The second [noteworthy student] was named Vanakan. He [182] was a holy, modest man, foremost in all good works, rational and sensitive to all and more competent in doctrine than all the others of his time. He was an excellent, creative thinker who could speak fittingly. For these reasons many people came to him, not only to study doctrine, but indeed his entire life and activity were unwritten laws for the observers. I say this not merely as someone who heard it from others, but as an eyewitness, for we spent much time with him getting an education in the borders of Tawush fortress [g218] in the retreat where he had his abode. Like a fountain [of wisdom] he gave us the words of doctrine to drink.
16. Concerning the death of the great vardapet
called Gosh.
This venerable man of whom we spoke
above, reached great old age, having kept his faith. But when
he saw that his bodily strength was failing and that he was close
to joining his fathers, he called the residents of the congregation
of Nor Getik who had shared with him in all the labors of the
church and monastery, and he blessed them and his students in
the name of the Lord. Selecting one of them, named Martiros, who
had studied with him and was his intimate, Mxit'ar appointed him
as their director. Martiros was a youth [183] but perfected in
learning, a man mellifluous in the songs of worship, a great reader
and a speedy writer. Mxit'ar commanded him to direct them. And
he wrote a will to the great hazarapet Iwane, Zak'are's
brother, and entrusted to him the monastery and its director.
Then he himself, white-haired [g219] and ripe in age, passed from
this world to Christ.
The director of the monastery, Martiros,
together with the congregation handsomely saw to the proper requirements
for the spiritual and physical burial of Mxit'ar. They laid him
to rest before the door of the smaller church which stands above
the monastery on the west side. And to this day Mxit'ar's grave
aids those in pain who take refuge in his prayers, in faith; and
people always take soil from that place to cure sick people and
animals, for God glorifies those that glorify Him, in life and
in death.
Once it happened that his servitors
came up bringing wine on asses, for the monastery's needs. A certain
Georgian named Basila came and wanted to take some of that wine
from them, for he was Iwane's official in charge of the grove
which guarded his lodging. But the attendants said to him: "Do
not bother us for we are Gosh's people" (t
It was frightful to behold their appearance
and their cruel lack of compassion; they pitied not a single
mother's [g239] tears nor a single grey head, but went on punishing
and killing as if enjoying themselves at a wedding or a drinking-bout.
The whole country filled up with the
corpses of the dead yet there was no one to bury them. Tears appeared
in the eyes of lovers but no one dared to weep, out of fear of
the impious ones.
The country was draped in mourning and
its magnificent [202] beauty was destroyed. Its worship was blocked
and mass ceased to be offered at its altars, the singing of songs
was no longer heard. The whole land was plunged into darkness
and people preferred the night to the day. The country was drained
of its inhabitants and foreigners moved about in it.
Goods and property were ravished, though
their greedy nature could never be satisfied. Houses and rooms
were searched and there was nothing left that they did not take.
They moved about here and there like swift mountain goats and
wrecked and tore things apart like wolves. Their horses did not
tire at the pace, nor did [the Mongols] tire of amassing booty.
Thus severity was visited upon many
peoples and tongues for the cup of the Lord's wrath poured down
over the country in vengeance for our wicked deeds and for sinning
before Him; and His just rage was kindled. Therefore the entrance
[of the Mongols] into [g240] every land was made easy. As soon
as they had captured all lands, they gathered up all the animals
(those which had fled and those which had not), the goods and
property and multitude of slaves, which were out in open areas.
Thereafter they battled with all the fortresses and with [203] many cities, erecting diverse types of [siege] machinery, for they were very clever and capable. They took and tore down many fortresses and keeps. It was summertime and extremely hot, and provisions had not been gathered in, for [the Mongols] came upon them unexpectedly. Therefore men and beasts suffered from thirst and, willingly or unwillingly, fell into the hands of the enemy because of the danger facing them. And there were those they killed, and those they kept as slaves for their needs. They treated similarly the densely populated cities, encamping about them and besieging them.
23. Concerning the capture of the city
of Shamk'or.
One of the nobles, named Molar-noyin,
whose lot had fallen over those regions (while they moved from
their abode in the Mughan plain) sent a small force of about a
hundred [g241] men who came and encamped by the gates of the city
of Shamk'or and blocked entrance to and exit from it.
Now at the time, this city was under
the authority of Vahram and his son Aghbugha, who had previously
taken it [204] from the Iranians. The residents of Shamk'or sent
to Vahram and his son for them to come and aid them, saying: "They
are few". But Vahram did not aid them nor did he let his
son go who wanted to, telling the emissaries: "They are numerous".
Moreover, he ordered the citizens not to fight them.
The foreigners' army increased daily
until their commander, Molar, arrived and fought against the city.
He filled the trench which surrounded the city walls with wood
and stalks so that they might easily climb onto the walls. But
the people hurled down fire at night and burned the filler. Now
in the morning when Molar-noyin saw that, he ordered each
of his soldiers to bring a load of soil and to throw it into the
trench. When this was done, the area became level with the wall.
Then each soldier applied himself to
that part of the city directly in front of him. And they took
it, killed all the inhabitants, burned the buildings and took
whatever they [g242] found there. They then fell upon other fortresses
under Vahram's sway: Terunakan, Ergevank', Matsnaberd (which belonged
[205] to Kiwrike Bagratuni, Aghsart'an's son), Gardman, and other
regions, Ch'arenk'; and another chief named Ghataghan-noyin
went to Getabak. Now Vahram who was then in Gardman secretly fled
at night to wherever he was able. Meanwhile the army of foreigners
battled with the fortresses. Those inside unwillingly provided
the Mongols with horses, livestock, and whatever else they demanded.
[The Mongols] placed taxes over them and left them in their name.
But those who took Shamk'or had come with all their bags and baggage to Tawush, Katsaret', Norberd, Gag and the surrounding areas. Placing these regions in great straits, they besieged them.
24. Concerning the capture of vardapet
Vanakan and those with him.
At that time the great vardapet
called Vanakan was dwelling in a cave he himself had hollowed
out, near the top of a very high rock which stood opposite the
village called Lorut, south of Tawush fortress. He had built a
[g243] small church in that grotto and stayed there secretly once
his first monastery (opposite Ergevank' fortress) had been ruinedby
the raiding of sultan Jalal al-Din. Here he [206] had gathered
many books, for he was an extremely studious man and especially
God-loving. Many people came to him and studied doctrine with
him. When the people multiplied, he was obliged to descend from
the cave, and he built a church and rooms at the base of the rock,
remaining there.
As soon as the land was destroyed by
the T'at'ars and Molar-noyin had come to their borders,
the inhabitants of that village applied to Vanakan's cave. It
became filled with men, women, and children. Then the T'at'ars
came and besieged them in the cave, while those folk inside had
neither provisions nor water. It was summertime and extremely
hot and they were scorched by the sun, as if in a prison. The
children were parched with thirst and close to death. From outside
the enemies shouted. "Why do you want to die"? Come
out to us, we shall give you overseers and leave you in your places".
They repeated this a second and third time with pledges. Those
who were in the cave fell before the [g244] vardapet's
feet, entreating: "Go and save all of our lives descend to
them and make friends with them". Now [Vanakan] replied:
"For your sakes I will not preserve my own life if there
is any possibility of [your] salvation. For Christ gave Himself
up to death for us to save us from satan's [207] tyranny. Thus
we are obliged to show the same concern for our brothers".
So vardapet Vanakan selected
two priests from among them, one named Markos and the other Sost'enes,
who later were ordained vardapets by him. We too were present
there studying Scripture in those days. [Vanakan] descended to
them. Molar-noyin stood across from the cave on a hill,
with a parasol over his head because of the heat. They had blocked
us off during the feast of the Transfiguration. As soon as they
came near the commander, those leading them commanded them to
bow to the ground three times (like camels when they sit), for
such is their custom. When they came before him, he ordered them
to bow to the east, to their Khan, their king. Molar-noyin
then upbraided Vanakan, saying; "I have heard that you are
a learned and venerable man, and your appearance reveals you as
such"--for he was a fine-looking composed man with a glorious
beard and white hair. "When you heard the news of our coming
to your borders, why did you [g245] not come before us in peaceful
friendship, so that I could command that all that is yours be
left unharmed, great and small"?
[208] The vardapet replied: "We
knew not of your good intentions, but out of dread of you we were
seized with fear and trepidation. We did not know your languages,
and no one came from you to summon us. Now when you called, we
came before you. We are neither soldiers nor lords of goods, but
exiles and foreigners assembled from many lands for studying our
religion. Behold we stand now before you. Do with us what you
will, granting either life or death".
The prince then said to hirn: "Fear
not"; and he commanded them to sit before him. [Molar-noyin]
asked him numerous questions about fortresses and about prince
Vahram--where he was, for he thought that Vanakan was a worldly
prince ruling the country. Once the vardapet had told what
he knew and that he was not a worldly prince, [Molar-noyin]
ordered him to bring down the people of the fortress fearlessly
and he promised that each would be left in his place with his
overseers, and that he would build villages and fields in his
name. [g246]
Then the priests who had gone with the
vardapet called to us: "Come down at once, and bring
what you have with you". [209] We descended, quaking, like
lambs among the wolves, frightened, terrified, thinking we were
about to die, each person in his mind repeating the confession
of faith in the Holy Trinity; prior to leaving the cave we had
communed in the revered Body and Blood of the Son of God.
The T'at'ars took us to a small fountain
in the monastery and gave us water to drink, for we were very
thirsty for three days. They then put us in some place of confinement
and put the laymen in the portico of the church. They themselves
stayed about guarding us during the night, for it was evening.
The next morning they removed us to the head of the monastery,
to an elevated spot, and searched to see who had anything they
needed. As for what was in the cave, the vessels and vest- ments
in the church, the furniture, silver crosses and two gospels worked
in silver, these things they gave to the vardapet, but
later took from us. Then they selected [g247] from among us men
who could go about with them. The rest they ordered taken to the
monastery and to the village and left their overseers there so
that no one else would search them. They ordered the vardapet
to remain in the monastery.
[Vanakan's] brother's son, the priest
Poghos, was ordered to come along with us, following Molar-noyin.
But the blessed vardapet saved his nephew for he was a
youth and he himself [210] came after [Molar-noyin] hoping
that it might be possible to free us as well. And [Molar-noyin]
made us travel around with him for many days, harassed and harried,
on foot and even barefoot. The men appointed to guard us were
Iranians, thirsty for Christian blood. They made our lives yet
more difficult by all sorts of torments along the way, forcing
us along so stringently, like horses on a raid. And if it happened
that someone out of bodily weakness or lameness paused a little,
they would mercilessly strike his skull and beat his body with
sticks, so much so that we could not remove thorns from our feet
or someone would attack. Nor could anyone drink water because
of those forcing us on.
Upon encamping, they took and crammed
us into narrow houses while they surrounded them and guarded,
not letting anyone outside to perform his bodily functions. [g248]
Instead, [the captives] relieved themselves in the houses, staying
inside for many days. Therefore I cannot record all the discomforts
which they forced us to endure. Nor did they let the vardapet
stay with us, but entrusted him to others to guard carefully,
far away.
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