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REMEMBERING KOMITAS VARDAPET
The Centuries Old Armenian Epic Song - MOGKATS MIRZA
Khatchatur I. Pilikian, London, United Kingdom
Khatchatur I. Pilikian
The song is both a lament and praise for the Armenian freedom fighter
who genuinely believed in peace, hence accepted the offer for peace
from the invading Persian Pasha, the usurper Kholod Pasha. Enticing
the Armenian Prince of Mogk with the promise of a peace deal, the
Persian Pasha poisoned the valiant freedom fighter--that had come, on
his Bedouin Horse, to the Persian Pasha in Jezireh -- during a
sumptuous banquet hosted by the usurping Pasha himself.
The rage of the folk poetry and music is directed not towards the
neighbouring people - in this case the Persians-but against their
usurping ruler. Just like in the Epic of David of Sassoon.
In the Epic of Sassoun, when the orphan child David (having lost
mother and father) refuses to suckle from the breast of any Armenian
woman, his wise uncle Dzenov Ohan (Ohan the Vociferous) puts him on
the back of his father's horse Koorkik Jalal (Splendid Young Horse)
and the horse takes him to the land of Mosul-Nineveh ruled by the
Arabs, the rulers of Armenia of the day! There his father Maher's Arab
sweetheart breastfeeds the enfant David... This is the wisdom of genuine
folk imagery. Mind you, the same David, when grown up, fights against
the Arab Melik, his stepbrother but an invader of his ancestral
homeland. Alas, some translators of the Epic have omitted that part in
their editions, betraying the original text which luxuriates in the
notion that peoples are essentially brothers and sisters. They are
abused by their oppressors to eventually force them fight each other,
hence serve, in modern parlance, as cannon fodder, to safeguard the
oppressors wealth, plundered from the oppressed peoples.
The River Moks, flowing south toward the Tigris River, in the province
of Mogk, south of Lake Van
Komitas had just transcribed the Mokats Mirza song, when the venerable
poet Avedik Issahakian meets him in Etchmisdzin. Komitas
enthusiastically sings the song to Issahakian, enchanting the poet
with his trove. Issahian records down what Komitas told him about the
song:
"This ancient song has come down to us from the heathen times. Observe
how the lyrics and the tune are in compact unison. It has its birth in
the high mountains, waterfall cascades and petulant rocks. It has
burst out of the soul of our valiant forefathers. It is a song that
Dzenov Ohan might have sung to David of Sassoun ..."
Here is my English translation of the poem of the Epic Song,
Mogkats Mirza:
LAMENT FOR THE PRINCE OF MOGK -
Transcribed by Komitas Vardapet(1869-1035)
(The epic poem/song covers fourteen verses in total. I have translated
the first three and the last, the 14th verse).
Original manuscript by Komitas Vardapet
It was Friday, becoming Saturday
In Malakiava it was a festive day,
When a letter arrived
>>From the town of Jezireh
It was handed over to the Prince of Mogk.
Alăs A thousand lament for the Prince of Mogk.
He read with his sweet voice
But soon wrinkles besieged his eyes
And the Furies pulled down his chin
A red harvest coloured his face.
Alăs A thousand lament for the prince of Mogk
He called upon the farmer of his lands:
"Bring me fast my Bedouin horse
Place on her the saddle made of oyster shells
I am going on a journey
To the land of Jezireh",
Alăs A thousand lament for the prince of Moigk.
. . .
(Eventually the Prince succumbs to the Pasha's poison)
There came the Mogkites and assembled
They gathered around the Prince of Mogk
They carried him to the mountain cave
And left open the west-wind gate.
Do rest in Peace
For a thousand years.
http://www.ramgavar.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=630%3 Akhatchatur-i-pilikian-the-centuries-old-armenian-epic-song-mogkats-mirza&catid=56%3Aramgavar-mamoul&Itemid=27&lang=en
The Centuries Old Armenian Epic Song - MOGKATS MIRZA
Khatchatur I. Pilikian, London, United Kingdom
Khatchatur I. Pilikian
The song is both a lament and praise for the Armenian freedom fighter
who genuinely believed in peace, hence accepted the offer for peace
from the invading Persian Pasha, the usurper Kholod Pasha. Enticing
the Armenian Prince of Mogk with the promise of a peace deal, the
Persian Pasha poisoned the valiant freedom fighter--that had come, on
his Bedouin Horse, to the Persian Pasha in Jezireh -- during a
sumptuous banquet hosted by the usurping Pasha himself.
The rage of the folk poetry and music is directed not towards the
neighbouring people - in this case the Persians-but against their
usurping ruler. Just like in the Epic of David of Sassoon.
In the Epic of Sassoun, when the orphan child David (having lost
mother and father) refuses to suckle from the breast of any Armenian
woman, his wise uncle Dzenov Ohan (Ohan the Vociferous) puts him on
the back of his father's horse Koorkik Jalal (Splendid Young Horse)
and the horse takes him to the land of Mosul-Nineveh ruled by the
Arabs, the rulers of Armenia of the day! There his father Maher's Arab
sweetheart breastfeeds the enfant David... This is the wisdom of genuine
folk imagery. Mind you, the same David, when grown up, fights against
the Arab Melik, his stepbrother but an invader of his ancestral
homeland. Alas, some translators of the Epic have omitted that part in
their editions, betraying the original text which luxuriates in the
notion that peoples are essentially brothers and sisters. They are
abused by their oppressors to eventually force them fight each other,
hence serve, in modern parlance, as cannon fodder, to safeguard the
oppressors wealth, plundered from the oppressed peoples.
The River Moks, flowing south toward the Tigris River, in the province
of Mogk, south of Lake Van
Komitas had just transcribed the Mokats Mirza song, when the venerable
poet Avedik Issahakian meets him in Etchmisdzin. Komitas
enthusiastically sings the song to Issahakian, enchanting the poet
with his trove. Issahian records down what Komitas told him about the
song:
"This ancient song has come down to us from the heathen times. Observe
how the lyrics and the tune are in compact unison. It has its birth in
the high mountains, waterfall cascades and petulant rocks. It has
burst out of the soul of our valiant forefathers. It is a song that
Dzenov Ohan might have sung to David of Sassoun ..."
Here is my English translation of the poem of the Epic Song,
Mogkats Mirza:
LAMENT FOR THE PRINCE OF MOGK -
Transcribed by Komitas Vardapet(1869-1035)
(The epic poem/song covers fourteen verses in total. I have translated
the first three and the last, the 14th verse).
Original manuscript by Komitas Vardapet
It was Friday, becoming Saturday
In Malakiava it was a festive day,
When a letter arrived
>>From the town of Jezireh
It was handed over to the Prince of Mogk.
Alăs A thousand lament for the Prince of Mogk.
He read with his sweet voice
But soon wrinkles besieged his eyes
And the Furies pulled down his chin
A red harvest coloured his face.
Alăs A thousand lament for the prince of Mogk
He called upon the farmer of his lands:
"Bring me fast my Bedouin horse
Place on her the saddle made of oyster shells
I am going on a journey
To the land of Jezireh",
Alăs A thousand lament for the prince of Moigk.
. . .
(Eventually the Prince succumbs to the Pasha's poison)
There came the Mogkites and assembled
They gathered around the Prince of Mogk
They carried him to the mountain cave
And left open the west-wind gate.
Do rest in Peace
For a thousand years.
http://www.ramgavar.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=630%3 Akhatchatur-i-pilikian-the-centuries-old-armenian-epic-song-mogkats-mirza&catid=56%3Aramgavar-mamoul&Itemid=27&lang=en