The knight in the panther's skin, 1979

311. “Then be bestowed on my father the lordship of one of the kingdoms, Also the title of Amirbar. The chief of the fleet and the armies. Thus though my fatber was no longer absolute king of a kingdom, Yet he was sovereign lord, mighty, revered and powerful.

312. “Parsadau deemed him his equal, paid him respect and ,honour. He said:”wager no man has an Amirbar to equal Saradin'. So they waged war and hunted, made peace with the foes they vanquished. Though we were father and son yet to him I cannot be likened.

313. “The king and his sun like queen had no daughter or son to succeed them. And as time passed the armies were seized with alarm and were troubled. o how I curse and deplore the day 1 was born to my parentsl As my son I shall rear and love him', Parsadan said to my father.

314. So I was reared by the king and his queen with care and affection, Brought up as their son and heir and as lord of the fleet and the armies. Wise men instructed and taught me the arts befitting a ruler. To a lion in strength they compared me, and to the sun in appearance.

315. “You, my Asmat, have seen how my rose has turned into saffron. Those who beheld me would say: 'He is a nursling of Edenl' I was compared to the sun as dawn is compared to darkness. Compared to what I was then 1 am now a woebegone shadow.

316. I was but five years of age when Parsadan's queen became pregnanb. ' Tariel sighed and groaned loudly: “She bore a daughten, he whispered. He would have fainted but Asmat sprinkled some water upon him. “She for wbom I am burning was the sun even them>, he continued.

317. the maiden and I were brought up as brother and sister. Truly the light of her rays augmented ,the light of the sunrays. The king and the queen loved us both and reared us alike as equals. Now I will tell you her name, though the telling will certainly kill me.

318. “Time passed and the maiden and I were brought up as brother and sister. Truly the light of her rays augmented ,the light of the sunrays. The king and the queen loved us both and reared us alike as equals. Now I will tell you her name, though the telling will certainly kill me.

319. Even the thought of her name so affected the knight that he fainted. Avtandil wept and hot fires burned his heart into ashes. Tarle) recovered when Asmat sprinkled his temples with water. This is the day of my death.-, he said, “Can my heart bear the anguish'!'

320. The royal princess was called by the name of Nestan-Darejan. When she was seven years old she was a wise and beautiful maiden; She was so radiantly bright that her lustre was brighter than sunrays. Absence from her would soften even a heart made of forged iron.

321. So passed the years. Nestan Was now a beautiful woman. And I wi h my courage and strength was now fit to go forth to battle. As she was the heir of the kingdom I returned to the home of my father Where I spent all my time in the lists, in the arena or hunting.

322. Parsadan built for the'maidlm a palace befitting!t a princes!; Bezoar was used for stone, also' cut' jacinths ana rubies. A fountain of rose-water flowed in a beautiful garcNm for bathing. There dwelled the maiden for whom furnace of flames consumes me.

323. All day and all night cut aloes poured forth sweet fragrance from censers: ' Sometimes she sat in the tower; sometimes In the garden at twilight Davar was Parsadan's sister, a widow wedded in Kajeti. She was entrusted the care and the training of Nestan, the princess.

324. The palace was curtained with costly brocades and gold-woven fabrics. No one had seen how her face had become rose-tinted and crystal. She had Asmat and only two slaves; with them she played game of nardi. There did that maiden grow like a graceful cypress of Gabaon.

325. I was now, fifteen years old. The king brought me up as a son'. I was more often with them. Than at home with my mother and father, They called me lion in might, a sun, and a tree reared in Eden, And I was exalted and raised for my feats in the lists and arena.

326. I was so skilled as a marksman that no beast could escape 'my arrow. No one excelled me in games or in sport in the public arena. Thus I diverted myself in feasting; diversions and' pleasures. Now fate has dissevered from me the crystal and ruby-faced maiden!'

327. My father expired to my grief; and to that of my mother and-kingdom. Parsadan' grieved 'and lamented and festivities turned into mourning. Foes who had trembled In terror now rejoiced and were humbled no longer. The loyal deplored and recalled tile reproaches and threats of the enemy.

328. Giving myself to deep sorrow, I spent a whole year in mourning. All day and all night I sat weeping knowing no' comfort nor solace. But at the year's end Parsadan sent his nobles To me. Tariel, my son,' he wrote, 'it is time to give over your mourning.

329. 'We also deplore his death, lament the loss of our peer', He made me cast off my mourning, gave me measureless treasures, Made me the lord and master of all my father's possessions. 'You shall be Amirbar now, be as true and devoted as he was'.

330. Grief for my father inflamed me and I burned in unquenchable fires. Yet I was led from the dark and. Conducted to light by the nobles. The king and the queen with their hearts filled with joy came out to meet me. Feasting followed my coming and the air resounded with revelry.