Jesus Story in Tabasaran

Tabasarans are one of the ethnic groups of Daghestan. The Tabasaran language is considered to be one of the three hardest languages in the world.

Jesus Story is an audio version of Jesus Film.

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Jesus Film in Dargin

Dargins are the second largest ethnic group in Daghestan (the eastern part of the Northern Caucasus).


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Jesus Film in Avar

Avars are the largest ethnic group in Daghestan (the eastern part of the Northern Caucasus).


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Jesus Film in Adygey (Circassian)

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Jesus Film in Chechen

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Jesus Story in Chechen
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Jesus Story is an audio version of Jesus Film.

Ingush Ethics: Ezdel

Ingush ethical code Ezdel has a lot in common with Chechen and Circassian ethics, though in some aspects it is different not only from Circassian ethics, but also from Chechen ethics. The Ingush word "ezdel" means "good manners, civility, delicacy, tact, courteousness, polite manners, politeness, decency, propriety, decorum, morality, morals, courtesy." The corresponding Chechen word is "özdangalla" and the corresponding Circassian word is "adygaghe."

Here are some principles of Ezdel from A. H. Tankiev Ezdel - Ingush Ethics (Russian text: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6):

1. Do not lift up yourself when you have joy, do not be discouraged when you have sorrow.
The first part of this principle means that whatever success a person has, whether he became very famous, very rich, obtained a high position or whatever else, he should not become arrogant, proud, boastful or think of themselves as being superior than others. The second part of the principle means that whatever sorrows and problems a person has, he should suffer silently, not expressing their emotions, without complaints, not asking for pity or sympathy. Chechen and Circassian also have this principle. Chechen, Ingush, and Circassian men never cry whatever sorrows they have. To cry is considered to be very shameful for a man. Only women are allowed to cry.

2. Do not hurry and do not forget.
This means: "Think carefully before doing something. However, do not forget to do what you need to do."

3. Do not give up a difficult task, do not neglect an easy task.
This means that both difficult and easy tasks should be done.

4. Do not say: "I did it" if it were not you who did it, do not neglect a person who did it.
It means: "Do not try to present other's work as yours. Appreciate what other people do."

5. Do not say a word without consideration, do not give up after you said.
This means that a person is not obligated to promise anything. However, after he promised something, he has to keep his promise.

6. Do not require others to do what you are able to do yourself.
This principle means that everyone has different abilities and skills. A person should not expect that everyone else will be able to do what he is able to do.

7. Do not make a step without looking forward, do not say a word without looking backward.
This principle teaches to carefully consider the results of words and actions before saying or doing them.

8. If you think that you are intelligent, do not become arrogant; if you think that you are courageous, do not boast.
This principle teaches to be humble.

9. Do not be sweet: everyone will "eat" you; do not be bitter: everyone will throw you away.
The first part of this principle means that a person should not be too much in keeping Ezdel and trying to please everyone. Otherwise, some people will misuse it. The second part means that a person should not neglect keeping Ezdel and become rude, arrogant, impolite, not respectful to others. Otherwise, people will not respect and trust him.

10. Stretch your legs according to your blanket.
This means that a person should act according to his capacity, not according to his desires.

11. Do not do things you will regret about.
This principle teaches that before doing something, a person should think whether he is not going to regret that he did it. In other words, a person should think about consequences of his planned actions and should not do immoral things.

12. Everyone should be a prince of his soul.
This principle means that a person should control himself, do moral things, and abstain from doing immoral things.

13. Do not tell others what you do not want others to tell you.
This principle means to avoid saying hurtful things, bad words, and any such things. It teaches to speak in polite and respectful manner. People should treat one another with mutual respect and trust.

14. The one who does not get angry is an ass, the one who keeps being angry is also an ass.
This means that there are situations when a person should get angry and it would be foolish not to get angry. On the other hand, when such situation is over, a person should stop being angry and it would be foolish to keep being angry. There is a difference between getting angry and getting offended. According to Ezdel, men are allowed only to get angry. For a man to get offended is considered to be a weakness which is not allowed for him. Only women and children are allowed to get offended.

15. What will happen if you fear, will happen if you do not fear.
It means that whether a person fears or not, his fear will not change the things that happen. So, there is no need and no sense to fear.

16. Do not catch a master's (or a father's) beard, but if you did, do not loose it.
This principle teaches that a person should try to avoid conflicts, especially, with people who have authority over him. However, if a conflict began, he should not give in.

17. Beat the one who beat you, prick the one who pricked you.
This principle teaches that a person should repay his offender exactly as he did to him.

18. Do not be afraid of a hot person, do not trust a calm person.
This means that quick-tempered people are usually frank and honest. They do not pretend. However, calm and kind people may be hypocrites. They also may act unexpectedly.

19. Keep your tongue from a bad word, keep your hand from other's possession.
Both bad words and theft are against Ezdel.

20. Do good to people as if you are going to die today, but live in society and be interested in what is going on as if you are never going to die.
This principle teaches that to do people good should be a person's goal. He should not delay doing good to people. However, even when a person is old, he should not just passively wait for death, but should be interested and involved in the things around him as if he is never going to die.

21. If you fear difficulties, you will not reach good.
It is not easy to do good things. In order to do them, a person should overcome fear of difficulties.

Circassian Ethics: Werk Khabze

Konakhalla is the highest level of Chechen ethics. Likewise, Werk Khabze is the highest level of Circassian ethics. Unlike Chechens, Circassians had a feudal society. So, Werk Khabze was originally noblemen's and warriors' code of ethics. The word "werk" means "nobleman," the word "khabze" means "law, tradition, custom." The general part of Circassian ethics is called "Adyghe Khabze" where "Agyghe means "Circassian." Werk Khabze is closer to Bushido than Konakhalla because both Circassians and Japanese had a feudal society while Chechens had a democratic society.


Translated from Russian

Werk Khabze may be divided into several key points, including the following things:

1. Faithfulness. First of all, it implied faithfulness to the suzerain and their estate. Noblemen served princes from generation to generation. If a nobleman changed his suzerain, it was a great shame. Noblemen kept faithfulness to their prince even if he was defeated in a war and emigrated to other nations. In this case, they followed the prince and left their motherland. At the battle, noblemen fought near their princes and if the prince was killed, they had to take his body away from the battle filed or to be killed themselves.

Faithfulness also included devotion to relatives and respect to parents. All the family members had to submit to the father, and a younger brother had to submit to an elder brother. A nobleman had to keep family dignity and revenge everyone who attempted to murder or violated dignity of members of his family.

2. Politeness. It included several points:

- Respect toward people who had a higher position in the social hierarchy. According to Circassian customs, respect had to be mutual regardless of different positions in the social hierarchy.

- Respect toward older people. Each older person had to be respected according to Circassian etiquette: younger people had to stand up when he came in and not sit down without his permission; they should not talk, but only respectfully answer his questions; they had to serve him at the table, and so on. All this respect had to be done regardless of social position.

- Respect toward a woman. First of all, it meant respect toward mother, but also respect to all the females. Each noblemen considered that it was an honor for him to carry out a woman's or girl's request. It was a shame to unsheathe an armor at a woman's presence or not to sheathe it immediately when she came. If a nobleman occasionally said a bad word at woman's presence, he had to give her a valuable gift in order to redeem his guilt. A Circassian woman could not be an object or a subject of vendetta. It was a great shame for a man, including a husband, to beat a woman. A violation of dignity of mother, wife or sister were the highest offense to a man. Such violations usually caused the offender's death.

- Politeness included respect to any person, including a stranger.

A peculiarity of Circassian mentality was respect of a personal dignity and personal freedom and consequently a very expressed individualism. Probably, it was one of the reasons why their political system was democratic and there was no opportunity for tyranny or dictatorship. This democracy was expressed even in military area. In spite of the social hierarchy, servility was against the free spirit of Circassians.

Politeness included prohibition of bad language, manhandling, and other expressions of enmity. For noblemen, it was not permitted even to shout at one another.

Talkativeness also was considered to be improper, especially, for a prince.

Modesty was also a part of politeness. Brave Circassians never talked about their feats of arms, considering that it would be improper. According to Circassian opinion, only other people could speak about a person's bravery.

3. Courage. It included the following points:

- Bravery. It was mandatory for a nobleman. If a warrior acted cowardly, he could redeem his guilt to society only if he did a feat of armor or died.

- Resolution and coolness. It implied that in any situation a nobleman had to keep self-control, be calm, never be in panic or fear.

- Patience and tolerance. A genuine nobleman had to be stronger than his human weaknesses. It was considered to be shameful and condemned if he complained at being tired, sick, cold, hot, hungry or even mentioned tasty food.

Pkhari: Another Version of the Myth about Pkharmat (Chechen Prometheus)

Pkhari (Pkhäri)

From K. Z. Chokayev Our Language - Our History, pp. 170-172. Translated from Chechen.

This myth was written down in 1940 in Zumsa by Ahmad Suleimanov from an old man whose name was Gela.

Note. Pkharmat and Pkhari (Pkhäri) are two variants of the same name. In another version of this myth, he is called Pkharmat. In the version below, his name is Pkhari (Pkhäri), but two times he is called Pkharmat.

Long time ago, it was very cold on the earth. People's life was difficult. They did not have fire. Sela [god of fire] had all the fire. Narth-Orstkhois are our ancestors. Narth-Orstkhois were tall people. They did not have any tools. However, they had consciousness and mind.

At that time, there lived a Nart whose name was Pkhari. He made bows, he made arrows, he made tools to soften leather. He was the most kind and strong. Pkhari had a good horse. It was called Turpal.

Pkhari put on warm clothes, took armor and told Narths: "I am going in order to bring you fire from Sela's hearth. Do not worry about me." Narths said: "Let your way be good!" They gave Pkhari oil, coal, and combs. "If Sela pursues you, scatter coal on the road, and there will be dark night between you and Sela. If Sela passes through the night, pour oil, and there will be mud between you two. Let your arm be like of a duck, let your leg be like of a stallion."

Seven days and seven nights Pkhari has been on his way. Pkhari passed through seven gorges and seven mountains. He reached Mount Bashlam [Mount Kazbek]. He rode on Mount Bashlam on his horse. There were beautiful herbs and flowers on this mountain. A white bird came to Pkhari. It spoke our language: "What are you doing, where are you going?"

"I am going in order to take a smoldering log from Sela's hearth. Help me, white bird," asked Pkhari.

"I will help you. However, you are in a danger. It is hard to argue with Sela. Sela is ruthless. Make your ear four times more sensitive, make your eye four times more clear!" told white bird Sela-Sata [goddess; the word "selasat" means "oriole"]. "Approaching Sela, stretch your arm to the hearth unnoticed!" "My arm is like of a duck, my leg is like of a stallion, my eye is clear like of a wolf, my ear is sensitive like of a deer!" replied Pkhari.

Sela-Sata said: "Let your horse Turpal strike its hoof and rush like a big cloud to Sela's favorite hearth. Slow it down and turn to the fire. Then, you will be able to stretch your arm to the hearth..." said bird Sela-Sata.

As the white bird Sela-Sata advised, Nart Pkhari's horse stroke its hoof and rushed like a big cloud. Having reached Sela's hearth, Pkhari slowed it down. Then, it stamped its hooves near the fire and ran like a big cloud. When it jumped high, Pkhari took a smoldering log with his hand. Horse Turpal ran swifter than wind.

Sela heard noise and woke up. He woke falcon Ida that fulfilled his errands, Uzha that had sickle-like teeth and one eye, and dragon Sarmak that spewed fire out of its mouth. Sela sent them to catch riding Pkhari.

Turpal said: "Someone follows me. Look who it is." "Uzha is reaching us!" replied Pkhari.

"Throw your comb," said Turpal. Pkhari threw his comb. A thick forest grew before Uzhu. Uzha stayed in the middle of the forest.

Turpal said again: "Look behind. I hear loud noise." Looking behind, Pkhari saw that Sarmak was reaching them.

"Pour your oil!" said Turpal.

Pkhari poured his oil. Mud appeared on Sarmak's way. The dragon got stuck in the mud.

"I hear loud noise behind me, like of splitting sky. Look what it is!" Looking behind, Pkhari saw that huge falcon Ida was reaching them.

"Huge dragon Ida is reaching us!" said Nart Pkhari. "Scatter your coal!" said Turpal.

Nart Pkhari scattered coal from his hands.

Dark night, like a wall that cannot be passed through, stood before the falcon. Ida became blind and stopped.

Sela got angry.

Sela threw smoldering logs to the courage Nart who stole fire from his hearth.

It seemed that sky burst, earth shook, and mountains crashed. White bird Sela-Sata was flying before the courage Nart and horse Turpal. Pkhari's body was not harmed and his horse's body was not harmed when Sela threw his smoldering logs and Pkhari threw himself to the ground.

Sela got angry even more. Then, he untied his sack with dark night. It became so dark that Pkharmat did not see ears of his horse and Turpal could not see even its reins. White bird Sela-Sata flied in front of them and showed them the way by her wonderful singing. Sela saw that dark night was unable to stop Pkharmat and his horse. Then, he untied his other sack with cold. Wind, cold and dark night together tried to stop and catch Nart Pkhari and his horse Turpal. They were unable to catch and stop courage Nart Pkhari and his horse Turpal.

"Do not come back to sky! Let sky not be calm for you!" Sela-Sata did not come back to sky.

Uzha that has a cup-like eye and sickle-like teeth, with chains took Pkhari to the summit of Mount Bashlam and put there. He gathered all the ice, snow, and cold there. Narts are unable to release Pkhari because they cannot approach him. Being angry at Pkhari that he stole fire, Sela ordered dragon to lie around Pkhari. The falcon tortures him. It has black wing, steel beak and steel talons.

It sits down on Pkhari's knees.

"Do you surrender, being defeated? Do you repent for what you have done?" asks falcon Ida.

"I do not surrender and am not defeated. I took a smoldering log from Sela's hearth for the sake of people. I do not repent for what I have done!" - replies Pkhari.

Ida wounds Pkhari with its beck in the most painful place. After that, it asks again:

"Do you surrender, being defeated? Do you repent for what you have done?" Pkhari answers in the same way as the first time.

Ida makes a bigger wound at Pkharmat's body. Ida wounds Pkhari's liver. Pkhari is said to suffer this way. He is said to suffer without groaning and without tears. Pkhari's horse Turpal is said to stand on this Baslam, being exhausted. It does not eat and does not drink.

Bird Sela-Sata is said to be very sad. It comes to Pkhari and sings its beautiful songs for him.

It is not white now, but yellow, red, black, blue because when Pkhari was caring a smoldering log from the sky, Sela threw smoldering logs that singed it.

Sela was once frightened, very frightened that people took fire.

The one who frightened him is honorable.

The one who frightened him for our sake is Pkhari. He is Pkharmat.