4. Here, the Emperor honored him more than his gaherec' princes with a proper throne, and unlike the other honorable guests, gave him the majestic distinction befitting the progeny of a king. He treated Ashot almost as his equal, and exalted him with royal dignity. 5. At the same time, he bestowed on him the title "the son of a martyr", and "my beloved son", dressed him in glorious purple, and gave valuable gold-broidered robes, byssus with golden borders, and a girdle studded with gems for his waist. He was honored thus not once or twice, but many times. They also presented him with swift and spirited horses, which were decked with beautiful armor and ornaments, as well as many cups, and utensils, and many gold and silver wares. 6. They also bestowed great honors on the naxarars whom he had taken with him. Until their return they received bountiful largesses and generous allowances.
7. But I went to the district of Derjan, where I remained for a period of one month. Although during that time I received frequent and courteous invitations to go to the imperial court, yet, I decided not to go, thinking that there might be people who might look askance at my going there, and assume that I sought communion with the Chalcedonians. It was for this reason that I did not wish to go, lest I might scandalize the minds of the weak. 8. Subsequently, in accordance with my own wishes, I went to the sacred cave, where dwelled initially the blessed lady Mani, and after her the thrice blessed [Grigor] our Illuminator. At this place, despite the weakness of their bodies, they led the lives of incorporeal beings, and surmounted the tyrannical demands of [their physical] needs. Through their saintly lives they carried the contest of virtue [199] beyond the limits set by the [divine] ordinance, and making themselves worthy of incomparable bliss, they were crowned by Christ in exultation and glory. 9. Also I saw there a small cavity dug in the depths of a cavern, which was difficult of access and unfit for living because of the ruggedness of the rocks. Therein people, who had dedicated themselves eternally to Christ, had set up a divine altar for their votive sacrifices.
10. I approached the cave with reverence, and stood by the rock where the source of our enlightenment [i.e., St. Grigor the Illuminator] had waited for two days for the death of the blessed Mani. Here, prostrating myself before the omnipotence of Christ, I went down to the spring with the sweet waters, with which the blessed comforted themselves from the heat of their sweaty toils and spiritual labors. This place also was surrounded with walls of solid rock, and was shut in by gates. The holy and immaculate hand of Gregory had drawn water from here to drink. 11. At this very place, I also, who am a wretch, with the help of the palms of my hands became worthy of tasting the water from the redeeming spring of him who renovated us, and whose seat I possess; were that, I could also follow his example. 12. I took with me some of the blessed dirt from the levelled mound, wherein the venerable and spiritual treasure [of relics] had been buried by the shepherds, and on which site a church had been built earlier at my orders with monumental stones cemented with lime. 13. There, in the glens and fastnesses of the caves, I saw people living, celibates as well as hermits who wore cilice and lay on the ground. They wore no shoes, and were poorly fed; as disciples of righteousness and descendants of virtue, they spent their time in continuous prayer, and supplicatory implorations. 14. The latter did not live together in one place, but were scattered along the foot of the mountain, where their living quarters are to be found. Everyone provided for his own physical necessities by toilsome sweat.
15. Receiving their blessings, I went to the village of T'ordan, where was the retreat of Saint Grigor. At this place are buried significant and immortal treasures, that is the living relics of the saints who passed through life in all righteousness, and lit by the unapproachable light, shone like the sun. Kindled by the fire of the Holy Spirit, they glittered in luminous lustre with an unquenchable light and radiated the glory of God. 16. Spending the night there, I prostrated myself before the Lord, and cut off a twig from the ash tree, which the hand of the blessed Illuminator had planted. 17. Then I returned to the hermitages on the mountain side and joined the monks in prayer. I remained here for approximately nine months, until I was lured by the flattering words of our kings, and, deceived by their excellent promises, which they made in [200] the name of God, I returned to Armenia. 18. Nevertheless, I did not behold the results of the promises that they had made. On the contrary, occupying their minds with vain thoughts and obscure ideas, they went astray along the path of iniquity, and because of our own [leaders] our wretched land was shaken. 19. Once again I wished to move away from this domicile, and dwell in the same holy cave [mentioned above]. Were that death would allow me to carry out my wishes! But let this be according to God's will.
20. Be that as it may, as long as the impetuous asp remained in his den in the city of Dvin, he was completely occupied with wicked thoughts about how he could sting king Gagik with his venom, or utterly destroy and annihilate the king together with all of his naxarars. 21. Gagik, however, put his trust in the Lord, and raised not a small amount of uproar as well as confusion, which he stirred up against Yusuf's governors, officials, armies and generals in the regions of Her, Zarewand, Marand, and Naxjawan. For several days he fought in armed combat against the enemy forces and generals, and shed much blood.
22. Thereupon, when the wicked ostikan saw the solid strength of Gagik, whom he had always spurned as a dishonorable and despicable person, he was enraged at this, and with great anger went about to muster the multitude of his forces. 23. Upon reaching the region of Mardastan, and the district of Tosb, he boasted arrogantly that he would annihilate and utterly destroy everything, and put to the sword all the tohms, families and children. 24. But when the Armenians saw the multitude of the Arab forces which had come upon them in great numbers, they took into consideration the faint-hearted people among themselves, whose hands were too weak to fight, and subsequently, singled out those who were unable to withstand the enemy in war, and marched forth to their colony, where they carefully also sheltered the latter in the strongholds. 25. They themselves, uniting in one body, and armed with weapons as well as armor, ascended to the flanks of the fortified mountains, or descended to the depths of valleys as well as the fastnesses in rocky crevices, and hastened from one place to the other before the pursuing enemy.
26. Due to the swiftness of their flight back and forth, waving like billows—according to Solomon "like roses leaping over the mountains of Bethel,"—the enemy forces could not catch up with them, nor could they follow their own caprices. 27. Then, for about two months almost as if demented by a certain depredation due to frantic thoughts, thanks to the Providence of God, they departed from there and went to the southern regions of the district of Rotakk', Her and Saghamas, and from [201] there to the city of Atrpatakan. 28. But the wicked tyrant forgot the ceaseless, unremitting, eternally loyal services of the sparapet Ashot, and his insensitive heart did not trust them, because he always heeded the advice of the wicked. 29. When he was about to invade the region of Vaspurakan, he sent to Atrpatakan in Persia the great and pious princess, the mother of the sparapet, together with his two sisters, who were in the region of Naxjawan. He kept them under guard as if they were hostages.
30. After a few days Yusuf urgently summoned the sparapet Ashot to his court. Upon the arrival of the latter, who had responded immediately because of his fear for his family, he received him with honor, set a generous allowance, gave presents and honored him. 31. But when king Gagik and his kinsmen as well as his naxarars saw that the turbid torrents of the wicked had withered, and vanished, they all glorified God Who is provident. 32. Subsequently, they returned to their respective districts, cities, estates, villages, and houses. They had suffered no harm from the invasions of the wicked adversary; the few exceptions were those who had been hindered by the enemy from taking flight to the strongholds. 33. Also the wise, prudent, and righteous prince of Andzewac'ik', Atom, was of great assistance to king Gagik from the rear. Through his profound intelligence and especially by means of the divine Providence he drove out of his land and his father's domain without engaging in warfare all the torrents of wickedness that had been brought by the vicious invaders. He protected himself from all the fire-sprinkling wickedness of the enraged Yusuf by taking refuge under the wings of God. 34. Also during these persecutions the prince of Mokk' Grigor, together with his brother Gurgen many a time met the requirements of his service to Gagik. He and his land, which is covered with deep valleys and steep crags, were unscathed by the afflictions [imposed on them] by their oppressors.
5. It was at this time, that Ashot, the sparapet of Armenia, immediately took leave of Yusuf and returned to the capital city of Dvin. 6. But as the cunning ostikan had secretly intended to arouse sharp animosity between them, with such insidious snares in mind he crowned the sparapet of Armenia as king, and gird up his loins with a sword, whereafter he sent him to his land. The latter and his name-sake, that is, the son of king Smbat, almost came to hostilities. 7. Upon his return, the sparapet found his land completely ravaged, some of his people massacred, others taken captive, while the remaining dispersed among the foreign nations, his beloved dastakert seized by Ashot, the son of king Smbat, and the Roman forces, and also the rest of his estates and villages ransacked. Thereupon, like foreign enemies, the sparapet and the king's son fought one another in the heat of battle, and tried to outdo one another in their antagonism and animosity. 8. And as both of them had been invested with the royal honor, they turned against one another in spiteful grudge and jealousy. For this reason, each one individually was incited more strongly in his attempt to establish his own sovereignty.
9. At this time, Smbat, the great prince of Siwnik', came from the region of Vaspurakan to Ashot the son of king Smbat. The latter received him with great honors, and intimacy, and bestowed on him glorious distinctions. 10. There also came the great Hayk-descended prince Vasak, the brother of prince Grigor who was bereaved of his child, and he also was given the same honors in a befitting manner. 11. Subsequently, the two name-sakes, who had inherited the royal title, intensified the tumultuous confusion between them. 12. But by chance I returned from the distant land of my expatriation at the right time, and going back and forth, tried to persuade them, and establish the proper brotherly unity between them. Accordingly, both of them heeded me, and having received their willing consent, I set down among them the conditions of unity and peaceful co-existence.
5. But when Vasak and Ashot saw that the numbers of his forces had considerably decreased, and that no help was available from anyone in his immediate vicinity, they became arrogant and gross, and stirring up much commotion, secretly summoned all of their forces; in order to carry out their task, they also took along their families, as well as the detachments in Tiflis, and those in the glens of the Caucasus, all in all more than four thousand men, comprising swordsmen, shield-bearers, lance-bearers, and daggar-bearers, and attacked unexpectedly.
6. When they [the king's men] saw the great multitudes of the enemy forces surrounding them, with many tears and implorations they called upon the high arm of the Lord, Who could pursue a thousand foes with one hand. 7. Then, crossing themselves with the sign of the cross, they arrayed their lines of battle with a huge outroar, and armed with the manly armor of horsemen, they bravely and vigorously rushed upon them. At the twinkling of an eye they quickly cut through the multitudes protected by shields, and routed them. With only two hundred men they were able to cut down and disperse four thousand armed soldiers of the enemy. 8. Some of the latter they put to the sword, or shot them with arrows and struck them down with lances. On the other hand, having captured certain Saracens, they put some of them to death, and amputated the noses as well as ears of the rest. 9. However, they spared the [204] Christians, whom they let loose after ravaging their possessions. Almost no one escaped, save for Vasak, who took refuge with a few of his men in the fortress of Shamshulde. 10. Thus did they carry out this task, for like Gideon's cake of barley they tumbled into the host of the foreigners and completely annihilated them. Ashot himself together with his brother returned victoriously and joyfully with much booty to the region of Iberia, to his most beloved friend, prince Gurgen.
11. But the peaceful prince of Siwnik' took leave of the son of the king at Mount Aragac, and turning back he set forth to meet his three brothers, Sahak, the lord of Siwnik', Babgen and Vasak, who had returned recently to their domains after escaping the attack of Yusuf. 12. Subsequently, being of one mind in wonderful harmony, they ruled over their ancestral domain, and tried to renovate and rebuild their paternal realm, which had been subverted and destroyed by the enemy. 13. Also the respective wives of the brothers who had been taken captive were delivered from the hands of their captors after a period of two years, and returned to the tranquility of the court and chamber of their lords. 14. It was at that time, that the Hayk-descended brothers Sahak and Vasak, the legitimate satraps of the districts that surround the Sea of Gegham, returned from the distant land of their expatriation, and took over the rule of their hereditary realm.
3. Thereupon, I arrived [in order to intervene] between them, and with bitter tears uttered many scolding words and expressed my utter disgust at the son of king Smbat for the deadly perfidy that he committed. 4. Although by means of my protest I tried to uproot from their midst the evil seeds planted by the wicked tiller, so that they might rid themselves of the cause of afflictions—even though they yielded temporarily to my pleas and consented to come to terms of reconciliation, they did not abide by their noble promises. On the contrary, they immediately reverted to their wicked envy and thus argued with each other at the rebukable instigation of evil and jealousy. 5. Thereafter, each one pursued the other, and they went in circles around one another. Their own domains were completely ravaged and destroyed. They handed over the dignity and glory of their own families to foreigners and enriched them, whereas they spread their way poverty for themselves. 6. Thus, for a period of two years they fell upon one another like brigands.
7. As for myself, I cried 'woe unto me', for I often was forced to live with those who hated my greetings, because I was a peace-maker, and whenever I opened my mouth, they contradicted me. 8. Be that as it may, king Ashot, the son of king Smbat, went and married the daughter of the great prince Sahak, who was called Sewaday. On this occasion, while they danced and performed the kak'aw, the ostikan Yusuf sent Ashot a royal crown and valuable ornaments for robes, both beautiful and becoming, horses with golden reins, together with valuable weapons and armor, and an Ishmaelite cavalry detachment to assist him. 9. After the investiture of the crown that the ostikan had dispatched, Ashot sent much money and treasures to the ostikan. Then taking with him also the forces of his father-in-law prince Sahak, he came to the gates of the city of Dvin, for the other king, who was his namesake, was stationed there. Subsequently, they sent their forces against one another in combat, and gave battle. 10. On my part, I always pleaded in favor of peace with the two sides individually, once, twice as well as three times.
10a. However, Ashot, the son of king Smbat, putting his hopes in the strength of his forces, and his own valiance, boasted arrogantly and haughtily, whereat the Lord was perhaps displeased. 11. When they met one another in battle, due to the restless fears of Grigor, the brother-in-law of the king's son [Ashot Erkat'], and the son of prince Sewaday, the forces of Ashot, the son of king Smbat, turned to flight before the enemy and many of them were felled by the sword in accordance with the words of the sage, that "the Lord is against the haughty." 12. Subsequently, the [206] son of king Smbat went to the great prince of Iberia, Gurgen, and receiving from him a great number of soldiers, arrived at the city of Vagharshapat, but on this occasion I did not allow them to do battle with one another, and pleaded with them to use their brains. They heeded [my] sound advice, and wisely accepted the benefit of mutual friendship. 13. At this time, prince Sahak, who possessed the districts along the shore of the Sea of Gagham as his inheritance, died. He was survived by a son, his heir, still under age. They buried him in the cemetery near the church that was built by him in the village of Noratunk'.
15. But when they [the conspirators] arrived there, and realized that they could not carry out what they wanted to, they were struck with shame, and having looted the emigrants that had been left behind, turned back. 16. Thenceforth, violent hostilities commenced between them as a result of the preconceived wickedness above, which bore the stench of death. 17. Be that as it may, Vasak, the hereditary lord of Geghark'unik', apprehensive of the king, asked for a solemn oath, so that he might rest at ease at the coming and going of the king in and out of his territory. 18. I myself received the letter of assurance from the king and handed it over to Vasak. Subsequently, the latter went to the king, who at first received him with great honor, and assured him that he [208] would treat him as his coadjutor and as one who is of the same mind as well as a beloved brother. 19. However, sometime later he was inclined to believe the words of some who maintained that Vasak held in his possession letters sent to him by the other king Ashot and his father-in-law Gurgen through a messenger, and that these were full of cunning advice. For this reason, Ashot bound him with fetters of iron and confined him in the fortress of Kayean. 20. Although I admonished the king in very caustic terms and upbraided him greatly for breaking his oath, and seizing Vasak and subordinating his domain, he lay the responsibility on Vasak. After he had delayed the matter for a few days, he consented to release him from prison, and set him up in his domain. However, I also did not pursue this matter for the time being [for the following reason: I was afraid] that due to his childish demeanor the king might be possessed by a wild desire, and having broken his word, might do something unbecoming [of him]. Thus, laying my trust in the succor of heaven, I postponed the care of the above matter to another time.
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