Tariel's Departure for Khataet'hi and Great Battles
419	"IN the morning I mounted, I commanded the trumpet and bugle to be sounded; I cannot tell thee of all the armies nor of their readiness to mount; I, a lion, set forth for Khataet'hi, none can accuse me of cowardice; the soldiers marched without a road, they followed no track.
420	"I CROSSED the boundaries of India, I went on a considerable time; a man met me from Ramaz, the khan over Khataet'hi; he repeated to me a message conciliatory to the heart: ""Your Indian goats are able to eat even our wolves.'
421	"HE presented me with astounding treasures as a gift from Ramaz; he said: " 'He entreats thee, destroy us not, it is not a thing thou shouldst do; put us on our oath, thereby are our necks bound with twigs, without devastation we shall deliver over to thee ourselves our children and possessions.
422	"'FORGIVE us in that we have sinned against thee, we ourselves repent; by God, if thou wouldst have mercy on us, bring not thine armies hither, destroy not our land, let not the heavens fall upon us in wrath; we give thee our castles and cities, let a few knights come with thee.'
423	"I PLACED my viziers at my side, we discussed and counselled; they said: 'Thou art young, therefore we sages venture to say to thee, alas! they are exceeding treacherous; we have seen it indeed once already; may they not slay thee treacherously, may they not bring on us woe!
424	"WE counsel thus: Let us go forth with brave heroes only, let the soldiers follow close behind us, let them be apprised of the tidings by a man; if they be true-hearted, trust them, make them swear by God and heaven; if they submit not to thee, pour forth thy wrath and moreover the wrath of heaven upon them.'
425	"THIS advice counselled by the viziers pleased me; I returned a message: 'O King Ramaz, I know thy decisions; life is better than death to thee. We shall not be stopped by stone walls. I will leave the soldiers, I will come with a few, towards thee will I march.'
426	"I TOOK with me three hundred of the soldiers, good brave knights, I went forth and left all the army; I said: 'Wherever I shall go, march over the same fields, follow me closely, help me, I shall call you if I need help.'
427	"I TRAVELLED three days; another man of the same khan met me, again he presented me with many beautiful robes; he said: 'The khan wishes thee to be near him, proud and mighty one; when he meets thee then shalt thou know many such gifts.'
428	"YET more he said: 'What I have told thee is true. I myself come forward to meet thee, I haste to see thee.' I said, 'Tell the khan: Certainly, by God, I shall do your commandment, tenderly shall we meet each other, we shall be like father and son.'
429	"DEPARTED thence I alighted on the bounds of a certain deep forest; again messengers came, they were not shy to salute me, they brought fair steeds as a present to me, they said: 'Of a truth the king would desire to see thee.'
430	"THEY said to me: 'The king informs thee: I myself also come towards thee; having left my house, early to-morrow I shall meet thee.' I kept the messengers, I put up a felt tent not a rich one; I received them very amiably, they lay down together like groomsmen.
431	"NO good deed done to a man can pass away thus. A certain man returned; he came to me and said secretly: 'I owe you a great debt hard for me to pay; I cannot forsake and forget thee.
432	"I WAS to some extent brought up by your father. I heard the treachery planned for you; I ran to let you know of it. It would grieve me to see the elegant-formed, the rose-faced, a corpse. I will tell thee all; hearken to me, be calm.
433	"THAT thou be not vainly deceived, these men are traitors to thee; in one place are hidden for thee one hundred thousand troops, then in another place are thirty thousand; that is why they call upon thee to hasten; if thou take not measures at once mischance will come upon thee.
434	"THE king will come a little way to meet thee whose admirers can never cease; secretly they will be clad in armour; thou trusting them while they cajole thee the soldiers will make smoke, on all sides they will surround, as it is when ten thousand strike one so must they overwhelm thee.'
435	"I SPOKE pleasantly to the man and gave him thanks: 'If I am not slain I shall repay thee for this according to thee desires. Now let not thy comrades suspect; go, be with them. If I forget thee may I be surely lost.'
436	"I TOLD no human being; I kept it secret like gossip. What is to be will be; all advice is equal. But I sent men towards the armies though the way was long; I gave the message: 'Come quickly, hasten over mountain and hill.'
437	"IN the morning I gave a sweet message to the messengers. They were to tell King Ramaz: 'I am coming to meet thee; come, I also come soon.' Another half-day I journeyed on; I took no heed of trouble; there is a providence, if I am to be killed to-day where below can I hide myself!
438	"I MOUNTED a certain peak; I saw dust in the plain. I said to myself: 'King Ramaz is coming; though he has spread a net for me, my sharp sword, my straight lance, will pierce their flesh.' Then I spoke to my troops; I set forth a great plan.
439	"I SAID: 'Brothers, these men are traitors to us; why should the power of your arms be weakened on that account ? Those who die for their kings, upwards their spirits fly! Now let us engage the Khatavians. Why should we gird on the sword in vain !'
440	"PROUDLY, with fierce words, I commanded them to don armour; we clad ourselves for fight in chain coats of mail with shoulder-pieces; I formed squadrons, I set out, I went in great haste; that day my sword cut in pieces mine adversary.
441	"WE approached. They perceived that our forms were clad in armour. A man came with a message from the king; he said: 'We look upon your treachery as untimely, now we see your armour, this causes us displeasure.'
442	"I SENT back a message: 'I too know what thou hast contrived for me; you have made certain plans, but they will not come to pass; give orders, come and fight me as is the law and custom, I have taken my sword in my hand to slay you.'
443	"WHEN the messenger came, why did they send yet another ? They made smoke for the soldiers, they made plain what was hid, they came forth from ambush, they advanced from both sides, they formed into many ranks, though, thank God, they could not harm me.
444	"I TOOK a lance, I applied my hand to helming myself, I was eager for the fray to break them, I extended a stadium's length, I made ranks and advanced in a long line. They drew up innumerable cohorts, they stood calm and undisturbed.
445	"WHEN I came near they looked at me: 'He is a madman,' said they. I, strong-armed, made my way thither where the main body of the army stood; I pierced a man with my lance, his horse I overturned, they both departed from the sun, the lance broke, my hand seized the sword; I praise, 0 sword, him who whetted thee
446	"I SWOOPED in like a falcon among a covey of grey partridges, I threw man upon man, I made a hill of men and horses; the man thrown down by me spins like a dragon-fly; I completely destroyed at one onslaught the two front squadrons.
447	"CROWDING they surrounded me, about me was a great fight; when once I struck none could stand, I made blood spurt forth as from a fountain, he whom I clove hung on his horse like a saddle-bag, wherever I was they fled from me, they were wary of me.
448	"AT the evening hour their watchman cried forth from the summit: 'Stand no longer, let us go, heaven looks again on us in wrath, a terrible dust is coming, we should beware of this, let not their countless tens of thousands of soldiers completely destroy us.'
449	"MY soldiers whom I had not brought with me, when they heard of it, set out, they travelled day and night without stopping, neither plain nor mountain could contain them; they appeared, they beat the kettledrum, the trumpet sounded aloud.
450	THE enemy saw them, they started to flee, we raised a shout, we pursued over the fields in which we had fought our battle. I unhorsed King Ramaz; we found each other with swords. We captured all his armies; we slew them not.
451	"THOSE who fled were overtaken by the rearguard, they began to seize them, to throw down the terrified, the vanquished; Tariel's troops had a reward for their sleeplessness and night-watching; the prisoners, even those that were unwounded, ceased not to wail like sick men.
452	"WE dismounted to rest on the battle-field. I had wounded my arm with the sword; it seemed to me a mere scratch. My armies came to see me and praise me, they could not speak, they knew not how to express their admiration
453	"THE glories which they thrust upon me were sufficient for one man; some blessed me from afar, some tried to kiss me; those nobles who had trained me wept over me, they saw that which had been cut by my sword, they marvelled exceedingly.
454	"I SENT soldiers everywhere to bring in booty; they came together loaded. I was proud of myself; I had dyed the plain with the blood of those who had sought to slay me. I did not fight at the gate of the cities; I seized them without a battle.
455	"I SAID to Ramaz: 'I have learned of thy treacherous deed; now that thou art captured justify thyself; fortify not strongholds, count them all into my hand; else, why should I overlook thy guilt towards me?"
456	RAMAZ said to me: 'I have no more power left; give me one of my lords over whom I may have lordship; I will send him to the guardians of the castles; let me speak with them; I will give all into thine hands, since I make it thy property.'
457	"I GAVE him a lord, I sent knights with him, I caused all the governors of fortresses to be brought before me, they gave the strongholds into my hands; thus I made them repent the war. With what can I compare the abundance of treasure!
458	"THEN I went in to travel through and inspect Khataet'hi; publicly they presented me with the keys of the treasuries; I settled the country, I commanded: 'Be ye without fear, the sun shall not burn you, be assured you will be left unburned.'
459	"I EXAMINED the treasuries one by one from end to end; I should be weary if I mentioned all the wondrous kinds of treasures. I saw together a short cloak and veil; if thou didst see it thou wouldst desire to know its name.
460	"I COULD not learn what stuff it was nor what kind of work; everyone to whom I showed it marvelled and said it was a divine miracle; neither was the basis of the tissue like that of brocade nor carpet, its strength was as if it had been wrought like iron-I might say tempered in fire.
461	"I PUT them aside as a present for her whose ray enlightened me; I chose as a gift for the king whatever was best: a thousand mules and camels, all strong-limbed, I sent them loaded; he also learned the good news."