He advanced, therefore, to give battle, and the men of Chlat pressed him sorely.  His horse was caught in the reedy marsh of Tschechur.[30] With difficulty he crawled out of the bog and reached the waters of the Lochur.[31]

[30] A marsh at the outlet of the Kara-Su, a tributary of the Euphrates.

[31] A small river which empties into the Sea of Wan not far from Chlat.

Once Abamelik had lingered at the house of Ibraham Aga, and forcibly entered the sleeping-room of his wife.  Her name was Schemschen-Chanum.  She had borne a daughter to Abamelik, who was now an ardent Mahometan.  This daughter took up her bow and arrows and concealed herself on the sloping river-bank.  When David bathed in the waters of Locher she shot him, assassin-like, with an arrow in the back.  David arose and made a great outcry and his voice sounded even up to Sassun.  Zoenow-Owan, Chorassan, Uncle Toross, Tschoentschchapokrik, and Zoeranwegi came together, for they heard the voice of David.  And Zoenow-Owan called to him from Sassun, “We are coming.”

And they went forth to help David, who heard in the water the voice of his kinsmen.  They came to the river and found David, who said:  “Zoenow-Owan, she seemed frightened at our calling.  Go and find her.”

And they sought and found the blue-eyed maiden.  David seized her by one foot, trod on the other, tore her in pieces, and threw her into the village at the foot of the mountain.  From this deed he named the village Tschiwtis-Tschapkis.[32] The village lies at the mouth of the Tschechur and is called Tschapkis to this day.

[32] Literally, “I will tear in pieces and scatter.”

The brothers took David with them and moved on to Sassun.  And after four days David died, and his brothers mourned for him.  They went to Chandud-Chanum to console her and wish her long life; but Chandud-Chanum said, “Ah, me, after David’s death I am but the subject of your scorn.”

And Tschoentschchapokrik said:  “Chandud-Chanum, weep not, weep not.  David is dead, but my head is still whole.”

Chandud-Chanum climbed the tower and threw herself down.  Her head struck a stone and made a hole in it, and into this hole the men of Sassun pour millet and grind as the people of Moesr do; and every traveller from Moesr stops there before the castle to see the stone.

The brothers came to see the body of Chandud-Chanum, and they pressed on her breasts and milk flowed therefrom.  They said:  “Surely she has a child!  If there is a child it must be in Kachiswan."[33] And they set out for Kachiswan and said to the governor:  “A child of our brother and sister-in-law lives here.  Where is it?”

[33] The small city of Kagisman, not far from Kars.

“It is not here.”

“We have a sign.  In the breast of our sister-in-law was milk.”

Then the governor said:  “She had a daughter, but it is dead.”

“We have a test for that also—­for our dead.  The grave of one dead one year is one step long, of one dead two years, two steps long, and so on.”