DAVID PUNISHES THE TAX COLLECTORS OF 
MSRAH MELIK 

	1 

The news reached Msr. 
People went to Msrah Melik and asked: 
"Melik, what are you going to do? 
That foolhardy Sassounite has slaughtered your soldiers."
 
Msrah Melik held a council; 
Summoned all the wise men and 
Asked them to suggest a way 
To put an end to David's life. 
In the council there was a bold 
Pahlevan, named Gosbadin, who said: 

"Long live the King, I do not think it befits you 
To march on that infidel. 
If you give me one thousand pahlevans, 
I will attack, ransack Sassoun, and bring to you 
Forty tall women to load camels, 
Forty short women to grind grain, 
Forty beautiful virgin maidens, 
Forty heads of cattle, forty heifers, 
Forty camel loads of silver, 
Forty camel loads of gold as your tribute. 
I will pillage and destroy Sassoun,
Kill David and bring his head to you." 
Melik said: 
"Brave Gosbadin, march on Sassoun, 
Collect the tribute of seven years, 
Bring forty tall women to load camels, 
Forty short women to grind grain, 
Forty beautiful virgin maidens, 
Cattle, heifers, gold and silver, 
And David's head." 
Gosbadin then asked Melik, 
"What will you give me [in return]? "
Melik said: "If you do all of that, 
I will give you half of my kingdom." 
Gosbadin then picked one thousand valiant men 
And prepared to march on Sassoun. 

	2

Badin, Gosbadin, Soudin, Charkhadin, 
And the army of Melik set out on their march. 
The women of Msr, seeing them on their way, 
Danced and sang to them: 
[Chanting:] 
"Greetings, Badin and Charkhadin, 
Where are you going in such haste? 
Hey, Gosbadin, hey, Soudin, 
You look like two wild beasts." 
Gosbadin said to the women: 
[Chanting:] 
"Go to your homes now and keep a mournful vigil; 
Come out to dance and sing [when we return]. 
We go to sack and destroy Sassoun, 
Bring red oxen to plough your fields, 
Prize cows to give you milk 
For your butter and dry-curd." 
One of the women then turned and said: 
"The foolhardies of Sassoun? As I know them. . . 
Would they give you the things you want? [I wonder.] "

	3

Gosbadin set out with his army, 
Marched on, approached Sassoun, 
And pitched his tents on the plain. 
With forty picked men and forty camels 
He went to Tzenov Hovan 
To collect the tribute of seven years. 
He said: "Melik has sent us 
To collect the tribute of seven years."


Hovan was alarmed - fearful of what David would do. 
He called him and said: 
"David, today I am craving for wild sheep's meat. 
Go, shoot a sheep so that I can have some of its meat." 
Under this pretense he sent David to the mountains 
So that he would not know that they pay tribute. 
David went to the mountains. 
Gosbadin and Vergo set out 
And gathered forty maidens, shut them in a hayloft; 
They gathered forty tall women 
And shut them in another hayloft; 
Gathered forty short women 
And shut them in a separate hayloft; 
They took the old widow's daughter, 
They took cattle, heifers, oxen, and cows, 
And corralled them in other haylofts. 
Soudin, Charkhadin, Badin, Gosbadin 
Then went to the underground treasure house, 
Sat around the koursy 
To watch Vergo measure off the gold 
And pour it into Melik's sacks. 
Meanwhile Melik's army entered Sassoun, 
Sacked and pillaged the city, 
And carried away the women and the loot. 

	4

After hunting among the mountains, 
David came down, 
Carrying a wild sheep at the end of his spear. 
He entered Sassoun. 
Taking a rusty little knife, 
He went to the turnip field of the old widow, 
Pulled out a turnip, peeled it with the rusty knife, 
And munching it, returned to the city. 
What did he see as he entered the city? 
On other days when he came back to the city, 
He saw people chatting, jesting, laughing. 
But on that day, as he entered Sassoun, 
It seemed as if the city was buried under ashes. 
People were weeping, moaning and lamenting, 
Mothers and children had lost each other. 
David found the old widow - 
Her arms crossed over her breast, 
Weeping, moaning, swaying back and forth, and saying: 
"Ruin, ruin upon you, Sassoun! 
The only daughter I had is taken into slavery in Msr." 
Hearing this, David asked the old widow: 
"What did I hear? What has happened, Old One?" 
She said: "May Krogh-death take you, David, 
You turnip-eating foolhardy Sassounite, 
May your horse-saddle remain unmounted."
David asked: "Why are you cursing me? 
What have I done, Old One? "
The old widow asked: "Who is ruling Sassoun now? "
"My uncle Vergo," said David; 
"Why do you curse me, Nana?" 
"Why shouldn't I curse you?" said the Old One. 
"We raised our daughters 
With so much suffering and heartache, 
Vergo came, took them away 
And shut them up in haylofts 
So that they can be sent to Msrah Melik. 
Go and see, Gosbadin is at your uncle's, 
Collecting tribute for Melik. 
Why should we pay tribute?" 
David asked: "Old One, Old One, 
Who is Gosbadin? What is the tribute for?" 
The old widow said: "You are asking who Gosbadin is? 
Melik has sent Gosbadin 
[Chanting:] 
To take forty short women, 
To take forty tall women, 
To take forty virgin maidens, 
To take cows and oxen, 
Forty loads of gold and silver. 
He has locked all the maidens and women 
In three big haylofts. 
Now they are measuring off the gold." 

David was angered. 
He grabbed the old widow's hand and said: 
"Old One, come and show me where they are." 
The old widow showed David 
The haylofts where the short women, tall women, 
And young maidens were locked in. 
David smashed the doors of the three haylofts 
And freed the women and maidens. 
He said: "Mothers, sisters, 
Come out, go to your homes, 
Pray and give thanks for your release. 
I will put an end to your troubles."
Then he went, opened the door of the other haylofts, 
Freed the cattle and cows, and said to them: 
"God's creatures, go back to your owners' barns." 
David then took the old widow by the hand and said: 
"Old One, now show me the treasure house 
Where they are measuring off the gold." 
The old widow took him there, stood aside and said: 
"David, unless you let go my hand, 
I cannot show you where it is." 
David let go her hand. 
She said: "There it is, see, there it is." 
And she pointed to the door of the treasure house. 


	5 

David went to the treasure house. 
He saw forty pahlevans, 
Sword in hand, sitting [guard] at the door - 
Twenty on one side and twenty on the other side. 
He greeted them and asked: 
"Will you see what my uncle is doing?" 
They said: "Why do you ask?" 
"He needs help," David said, "I want to help him." 
The pahlevans said: 
"What has he been doing, and what will you be doing?" 
David was angered over this reply. 
He laid down the wild sheep he had shot, 
And twisted off the heads of the forty pahlevans 
As if they were chickens. 
Then he picked up the wild sheep 
And went inside the treasure house. 
Entering the storeroom, 
He saw the gold piled on the floor. 
Hovan was holding the sack open, 
Vergo with a measure [pail] in his hand 
Was scooping the gold, passing it to Hovan. 
They were pouring and scooping, pouring and scooping, 
And filling sack loads for Msr.
His uncles, perspiring heavily, were drenched in sweat.
Looking around, David saw
Badin, Gosbadin, Soudin, Charkhadin 
Sitting around the Koursy. 
With his protruding lips one tiz wide 
And sharp, pointed whiskers, 
Gosbadin was a fierce-looking, frightful sight. 
As Uncle Vergo was measuring off the gold, 
Saying, 'two,' 
Gosbadin was saying, 'one.' 

David was angry; his eyes were bloodshot. 
Hovan saw David entering, 
But poor Vergo did not. 

David raised such a shout at Vergo, 
That, out of fright, Vergo lost control of his bowels. 
Seeing David behind him, he said: 
"Death take you, David, 
Your father once shouted at me and frightened me; 
Now, you shouted like him." 
Turning to Tzenov Hovan, David asked: 
"Uncle, what are you doing?" 
He said: "Foolhardy David, 
We are wiping off the stains on your arm."
"Where are the stains on my arm, Uncle? 
There are no stains, don't you see?" 
Hovan said: "Look, there, over your shoulder."
David threw down the wild sheep off his shoulder, 
Gently held Vergo's hand, and said: 
"Uncle Vergo, Uncle Hovan, you are too old, 
You cannot measure off Sassoun's gold. 
Let me do it and fill the sacks. 
If Melik wants tribute, 
I will pay that tribute." 
The pahlevans said: "Send that brat away; do your work." 
David said: "No, I will do the measuring." 
Tzenov Hovan said: "David, go away, 
You have nothing to do with this." 
"No," said David, "I will not go.  Give it to me." 
He snatched the measuring pail from his uncle's hand, 
Turned the pail upside down and said: 
"Uncle, pour, pour the gold."
Hovan poured a shovel of gold on the bottom-up pail. 
With a stick David wiped the gold off, 
Picked up the empty pail, feigned pouring it 
Into the sack and said: 
"This is one-two. "
Gosbadin flew into a rage. He shouted at David: 
"What are you doing, you fool? 
Go away, I will chop your head off."
Then he shouted: 
"Tzenov Hovan, are you playing a game?
Have you brought this brat to laugh at us? 
You must pay the tribute of seven years. 
If you do not, I will go back and tell Melik. 
He will come, pillage and destroy Sassoun. "
David became angry; he got up, and 
Turning his head, looked at Gosbadin, 
Picked up the measuring pail, and, invoking: 
"By the Bread and Wine, the Eternal Lord, 
And High Madonna of Marout, "
He hurled the pail at Gosbadin. 
Gosbadin ducked his head. The pail hit the wall. 
If he had not dodged the blow, 
The pail would have knocked his head off. 
Gosbadin got up and ran away. 
David chased him, caught him, 
Cut off his lips, pulled out his teeth 
And stuck them in rows on his forehead. 
He put him on a horse, 
Tied his feet to the belly of the horse, and said to him: 
"Now, go, take greetings to your king and tell him that 
Mher's son, David, did this. Tell him also not to come again 
And take away the women and maidens of Sassoun. 
The House of Sassoun is not fallen 
So that he can come and exact tribute from us. 
Let him have Msr, we will keep Sassoun. 
If he is not satisfied, let him stop at nothing. "


	6 

Badin, Gosbadin, Soudin, Charkhadin, 
Beaten and helpless, deserted their soldiers 
And fled to Msr. 
Gosbadin's soldiers, carrying their plunder, 
Were out of the boundaries of Sassoun. 

David mounted his horse, rode on, 
Overtook Gosbadin's soldiers and shouted to them: 
"Where are you taking these people? 
Where are you taking this plunder? 
Leave them and go away before it is too late. 
I pity you. Don't let me chop your heads off. "
They said: "You are one, we are a thousand, 
How can you stop us? "
David raised his spear, fell upon them 
And slaughtered them all. 
He freed the men, women, and maidens, 
Took the plunder back to Sassoun, 
Called the townspeople and said to them: 
"Let everyone come, 
Identify and take away his belongings. 
He who has given goods, 
Let him come and take back only his own goods. 
He who has given gold or coin,
Let him come and take back only his own gold.
But I will chop off the hand of anyone
Who takes more than his own, even by a millet-seed. 
Let everyone take only what he has given. "

David gave back to the people 
All their goods, gold, and coin. 
Then he went home. 


	7 

Soudin, Charkhadin, Badin, Gosbadin, 
Terrified, reached Msr. 
The women of Msr were gathered 
At a fountain to fill their water jugs. 
They saw Gosbadin with his mouth open, 
As if he was laughing. They said: 
"Gosbadin is coming back with tribute."
 
But as he came near to them, 
They saw that his lips were cut off, 
His teeth were pulled out and stuck on his forehead. 
The women said: "Look, Our Gosbadin! 
Look at the way he is wobbling, 
Look at the way he is slobbering whey." 
And as he came nearer to them, They jeered at him, saying: 
[Chanting:] 
"Hey, Gosbadin, braggart Gosbadin, 
You went to Sassoun to bring booty, 
Forty tall women to load camels, 
Forty short women to grind grain, 
Forty beautiful virgin maidens, 
Forty sacks of silver and gold, 
And red milch cows 
For our butter and dry-curd. 
Where are the red cows?
Where are your women?
We see now you are back wobbling,
With rows of your teeth stuck on your forehead. 
You, mud-plastered braggart, 
You went away like a wild wolf, 
And you came back like a whipped dog; 
Your spear hangs from your neck 
Like a dog's whipping stick; 
Your mouth is wide open like a window, 
Spittle drools from it like the whey from a curd-bag, 
And swarms of flies are feasting on it."
 
Gosbadin hung his head in shame and 
Turned his horse to go the other way. 
The women saw that their men 
Had not come back with him. 
With their eyes pinned to the road, 
They shouted: 
"Where did you leave our husbands? "
Gosbadin turned back and said: 
[Chanting:] 
"You jabbering shrews, I thought Sassoun was a land of plains, 
I did not know that it was rockbound. 
Their young lads are like demons, 
Their arrows are like the beam of an oil press, 
The blades of their grass are like spears, 
Their swords are like thunderbolts that slash a man 
And tear his carcass [open] like a window. 
Your husbands fell in battle there. 
When the rains fall in the spring, 
Floods from Sassoun will bring 
The noses and ears of your husbands
Your butter and curd. "


	8 

A day or two later, 
Msrah Melik asked in his Council of State: 
"Has Gosbadin not returned from Sassoun 
With loot and tribute? "
They said to Melik: "Hal! hawal! 
Yes, Gosbadin has returned to Msr. "
Melik said: "Summon him before me. "
But Gosbadin was too ashamed to appear [before Melik].
 
The kinsmen of the slaughtered soldiers of Gosbadin 
Gathered at Melik's gate and demanded: 
"Summon Gosbadin to Melik's court for a trial. "
Melik sent four men after Gosbadin. 
"Go, bring him here by force." They went and said: 
"Gosbadin, Melik commands you to come with us. 
If you do not, we will take you to him by force. "
When they took Gosbadin to Melik's presence, 
Melik saw that his teeth had been pulled out 
And stuck on his forehead. 
Melik, enraged, asked him: "What has happened to you? 
[Chanting:] 
Before you left, you boasted that you were very brave, 
You said that you would go and plunder Sassoun. 
Where are they? Let me see them: 
Forty tall women, 
Forty short women, 
Forty beautiful virgin maidens. 
What did you do in Sassoun? 
You had so many brave men, 
Where are they now? "

Gosbadin replied: "Long may you live, O King! 
David faced us in Sassoun. 
He ignored your order, slaughtered our soldiers 
And did not pay the tribute of seven years. 
He mutilated me and said, 
'Go, take my greetings to Msrah Melik. 
Let him come himself to collect the tribute; 
I will not pay any tribute. 
Let him have Msr; we will keep Sassoun. 
If he is not satisfied, let him do what he can.' 
David has become a very brave young man. 
There is no one as brave as he. "


	9 

Hearing this, Melik became furious; he saw blood. 
He went home [to his mother] and said: 
"Mother, I wanted to kill David on that day, 
But you did not let me. 
Now, do you see how defiant he is? 
In vain I did what you said. "
"No, said his mother, you did not do what I said, 
You did what Gosbadin said. "
Melik asked: "What did you say that I did not do? "
His mother said: "Had you done what I told you, 
You would have gone to Sassoun 
To visit David, twice a year, 
And you would have invited him to your home. 
That would have pleased him; 
He would have thought, 'I have a brother.' 
Then no one could have spoken ill of you. "
Melik said: "But Mother, I am an Arab, 
David is an Armenian. How can he be my brother? "
"Melik," said Ismil Khatoun, 
"Don't you understand? 
Many people, Arabs and Armenians, become brothers; 
They visit each other and help one another. 
David was the child we nursed and raised. 
If you had treated him well, 
He would have listened to you. . . 
But you did not visit David, 
You did not invite him to your home. What right did you have 
To demand seven years' tribute from him? 
David did what he thought he should do. [He retaliated.] "
"Mother," said Melik, 
"The things David has done to me 
Have put me to shame. 
I cannot show my face in the city. "
"Melik," said Ismil Khatoun, 
"You have nothing more to do with David. 
The score is settled evenly. 
I will send a letter to David 
To reconcile him with you. 
Have nothing more to do with him. "
But would Melik be mollified?  "Mother, he said, 
When I did what you said, I suffered in the end. 
Either I will kill David, or David will kill me. "
"Melik," said Ismil Khatoun, "listen to me, 
You cannot kill David. "
When she said, "You cannot kill David," Melik became angry, 
He stood up, took his vizier's hand: 
"Let us go," he said.