhile, a royal daughter was born a beautiful daughter - Nestan-Darejan. When Tariel was fifteen years old, Saridan passed away, and Farsadan with the queen gave him "father's dignity - the commander of the whole country."
The beauty Nestan-Darejan, meanwhile, grew up and captivated the heart of the brave Tariel with burning passion. Once, in the midst of a feast, Nestan-Daredjan sent her slave Asmat to Tariel with a message that read: “Miserable swoon and weakness - do you call them love? / Is not glory bought with blood more pleasant to majnuru? ” Nestan invited Tariel to declare war on the hathavas (it must be noted that the action in the poem takes place both in real and fictional countries), to earn honor and glory in the “bloody clash” - and then she will give Tariel a hand and a heart.
Tariel sets out on a campaign against the Hathavs and returns to Farsadan with victory, having defeated the hordes of the Hathavan Khan Ramaz. The next morning, after returning to a hero tormented by love torment, a royal couple comes for advice, who didn’t know the feelings experienced by the young man for their daughter: who should they give their only daughter and heir to the throne as a wife? It turned out that the Shah of Khorezm would read his son Nestan-Darejan as husbands, and Farsadan and the Queen would favorably accept his matchmaking. Asmat appears behind Tariel to escort him to the halls of Nestan-Darejan. She accuses Tariel of lying, says that she was deceived, calling herself his lover, because she is given against the will “for the prince of someone else”, and he only agrees with the decision of her father. But Tariel dissuades Nestan-Darejan, he is sure that he alone is destined to become her husband and ruler of Hindustan. Nestan tells Tariel to kill the unwanted guest, so that their country will never go to the enemy, and himself ascend to the throne.
Having fulfilled the command of his beloved, the hero turns to Farsadan: “Your throne now remains for me according to the charter,” the farsadan is angry, he is sure that this is his sister, the sorceress Davar, has made the lovers think of such an insidious act, and threatens to deal with her. Davar rushes to the princess with great swearing, and at that time “two slaves, by the appearance of kaji” (fairy-tale characters of Georgian folklore) appear in the chambers, push Nestan into the ark and carry him to the sea. Davar stabs himself with a sword in grief. On the same day, Tariel with fifty warriors sets off in search of a lover. But in vain - nowhere did he manage to find even the traces of the beautiful princess.
Once, in his wanderings, he met Tariel of the brave Nuradin-Fridon, sovereign Mulgazanzar, fighting against his uncle, seeking to split the country. Knights, “having entered into a cordial alliance”, give each other a vow of eternal friendship. Tariel helps Freedon defeat the enemy and restore peace and tranquility in his kingdom. In one of the conversations, Fridon told Tariel that one day, while walking along the seashore, he had a chance to see a strange boat, from which, when she moored to the shore, a girl of incomparable beauty emerged. Tariel, of course, recognized his beloved in her, told Fridon his sad story, and Fridon immediately sent the sailors "to various distant lands" with the order to find the captive. But "in vain did the mariners come out the end of the earth, / These people found no trace of the princess."
Tariel, having bid farewell to the twin and having received a black horse as a present, again went in search, but, desperate to find his beloved, found shelter in a secluded cave, in which Avtandil met him dressed in tiger skin (“The image of a fiery tigress is similar to my virgin, / Therefore I am the skin of a tiger from the clothes just a mile ”).
Avtandil decides to return to Tinatin, tell her about everything, and then again join Tariel and help him in the search.
... Avtandil was greeted with great joy at the court of the wise Rostevan, and Tinatin, "like a paradise aloe over the Euphrates valley, was waiting on a throne, richly decorated with jewels." Although it was difficult for Avtandil to separate from his beloved, although Rostevan opposed his departure, the word given to a friend drove him away from his relatives, and Avtandil for the second time, already secretly, was leaving Arabia, punishing the faithful Shermadin to sacredly fulfill his duties of military commander . Leaving, Avtandil leaves a testament to Rostevan, a kind of anthem of love and friendship.
Having approached the cave that he had left, in which Tariel was hiding, Avtandil finds only Asmat there - unable to endure the mental torment, Tariel went alone in search of Nestan-Darejan.
The second time overtaking a friend, Avtandil finds him to the utmost degree of despair, with difficulty he managed to return to life the wounded in a fight with the lion and tigress Tariel. Friends return to the cave, and Avtandil decides to go to Mulgazanzar to Freedon, in order to question him in more detail about the circumstances under which he happened to see the sun-Nestan.
On the seventieth day Avtandil arrived in the possession of Freedon. “That girl appeared to us under the protection of two sentinels,” Fridon, who met him, told him with honors. - Both were like soot, only the maiden was a fair woman. / I took a sword, spurred a horse to fight with the guards, / But an unknown boat disappeared into the sea, like a bird. ”
The glorious Avtandil sets off again, “he asked many people he met in a hundred days in the bazaars, / But he didn’t hear about the virgin, he just spent time in vain” until he met a caravan of merchants from Baghdad, led by the venerable old man Osam. Avtandil helped Osama defeat the sea robbers robbing their caravan, Osam offered him all his goods in gratitude, but Avtandil asked only for a simple dress and the opportunity to hide from the eyes of others, "pretending to be the foreman" of the merchant caravan.
So, under the guise of a simple merchant, Avtandil arrived in the coastal marvelous city of Gulansharo, in which "the flowers are fragrant and never fade." Avtandil laid out his goods under the trees, and the gardener of the famous merchant Usen approached him and told him that his master was away now, but “here Fatma-khatun is at home, his wife’s mistress, / She is cheerful, amiable, loves a guest at an o'clock leisure ". Having learned that a famous merchant had arrived in their city, besides, “like a seven-day month, he is more beautiful than a plane tree,” Fatma immediately ordered the merchant to be taken to the palace. “Over the years, not young, but beautiful by herself” Fatma fell in love with Avtandil. “The flame grew stronger, / A secret was revealed, no matter how the hostess hid it,” and so, during one of the visits, when Avtandil and Fatmoy “kissed for a conversation together”, the alcove’s door opened and a formidable warrior appeared, promising Fatma for her debauchery great punishment. “You will bite all your children with fear, like a wolf!” He threw in her face and left. In desperation, Fatma burst into tears, bitterly executing herself, and begged Avtandil to kill Chachnagir (that was the name of the warrior) and remove the ring that she had presented from her finger. Avtandil fulfilled Fatma's request, and she told him about her meeting with Nestan-Darejan.
One day at the feast of the Tsarina, Fatma went into the arbor that was erected on a rock, and, opening the window and looking at the sea, saw a boat dock on the shore, a girl escaped her, accompanied by two blacks, whose beauty overshadowed the sun. Fatma ordered the slaves to redeem the virgin from the guards, and "if the bargaining does not take place", kill them. And so it happened. Fatma sheltered the “sun-kissed Nestan in secret chambers, but the girl continued to shed tears day and night and did not tell anything about herself. Finally, Fatma decided to open herself to her husband, who with great joy accepted the stranger, but Nestan remained silent as before and "pressed her mouth like roses over pearls." One day Usen went to a feast to the tsar, who was a "friend-buddy" and, wanting to pay him his favor, he promised his daughter-in-law a "virgin similar to a plane tree." Fatma immediately set Nestan on a fast-footed horse and sent him away. Settled in the heart of Fatma sadness about the fate of a beautiful-faced stranger. Once, passing by the tavern, Fatma heard the story of the slave of the great king, the lord of Kadzheti (the country of evil spirits - kaji), that after the death of his master, the king’s sister Dularddukht began to rule the country, that she’s “majestic like a rock” and in her care there were two princes. This slave was in a detachment of soldiers who hunted robbery. One night, wandering the steppe, they saw a rider whose face "in the fog, like lightning, sparkled." Recognizing the maiden in him, the soldiers immediately captivated her - “the maiden did not listen to prayers or persuasion. She only gloomily remained silent before the robber's watch, / And she, like an asp, doused her with an angry gaze.”
On the same day, Fatma sent two slaves to Kadzhet with an order to find Nestan-Darejan. At three days old the slaves returned with the news that Nestan had already been engaged to Tsarevich Kadzheti, that Dularduht was going to go overseas to the funeral of his sister, and that she took sorcerers and sorcerers with her, “for her path is dangerous, and her enemies are ready for battle.” But the Kaji fortress is impregnable, it is located on top of a steep cliff, and "ten thousand of the best guards guard the fortification."
Thus, the abode of Nestan was revealed to Avtandil. That night Fatma "on the bed tasted full happiness, / Although, in truth, the caresses of Avtandil were reluctant," languishing according to Tinatin. The next morning Avtandil told Fatma the story of “how a tiger-skinned man suffers from afflictions,” and asked to send one of his sorcerers to Nestan-Darejan. Soon the sorcerer returned with a command from Nestan not to go on Tariel’s campaign on Kadzheti, for she “will die a double death, if he dies on the day of the battle”.
Calling the slaves of Freedon to himself and generously gifting them, Avtandil ordered them to go to their overlord and ask them to gather troops and go to Kadzheti, he himself crossed the sea in a passing gallery and hastened good news to Tariel. There was no limit to the happiness of the hero and his faithful Asmat.
The three of us friends “went deaf to the land of Fridon” and soon arrived safely at the court of the ruler Mulgazanzar. After conferring, Tariel, Avtandil and Fridon decided immediately, before the return of Dularddukht, to march on the fortress, which "is protected by a chain of rocks impassable from enemies." With a detachment of three hundred people day and night, the knights hurried in, "not letting the squad sleep."
“The twin fields were divided among themselves. / Each warrior in their unit was likened to a hero. " Overnight, the defenders of the formidable fortress were defeated. Tariel, sweeping away everything in his path, rushed to his beloved, and “this pair was a light-faced man, unable to disperse. "The roses of the lips, crouching, could not separate."
Having looted three thousand mules and camels with rich prey, the heroes, together with the beautiful princess, went to Fatma to thank her. They presented everything obtained in the cadet battle as a gift to the ruler Gulansharo, who greeted the guests with great honors and also presented them with rich gifts. Then the heroes went to the kingdom of Freedon, “and then a great holiday came in Mulgazanzar. Eight days, wedding, the whole country had fun. They beat tambourines and cymbals, harps sang before the dark. ” At the feast, Tariel volunteered to go with Avtandil to Arabia and be his matchmaker: “Where words, where with swords we will arrange everything we do there./ Not marrying you to a maiden, I do not want to be married! ” “Neither a sword nor eloquence will help in that land / Where God sent my queen my all-sun!” - answered Avtandil and reminded Tariel that it was time to take possession of the Indian throne, and on the day “when these thoughts were realized”, he would return to Arabia. But Tariel is adamant in deciding to help the Friend. The valiant Freedon also joins him, and now "the lions, having left the edges of Freedon, went on an unprecedented fun" and on a certain day reached the Arabian side.
Tariel sent a messenger to Rostevan with a message, and Rostevan with a large retinue rode out to meet the glorious knights and the beautiful Nestan-Darejan.
Tariel asks Rostevan to be merciful to Avtandil, who once left without his blessing in search of a knight in a tiger skin. Rostevan joyfully forgives his commander, giving him a daughter as his wife, and with it the Arabian throne. "Pointing to Avtandil, the king said to his squad:" Here is the king. By the will of God, he reigns in my stronghold. " The wedding of Avtandil and Tinatin follows.
Meanwhile, a caravan in black mourning clothes appears on the horizon. After questioning the leader, the heroes learn that the king of the Indians, Farsadan, "having lost his dear daughter", could not endure grief and died, and the hathavas approached the Hindustan, "encircled the wild army", and led by Haya Ramaz, "which does not enter with the king of Egypt in quarrels. "
"Tariel, hearing this, did not hesitate anymore, / And he rode a three-day road in a day." The twin brothers, of course, went with him and overpowered the innumerable Hatav army. The Queen Mother joined the arms of Tariel and Nestan-Darejan, and "Tariel sat with his wife on the high royal throne." “The seven thrones of Hindustan, all the fatherly possessions / got the spouses there, satisfying their aspirations. / Finally, they, the sufferers, forgot about the torment: / Only he will appreciate the joy who knows the grief. "
Thus, three valiant twin knights began to rule in their countries: Tariel in Hindustan, Avtandil in Arabia and Freedon in Mulgazanzar, and "their merciful deeds fell everywhere like snow."
