Blog of Borz Lom (Löma) Nal

Jesus Story in Tabasaran

2011-10-07T20:44:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-07T01:25:00.000-07:00

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

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Jesus Film in Avar

2011-10-06T23:29:00.000-07:00

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

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Jesus Film in Adygey (Circassian)

2011-10-06T22:40:00.001-07:00

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Jesus Film in Chechen

2011-10-06T20:03:00.000-07:00

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Jesus Story in Chechen
Part 1
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Jesus Story is an audio version of Jesus Film.

Ingush Ethics: Ezdel

2011-07-02T04:37:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-27T13:42:00.000-07:00

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)

2010-11-30T19:53:00.000-08:00

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.

Decimal and Vigesimal Systems

2010-10-03T10:48:00.000-07:00

The decimal numeral system is based on 10. The vigesimal numeral system is based on 20. It is generally believed that the decimal numeral system was originated from the number of fingers (and thumbs) on both hands while the vigesimal numeral system was originated from the number of fingers (and thumbs) on both hands plus the number of toes on both feet.

Instead of the decimal numeral system, many Caucasus languages have the vigesimal numeral system. Some linguists tend to consider it as a mixed decimal and vigesimal system because the numbers from 11 to 19 are formed according to the decimal system:
11 = 10 + 1
12 = 10 + 2
13 = 10 + 3
14 = 10 + 4
15 = 10 + 5
16 = 10 + 6
17 = 10 + 7
18 = 10 + 8
19 = 10 + 9

The Batsbi language follows the vigesimal system in the most strict way as it was described by Y. D. Desheriev in his book The Batsbi Language (published in 1953), pp. 190 - 197.
30 = 20 + 10
31 = 20 + 11
32 = 20 + 12
40 = 2 x 20
41 = 2 x 20 + 1
42 = 2 x 20 + 2
50 = 2 x 20 + 10
51 = 2 x 20 + 11
52 = 2 x 20 + 12
60 = 3 x 20
61 = 3 x 20 + 1
62 = 3 x 20 + 2
70 = 3 x 20 + 10
71 = 3 x 20 + 11
72 = 3 x 20 + 12
80 = 4 x 20
81 = 4 x 20 + 1
82 = 4 x 20 + 2
90 = 4 x 20 + 10
91 = 4 x 20 + 11
92 = 4 x 20 + 12
100 = 5 x 20
101 = 5 x 20 + 1
102 = 5 x 20 + 2
120 = 6 x 20
121 = 6 x 20 + 1
122 = 6 x 20 + 2
140 = 7 x 20
141 = 7 x 20 + 1
142 = 7 x 20 + 2
160 = 8 x 20
161 = 8 x 20 + 1
162 = 8 x 20 + 2
180 = 9 x 20
181 = 9 x 20 + 1
182 = 9 x 20 + 2
200 = 10 x 20
220 = 11 x 20
240 = 12 x 20
260 = 13 x 20
280 = 14 x 20
300 = 15 x 20
320 = 16 x 20
340 = 17 x 20
360 = 18 x 20
380 = 19 x 20
400 = 20 x 20
420 = 20 x 20 + 20
440 = 20 x 20 + 2 x 20
460 = 20 x 20 + 3 x 20
480 = 20 x 20 + 4 x 20
500 = 20 x 20 + 5 x 20
520 = 20 x 20 + 6 x 20
540 = 20 x 20 + 7 x 20
560 = 20 x 20 + 8 x 20
580 = 20 x 20 + 9 x 20
600 = 20 x 20 + 10 x 20
620 = 20 x 20 + 11 x 20
640 = 20 x 20 + 12 x 20
660 = 20 x 20 + 13 x 20
680 = 20 x 20 + 14 x 20
700 = 20 x 20 + 15 x 20
720 = 20 x 20 + 16 x 20
740 = 20 x 20 + 17 x 20
760 = 20 x 20 + 18 x 20
780 = 20 x 20 + 19 x 20
800 = 2 x 20 x 20
820 = 2 x 20 x 20 + 20
840 = 2 x 20 x 20 + 2 x 20
860 = 2 x 20 x 20 + 3 x 20
880 = 2 x 20 x 20 + 4 x 20
900 = 2 x 20 x 20 + 5 x 20
920 = 2 x 20 x 20 + 6 x 20
940 = 2 x 20 x 20 + 7 x 20
960 = 2 x 20 x 20 + 8 x 20
980 = 2 x 20 x 20 + 9 x 20
1000 = 2 x 20 x 20 + 10 x 20
1020 = 2 x 20 x 20 + 11 x 20
1040 = 2 x 20 x 20 + 12 x 20
1060 = 2 x 20 x 20 + 13 x 20
1080 = 2 x 20 x 20 + 14 x 20
1100 = 2 x 20 x 20 + 15 x 20
1120 = 2 x 20 x 20 + 16 x 20
1140 = 2 x 20 x 20 + 17 x 20
1160 = 2 x 20 x 20 + 18 x 20
1180 = 2 x 20 x 20 + 19 x 20
1200 = 3 x 20 x 20
1600 = 4 x 20 x 20
2000 = 5 x 20 x 20
2400 = 6 x 20 x 20
2800 = 7 x 20 x 20
3200 = 8 x 20 x 20
3600 = 9 x 20 x 20
4000 = 10 x 20 x 20
4400 = 11 x 20 x 20
4800 = 12 x 20 x 20
5200 = 13 x 20 x 20
5600 = 14 x 20 x 20
6000 = 15 x 20 x 20
6400 = 16 x 20 x 20
6800 = 17 x 20 x 20
7200 = 18 x 20 x 20
7600 = 19 x 20 x 20
8000 = 20 x 20 x 20
8400 = 21 x 20 x 20
8800 = 22 x 20 x 20
9200 = 23 x 20 x 20
9600 = 24 x 20 x 20
10000 = 25 x 20 x 20
and so on

By the time Desheriev researched the Batsbi language, Batsbis began to drop this system. They borrowed the words for 100 and 1000 from Georgian. Thus, they began to simplify this system. Likewise, in the Chechen and Ingush languages, the vigesimal system is simplified (originally, it was the same as in the Batsbi language).
30 = 20 + 10
31 = 20 + 11
32 = 20 + 12
40 = 2 x 20
41 = 2 x 20 + 1
42 = 2 x 20 + 2
50 = 2 x 20 + 10
51 = 2 x 20 + 11
52 = 2 x 20 + 12
60 = 3 x 20
61 = 3 x 20 + 1
62 = 3 x 20 + 2
70 = 3 x 20 + 10
71 = 3 x 20 + 11
72 = 3 x 20 + 12
80 = 4 x 20
81 = 4 x 20 + 1
82 = 4 x 20 + 2
90 = 4 x 20 + 10
91 = 4 x 20 + 11
92 = 4 x 20 + 12
100 = 100
101 = 100 + 1
102 = 100 + 2
110 = 100 + 10
111 = 100 + 11
112 = 100 + 12
120 = 100 + 20
121 = 100 + 20 + 1
122 = 100 + 20 + 2
130 = 100 + 20 + 10
131 = 100 + 20 + 11
132 = 100 + 20 + 12
140 = 100 + 2 x 20
141 = 100 + 2 x 20 + 1
142 = 100 + 2 x 20 + 2
150 = 100 + 2 x 20 + 10
151 = 100 + 2 x 20 + 11
152 = 100 + 2 x 20 + 12
160 = 100 + 3 x 20
161 = 100 + 3 x 20 + 1
162 = 100 + 3 x 20 + 2
170 = 100 + 3 x 20 + 10
171 = 100 + 3 x 20 + 11
172 = 100 + 3 x 20 + 12
180 = 100 + 4 x 20
181 = 100 + 4 x 20 + 1
182 = 100 + 4 x 20 + 2
190 = 100 + 4 x 20 + 10
191 = 100 + 4 x 20 + 11
192 = 100 + 4 x 20 + 12
200 = 2 x 100
220 = 2 x 100 + 20
240 = 2 x 100 + 2 x 20
260 = 2 x 100 + 3 x 20
280 = 2 x 100 + 4 x 20
300 = 3 x 100
400 = 4 x 100
500 = 5 x 100
600 = 6 x 100
700 = 7 x 100
800 = 8 x 100
900 = 9 x 100
1000 = 1000
2000 = 2 x 1000
3000 = 3 x 1000
4000 = 4 x 1000
5000 = 5 x 1000
and so on

The Chechen numbers 1 through 5 have some special characteristics that the numbers beginning with 6 do not have:
1. The Chechen numbers 1 through 5 end at the glottal stop (Arabic letter hamza) while other numbers do not.
2. The Chechen numbers 1 through 5 have declension while other numbers do not.
3. The Chechen numbers 1 through 5 have two forms (dependent and independent) while other numbers have only one form.

On the basis of these facts, N. F. Yakovlev in his book The Morphology of the Chechen Language (published in 1960), p. 59 made a suggestion that the original number system in Chechen was quinary (that is, the system based on 5). Thus, the Chechen language has some elements of the three numeral systems: quinary, decimal, and vigesimal. However, the main system is definitely vigesimal.

In the Avar language, the vigesimal system is simplified even more than in Chechen and Ingush because Avar has a special word for 30.
30 = 30
40 = 2 x 20
50 = 2 x 20 + 10
60 = 3 x 20
70 = 3 x 20 + 10
80 = 4 x 20
90 = 4 x 20 + 10
100 = 100
120 = 100 + 20
130 = 100 + 30
140 = 100 + 2 x 20
150 = 100 + 2 x 20 + 10
160 = 100 + 3 x 20
170 = 100 + 3 x 20 + 10
180 = 100 + 4 x 20
190 = 100 + 4 x 20 + 10
200 = 2 x 200
and so on

The Chimgui dialect of the Circassian language (it is one of the western dialects of the Circassian language and is also known as the Agyghean language) has special words for 30 and 50. Their word for 50 literary means "a half of one hundred."
30 = 30
40 = 2 x 20
50 = 50
60 = 3 x 30
70 = 3 x 30 + 10
80 = 4 x 20
90 = 4 x 20 + 10
100 = 100
130 = 100 + 30
140 = 100 + 2 x 20
150 = 100 + 2 x 20 + 10
160 = 100 + 3 x 20
170 = 100 + 3 x 20 + 10
180 = 100 + 4 x 20
190 = 100 + 4 x 20 + 10
200 = 2 x 100
and so on

The Kabardian dialect of the Circassian language (it is one of the eastern dialects of the Circassian language and is also known as the Kabardian language) uses the regular decimal system. The Tabasaran language also uses the regular decimal system, although some of its dialects use the vigesimal system. The Dargin language has the regular decimal system as well.

The vigesimal system is not unique for the Caucasian languages. For example, the French language has some elements of the vigesimal system:
70 = 60 + 10
71 = 60 + 11
72 = 60 + 12
80 = 4 x 20
90 = 4 x 20 + 10
91 = 4 x 20 + 11
92 = 4 x 20 + 12

Pkharmat (Ingush Variant)

2010-06-25T16:38:00.000-07:00

From Above Abyss by Issa Kodzoyev

(This variant is different from Chechen variants and is influenced by Islam. It has some similarity with the myth about Amiran.)

Satanic jinns took away fire from the earth, locked it in a cave in a mountain, and put a heavy stone there. People began to freeze and die. Beasts stopped fearing people, people became their victims. Then, Pkharmat went to the mountain, took the stone away, and returned fire to people. Because of that, jinns chained Pkharmat to the mountain. A huge bird with an iron beak came to him. It tore away the hero's side and pecked his liver, causing him terrible pain. Pkharmat strived and his chains clattered. Ingushs stormed the mountain several times in order to release their hero. However, jinns made a thick fog in order to make our people to lose their way. Pkharmat's wounds ached and he suffered from thirst. The hero's fiancée Toi went to the mountain and took her dog Pursha. She almost reached the mountain top. Suddenly, she saw that the water in the ladle "slept." When somebody sees "sleeping" water, his desire will be fulfilled. Toi asked: "Let the three of us (Pkharmat, I, and Pursha) become stones so that my beloved would not suffer." It happened so. There, Pharmat is lying on his back, Toi is standing at the left, and Pursh is sitting at her feet. At the holy Friday night, they become living. There were people who heard how Toi called her beloved one, how Pkharmat's chains clattered, and then how Pursha barked three times.

Myths about Prometheus and Pkharmat

2010-03-20T00:08:00.000-07:00

From K. Z. Chokayev Our Language - Our History, pp. 55-57. Translated from Chechen.

For a long time, it has been known that the Greek dramatist Aeschylus in his tragedy Prometheus used a narrative which there is in our [Chechen and Ingush] folklore.

Bats I. Tsiskarov told this narrative in 1847 in Tiflis [Tbilisi] in newspaper Caucasus in his article Pictures of Tushetia.

V. Svetlov in 1886 published in St. Petersburg Seven Sons of Snowstorm, telling Ingush legend that contains this narrative. On the basis of this work, Ingush writer Said Chahkiyev wrote his highly artistic poem Cup of Tears. In this work, Chahkiyev told Prometheus' narrative in highly qualified way.

Comparing this poem to the famous in the whole world work Bound Prometheus, we can find many similar traits.

1. In both works main heroes Greek Prometheus and Ingush Kurka resist gods (Zeus and Sela) and help people: Prometheus brings fire, Kurka brings water, bread, and rams.

2. Because of it, Sela (Greek Zeus) chained both heroes to the top of the mountain. They both were chained to a mountain in the Caucasus. Besides that, in both legends events are going on in a similar way.

In 1966, director of Urus-Martan secondary school Ahmed Suleimanov gave us two legends Pkhari and Pkharmat which he wrote down in 1937-1940 in Zumsa and Itum-Kale.

Both legends have similar contents and can be called two variants of the same legend. Their contents is following.

In ancient times, there were Narts. They did not have fire. There was a Nart among them whose name was Pkharmat (in another version Pkhari). He was upset and was thinking how to do good to Narts, how to bring them fire. However, fire was possessed by evil and cruel Sela and he did not give it to anyone.

Once, Pkharmat rode a horse in order to take Sela's fire. Narts' mother Sela-Sata was Sela's beloved one. She helped Pkharmat to steel fire from Sela's hearth. Learning about it, Sela sent a dragon after Pkharmat. However, it lost energy and left behind. Then, Sela made a black night in order to make Pkharmat to lose his way, but it did not happen. Sela made a snowstorm. However, Pkharmat went on until he reached the goal. Pkharmat brought fire to people. However, Sela punished Pkharmat. He tied him with iron chains to the main top of Bashlam. Sela gathered all the cold around him. A dragon lies around him in order to watch him. Bird Ida pecks his liver with it beck. Every day when it is going to peck, it asks Pkharmat: "Have you repented for what you did?" However, Pkharmat does not repent. Then Ida pecks his liver. This is legend about Pkharmat.

The contents of this legend is extremely close to the Greek myth about Prometheus. In these two works there are many similar details. They are:

1. The hero goes to take fire.
2. The possessor of fire is evil and cruel god of sky and lightnings Sela (Greek Zeus).
3. The hero is tied to the top of one of Caucasus mountains with chains.
4. His punishment is that a bird becks his liver, and so on.

Moreover, we made a research that indicated a hypothetic possibility that:
1) in the Greek variant of the legend god's name is Zeus, in the Wainakh variant god's name is Sela; they are similar and may have the same origin;
2) Greek Prometheus and Wainakh [Chechen and Ingush] Pkharmat (Pkhari) may have the same origin.

In folklores of other Caucasus nations (Georgians, Kabardians, Abhazs, Ossetins, Armenians, and others), there are legends about Prometheus. However, unlike the contents of Wainakh legends, their contents is not so close to the contents of the Greek legend. Legends of some nations (some Georgian and Armenian variants) do not mention fire. The hero harms people. In the beginning, he is strong, but then becomes powerless.

Nevertheless, for a long time, scientists, for example, M. Talpa, M. Chikovanis, S. Nutsubidze, and others say that Greeks borrowed this legend from our nations' folklores. M. Chikovanis and S. Nutsubidze say that they borrowed from Georgians. M. Talpa says that they borrowed from Kabardins. N. Y. Marr and V. Miller do not specify.

Scientists do not know when Wainakh legends about Prometheus came to existence. However, there is a possibility that the Greek myth originates from Wainkh folklore because the contents of the Greek myth is very similar. Materials support this our opinion regardless of our desire.

Here, there is a question: how and when Greeks borrowed this our legend?

First of all, in the ancient times, distant ancestors of Wainakhs and other Caucasus nations lived in Asia Minor. It is known that Greeks also lived there. Here, it is remarkable that Hesiod was the first one who wrote down the Greek myth, and his father was from Asia Minor.

Moreover, when Greeks came to Balkan peninsula, Pelasgians and Leleges lived there. They were nations, close to Caucasus nations.

Also, we know that there were Greek colonies in Caucasus. Their scientists and writers studied history of many Caucasus nations and culture of many regions where they traveled. Geographer and historian Strabo wrote about many Caucasus nations. His mother was from Caucasus. Later, he was there himself.

Moreover, as we already said, scientists found that the Greek language had words from Caucasus language, Greek culture and philosophy were related to Caucasus ones.

Let us remember that academician N. Y. Marr wrote: "In Greek, words such as "soul," "brother," "sea" are Japhetic (that is, Caucasian). Names of Greek gods, heroes, villages, rivers, and mountains are Japhetic." Moreover, Marr said that name Prometheus used to be name of god of fire in Caucasus.

A group of scientists wrote a paper where they state that Greek culture and philosophy were related to Caucasus ones. This is very important.

So, our folklore is related to the world folklore.

Principles of Chechen and Circassian Ethics

2010-03-11T17:57:00.000-08:00

Principles of Chechen ethics and culture
From Musa Ahmadov Chechen Traditional Culture and Ethics
Russian text

1. Laram (respect)
2. Sii (dignity, credit, honor)
3. Marsho (personal freedom)
4. Niiso (justice)
5. Sobar (patience)
6. Mairalla (courage)
7. Yakh (pride, dignity, competition in good things), özda yakh (noble pride)
8. Kinkhetam (compassion, mercy)
9. Komärshalla (generosity)
10. Tesham (trustworthiness)
11. Dekhar (duty, responsibility)
12. Iekh-bekhk (conscience)

Principles of Chechen ethics
According to Said-Magomed Haziev (Russian text) and Lecha Ilyasov (Russian text)

1. Adamalla (humanity)
2. Kinkhetam (compassion, mercy)
3. Laram (respect)
4. Tsano (moral purity)
5. Niiso (justice)
6. Bako (truthfulness)
7. Yükh (respect, honor, good reputation; literally: face)
8. Iekh (conscience)
9. Sii (dignity, credit, honor)
10. Ghillakh (etiquette)
11. Özdangalla (politeness, inner culture, nobility)
12. Sobar (patience)

Highest virtues in Vainakh mentality
According to S.-H. M. Nunuyev
Russian text

1. Adamalla (humanity)
2. Konakhalla (courage, dignity)
3. Stogalla (courage, resilience)
4. Mairalla (bravery, courage, valor)
5. Dönalla (resilience)
6. Özdangalla (ethics, politeness)
7. Nokhchalla (moral and ethical norms that compose Chechen mentality; literally, "Chechen-ness")

Principles of Nokhchalla
From Abu Usmailov Dosh
Russian text

1. Freedom
2. Honor
3. Dignity
4. Humanity
5. Nobility
6. Trustworthiness
7. Resilience
8. Valor
9. Courage
10. Bravery
11. Grandeur of spirit

Principles of Circassian ethics
From B. H. Bgazhnokov Adyg Ethics
Russian text

1. Tsykhughe (humanity)
a) Psape (charity and salvation of soul)
b) Gusheghu (empathy)
c) Gutlyte (moral attention)
d) Gukek (moral memory)
e) Fyshe (thankfulness)
2. Nemys (respect)
a) Adyghe shenkhabze (Adyg etiquette)
b) Tsykum i nemys (ethical immunity of a person)
3. Akyl (intelligence)
a) Tsykhu khetykhe (skill of being among people)
b) Zekhe-shyk (moral understanding)
c) Farde (sense of measure)
4. Tlyghe (courage)
a) Khakhuaghe (valor)
b) Kamy-landge (resilience)
c) Temak kykhaghe (tolerance)
d) Tlyfyghe (courage and nobility)
5. Nape (honor, conscience, reputation; literally: face)
a) Emyku-eku (knowledge of proper and improper things)
b) Shyne-ukyte (ethical fear)

Nokhchalla and Adygaghe

2010-03-10T17:38:00.000-08:00

In one of the previous posts, I wrote about one part of Chechen ethics which is called Konakhalla. Originally, it a warrior ethical code and later was regarded as the code of highest morality. The word "konakhalla" is formed from "konakh" + "-alla" (which means the same as English "-ness"). "Konakh" is translated as "son of people (nation)". Chechens also have another code, Nokhchalla which is considered to be lower, but in fact it lays the foundation for Konakhalla. The word Nokhchalla literally means "Chechen-ness" (the Chechen word for the noun "Chechen" is "nokhcho"), that is, it is what makes Chechens different from other people. So, the word "nokhcho" means not only "Chechen as an ethnic description", but also "person who follows Nokhchalla."

Circassians (Adygs) have a similar structure of their ethics. There is Adygaghe (Circassian ethics) with literally means "Circassian-ness" ("adyg" means "Circassian", "-aghe" is "-ness"). The word "adyg" means not only "Circassian as an ethnic description", but also "person who follows Adygaghe." There is Circassian warrior code "Worke Khabze" ("worke" means "knight", "khabze" means "ethics") which has higher standards, but is based on Adygaghe.

Although both Chechen and Circassian codes have much in common, there is a difference between them. The most important point is that Chechen society was very democratic. Personal freedom was very highly valued. However, Circassian society, especially, Kabarda (eastern part of Circassia) was feudal. So, in Circassian ethics, there was no equality between people. Worke's (knights) served princes while konakh's served nation.

Recently, I have been thinking about two phrases. In one Chechen song, there is a sentence: "There is a solution in every situation, but remember that you are Nokhcho (Chechen)". I tried to substitute the word "Chechen" with "Russian", but then this sentence becomes completely meaningless because the meaning of this sentence is not just the ethnicity, but also the ethics and character of a Chechen. That is, this sentence implies: "Behave according to the principles of Nokhchalla in every situation."

Another sentence is from a movie about Circassians. It was said there that sometimes two Circassians agreed to go together, but then they had a quarrel and one of them departed. The other Circassian called him: "Return because you are Adyg" and it worked. Again, I tried to substitute the word "Adyg" with "Russian" and again the sentence became completely meaningless. It is because the sentence implies: "Return because you should return according to Adygaghe."

So, to be a Chechen or a Circassian means not only an ethnicity, but also to follow national ethical principles. Thus, it is said that it is hard to be a Chechen. In fact, it is not easy to be a Circassian either. However, it is not hard to be, for example, a Russian because there are no such requirements.

Prometheus in Caucasian Myths

2010-03-07T14:28:00.000-08:00

In one of the posts in this blog, I wrote that many Caucasian people have myths similar to the Greek myth of Prometheus. After learning more about these myths, I came to conclusion that, basically, there are four different myths which have some versions:

1. The myth about Sosruko (Circassian or Adyg version), Sasrykva (Abhaz version), Sosuruk (Karachai and Balkar version), and Soslan (Ossetian version). I translated the myth about Sosruko (Circassian version). Other versions are quite similar. According to this myth, when Sosruko's brothers were frozen, he shot into a star and it fell down. Then, he found a camp-fire and brought smoldering log to his brothers. However, before he did that, he had to kill a giant. This myth does not say anything about Sosruko being chained.

2. The myth about Amiran (Bats version), Amirani (Georgian version), and Abrskil (Abhaz version). I translated the myth about Amiran (Bats version). This version is not complete because Bats people do not have written language. Their language is close to Chechen and Ingush and they originally were a part of Vainakh nation. However, they moved to Georgia and are now losing their language, living among Georgians. I chose Bats version because it is very ancient and was not influenced by Christianity like Georgian versions. According to the Bats version, Amiran was chained because he took away a girl in order to marry her. This version does not say that he brought fire. He was chained in a cave of Speroza, a mountain in Tushetia, the region of Georgia where Bats people live. Not only God, but also people hate Amiran. Thus, Amiran rebelled against God, but did not do anything good to people. Georgian versions of the myth of Amirani were very much influenced by Christianity. They mention that he brought fire to people and also say about his being chained in a cave in a mountain. Abhaz myth about Abrskil does not say that he brought fire, but it says that he helped his nation. According to this myth, Abrskil was chained in a cave in Abhazia. Thus, Abrskil is identified with Amirani.

3. Myth about Nasren (or Nasren-zhache) and Bataraz (Circassian or Adyg myth). I translated this myth. I just found another English translation of this myth. Both Nasren and Bataraz rebelled against god Pako who stole fire from people. Nasren tried to bring it back, but was chained. Bataraz released him and brought fire back to people. Nasren was chained on Elbrus (Oshkhomakho) which is near the border of of historical Circassia.

4. Myth about Pkharmat (Chechen myth). I translated this myth also. Pkharmat rebelled against god Sela. He took fire from him and brought to people. Due to that, Sela caused troubles to people. In order to release them, Pkharmat willingly came to Sela to be punished. Pkharmat was chained on Kazbek (Bashlam) which is near Chechnya. He suffered silently and never agreed to repent of his action.

The myths about Sosruko, Nasren and Bataraz, and Pkharmat are parts of Nart epic literature. Many people of the Northern Caucasus have myths about Narts who are described as giants and strong people and are considered to be ancestors of modern inhabitants of the Northern Caucasus. Modern Circassians highly appreciate Sosruko and he is depicted in the national emblem of the Republic of Adyghea (shown in the picture), one of the Circassian territories in Russia. Pkharmat (shown in the picture above) is depicted practically in the same way as Sosruko. The myth about Amiran/Amirani/Abrskil is not included into Nart epics.

Among all these myths, the myth about Nasren and Bataraz and the myth about Pkharmat are the most close to the Greek one. Nasren was released, but Pkharmat was not. In my opinion, the myth about Pkharmat has the highest level of morality. Pkharmat's intention was to help people. He was willing to suffer for people. He never regretted and suffered silently. So, to me, this is the most inspiring myth.

Amiran (Bats Myth)

2010-03-06T14:39:00.000-08:00

Speroza and Amiran

Translated from Y. D. Desheriyev Bats Language, 1953.
Bats and Russian texts

In Alzan gorge, near Tbatani, there is a mountain in the middle. There water from Badz pass joins river Alazan. Sakorn pass ends with a high rocky mountain. This mountain slopes are covered by forest and its top is rocky. Rams are unable to graze there and they are not driven there. This mountain is for mountain beasts: mountain goats and chamoises. At the end of this mountain, there is a small deep dip (a pass). From here, a rocky summit begins. It was not destroyed yet. This rocky summit is called Speroza summit.

There is a folk legend that at this summit a god tied ancient legendary Amiran with a chain. People hated him. Near him, a dog was left. This dog licks the chain in order to make it thinner and eventually to break it and release Amiran. The dog was there many years and licked the chain with its tongue.

However, in the weak of Easter, on Good Friday, blacksmiths make a feast. People eat only herb food. Entering the smithy, they just hit with a hammer against an anvil one time. Amiran's chain which is ready to break becomes new again. Amiran hates blacksmiths. If he were able to release himself, he would destroy them.

Amiran is said to have been a strong man. He did not leave anything unfinished. And he fought against monsters. There are songs about him among the mountain peoples.

Amiran made off with a girl. He was dragging her, but walking slowly. The girl knew that her parents followed them. They would start a battle and kill one another. She tells Amiran: "Amiran, go, go faster. You are said to have strong legs. Otherwise, my relatives will come and initiate a bitter war."

Amiran heard what the girl said, but did not listen. He replied, having peaceful heart: "Wait, girl Batsale. I will not run in the end of the way. I am not a she-duck to be caught by a hawk. I am not a trout to be caught by a fishing net. I am not a leaf of a tree to be taken away be a wind. I am sufficient for your relatives together with Bardit and Usup. If nothing works, I will test my head."

Girl's relatives caught Amiran. There was a war. Girl's father was wounded. However, the girl was following Amiran and was not looking at her relatives.

Her father was worried. He said: "Look at the girl who prefers her husband over her parents." He said: "Why did your mother raise you and lulled you to sleep?" The girl replied to her father: "My mother did not raise me and did not lull me to sleep. I was thrown to the wall. I lied down after I embraced father. When I began to cry, mother told me from a distance, Sleep."

There were many such things about Amiran in the ancient times.

At the foot of Speroza, at Didgvirg side, there is a big cave. It is said that in the ancient times, wild people lived there. After they died, there was beasts' winter dwelling place there. A hunter went there and stayed for night because the weather was nasty. This cave is called Kharebo cave. Kharbao took away somebody's wife and lived there.

From I. D. Tsiskarov Pictures of Tushetia, 1846
Russian text

From this side, there is an amazingly formed mountain called Amiran mountain which spontaneously attracts your sight. Tushins [Bats people] and some inhabitants of Kakhetia have a legend that in this mountain famous captive was imprisoned for some action against the Creator of the universe. Aborigines say that he is tied with iron chains which are angrily gnawed by his two faithful dogs. On the day of New Year, the only day when the doors of his mysterious habitation are open, the chains, gnawed by the dogs, are going to be teared. He tried to get a huge sword, lying nearby, and touches it with his finger ends.

"May God forbid it," story-tellers say. "Otherwise, the world would collapse!"

However, blacksmiths hit three times with hammers against iron and the chains get restored and regain their original strength.

It is not hard to recognize that this legend is a corrupted Greek myth about Prometheus or maybe Greeks adopted it from Caucasus people. Nearby, there is another mountain which is called Kite mountain. Probably, it is called after the kite who had to torment Prometheus' chest.

Amiran mountain is one of the most gloomy and most pyramidal mountains in the whole Caucasus. It is located at the edge of the deepest Tsiblon gorge and covered with rocks and pine-trees. It serves as a nest for huge eagles, a shelter for mountain goats, deer, and severe bears, and a trap for hunters. In spite of all the dangers, very agile they climb the steepnesses and often many pay a high price for their courage.

From M. Tabidze, B. Shavkheleshvili Reflection of the Sources of Historical Friendship in the Language and Its Motivation (in Folklore and Literature of Georgians and Vainaks)
Russian text

When old people tell this legend, they try to expressively describe the place where Amiran was chained: "On the left side of our Speroza mountain, in front of the cave, there is a small glade. There Amiran was chained." It is interesting that Amiran's appearance is similar to the appearance of Tushins [Bats people] themselves. For example, the description of his eyes: "black eyes like tar", "falcon's look", "he slept with open eyes", etc.; the description of his physical strength: "he was able to lift a horse with one finger", "he was strong like a hyena", "his stature was like an old oak", "his shoulders were like raven's wings", "when he walked, the earth moaned", etc.

The dog that licks master's chain is of Caucasian guarding breed. It is large, has white shining hair, small bending tail (it is cut off at birth), and pricked up small ears. Its faithfulness to its master is manifested not only in its attempts to release him from chains, but also in its care for him: it brings water, food,and prevents all possible dangers. However, the most important thing is that it is able to think, that is, it experiences and analyzes its every step and ongoing events as a human being: "he is probably thirsty", "how shall I help him?", etc.

Sosruko (Circassian Myth)

2010-03-05T18:14:00.001-08:00

Sosruko Getting Fire

Translated from Narts. Kabardian Epic Literature, 1951
Russian text

Narts are riding in a campaign,
Narts are riding forward,
In order to avenge their enemies,
In order to crush the army of Chints.
They are riding for battle through steppes,
But they decided
Not to take Sosruko with them.
Terrible frost catches
Narts on their way.
How can they go forward?
Every horseman is attached
To this frozen earth.
And he trembles on his saddle
In these Kuma steppes.
World is in icy chains.
Woe to Narts' warriors,
Woe to Narts' horses!
Frost increased,
Man's strength decreased.
Old Narts are crying
In Kuma steppes.
On their eyes, there is snow,
In their voices, there is anger:

"Hey, Imys, do you have fire?"
"I do not have fire."
"Hey, Sosym, do you have fire?"
"No fire! No fire!"
"Hey, Khimish, do you have fire?"
"I do not have fire."
"Ashemez, do you have fire?"
"No fire! No fire!"

Bold Narts do not have fire.
Is it how they should go to champaigns?
Long-bearded Nasren
Told bold Narts:
"Our way became deadly,
We all will die in the wilderness:
Those who are old and those who are young.
Woe to Narts: deadly cold
Will kill us and make corpses!
We are so foolish, Narts.
Now, we will have a lesson:
We should have taken
Swarthy Sosruko with us,
The horseman whose name
Chints fear,
Whose footprints bring happiness,
Whose participation in battles
Releases from all the troubles,
Whose lance is ready for a battle
And paves a way to victory,
Whose high helmet shines
As our guiding star,
Whose noble bravery
Covers us like a chain-mail shirt,
Whose arrow fights against snowstorm,
Leads people away from trouble,
And finds a way in hard circumstances.
Brothers Narts, we made a mistake
That went without Sosruko!"

Bold Narts are upset:
They should have taken Sosruko!

Who is there in cold and fog
Appeared on a mound?
It is Sosruko coming:
Sosruko is where a danger is,
Where people need help!
On the stormy road,
Narts cried together:

"Hello, our terrifying warrior,
Our famous leader!
We are dying in frosty night.
Help us if you can.
If you can, kindle
Hot camp-fire as soon as possible!"

"I wish good luck to everyone,"
Replies Sosruko.
"Who saddles a horse to go
And rides to with wilderness without fire?"
I do not have even a little spark
Because I go without fire,
I do not fear cold.
Do not be upset, Narts,
I will get fire for you!"

He took an iron arrow
And shot it to a night star.
The night star fell down,
Scattering many sparks.
Horsemen praised Sosruko.
Narts stretched their arms
In order to get warm a little.
But their hearts were anxious again:
The star was put out soon
And melted in the wilderness.
Narts were upset again!

What shall Sosruko do?
Strong Sosruko decided
To release bold Narts
From their trouble.
Stubborn Sosruko sat down
On swift horse Tkhozhei.
Without fear, he rushed
To the top of Kharama.
Fearless Sosruko saw
Smoke that was coming out of
An ancient tower,
Spiraling and melting
And hiding in clouds.

He was happy that he saw smoke.
He came in a hidden way.
Sosruko saw
Seven barbed barriers.
This is Inyzh's home.
Sosruko came near
And saw high fire
Blazing inside of a circle.
One-eyed Inyzh
Was sleeping and snoring.
He was lying like a large circle:
His head was touching his knees.
He was enlightened by a smoldering log.
His mouth was open,
In it, a front tooth was missing.
And fire was still blazing
Inside of the large circle
And did not weaken even for a moment.
Sosruko asked
Tkhozhei as a friend:

"Narts need fire.
What shall we do, horse?"

The horse neighed seven times:
"Hey, warrior Sosruko,
Strong and handsome!
We will not go back,
But will come to Inyzh.
When we come near,
I will turn my swift horse's race
Into dog's pace.
When we come even more near,
I will not go like a dog,
I will sneak like a cat.
I was born from foam.
I will jump over walls
Of this ancient tower.
I will rear up
Over Inyzh without fear.
We will win without fight:
Bend to the fire
And take a smoldering log."

The horse, a constant adviser
Of daring Sosruko,
Rushed to the old tower.
When it came nearer,
It turned its swift horse's race
Into a dog's pace.
When it came even nearer,
It turned dog's pace
Into a cat's mild rustle.
When it reached the tower,
It rushed like a swift wind,
It leaped up like light dust
Over the ancient tower.
And fearless Sosruko
Bent to the fire
And took a smoldering log.
But he took it awkwardly:
A coal parted
And fell on Inyzh.
It burned his eyebrow,
His thick eyebrow was on fire.
The giant opened
His only eye.
He counted the smoldering logs.
One was missing.
Bold Nart with a smoldering log
Went far away.
The giant cried:

"Who robbed me?
Let my father punish
You, bitch's son!"

Inyzh did not get up,
But stretched his arms
And sticked them out of his tower.
He began to grope around.
He groped seven roads.
Sosruko rode
Seven days and nights,
But when he reached a river,
Tkhozhei was found
On Inyzh's hand!

The giant looked
At the one who dared
To go away with his smoldering log.
He saw that Sosruko was of steel.
Inyzh though:
"This small one is strong.
Although he is foolish,
He will substitute my missing tooth!"
Thus Sosruko found himself
In the giant's mouth.
Sosruko did not fear.
He took his lethal sword
And began to cut gums
Of the giant Inyzh.
The one-eyed giant
Could not bear strong pain.
He spitted Nart out.
Swarthy Sosruko
Was released!

Then, Inyzh said:
"Hey, small Nart,
The stealer of fire!
I have an enemy,
Swarthy Sosruko.
Answer quickly
Where is he, the son of Satanei,
Swarthy Sosruko?
Narts name Sosruko
As one of giants.
They say about him:
"He is stronger
All the horsemen on the earth.
Swarthy Sosruko
Is stronger than giants!"
Say quickly
Where is he, the son of Satanei,
Swarthy Sosruko?

Sosruko replied:
"At the mountain feet,
I am Narts' shepherd.
I did not see may things,
But I heard many things.
I did not see Sosruko,
But I heard about Sosruko.
I will not tell where he is,
But I will tell about him."

Inyzh replied:
"Since you, small Nart.
Were unable to tell me
Where Sosruko is,
Then, be able to show
How Sosruko plays!"

Sosruko gave a start,
Smiled, and said:
"There is no such a man
Among Narts who is able
To repeat Sosruko's games.
Narts believe that there is no
Giant who is able
To defeat Sosruko in games!"

The one-eyed got angry:
"Do not chatter, wimpish shepherd,
But begin to tell
About Sosruko's games!"

"I did not hear more pleasant
Game for Sosruko:
Our Sasruko Stands
At the mountain foot.
Narts throw a huge stone
From this mountain.
But steel Sosruko
Is a very strong man.
He pushes back the huge stone
With his forehead in flight!"

"Am I unable to do the same?
Come on, small shepherd,
Throw a stone from the mountain!"

Nart took a huge stone
And threw it from the mountain.
The giant catched the huge stone
With his forehead and pushed it with his forehead,
He returned it to the mountain top.
He said loudly: "Really,
This game is good!
After it, I want to eat,
But the work is good for the forehead:
It becomes stronger from blows!
I like this game,
But maybe you, shepherd, know
Harder game?"

Sosruko, where is your mind?
There is a trouble with the one-eyed one:
He does not die!
Sosruko leads
The giant farther.
He says to the giant:

"Narts say this way:
He whose name is Sosruko
Lies down on the ground
And opens his mouth.
People put arrows into his mouth.
Skillful Sosruko
Chews their ends.
He chews and laughs
And spits the ends out!"

"Fill my mouth with arrows.
I do not fear this work!"
The giant with a big mouth
Smiled and immediately
Lied down on the ground
And opened his big mouth.
Sosruko filled it
With arrows.
Evil Inyzh was not harmed
By the tricks of young Nart!
The giant chewed the ends
And spitted the arrows out.
He laughed at Sosruko:

"Small shepherd of Narts! Really,
This game is good:
It makes saliva fierce
And teeth very strong!
But maybe you, shepherd,
Know harder game?"

Sosruko, where is your mind?
There is a trouble with the one-eyed one:
He does not die!
Sosruko leads
The giant farther.
He says to the giant:

"He whose name is Sosruko
Takes pleasure
In this daring game:
In front of him, the bold one,
Narts put a pot.
They fill this huge pot
With lead.
They put it on the fire
And melt lead
Ten days and nights.
This is a game of strong men!
Well, Sosruko
Is praised among Narts not in vain!
He sits down into lead
That boils, that melts.
And he sits in the pot
Like a horseman on a saddle.
He waits when, eventually,
Lead hardens!"

"Am I unable to do that?"
Inyzh replied, yawning.
"I am willing to sit into the pot!"

Young Nart made fire
And put pot on the fire.
Ten days and nights passed
And lead melted in the pot.
The giant sat down into lead
And hardened with it.
But he made a strong jerk
And separated his body from lead.
The one-eyed one exclaimed:
"I am satisfied with my action.
My body became a hundred times stronger.
I want to have dinner!
I like your game,
But maybe, shepherd,
You know a harder game?
If you do not know, you will be in trouble:
I will amuse myself,
I will melt you alive!"

Sosruko, where is your mind?
There is a trouble with the one-eyed one:
He does not die!
Swarthy Sosruko
Begins this speech:

"Hey, two-sinewed and two-headed one,
Do not hurry to have dinner
In order that I will be able to tell
About the last game:
In the place where
Flows of all the seven seas
Reach deep ocean,
The one whose name is Sosruko
Sinks into the deep.
He does not touch the bottom with his feet
And he does not take water into his mouth.
Old Narts blow and blow
Seven days and nights.
They freeze the sea.
They freeze the swarthy Sosruko
In the sea.
He spends seven days and nights
In the deep, covered with ice.
He waits for the sunrise,
Straightens up his shoulders,
Breaks the ice, and goes out."

"Am I unable to do it!"
Replied the one-eyed one.
Nart brought him to the place
Where flows of the seven seas
Join and reach
The deep and terrible ocean.
Giant Inyzh
Sinked into the deep, trying
Not to touch the bottom with his feet
And not to choke with water.
Sosruko made cold
And froze the giant
In the deep of the ocean.
He held the giant in this deep
Seven nights and days
And then said: "Come out!"

The giant was not offended.
The one-eyed one strained
And moved his strong shoulders.
Thick ice was immediately broken.
"Wait!" cried Sosruko.
I did not bought all the frosts,
I did not sealed up all the cracks,
Ice is not strong enough yet!"

Nart blew and made snowstorms
And severe frost.
Flows of the seven seas
Were frozen!
Nart froze the giant
In the deep of the ocean.
He froze the water with thick ice.
He cried to the evil monster:

"Hey, Inyzh, try to release yourself
From icy captivity!"

The one-eyed one strained
And straightened his shoulders again.
He strained his strength angrily.
Veins swelled on his forehead.
His only eye winked.
It was too late: in this thick ice,
The one-eyed one was frozen!
Taking swift sword out,
Nart Sasruko thought:
"I have tied the enemy firmly.
Now, I can amuse my soul
And cut off the giant's head!"

However, severe Inyzh blew
And threw Sosruko away
To a long distance.
Sosruko came back,
Approached him from the back,
Stopped Inyzh on ice
In order to cut off Inyzh's head.
However, his two-edged sword was unable to do it.
It could not cut even one hair
Or make a small scratch!

The one-eyed shouted:
"If I had not been stupid,
I would have guessed immediately
That I saw Sosruko
By your thin legs
And by your smart games.
Inyzh is going to die!

Hey, steel Sosruko,
Nart warrior horseman!
Do not labor in vain.
You will not cut off my head,
You will only blunt your sword!
Better, go to upstairs
To my tower.
On the door of my tower,
You will see a strong sword.
You will glorify this sword:
You will cut off Inyzh's head!"

Sosruko turned his horse
And rode to the giant's tower.
"Is there slyness, deception,
Trap in Inyzh's speeches?"
Having thought this way,
Nart Sosruko opened the doors of the tower.
However, he did not enter the tower,
But threw a log.
Immediately, a strong sword
Fell down and drove into the log.

Sosruko bent
And took the sword at handle.
Sosruko with Inyzh's sword
Came back.
The giant saw him
And cried loudly:

"Hey, Sosruko, warrior horseman,
Steel Nart, handsome warrior!
I was at peace, I thought
That my sword would
Cut off your head,
That I would be delivered from you forever.
I see the sword in your hands.
Now, Inyzh is going to die.
If so, in my death,
Find pleasure, Nart.
Cut my head off quickly.
Pull out sinew from my neck.
Girdle yourself
And you will gain a giant's strength.
Then, no Nart
And no giant
Will be able to defeat you!"

Sosruko replied him:
"I came not to listen to your sea stories.
I came to kill you.
I came to get fire for Narts,
To rescue friends from death.
I do not need your sinew,
Full of poison.
Only man's strength
Is worthy to be praised on the earth!"

Having said this, Nart Sosruko
Cut off the giant's head.
He led his horse to the friends,
Having taken Inyzh's fire.
Because of frost and snowstorm,
Strong Narts and swift horses
Were frozen and attached themselves to one another.
They cried bitterly.
Sosruko reached the friends
And made hot fire.
He warmed horses and Narts.
Narts sweared in the wilderness:
"From now on, without Sosruko
We will go nowhere:
Neither to war campaigns nor to raids.
We swear in this forever!"

Nasren and Bataraz (Chircassian Myth)

2010-03-05T12:48:00.001-08:00

Bataraz Releasing Nasren Who Was Chained to the Top of the Mountain

Translated from Russian

Nasren was an intelligent and noble leader.
He comforted people in trouble and cheered them in feasts.
He was an irrepressible and invincible Nart.
However, he was hated by one enemy.
Pako, god of evil, did not get along with Nasren.
Pako hated Narts from the ancient times.
He cursed Narts and burdened them.
People had a time of sorrow.
Pako sent thunders on their country.
He bent oaks like vines.
He lifted sea waves higher than sky.
He robbed them of bread, millet, and barley.
He flooded their land with unceasing rains.
He make their fields dry by hot dry wind.
Upset Narts told Pako:
"The one who have authority, why do you torment us?
You do not give us rest from frost and heat.
You cause evil and sorrow in our native land."

When Pako had heard indignant speeches,
He destroyed Narts' hearths.
He quenched put out life-giving fire everywhere.
He took away even coals.
Poor Narts were deprived of fire.
They told Nasren: "What shall we do?
Our leader, deal with the evil one.
We will die without fire and light."
"Do not worry," replied long-bearded Nasren.
"I will take away fire from evil Pako."
He put on golden chain-mail shirt,
Saddled the horse, and rode.
He reached Oshkhomakho mountain
And looked boldly to the mountain slope.
A voice like a thunder sounded from the mountain summit,
It sounded as if the sky was split,
It was Pako speaking: "Hey, a tiny one,
If you do not leave, I will kill you!"

The noble Nart replied from downstairs:
"Hey, good, you are said to be kind!
Why did you took away fire from Narts?
We, earthly people, are dying with fire?"

"Go away, unwise Nart,
I will not spare your foolish head!
You, poor Narts, forgot about me.
You do not give me what you owe at your earthly feasts.
At the feast of harvest, you sit around three-legged tables
And drink wine without me.
You gather millet from the rich field,
But do not give a portion to your god.
When you come back from battle as a proud army,
Who shares glory with me?
Are you seeking a way to Oshkhomakho [mountain of happiness]
In order to rebel against god?
You will be punished today, rebel.
I will chain up you on the top of the mountain.
At the high mountain, you will be lonely,
You will be my captive until your very death."

He tied iron chain around Nasren
And firmly chained him to Oshkhomakho.
Pako had an eagle, blood-thirsty predator.
Gloating Pako released it.
The eagles' wings are so big that gorge is not enough for them.
The eagle is flying around like black snowstorm.
The predator attacks the leader of Narts
And tears his chest with its beak.
It drinks blood from the heart of proud Nasren
And fiercely pecks his liver with its beak.

Rivers and seas flows in the world,
But there is no drop of water for Nasren.
Under the mountain, there are fountains,
But the captive wishes to drink a little water.
He is thirsty there on Oshkhomakho.
He is covered with ice.
Heavy iron presses on his legs and arms.
He groans because of bitter torments.
Wind makes his groans heard at a long distance.
Narts' hearts ache.

* * *

Narts gathered together for their council without their leader.
They need to decide how to rescue him.
Narts remember their former exploits,
Their youth, their former strength.
Here, there are Imys, Arykshu, and fervent Sosruko.
They are thinking what they should do with the trouble and their enemy.
They are considering. Pako threatens them.
Severe Pako is threatening and invincible.
Narts decided that the leader's daughter
Will be the wife of the one who rescues her father.
In addition, he will receive the best armor.
This person will receive pleasure and joy.
Everyone wishes that somebody would be willing to rescue Nasren.
Everyone wishes that somebody would go to this fearful way.

No one is going. The fiancée is ashamed.
"Let's go all together!" say Narts.
Narts are going through mountains and gorges.
They are seeing Oshkhomakho covered with ice.
On the snow top, the leader suffers.
There is a barrier between them, there is no road to him.

Pako sees Narts. He gathers his servants
And sends them to gorges from the icy summits.
The servants came down, they are near Narts,
And in front of them, the eagle is flying in the sky.
Whirlwinds moan in gorges.
Snowstorm whirls stones and grass.
The sky is covered by a flock of eagles.
Their wings cover up the day light.
It is dark like late at night.
Predators peck Narts' heads.
Narts cannot see anything and are dying.
Nart Panuko is dying because an eagle tears him.
Narts cannot see anything. Bold Badynoko
Lost his horse because of darkness.

Survived Narts gathered together.
Narts' blood is flowing to the gorge.
Narts are riding in silence. They bowed their heads.
There is sorrow in their native land.
"Narts do not have fire because Pako took it away.
We do not have the leader because he is dying in chains.
Narts, what shall we do, where can we find rescue?
We were unable to bring fire back to our hearths.
We were unable to rescue wise Nasren.
Narts, what shall we do? How shall we live?"

Then, fearless Bataraz said:
"I will regain our fire.
I promise you: our wise leader
Will be with us again. I will rescue him."
Bataraz saddled his horse Karaptsa, put on his warrior's clothes,
And was riding as he used to ride.
Here is Oshkhomakho. He stood at its foot.
"Hey, god who shamed his god's title!
Why are you hiding in the gorge as a coward?
It is not hard to hide, but come out to fight!
You took away fire from Narts
And chained Narts' leader.
I am Narts' messanger, I am their rescuer.
I will deliver people from you, destroyer.
If you are not a coward, do what I tell you.
Let your greedy eagle come down from the summit."

The sky was darkened. Black darkness became thick.
It was because the eagle came down from the mountain.
When it waved with its wings, everything became dark around.
Even the horse was frightened. "Hey, horse Karaptsa,
What's wrong with you? Are you frightened by its wings?
Or you have not seen a stronger enemy?
Did not we have troubles?
Are this whirlwinds new to you?"
He beats Karaptsa three times with a belt
And is going to shoot the eagle with an arrow.

At this moment, a dragon, hungry more than a wolf,
Is coming down to them from the mountain top,
And the eagle makes a whirlwind with its wings.
The tired horse is unable to stand.
"Karaptsa, why are you frightened?
You were my faithful friend, but you became a coward now?"
Bataraz again beats Karaptsa.
It teared along to the sky.
Bataraz began to fight against the eagle
And continued the battle on the mountain ice.
The eagle's wings made darkness,
But Bataraz pierced a wing with his lance.
Suddenly, it became light as if a window was open.
The sun gave light through the eagle's wing.
The sun began to shine to rocks and gorges.
The eagle's voice was heard in the sky.
Bold Bataraz pierced the eagle again with his lance.
Nart defeated the mountain ruler.

He brought the predator on the lance to the mountain foot
And cut off the eagle's head with his sword.
Pako heard when the eagle cried before dying.
Death's bodyguard also heard this cry.
This bodyguard came down to Bataraz
And was killed in severe battle.
Death began to fight with the man,
But the living Nart was not scared by Death.
He killed Death by cutting her.
Death groaned and fell down.
Mountains were shaken at her fall.
A bird flied above her like a black shadow.

Nart did many mighty acts at this day.
A dragon was crawling and crushing everything on its way.
Fearless Bataraz cut off the dragon's head
With his shining sword.
Bataraz on Karaptsa was rushing to the mountain top.
Pako in fear left his place.
Bataraz reached the chained Nart
And cut off the chains with his lance.
He cut off the chains and released
The wise Nasren and brought him home.

At that day, there was fire in Narts' hearths.
Narts had a feast and joyful noise.
They cut rams and shared with shepherds.
Narts drank sano [Narts' drink] with shepherds: all people were equal.
At this day, Narts began to drink sano.
Look at them: Narts are on horses.
They play games and sing songs.
There never have been a better feast.
Ardent Sosruko granted his friend Bataraz
His precious chain-mail shirt that he had worn.
Narts praised and glorified Bataraz.
Shepherds from far mountains came to the feast.

Old Vakva saw her son:
"Did I not raise a giant for you!"
Bataraz was given the first cup.
He was cheerfully crowned with glory.
Narts said many good words.
They asked him to drink sano and told him:
"Beloved Bataraz, invincible Nart,
You restored our souls, you brought fire back.
You released Nasren from the iron chains.
You are our rescuer, you are our best friend."
Bataraz thankfully drank the cup
And said: "Let our fire be eternal!"

There was sano drinking and joy
For forty days and nights.
Far places heard clatter of horses.
In the field, arrows were shot and reached the target.
Narts let the wheal Zhan-Sherkh [mysterious wheel] down from the ancient mound
And threw it upward.
They called Bataraz the best Nart,
They called him the best of men.

Pkharmat (Chechen Prometheus)

2010-02-16T01:04:00.000-08:00

Below is one of the versions of Chechen myth about Prometheus. There is also another version of this myth.

Chechen myth (translated from Chechen Tales collected and edited by Zulai Hamidova)
Chechen and Russian texts
This myth was written down in 1937 in Itum-Kale by Ahmad Suleimanov from Sulim Murtazaliyev.

May God do good to you, may you live long with good, may evil not come to you, may good come to you! I will tell you a tale, I will tell you a wonder. Make your ears attentive like ears of a deer, make your eyes attentive like eyes of a wolf!

It was a long time ago, when those icy mountains were higher than they are now, when there was no show and ice in their summits, but instead there were various flowers, good smelling grasses, when in the deep gorges and on the mountain slopes, there were snow and ice that never melted.

I will tell you since what time there is snow in that summit of Bashlam, I will tell you since what time in the fields and in mountain slopes, there are pleasant smelling grasses and various flowers.

In those times, our ancestors Nart-Orstkhos lived in deep gorges, high towers, and caves. They were very tall, like these mountains. Their horses also were large. Nart-Orstkhos were strong like bears, courageous like wolves, agile like tigers, and cunning like foxes. They could easily tear pieces from mountain rocks and throw them, they could make heavens tremble with their voices, but they still were powerless because they did not have fire.

However, mighty Sela (god of fire) was merciless and ruthless. He was the owner of the heavens and fire was his property. Why power is needed if it is useless for people? What is the use of power if people suffer because of it?

In order to demonstrate his power to Nart-Orstkhos, Sela would sit in fire chariots and drove above the heavens, making terrible noise as if the heaven was crushed and broken in pieces.

Wow! How he surprised people!
Wow! How he terrified the earth!

Sela's heavenly dwelling place was always covered with black clouds. Sela filled clouds with rain and sent them to the earth. Rain like hail and ice fell on the earth, causing people even more sorrow and calamity. He shoot lightnings on the earth, using a bow made of rainbow and fire. Sela had authority over both good and evil.

Sela was generous to give evil, but mean to give good.
People could hardly get good from him, but Sela himself gave evil.
There was eternal enmity between the heavens and the earth!
There was eternal fight between Sela and people!

The more Nart-Orstkhos were upset by sorrow and calamity, the more Sela was happy. The more Sela was happy, the more upset was Sata, Sela's beloved one and mother of Nart-Orstkhos. Sata very much wanted to help Nart-Orstkhos, but was afraid of Sela.

At that time, in the mountains, there lived a mighty Nart Pkharmat. Pkharmat was a very skillful blacksmith. He made swords, shields, and chain-mail shirts of cold bronze for Narts, asking only for a good word. Good word is very valuable in the mountains. Be happy! Be lucky! Be victorious! Be free! Pkharmat was a modest, generous, and strong Nart. He spoke little, but thought a lot. He thought how to help people, how to get fire. Sela did not give it. Since Pkharmat was born, he accumulated all the good human attributes: strength, dexterity, keen mind, knack, and patience.

His horse Turpal walked around freely in the mountains. "Horse becomes stronger when horse-man rides him, and man becomes stronger in labor and fight! Then, why does your Turpal always walk freely?" asked Narts. Pkharmat replied: "My horse is strong enough. There will be time when he takes a smoldering log from heavenly hearth!" Nart-Orstkhos sincerely laughed at Pkharmat's words. But Pkharmat thought how to help people.

Pkharmat called his Turpal. At of this cry, Argun's gorge thundered, mountains trembles, and mighty Sela woke up and turned to another side.

Turpal that was grazing far away in the mountains heard his master's call and neighed in reply. It cause waves of Argun to hide themselves in mountains and waters of Argun to pour out of their marble riverbanks. Animals in the mountains were frightened and stood still. Turpal came to his master with a speed of a lightning.

Pkharmat took a mace into his hands, attached a shield of bison leather to his elbow, hanged a bow on his neck, attached quiver filled with arrows at his side, put on a chain-mail shirts, attached a sword to his belt, and took a spear into his hand. He saddled his horse Turpal, drank a full horn of mountain goal filled with yay (Chechen national beer), saying: "Let a foot be stable as in tar, let a hand be stable as in dough." He sat on the horse and went to the place where nobody had gone and from where nobody had come back.

Nart-Orstkhos scattered millet on the road where Pkharmat was going to go in order that he would be lucky and they put a vessel filled with millet so that he would go light and empty and come back heavy and full! Pkharmat was riding for a long time. He was on the way seven days and seven nights. He passed through seven mountains and seven gorges. Eventually, he came to the foot of that highest mountain Bashlam that reaches the heavens where Sela lives. Pkharmat took a long and hard way, climbing to the top of the mountain. His way was through is hard slopes. On the top of the mountain, there were pleasantly smelling herbs, various flowers, and beautifully singing birds.

From time to time, sun-like Sata, Sela-Sata, Sela's beloved one and Nart-Orstkhos' mother came to the top of the mountain to rest. She took an image of a bird and came to Pkharmat. She spoke, using human language:
"Hey, mighty Nart, you came to the top of Bashlam with some purpose."
"This is right, generous bird, I came to the top of Bashlam with some purpose. I came to take smoldering log from the heavenly hearth and will not come back without it," - Pkharmat replied.
"The one who has a good intention will be lucky. I will help you. Is your horse swift?" - Sela-Sata asked.
"My horse is more swift than wind."
"Is your horse strong?"
"My horse is strong. Where it hits with its hoof, this place becomes a fountain."
"Are you strong yourself?"
"In my hands, cold bronze becomes softer than tar and wax," - Pkharmat replied to Sela-Sata.

Sela-Sata told Pkharmat how and in what way it is possible to come to Sela's hearth and how to take a smoldering log from it.

"Sela is sleeping now. Let your horse, running like a wind, jump over the hearth. At that time, bend down, take a smoldering log, and drive your horse to the top of Bashlam. Be careful! Sela is terrible and cruel! If he wakes up, you will not be able to come back alive and bring fire."

Pkharmat did as Sata advised him.

Pkharmat's horse swiftly jumped over Sela's hearth. At that moment, Pkharmat bent down, took a smoldering log from the hearth, and went to the top of Bashlam. Due to horse Turpal's swiftness, a fire tail followed Pkharmat. Sela woke up because some sparks got into his nostrils.

He saw a brave Nart bringing fire from heavens to the earth for people.

Sela got very frightened because he knew that if people got fire, they would become strong and brave and would try to rebel against him.

He started a terrible pursuit of a brave Nart.

Sela untied a sack with dark night. It became so dark that Pkharmat did not see his fingers and ears of his horse. Both Nart and his horse could not see anything. They could easily fall into precipice. However, wonderful 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. So, he untied another sack with a terrible storm. Terrible storm and dark night were going to destroy brave Nart and his horse. However, the wonderful bird showed them the way by her beautiful singing.

The brave Nart saw that the storm was going to put out his smoldering log. Without hesitations, he hid the fire in his bosom. Due to strong wind, Argun's waters came out of their course. Large oaks were take out of the ground with their roots and were tossed in the sky like straw.

Sela saw that dark night and terrible storm could not stop Nart and his horse and that he was not damaged be his heavenly pursuit. So, Sela untied his third sack with coldest frost. The coldest frost caused rocks to crack, making terrible noise, and mountains to become smaller. However, fearless Nart Pkharmat and his horse Turpal moved on.

Sela was very frightened. He saw that the brave Nart and his horse were near the foot of Bashlam and that they were going to hide themselves in a cave. He took his bow made of fire and light and began to shoot lightnings toward Nart. The lightnings caused the mountains to tremble, frozen fountains to melt, and the waves of Argun to go to mountain slopes. High mountains trembled as if they were alive.

The strongest frost, the terrible storm, the dark night, and the lightnings could not stop or lead astray fearless Nart Pkharmat and his horse Turpal.

They entered the cave where Narts were waiting for them.

"Take it! Here is fire for you!" - Pkharmat said to amazed Nart-Orstkhos. "In every tower, in every cave, in every house, light fire! Let there be much fire, warm, and light in every home! Let there be happiness with you!"

At that time, there was a terrible noise. The heaven proclaimed eternal enmity toward the earth. In turn, people proclaimed about their eternal fight toward heaven.

"Be happy!" - the fearless Nart said again.

At that time, there was a terrible noise in the mountains because of heavenly thunder and lightnings.

"People, be happy! I have to undergo eternal torment! I will undergo torment in order to deliver you from Sela's anger! Do not be upset about me!"

Leaving the cave, the fearless Nart Pkharmat went to the mountain Bashlam through lightnings, cold, dark night, and storm. Above his head, there were lightnings, storm tossed him around, his arms and legs got stiff because of cold, dark night surrounded him. It was because Sela, being angry, expressed his malice.

Seeing the brave Nart Pkharmat who was going to the dome of heaven, to the top of Bashlam, Sela slowly put the storm, cold, and night into his sacks. Gradually, snow and ice were moving higher from the valleys, gorges, and mountain slopes to the top of Bashlam, following Pkharmat.

The summit of Bashlam got covered with snow and ice. It put a white, snowy cap on its head forever.

Sela shouted: "Let you eternally long for the fire that you brought out from the heavens. Let you eternally long for warm!"

Sela sent his faithful servant one-eyed Uzhu with bronze chains to Pkharmat.

One-eyed Uzhu tied Pkharmat to the icy summit of Bashlam with bronze chains. Sela cursed him. Since then, everything good is cursed by god, and everything cursed by god is approved by people! There is an eternal enmity between the heavens and the earth! There is eternal fight between people and Sela!

Every morning, the queen of all the birds Ida comes to the tied Pkharmat.

She sits on his knees and every time asks the same question:
"Hey, miserable Pkharmat! Hey, pitiful Pkharmat! Do you repent for what you did? If you repent, I will not touch you. If you do not repent, I will peck your liver!"

In spite of the terrible torment that he is going to undergo, Pkharmat always gives the same answer:
"No, no! I did not repent. I gave warm and light to people! I should not repent of a good action that I did."

Ida sharpens her steel beak with a rock and pecks Pkharmat's liver.

Nart Pkharmat does not utter a sound. His eyes never becomes wet. He undergoes this great torment and pain with a great courage and patience. Since this time, as Wainakhs [Chechens and Ingushs] say, Nart-Orstkho men never cry! Since this time, there is snow on the summit of Bashlam. Sela gathered all the snow and ice from valleys, gorges, and mountain slopes to the summit of Bashlam where Pkharmt is tied in order to increase his desire for warm and fire.

Since this time, it is warm in valleys, gorges, and mountain slopes. This warm is from the fire brought by Pkharmat from the heavens. Since this time, at the foot of the mountain and in valleys, there are pleasant smelling herbs and various flowers. Beautiful, wonderful birds live there. However, at the summit of Bashlam, there is cold, eternal storm, and never melting hard ice. Pkharmat is tied there. He will be in eternal torment. However, he will never die. He will live forever!

Chechen Ethics: Konakhalla

2010-02-12T19:07:00.000-08:00

In The Diversity of the Chechen Culture, pp. 68-85, Lecha Ilyasov writes that Chechen ethics has three levels:
1) Adamalla (humanity) - the system of universal human norms;
2) Nokhchalla (this word literally means "Chechen-ness") - the system of particular Chechen norms;
3) Konakhalla ("konakh" means "noble man", "konakhalla" is what makes him such) - the system of the highest ethical norms.

Konakhalla can be compared to Bushido and Confucius's teachings. Like Bushido, it was originally warrior's code of ethics. Although there are many similar traits between them, there is also a difference. Unlike feudal Japan, Chechnya was a democratic country. Chechen konakhs served their nation and Motherland. They highly valued their personal freedom and dignity. Although they were respectful to others, they considered other people equal to themselves. They did not commit ritual suicide because any suicide was against Konakhalla.

There are two versions of Konakhalla. One of them has 55 points, the other has 40 points.

Konakhalla (55 points) (translated from Russian):
1. For konakh, the main goal and meaning of life is service to his nation and his Motherland. For him, interests of the nation and Motherland are above his personal interests.
2. Konakh gives an oath to serve and serves only to Motherland. He is ready to sacrifice his life for Motherland, but never, in no circumstances, konakh gives up his personal dignity and honor.
3. The highest expression of konakh's service is the defense of Motherland from enemy's attacks. For konakh, death in the just war or at the defense of his honor and dignity is more preferable than life in dishonor and shame.
4. Creative labor for the benefit of Motherland in peaceful time is konakh's duty in the same way as defense of his country during the war. Labor does not humiliate, but raises konakh's dignity.
5. In any circumstances, konakh should respect his Motherland and his nation's choice. He should be able to submit his personal desires and preferences to this choice, even if he has to go against his beliefs.
6. Konakh should remember that for him Motherland, personal dignity and honor are higher than life. However, when he has to choose between Motherland's interests and his honor, konakh leaves Motherland.
7. Serving to Motherland, konakh does not expect thankfulness for his actions. For konakh, there is no higher reward than people's thankful memory.
8. Konakh's actions and emotions are controlled by his mind, and his heart helps him to avoid extremes. However, the basis of konakh's attitude to the world is humanity. Everything beyond is not worthy for konakh.
9. The essence of humanity is wisdom, humanist attitude to the world and people, mercy, and compassion. Konakh's humanity and mercy are expressed not only in compassion to people, but also in defending and helping them. First of all, konakh has to be merciful to week and powerless people.
10. Justice is the real measure of konakh's relationships with people. He has to be fair to people in the same way as to himself. In his actions, konakh follows the principle of mutuality: "Do not do to others what may be unpleasant to you."
11. Konakh's nobility is expressed not only in justice, but also in respect toward people regardless of their age and social status. In communication with people, he should be very polite, restrained, and humble.
12. Konakh's main riches are his honor and personal dignity. All the other benefits of this world may be regained after lost, but the lost honor may be regained only through the honorable death.
13. Spiritual purity is a mirror which reflects konakh's inner essence and his actions. Without spiritual purity, there cannot be genuine humanity and compassion.
14. Genuine courage is expressed in patience and ability to control oneself and the situation. Unreasonable bravery is courage with closed eyes. It is forgivable for a young man who does not know the price of his nor other's life. Konakh's self-control is courage of the knowledgeable person, it is an acknowledged step toward death.
15. Genuine faith and justice are konakh's highest spiritual goal. Konakh learns the essence of the world by his mind and heart. He learns the essence of faith by his heart and soul. In religious matters, konakh follows the Prophet's words: "There is no compulsion in the religion."
16. Konakh should always train his mind, comprehend wisdom and experience of others, learn sciences that give a key to understanding of the world because it is only through the knowledge that is possible to come to the genuine faith and comprehension of justice.
17. Konakh should be modest in religious rituals. He never emphasizes his religiousness and does not substitute the genuine faith with the form. For konakh, the inner essence of faith is always more important than its outward expression because the first is pleasant to God while the second is pleasant to people.
18. Konakh is ready to meet any tests that his destiny sends him. However, he always remembers that God always gives him a choice between good and evil and he is ready to be responsible for his choice before God and people.
19. Konakh never gives up trust in God. It helps him in unequal battle and in any hard circumstances. It is his source of his inner power and patience.
20. Konakh is tolerant to people of other religions. He does not force them to follow his views or living. Compulsion causes hypocrisy, and hypocrisy is incompatible with the genuine faith.
21. Konakh should not infringe on personal dignity and honor of other people. He should be lenient toward their weaknesses and errors.
22. Konakh should be able not only to defend his opinion, but also to listen to others' opinion and agree with it if it is correct. To admit that somebody else is right, to give up in an argument or quarrel to a weaker opponent is not a weakness, but expression of nobility.
23. When somebody makes good to konakh, he repays many times more because thankfulness is an attribute of a noble person. However, he does not expect thankfulness when he makes good.
24. Konakh should behave himself with dignity both in joy and in sorrow. Shadow of sadness on one's face and gloomy silence are inappropriate in a feast in the same way as laugh and talkativeness in a funeral. In any situation, he has to express self-control and calmness.
25. Konakh should respect and honor his parents, take care for them, and give them provision when they are old. He has to share with them not only lodging and bread, but also joy and sorrow.
26. In his family, konakh should be as just as in society. In both punishment and reward, he has to be stable and self-controlled. He should not offend or use physical punishment toward his family members.
27. Konakh should be modest in life, everyday living, and social matters. Konakh's intelligence, courage, and actions first of all should be evaluated by others. However, even subjectivity of this evaluation does not give him right to praise himself.
28. Honor and dignity of a woman are inviolable for konakh. Konakh will never allow anyone to offend a woman in his presence.
29. A woman's life is double inviolable for konakh. Under no circumstances, konakh will use an armor against her or will threaten to use it.
30. Konakh will never cause a child pain or suffering. There is no goal which would cause konakh to sacrifice life or health of children.
31. For konakh, guest's life and freedom is more precious than his own life. However, he is not responsible for the guest who committed a crime.
32. In a foreign country, konakh should not only keep its laws, but also to respect its customs and traditions and follow them if it does not contradict his national dignity. In this way, he expresses his thankfulness of this country's air and bread.
33. Konakh's nobility is expressed in the ethics of his behavior. No circumstances are able to make konakh violate the etiquette.
34. For konakh, friendship is sacred. Konakh is ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of friendship. He loves genuine friend like a brother, respects like a father and honors like a dear guest.
35. In friendship, konakh should be faithful and devoted. Defending his friend, konakh does not spare his life. He is equally known by friendship and enmity.
36. Generosity is the measure of konakh's attitude to his enemy.
37. At the war, konakh should not go beyond what is permissible toward an enemy. He should not give a freedom to his feeling of anger and malice.
38. Konakh expresses nobility and mercy toward a defeated enemy. He prefers a noble enemy to an unfaithful friend.
39. Konakh should not use an armor against an unarmed enemy. He is obligated to render help to a seriously wounded enemy in the same way as he would do it to any other person.
40. Konakh should do his best to avoid battle against a weaker enemy because any result of such a battle will not give him glory, but may disgrace his name. If he is unable to avoid it, he should give the enemy an opportunity to choose an armor and to be lenient to him.
41. Konakh should not avoid battle against a stronger enemy. However, he always prefers peace if it is possible without a damage to the nation's interests, his honor and personal dignity.
42. Konakh should keep best traditions of his family, remember his ancestors, respect his background and his nation's history.
43. Konakh should perfect his spirit and body his whole life in order to serve his nation with the highest benefit.
44. Konakh is responsible for his words and actions. He always fulfills his promises given to other people and never violates his promises, even at the cost of his life.
45. Konakh may have healthy ambition, but jealousy to other's glory or riches is unworthy of him. It makes mind not clear and fills heart with poison. Where there is jealousy, there is no humanity and no mercy.
46. Feeling of competition may help konakh to reach goal more quickly, but it is inappropriate toward a friend or a brother. Competition for Motherland is noble, but competition for personal glory is unworthy.
47. Konakh should avoid lie and slander as well as people who spread them. He never says about people what he would not say in their presence. About dead people or people in trouble, konakh says good or nothing.
48. Konakh's truthfulness and sincerity come from courage. However, there is nothing more unworthy for him than hypocrisy. It comes from baseness and cowardice and almost always cause treachery.
49. Politeness and respect should not become ingratiation and sycophancy toward rich and mighty people. Konakh should express a special respect only to women and elderly people. Respectful attitude toward older people is an expression of good manners, respectful attitude toward women is an expression of manliness, and respectful attitude toward younger people is an expression of nobility.
50. Under no circumstances, konakh should infringe other's property.
51. Konakh is permitted to accumulate riches. Accumulated through the righteous way, riches of genuine konakh can serve not only his interests, but also interests of his nation and Motherland. Greediness and meanness are able to make useless the best attributes of any person in the same way as the excessive extravagance is able to impoverish the most rich person. Generosity increases both konakh's glory and his wellbeing.
52. Konakh should courageously bear all the hardships of life that he has, including physical sufferings.
53. Konakh has a respectful attitude to his armor, he respects it, do not use it without a need, never uses it for gain or unrighteous deed.
54. Konakh should be ready to die at any moment because there is nothing eternal in this world. However, konakh should not pursue death and risk his life without necessity because life is the highest God's highest gift to a human being.
55. Konakh's death should be as dignified as his life.

Konakhalla (40 points) (translated from Russian):
1. Konakh is a person who closely follows the principles of Konakhalla.
2. Konakh's main goal and meaning of life is service to his nation and his Motherland. For him, interests of the nation and Motherland are above the interests of his teip (clan), kin, and family.
3. The highest expression of konakh's service is the defense of Motherland from enemy's attacks. For konakh, death in the just war or at the defense of his honor and dignity is more preferable than life in dishonor and shame.
4. Serving Motherland, konakh has a right to do any kind of activity except those that may force him to violate the principles of Konakhalla or to damage his personal dignity.
5. Creative labor does not humiliate, but raises konakh's dignity. Labor for the benefit of Motherland in peaceful time is konakh's duty in the same way as defense of his country during the war.
6. If due to some circumstances, konakh serves interests of one person or group of people when they contradict interests of nation, he has to take the side of interests of nation. In order not to become perjurer, he should not swear an oath to anyone except his Motherland.
7. Konakh should be ready to die at any moment because there is nothing eternal in this world. He should remember that for him there are things that are higher than death: Motherland, personal dignity, and honor.
8. Konakh's main attribute is patience. It expresses genuine courage and ability to control oneself and the situation. Unreasonable bravery is courage with closed eyes. It is forgivable for a young man who does not know the price of his nor other's life. Konakh's self-control is courage of the knowledgeable person, it is an acknowledged step toward death if other actions will be against interests of Motherland, incompatible with Konakhalla or personal dignity.
9. Konakh should be modest in life, everyday living, and social matters. Konakh's intelligence, courage, and actions first of all should be evaluated by others. However, even subjectivity of this evaluation does not give him right to praise himself.
10. Konakh is responsible for his words and actions. He always fulfills his promises given to other people and never violates his promises, even at the cost of his life.
11. Konakh's main riches are his honor and personal dignity. All the other benefits of this world may be regained after lost, but the lost honor may be regained only through the honorable death.
12. Konakh is permitted to accumulate riches. Accumulated through the righteous way, riches of genuine konakh can serve not only his interests, but also interests of his nation and Motherland. Greediness and meanness are able to make useless the best attributes of any person in the same way as the excessive extravagance is able to impoverish the most rich person. Generosity increases both konakh's glory and his wellbeing.
13. Konakh should not infringe on personal dignity and honor of other people as well as their property. He should be lenient toward their weaknesses and errors, but strict toward himself.
14. Konakh should keep best traditions of his family, remember his ancestors, respect their background and his nation's history.
15. Konakh should gradually train his mind, comprehend wisdom and experience of the most wise people, learn sciences that give a key to understanding of the world because it is only through the knowledge that is possible to come to the genuine faith and comprehension of justice.
16. Genuine faith and justice are konakh's highest spiritual goal. Konakh learns the essence of the world by his mind and heart. He learns the essence of faith by his heart and soul. In religious matters, konakh follows the commandment of Islam: "There is no compulsion in the religion."
17. Konakh should be modest in his religious deeds. He never emphasizes his religiousness and does not substitute the genuine faith with the form.
18. Justice is the real measure of konakh's relationships with people. He has to be fair to people in the same way as to himself.
19. Thankfulness is also an attribute of a noble person. When somebody makes good to konakh, he should repay many times more. However, he does not expect thankfulness when he makes good.
20. In communication with people, he should be very polite, restrained, and humble regardless of their age and social status.
21. Konakh respects and honors a woman. He will never, under no circumstances, offend or humiliate a woman or allow anyone to do it in his presence. Honor and dignity of a woman are sacred for konakh.
22. Konakh should be merciful toward weak and powerless people. He should have compassion not only to people, but also to animals that do not have mind and are unable to protect themselves from human cruelty.
23. Konakh has compassion toward all the living things. He will never cut a tree without a need, he will not cause damage to any living being.
24. Konakh should courageously bear all the hardships of life that he has, including physical sufferings.
25. Konakh should be able not only to defend his position by words and actions, but also to listen to other side and agree with their opinion if it is correct. To give up in an argument or quarrel to a weaker opponent is not a cowardice, but nobility.
26. Konakh should behave himself with dignity both in joy and in sorrow. In any situation, he has to express self-control and calmness.
27. Konakh's life should be a patter of high morality, wisdom, and courage for the young generation. Transmission of his life and military experience to young people is a moral obligation for konakh.
28. Konakh should respect and honor his parents, take care for them, and give them provision when they are old.
29. In his family, konakh should be as just as in society. In both punishment and reward, he has to be stable and self-controlled. He should not offend or use physical punishment toward his family members. If his wife committed such an evil action that she can be beaten, he should divorce her.
30. In friendship, konakh should be faithful and devoted. Defending his friend, konakh should not spare his life. He is equally known by friendship and enmity.
31. Konakh expresses the same nobility toward his enemy as toward other people.
32. Konakh should not use an armor against an unarmed enemy. He should render help to a seriously wounded enemy in the same way as he would do it to any other person.
33. Konakh should do his best to avoid battle against a weaker enemy because any result of such a battle will not give him glory, but may disgrace his name. If he is unable to avoid it, he should give the enemy an opportunity to choose an armor and to be lenient to him.
34. Konakh should not avoid battle against a strong enemy. However, he should prefer peace to war if it is possible without a damage to the nation's interests, his honor and personal dignity.
35. For konakh, the law of hospitality is sacred. Konakh who was unable to defend his guest is destined to shame and despise. Therefore, guest's life and freedom is more precious than his own life. However, he is not responsible for the guest who committed a crime.
36. Visiting other countries and nations, konakh should respect their laws and traditions because in this case he represents not only himself, but also his nation.
37. Konakh should perfect his spirit and body his whole life in order to serve his nation with the highest benefit.
38. Konakh should regularly do exercises for strengthening his body and exercises with various kinds of armor in order to be able to defend his Motherland and his honor when it is necessary.
39. Konakh has a respectful attitude to his armor, he respects it, do not use it without a need, never uses it for gain or unrighteous deed.
40. Konakh's death should be as dignified as his life!

Boysgar

2009-08-18T17:41:00.001-07:00

Boysgar was a Naib (commander) appointed by Imam Shamil. In 1839, Shamil was defeated in Daghestan and fled to Chechnya, urging Chechen to fight. Boysgar welcomed Shamil. They fought together 20 years until Shamil's captivity. Long before Shamil's captivity, Boysgar lost his left eye, left arm, and left leg. However, being crippled, he continued to fight and take the lead in battles.

In 1959, the fortress of Gunib in Daghestan was blockaded by Russian army. Shamil made a decision to give up and went to Russian army. Boysgar tried to stop him, but Shamil did not stop and did not turn back. Later, when he was asked why he did so, he answered that Chechens do not shoot in back and that if he had turned back, Boysgar would have killed him.

Boysgar and the rest of Chechens preferred either to obtain freedom or be killed. They broke through the siege and went to Chechnya. Only 30 of them, including Boysgar, survived. Boysgar became Imam of Chechnya and was the leader of independent Chechnya for one year until his death.

Kunta-Hajji

2009-08-18T17:39:00.000-07:00

In 19th century, Imam Shamil from Daghestan united nations of the North Caucasus (mainly, Daghestan and Chechnya) into one Muslim state - imamat - in order to resist Russian occupation of the North Caucasus. He was religious, political, and military leader in the North Caucasus. The war was long and Russian army had military superiority. Many people were killed. Eventually, Shamil was captured by Russians.

Shamil was welcomed by Russian king and was allowed to go to Mecca and Medina where he lived until his death.

In the end of the war, in Chechnya, Kunta-Hajji, another religious leader preached another version of Sufism and called Chechens to peace. Shamil persecuted Kunta-Hajji for his anti-war ideas. People who were tired of the war willingly accepted his teaching. He became popular.

However, Russian authorities were not satisfied with that. Kunta-Hajji was arrested and imprisoned for the rest of his life. Many of his followers were killed by Russian army. His teaching was forbidden and many of his followers were arrested and imprisoned.

This was absolutely unfair and illogical. Shamil who was the leader in the war against Russia was welcomed by Russian authorities. Kunta-Hajji who preached peace was imprisoned.

Chechens remember Kunta-Hajji and consider him as a saint (euliya).

More about him and his teaching:
1. Kunta-Khadzhi Kishiev
2. Kunta-Khadzhi Kishiev – the Chechen Mahatma Gandhi
3. The Diversity of the Chechen Culture by Lecha Ilyasov, pp. 66, 67.

Chechensky

2009-08-18T17:38:00.000-07:00

Alexander Chechensky was the first Chechen general in Russian army. His last name is the Russian word for "Chechen" (adjective).

He was born in Chechnya, but was brought to Russia when he was a child. He grew up in the family of Russian military officer Rayevsky who gave him a good education. Chechensky graduated from Moscow State University.

He began to serve in Russian army in the Caucasus in the wars against Turkey and Persia. Then, he successfully participated in the war with Napoleon in 1812 - 1814. In all his actions, he showed courage and ability as a military commander. His army subunits had many victories.

In the end of this war, he became a general. He received many rewards. He was a hero of the war with Napoleon.

However, most Russians do not know about him. His name as the name of Cherkassky was unfairly forgotten.

Cherkassky

2009-08-18T17:28:00.000-07:00

In history, probably, the most dangerous time for Russia was in the beginning of 17th century when the Polish occupied Moscow and appointed their governor over Russia. Most Russian dukes and princes were passive. There was almost no hope for Russia.

At that time, in Nizhny Novgorod, there was a prince Dmitry Mamstryukovich Cherkassky. He was the one who took initiative to release Russia from the Polish. Nizhny Novgorod city parliament had their gatherings in his palace. He inspired other members of the parliament, Minin and Pozharsky to join him in releasing Russia. They three and the people who joined them entered Moscow and released it from the Polish occupants.

In modern Russia, this day (November 4) is a national holiday. At the Red Square in Moscow, there is a monument to Minin and Pozharsky. However, Cherkassky who was the main initiator of the release of Moscow was forgotten. His name is seldom mentioned. These things often happened in Russian history.

There are two hypotheses regarding Cherkassky's nationality. Some historians consider him to be a Chechen, some think that he was a Circassian (Kabardian). His last name is formed from old Russian word "cherkas" or "cherkes" (in English, Circassian). At that time, this word was used to denote any nation in the North Caucasus including Chechens.

Cherkassky rescued Russia, but was unfairly forgotten.

Gospel of Barnabas

2009-05-03T06:03:00.000-07:00

According to Islam, Allah sent the Gospel to Jesus, but it was corrupted by people. Muslims do not consider the canonical gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) to be the original gospel. Quran and Sunnah make an impression that the original gospel contained only some teachings and commandments and did not contain narratives about Jesus. This means that it was something like The Gospel of Thomas. However, Muslims do not like this gospel either and prefer The Gospel of Barnabas.

This gospel is much longer than any of the canonical gospels and contains many narratives. Probably, the reason why Muslims like this gospel is because there Jesus fulfills some Muslim rituals and this gospel (probably, the only gospel) denies that Jesus was crucifies. However, there are some traits that may indicate that this gospel was written by a Muslim and the author overdid it. For example, in this gospel, it is said that Jesus prayed five times a day in the same way as Muslims do. However, Islam canonical texts (reliable hadiths) say that when Muhammad ascended to Allah, Allah gave him commandment to pray five times a day. Before that, nobody prayed five times a day, and even Muslims prayed only two times a day. So, Jesus' prayer five times a day is an obvious anachronism.

Confessions of a British Spy

2009-05-02T15:07:00.000-07:00

The founder of Wahhabism (also known as Salafism) is Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab (1703-1792) who lived and preached in Arabia. There is a book Confessions of a British Spy that claims that the actual founder of Wahhabism was British spy Hempher who had an assignment from British intelligence to cause divisions among Muslims in order to weaken Turkish Ottoman empire. As it is stated in this book, Hempher taught Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab his version of Islam though Hempher never was a Muslim. He used Quran to make Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab believe that many commandments of Islam are not necessary (such as prayer, fast, jihad, prohibition of alcohol and extramarital sex). Then, Hempher told Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab that he saw Muhammad (the founder of Islam) in his dream and he gave Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab commission to preach this version of Islam.

There are, actually, some odd things regarding this book. There is no indication who is the author and where he found this information. Also, there is a great difference between what Hempher supposedly taught Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab as written in this book and what Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab wrote in his book Kitab at-Tauhid (The Book of the Unity of God) - his most famous book (there is also an audio version of this book). The main ideas of Kitab at-Tauhid are: purification of Islam and coming back to Quran and Sunnah, worship and prayer requests only to Allah, prohibition of innovations, prohibition of a number of things that can lead to polytheism. However, none of these points is mentioned in Confessions of a British Spy.

It is also interesting that this book was published in Turkey and its authors are obviously anti-Wahhabis. So, this book looks like a counterfeit. However, this absolutely does not mean that I have any intention to defend Wahhabism or its founder.

What Languages Are Harder - Adyg, Wainakh, or Daghestanian?

2009-02-07T06:06:00.000-08:00

The languages of the Caucasus language family can be divided into the three groups:
1. Western group (Abhaz-Adyg)
2. Eastern group (Nakh-Dagestanian)
3. Southern group (Kartvelian)

The first two groups are the Northern Caucasus languages. Most of them are spoken in the Russian part of the Caucasus. The languages of the third group are spoken in Georgia. Other Caucasus languages do not belong to the Caucasus language family.

Western group is divided into three subgroups:
1. Adyg languages: Kabardian language (or dialect) and Adygean language (or Chimtoy dialect)
2. Abhaz and Abaza languages which are quite similar
3. Ubykh language which is reportedly dead

Eastern group includes:
1. Nakh (Wainakh) languages: Chechen and Ingush languages (or dialects) and Batsbi language
2. Dagestanian languages: 26 languages spoken in Dagestan

Southern group includes Georgian and 3 other languages spoken in Georgia. There are some debates whether this group should be included into the Caucasus languge family or should be considered as a separate language family.

The Eastern Caucasus languages have many cases. This is one of their main difficulty. Because of this reason, some linguists consider Tabasaran language as the hardest in the Caucasus. However, as I wrote in the previous post, Chechen language has no less cases. Other Dagestanian languages have less cases.

The Western Caucasus languages have much less cases. Adyg languages have 4 cases. Comparing this number with 46 cases in Tabasaran, it seems that they are much more simple. However, Adyg languages have very complicated system of the verb forms. Adyg verbs have special prefixes for subjects, direct and indirect objects. Actually, Tabasaran languages also have them. However, Adyg verbs also distinguish grammatically dynamic and static, complete and incomplete actions, and many more action aspects. One verb can contain the meaning of the whole sentence and have 10 - 15 prefixes and suffixes. This makes Adyg verbs very complicated.

In conclusion, it seems that it is hard to define which of the Northern Caucasus languages is the hardest since they have all different difficulties.

What Is the Hardest Language in Caucasus?

2009-01-12T13:13:00.000-08:00

The Caucasus languages are traditionally considered to be among the hardest in the world. Russian linguists include one of them - the Tabasaran language - into the three hardest languages in the world. Tabasaran is one of the languages spoken in Daghestan. It is considered to be one of the hardest languages of the world because it has many grammar cases.

Tabasaran has 46 cases. This is considered to be the biggest number in the world. Each case has its own ending added to nouns, some pronouns, and other words. However, the fact is that the Tabasaran language has a very logical structure of the cases and case endings.

There are 4 main cases and 42 local cases. The main cases are:
1) Nominative which is used as a subject with an intransitive verb and as a direct object with a transitive verb;
2) Genitive which denotes possession and equals "of" with a noun in English;
3) Dative which is used as an indirect object and equals "to" with a noun in English;
4) Ergative which is used as a subject with a transitive verb.

Nominative does not have an ending. Ergative has an ending that forms the indirect stem. The endings of all the other cases are joined to this stem.

The local cases mainly denote either static positions or movement directions. However, they also have some abstract meanings. The 42 local cases are divided into 7 series. Each of them contains 6 cases. The 7 series can be described by English prepositions:
1) in,
2) at,
3) on,
4) behind,
5) under,
6) between,
7) above.

In each group, each of the 6 cases denotes either position or direction:
1) Essive that denotes static position;
2) Ablative that denotes movement from something;
3) Lative that denotes movement to something;
4) Comitative that denotes movement through something;
5) Elative that denotes movement, directed from something (but it does not necessary begin from that exact place);
6) Allative that denotes movement, directed toward something (but it does not necessary ends in that exact place).

Each of the 7 series has its own ending. It is joined to Essives. Other cases join special endings depending on what they denote. All the cases that denote the same kind of movement have the same additional endings. Elatives and Allatives add one more ending (the same for both kinds of movement). Elatives add the ending of Ablatives and then this additional ending. Allatives add the ending of Latives and then the same additional ending.

So, the Tabasaran case system is very logical and orderly. Other Daghestan languages have less cases (around 20), but they are also quite orderly.

For example, the Avar language has 24 cases. The main cases are the same as in Tabasaran. They are formed in the same way. There are 20 local cases. They are divided into 5 series:
1) "on"
2) "at"
3) "inside of the substance or object"
4) "under"
5) "inside of the container"

The names of the cases are:
1) Locative which denotes static position;
2) Allative which denotes movement to something;
3) Ablative which denotes movement from something;
4) Translative which denotes movement through something.
In most cases, Translative is substituted by Ablative. Thus, there are 19 actual cases in Avar.

Each series has its own endings. Locative does not have an ending. So, the series endings are joined to the indirect stem (the form of Ergative). Allative, Ablative, and sometimes Transitive have their own endings which are joined to the indirect stem. The series endings follow them. Avar local cases also can have abstract meanings. So, the Avar case system is also very logical and orderly.

The Dargin language has 28 cases. 8 of them are main and 20 are local. The main cases are: nominative, genitive, dative, ergative, factitive, comitative, instrumentalis, and temative. The first four of them have the same functions as in Avar and Tabasaran. Factitive is used as a case of predicate. Comitative has the same function as the English preposition "with (somebody)." Instrumentalis is used as a case of a tool, like the English preposition "with (something)." Temative denotes an object of speech, like the English preposition "about."

There are 5 series of local cases:
1) "on"
2) "between," "inside a substance or an object"
3) "under"
4) "inside of a container"
5) "at," "near"

There are 5 cases in each series:
1) Lative;
2) Essive;
3) Allative;
4) Ablative.

Each series has its own endings. Lative does not have a special ending, only the series endings. Essive, Allative, and Ablative have their own endings which are joined to the series endings. Dargin local cases also can have abstract meanings. So, the Dargin case system is also very logical and orderly. The Dargin local case system is similar to the Avar system.

The Wainakh languages (Chechen, Ingush, and Batsbi) (I use the common linguistic terminology here) have about 20 cases each, but they are not so orderly.

For example, the Chechen language has 17 regular cases and also many postpositional constructions. 8 of the cases are local - the main local case and 7 derivative local cases (though the last of them is used quite seldom). Postpositions that denote "in", "on", and "under" can add endings of 7 derivative cases. Thus 8 local cases and 24 postpositional constructions can be viewed as 4 series of 8 cases/postpositional constructions. In the grammar of Wainakh and Daghestani languages the definitions of the series do not match.

The 7 series denote:
1) movement to something (Lative);
2) static position somewhere (Essive);
3) movement from something (Ablative);
4) movement directed toward something (Allative);
5) movement directed from something (Elative);
6) movement through something (Transitive I);
7) movement directed through something (Transitive II);
8) reaching something (Limitative).

The local cases and postpositional constructions (4 in each series) can be described by English prepositions:
1) "at" (local cases);
2) "in" (postpositions);
3) "on" (postpositions);
4) "under" (postpositions).

The endings are joined to the stem of the noun or postposition. The endings are formed in the following way:
1) the ending of Lative is -e or -ga; all the other endings are joined to the ending of Lative, however, postpositions do not have any ending in Lative and the endings of other cases are joined to their stem instead of the ending of Lative;
2) the ending of Essive is -kh;
3) the ending of Ablative is -ra;
4) the ending of Allative is -kha;
5) the ending of Elative is -khara;
6) the ending of Transitive I is -khula;
7) the ending of Transitive II is -khahula;
8) the ending of Limitative is -ts.

So, the ending of Elative is composed of the endings of Allative and Ablative; the ending of Transitive is composed of the endings of Allative and Translative.

In addition, some words have other two series of locative cases (these series are used very seldom):
1) comparative case (ending -l) that can be followed by the endings of locative cases;
2) substantive case (ending -kh) that also can be followed by the endings of local cases.
The first of these series is used with nouns that denote substances, materials, and liquids. The second series is used with nouns that denote entities of bigger objects.

There is no difference between the case endings and postpositions in the pronunciation. Both are unstressed. The difference is only in writing. So, postpositional constructions can be viewed as cases. This makes the number of cases in Chechen equal 55.

The Chechen language has Nominative, Genetive, Dative, and Ergative. There are also other cases:
1) Instrumental that equals the English prepositions "by" and "with";
2) Comparative that denotes comparison;
3) Substantive that equals the English preposition "about"; it can also have a meaning similar to Essive.

Comparative and Substantive have derivative forms. The derivative form of Comparative is Equative that denotes that two things have the same quantity of something. The derivative form of Substantive has a meaning that is similar to Translative.

There are also other postpositional constructions with other postpositions. This makes the number of the Chechen cases not less than the number of the Tabasaran cases. In general, the Chechen case system is less orderly than the Tabasaran case system.

Chechen, Tabasaran, and other Caucasus languages have other difficulties as well. So, it is quite hard to tell which of them is the hardest. In my opinion, the Caucasus languages have about the same level of difficulty.

How Many Wainakh and Adyg Nations Are There?

2009-01-07T13:41:00.000-08:00

The word "Wainakh" means "our people" and is used by Chechens and Ingushs to denote both Chechens and Ingushs. Chechens and Ingushs have very similar languages and often consider that this is one language with different dialects. They often consider themselves as one nation. There are other Wainakh ethnic groups — Akkis who live in Daghestan, and Kistis and Batsbis who live in Georgia.

There is a common consensus that Batsbis are a separate Wainakh group. Most Batsbis consider themselves as Georgians, and not as Wainakhs. Unlike other Wainakhs who are Muslims, Batsbis are Christians. The Batsbi language is very different from other Wainakh languages because it contains many Georgian words. However, its grammar is similar to the grammar of other Wainakh languages. There is a Batsbi story that they originally lived in the same territory as other Wainakhs, but later moved to Georgia. Living in Georgia, they learned the Georgian language (all the Batsbis speak fluent Georgian) and borrowed many words from Georgian. So, originally they were a part of the Wainakh community, but then separated themselves from it. Now, they cannot be considered as a part of one Wainakh nation.

Most scientists consider Akkis and Kistis as two groups of Chechens and their languages as Chechen dialects. Most of Akkis, Kistis, and other Chechens think the same way. There are very few of Akkis and Kistis who consider themselves as different from Chechens. So, this matter is also quite clear.

However, the question whether Chechens and Ingushs are the same nation or not and whether they speak the same language or not, is not so simple. The problem is that most scientists consider them as two nations with two languages. However, many Chechens and Ingushs (not all of them) consider themselves as one nation with one language.

There are no definite criteria of the difference between a language and a dialect. According to N. F. Yakovlev, a well-known linguist who studied many North Caucasus languages, if people are able to understand one another speaking their native language, they speak the same language, though they may speak different dialects. Most Chechens and Ingushs are able to understand one another speaking their native languages.

In linguistics, in order to find out how close two languages or dialects to one another, scientists take 100 words of each of them and count how many of them match. However, this method is not used to make a difference between languages and dialects. The use of this method for Chechen and Ingush, for Chechen and Akki, and for Ingush and Akki gives similar results. This means that since Akki is considered to be a Chechen dialect, Ingush should not be considered as a separated language. Chechen and Ingush are two dialects of one Wainakh language. Chechens and Ingushs compose the same Wainakh nation.

The situation with Adygs (Circassians), another ethnic group in Caucasus, is somewhat similar. They consider themselves as one nation. However, scientists consider them as three national groups (Kabardians, Circassians, and Adygeans) with two languages (Kabardian (or Kabardian-Circassian) and Adygean).

Originally, Agygs (Circassians) were one nation in the northwest Caucasus. During the war with Russia that ended in 1864, they lost 95 % of their population and 90 % of their territory (Wainakhs lost 92 % of their population in that war). Most of the rest of Agygs were forced to migrate to Turkey. A number of Wainakhs migrated there also. Those Agygs who did not migrate, were forced to move from their villages to other territories that formerly were parts of Circassia. As a result, the number of Adygs decreased very significantly and they were scattered.

In the Soviet Union, Adygs had four (later three) national authonomous regions while Wainakhs had one. Agygs wer divided into three ethnic groups according to these three regions. This division was completely artificial. The division of the Adyg language was made also artificially. The difference between Kabardian and Adygean is about the same as the difference between Chechen and Ingush. Adygs are able to understand one another speaking their dialects. They are the same nation and speak the same language.

There is another ethnic group close to Adygs - Ubykhs. Adygs often consider them as a part of the Adyg nation. The Ubykh language is less similar to other Adyg dialects. In 1860s, all the Ubykhs migrated to Turkey. In 1992, the last Ubykh speaker reportedly died. However, there are also reports that there are other Ubykh speakers. I am not sure if Ubykh can be considered a dialect of Adyg. However, Ubykhs can be a part of Adyg nation even if their language is different. One nation can speak more than one language, and one language can be spoken by more than one nation. Probably, Ubykhs should be considered a part of the Adyg nation.

Chechen Myth about Prometheus

2008-12-26T23:58:00.000-08:00

Probably, most people believe that the Greeks were the authors of the myth of Prometheus. However, many Caucasus nations have similar myths. According to the North Caucasus myths, Prometheus was chained either to Elbrus or to Kazbek - two of the highest mountains in Caucasus. According to the Greek myth, Prometheus was chained to a mountain in the Caucasus. This is quite remarkable. Greeks had their colonies around the Black Sea including the area of the Caucasus Black Sea coast. By now, scientists came to conclusion that Greeks borrowed this myth from Caucasus nations.

Many Caucasus nations have myths similar to the myth of Prometheus. Abhazs have a myth of Sasrykva. According to this myth, when Sasrykva's brothers were frozen, he shot into a star and it fell down. Then, he found a camp-fire and brought smoldering log to his brothers. However, before he did that, he had to kill a giant. Adygs have a myth about Sasruko. This myth is very similar to Abhazs' myth about Sasrykva. Karachais and Balkarians have a myth about Sosuruk which is also very similar to the myths about Sasrykva and Sasruko. However, neither of these myths says about sufferings for bringing fire to people.

Abhazs have a myth of Abrskil who rebelled against god and was chained, but he did not bring fire to people. Adygs have myths about Nasren-zhache and Bataraz. They both rebelled against god who stole fire from people. Nasren-zhache tried to bring it back, but was chained. Bataraz released him and brought fire back to people.

Georgian myth about Amirani is quite similar to Abhaz myth of Abrskil. In some versions of this myth, Amirani brought fire to people. However, unlike, the Greek myth, he was chained in a cave, not on the mountain.

Among the Caucasus versions of this myth, the version which is the most similar to the Greek version is the Chechen version. Even Chechen name for Prometheus is similar to the Greek one. In Greek, "Prometheus" means "prophet." The Chechen name for Prometheus is Pqharmat. This word is from Chechen "pqhar" which means "blacksmith" or "master". According to both Chechen and Greek versions, Prometheus was a blacksmith. There is a version that Pqharmat means "master of the land" or "master of the language." "Qh" is a sound missing in Greek and other European languages. Greeks usually dropped the sounds that they could not pronounce. "-eus" is a Greek ending. Greek "th" and Chechen "t" are pronounced in the same way. This means that the consonants in Chechen and Greek words for Prometheus are the same. In most languages, consonants are more stable than vowels. For example, English vowels were changed much more than consonants.

Probably the main difference between Chechen and Greek versions of this myth is that in the Greek version Prometheus eventually gave up and was released while in the Chechen version he has never given up and is still suffering. In the Greek version, Prometheus complained and cursed Zeus. In the Chechen version, he kept silent and never complained. In addition, in the Chechen version, Pqharmat willingly came to Sela (Chechen god of fire, thunder, and lightning - equivalent of Zeus) in order to suffer. Chechens consider him as one of their ancestors.

What is the main idea of this myth? Some consider Prometheus as a symbol of scientific search. I do not think this is the main idea. When I was a child, I watched a performance on the Greek version of this myth. Zeus asked Prometheus, "Why did you do that?" His reply was, "I wanted to help people." The stress was made on this point. I believe this is correct. I think the main idea of this myth is altruism and self-sacrifice for other people.

When I was reading the Greek version, I was puzzled why Prometheus gave up. I was not satisfied that he gave up and fulfilled the will of Zeus. In the Chechen version, Pqharmat did not give up. He did not complain and did not curse anybody. He was willing to suffer. I definitely prefer the Chechen version of this myth and believe that this is the original version.

Pqharmat portrays some character traits which are highly appreciated in Chechen culture - altruism, independence, dignity, courage, and patience.

Was Stalin an Atheist?

2008-12-05T15:51:00.000-08:00

Probably, most people are sure that Stalin was an atheist. However, this matter is not so clear.

Stalin was Georgian and his real last name was Jugashvili. The traditional religion of Georgians is Georgian Orthodox church. Actually, Orthodox churches (Greek, Russian, Georgian, and others) have the same doctrines and rituals, but independent administration. Stalin studied 4 years in the Church School in Gori (a Georgian city near South Ossetia where he was born). There he had the excellent marks in the Old Testament history, New Testament history, catechism, church service, and church singing. After the graduation, he entered the Georgian Orthodox seminary in Tbilisi where he studied 5 years. He had good marks there, but did not finish the full course of the seminary because of his interest in communist ideas.

In 1920s - 1930s, many churches were closed and many priests were sent in prisons. However, in 1940s, during the World War II, Stalin's attitude to the church was changed. He met the leaders of Russian Orthodox church. Many churches were reopened and persecutions stopped.

Stalin did not write any atheist or anti-church article. His adopted son Artyom Sergeyev who was brought up in Stalin's family, said that Stalin had never said anything negative about the church or religion. According to Sergeyev's words, Stalin was knowledgeable in the religious matters, had many religious books, and even wrote articles against destruction of churches and imprisonment of priests. His bodyguard Yuri Solovyov said that he saw Stalin praying in a church in Kremlin.

A number of priests including two patriarchs (the highest leaders of Russian Orthodox church) Sergy and Alexy I considered him to be a secret believer. After his death, Russian Orthodox church held a funeral service. This was the only time when Russian Orthodox church held a funeral service for a leader of the Soviet Union. In Russian Orthodox church, funeral services are held only for Orthodox Christians.

There are some poems that supposedly were written by Stalin. One of them was written in 1949 and is called "Novices" (as religious term):

Let us talk about eternity.
I am surely guilty in many things.
However, somebody ruled my life.
I felt that omnipresent look.

He did not let me sleep or rest.
He lived in me and was above me ruling over me.
And I, as a slave of the universal sovereignty,
Ruled the country with the strong will.

Who was my secret highest master?
What did he want ruling over me?
I, as a slave, judge, and executive,
Was everything in this poor country.

And everything was incomprehensible then:
Where did the power, will, and authority came from?
My soul, as a wheel of a machine,
Ground desires of millions.

And only then, in the spring of 1945,
He quietly whispered me,
"You have been my novice, my soldier,
And you will rest soon!"

Note: This poem was written 4 years before Stalin's death.

Acupuncture and Acupressure

2008-11-30T17:47:00.000-08:00

Both acupuncture and acupressure are based on the concept that in human body there are some biologically active points (this is a standard term in Russian literature). Acupuncture is the method of using needle to effect these biologically active points (BAP). Acupressure is the method of using fingers to press them.

The concept of BAPs came from the oriental medicine, mainly, from Chinese traditional medicine. In Chinese medicine, the BAPs are joined into energetic meridians. There are 12 pairs of main meridians, 8 additional meridians, and 12 pairs of special meridians. However, mostly 12 pairs of main meridians and 2 additional meridians are used.

This system of meridians is used not only in acupuncture, but also in chigun and kungfu. The Chinese theory of meridians is quite complicated and involves such things as Yin and Yang, the five elements, the eight trigrams, and other concepts.

Besides Chinese tradition system, there are other systems of meridians.

In principle, there is nothing wrong with the concept of BAP. They are different from the surrounding parts of the body both tactually (they are more soft) and electrically (they have a lower electric resistance).

There are many important things that should be noted in dealing with acupuncture and acupressure. The effectiveness very much depends on the exact finding the BAPs and the area of activation. Thus, acupuncture is more effective then acupressure because acupuncture effects the smaller area. There are two opposite ways on effecting the BAPs - stimulative and sedative. They are used in different cases. It is important to know what way is needed in what case.

Both acupuncture and acupressure are used not only in China, but in many other countries. In Russia, they are accepted medical methods. They are used even by astronauts and in army. The literature on acupuncture and acupressure contains not only their use for physical sicknesses, but also for some psychological conditions and problems.

As far as I understand, TFT tapping is a method to use acupressure for cure psychological problems. This idea is not new. Chinese traditional medicine used it this way. Actually, I have no idea what TFT leaders know about Chinese traditional medicine and whether they used its principles in TFT. I do not think they invented something new. In many cases, when western people try to adapt or modernize some oriental things, the result is not so positive.

To me, the idea to use acupressure in curing psychological problems has some sense. However, I am absolutely not for TFT.

The point is that the modern science does not have answers to all the questions. If Chinese traditional medicine found something by empiric way, this does not mean that it should be rejected only because it does not fit the modern medical science.