When Mcher heard the voice for the third time he beat down the door and went out. One door destroyed the other. By a blow of his fist he sent the first door against the second, the second against the third, and so all seven doors were shattered.

Mcher saw his uncles from afar, but his father was not there. He asked, and his uncle told him the men of Chlat had slain his father. He fell upon his face and wept, and as he lay there his uncles wished to lift him, but exert themselves as they would they could not move him.

The tears of Mcher furrowed the earth and flowed like a river. After three days he arose, mounted his father's horse, and rode to Chlat. He circled the town and destroyed it--as it is even to this day. Then he ascended the mountain Memrut[34] and saw the smoke of the ruins grow ever denser. Only one old woman remained alive. He seized her, and, bending two trees down, bound her feet to the trees and let them loose. And thus he killed her. Since then no smoke ascends from Chlat.

[34] A high mountain not far from Chlat northwest of the Sea of Wan.

Many interesting legends about it exist. Haik, the ancestor of the Armenian Nimrod, is said to be buried here.

Mcher permitted his uncles to return to their own dwelling-places and himself rode toward Tosp.

Men say he is still there, and they show his house, and even now water flows from the rocks for his horse.

On Ascension-night the door of Mcher's rock opens. But it is decreed that he shall not go out: the floor holds him not, his feet sink into the earth.

Once on Ascension-night a shepherd saw Mcher's door open, and the shepherd entered. Mcher asked him: "By what occupation do you live?"

"By brains," said the shepherd.

Then Mcher said: "We shall see what kind of brains you have! Take the nose-bag of my horse and hang it around his neck."

The shepherd tried with all his might, but could not lift the bag. He led the horse to the bag, opened it, and put the straps around the horse's neck. The horse raised his head and lifted the bag. The shepherd led him back to his place and said, "That is the sort of brains by which we live in the world."

Then the shepherd said, "Mcher, when will you leave this place?"

Mcher answered: "When plum-trees bear wheat and wild-rose bushes barley, it is appointed I shall leave this place."

And three apples fell down from heaven--one for the story-teller, one for the hearer, and the other for the whole world.

THE RUINED FAMILY

BY

GABRIEL SUNDUKIANZ

[_Translated by F.B. Collins, B.S._]

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

OSSEP GUl.a.b.i.aNZ, a merchant.

SALOME, his wife.

NATO, his daughter.

CHACHO, Ossep's aunt.

GEWO, a merchant, Ossep's friend.

ALEXANDER MARMAROW, a young official.

BARSSEGH LEPROINK, a merchant.

KHALI, his wife.

MOSI, Leproink's relative.

MICHO, shop-boy at Leproink's.

DARTSCHO, clerk at Leproink's.

MARTHA, Salome's friend.

Guests, an executor, his secretary, creditors, witnesses, and several servants.

The scene is Tiflis. The first and third acts take place in Ossep's house, the second in Barssegh's.

THE RUINED FAMILY

ACT I

_Well-furnished room with open door in centre and ante-room behind. To the left in foreground a window looking out upon a garden. To the right a sofa, in front of which is a table. To the left a tachta[35] with a ketscha[36] and several mutakas.[37] A side door._

[35] Broad, low sofa.

[36] Carpet.

[37] Long, round pillows.

SCENE I

_Salome. Chacho_.

SALOME [_from back of stage_]. You're welcome. Come, come, I beg of you.

Dear aunt, how can I thank you for taking the trouble to come here!

CHACHO [_covered by a tschadra[38] enters from the right of the ante-chamber_]. Good-morning! [_Taking off the tschadra._] Why did you send for me in such haste?

[_Gives one end of the tschadra to Salome_.

[38] A long veil, covering the head and upper part of the body.

SALOME [_taking hold of one end of the tschadra_]. Dear aunt, I am in such a desperate mood that if someone were to pierce my heart not a drop of blood would flow.

[_While she is speaking they fold the tschadra_.

CHACHO. So it seems that it cannot be managed?

SALOME. How could it be managed, dear aunt? They insist upon having 8,000 rubles. Ossep will not give so much. You know what a miser he is!