Georgia Through its Folktales
Michael Berman, UK
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Georgia
An old guest
Georgia Through Its Folktales
With translations by Ketevan Kalandadze illustrations by Miranda Gray
ISBN: [978-1-84694-279-2]
Price: £11.99 || $24.95
Publishing on: 27 Mar 2010
Pages: 160 Format: Paperback
"Everything shifts in the Caucasus, blown by some of the strongest winds on earth. Even the ground moves, splintered by fault lines. In early Georgian myths, it is said that when the mountains were young, they had legs – could walk from the edges of the oceans to the deserts, flirting with the low hills, shrouding them with soft clouds of love" (Griffin, 2001, p.2).
But what about those aspects of life which remain relatively constant – the traditional practices of the people, the practices that are reflected in their folktales and their folklore? It is these constants that this study concentrates on. Find out about the land with which the earliest folklore of Europe is connected – the land where Noah’s Ark is said to have settled, the land of the Argonauts and of Prometheus.
Michael Berman PhD works as a teacher, teacher trainer, and writer. Publications include The Power of Metaphor for Crown House, The Nature of Shamanism and the Shamanic Story for Cambridge Scholars Publishing, and Shamanic Journeys through the Caucasus for O-Books. Although Michael originally trained as a Core Shamanic Counsellor with the Scandinavian Centre for Shamanic Studies under Jonathan Horwitz, these days his focus is more on the academic side of shamanism, with a particular interest in the folktales with shamanic themes told by and collected from the peoples of the Caucasus. For more information please visit www.Thestoryteller.org.uk
The translator of the tales is Ketevan Kalandadze, who has an MA in Western European Languages and Literature from Tbilisi State University in Georgia and is an administrator at City University in London. She is also the Managing Director of Caucasus Arts Ltd, a company set up to promote both visual and performing artists from Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the other independent states in the region. Ketevan hopes that the company will serve as a bridge between the Caucasus and the UK, helping to develop an appreciation of the rich, though relatively untapped, cultural heritage of the land where she was born. For further information please visit www.caucasusarts.org.uk
Full of third sons, talking birds, enchanted places, beautiful women and impossible journeys, these charmingly illustrated stories have a magic-realist, almost absurd quality, and they are told and translated in such a way that will keep you reading from cover to cover. In his introduction and extensive accompanying gloss, Michael Berman skilfully locates them in their historical, religious, storytelling and shamanic contexts with a scholarship that is both thorough and accessible, making it complementary to the reader's enjoyment.
David Ronder BA, MA - lecturer and translator
Ancient Georgian folktales are representative of the spiritual power and artistic potential of the people. This book gives an insight into some very important traditions, showing how goodness ultimately defeats evil, and what the main purpose of human life is.
Nino Makhevadze PhD - ethnomusicologist, Tbilisi State Conservatory
From the beginning of history until the Middle Ages the Caucasus mountain range was regarded as the boundary of the world. Beyond, all was mystery and fable, and for that reason the ancients made the Caucasus the scene of much mythological activity and the home of many marvels. They called the country Colchis, and it was the land where Noah’s Ark is said to have settled, Jason and the Argonauts found the Golden Fleece, and Prometheus was chained to one of the peaks by the gods to punish him for giving fire to the mortals.
These days it is a region of great interest too, with it having been called geopolitical pivot about which everything sways - American economic interests, Russian territorial interests, and Islamic religious interests. Yet, at the same time, it is relatively unknown. The only Georgia most westerners are familiar with, for example is the state of Georgia in America. It can also be taken for granted that the majority of us would be unable to locate the area on a map, name the capital cities of each of the countries, know which languages are spoken in them, or have any idea of the various peoples’ religious affiliations either. Hopefully Georgia though its Folktales will go some way to changing this.
As anyone who has visited Georgia can attest to, the hospitality of the people is legendary, and that is what this particular tale focuses on:
At the beginning of the harvest each year people used to celebrate the event. One day everyone is out, dressed up and working in the fields, but doing nothing too arduous because it is a time for celebration. Among those people there are three poor brothers who have no food and only a little araq’i (chacha) to drink. Everyone is sitting down for dinner. They are feasting and singing.
Suddenly an old man came and said gamarjoba (hello) to everyone but nobody invited him to the table. When he passed by the three brothers, though, the youngest brother said:
- Let’s invite him.
The brothers said:
- What can we offer him to eat or drink?
- We can offer him what we have.
He didn’t ask again and called the man.
- Could you please honour us and come for a short time?
The guest said:
Everyone is feasting and singing, so why aren’t you?
-What can we do? We have no food, and only very little drink. How can we feast?
The guest said to the youngest brother:
- Not to worry, pour what you do have and let’s drink together.
The youngest brother poured the drinks. And it’s a wonderful wine!
- You don’t have bread, do you? - asked the guest, and then - Can you see something white on that mountain? What is that then? Go and bring it here!
- That’s a stone. Why should I bring it here?
- You go and bring it and then we’ll see!
The youngest brother went to the mountain. He saw a beautiful big sheep and white bread. Now the brothers can really lay the table. They sat down and started singing. They were singing so well that others stopped what they were doing to listen to them. Who are those singing this way!
The workers are laughing:
What on earth could they have, that they have even been able to invite a quest! Those beggars are so poor that it’s hard to imagine what they could give him to eat or drink.
When they finished eating the old man asked the oldest brother:
- What would you prefer to have? What do you like most of all?
- I would like land to grow food on!
- You’ll have land and food, as much as you could possibly ever want, for as long as you don’t get tired of having guests and entertaining them - and then he blessed the land.
Now the old guest asked the middle brother:
- What would you prefer to have? What do you like most of all?
- I’d like cattle- said the middle brother
- Nobody will have as many cattle as you. You’ll have as many as you could possibly ever want, for as long as you don’t get tired of having guests and entertaining them.
And finally he asked the same question to the youngest brother:
- What would you like most of all?
I’d like to have a wife who would love guests and hosts, who would look after the family- said the youngest brother.
- Oh dear, I only know two women like that in this world, one is already married and the other is getting married today. I’ll try to change things, though, so she marries you instead.
Two bothers settled down there. One brother had land and bread, the second one had cattle, and the old man took the youngest brother with him.
A son of one king is marrying a daughter of another king. It is their wedding day. The old man bought wind and rain with him. And he went to the place where the reception was being held and said to the people who were assembled there:
- We don’t have anywhere to stay tonight. Can we stay with you?
- The king was told but he refused to allow it:
- If I let strangers attend the wedding celebrations, it might cause problems. I won’t let anyone in tonight and after that I’ll decide if I’ll let you in or not.
The old man kicked the door open and went in regardless, taking the youngest brother with him. The table is laid. The bride and bridegroom are sitting together. The old man and the boy sit opposite the newly-weds. The old man says to the boy:
- Go get the bridegroom from his seat and you sit down there.
The boy did as he was told. The king was furious:
- That’s why I didn’t want to let you in.
The old man said:
- Don’t talk nonsense! The bride belongs to him, not the bridegroom.
The king got more furious:
- Let’s bet on whether he is the rightful husband or not.
- What bet can there be? We don’t need to bet because that woman is already married - said the king. But then he changed his mind and asked - What kind of bet were you thinking of?
- Let’s give each of these men a branch of a vine, and see in whose hands the branch grows leaves, blossoms, and then produces grapes which ripen and that we would then be able to eat at the table. And we’ll give the wife to that person.
The king didn’t want to agree but there was no way of going back by then and he knew it. So he gave both men a branch of a vine. In the hands of the younger brother the branch sprouted leaves, blossomed, produced grapes, and the grapes ripened. But the branch of the king’s son remained as dry as a bone.
- Will you give the girl to the younger brother now? - asked the old man.
- No, I won’t. She is already married.
- Then let the man who can dance on this sword be the one.
The king’s son was the first to get up and dance, but each time he stepped on the blade of the sword he cut his feet.
- Now it is your turn, to get up and dance- the old man told the youngest brother.
The boy got up and danced on the sword without any problem.
- Now we can take the woman - the old man said to the king
- No, you’re not taking her, and that’s final.
But the guests got up and left, and the woman got up too and left with them. Nobody could stop her. The old man helped them to settle down, blessed them and said
- Nobody can ever be happier than the two of you unless there comes a point when you hate having guests.
Time passed and all the brothers lived happily. One day the same old man was passing by - he was St George. It is raining; it is horrible out, such bad weather that nobody would wish to be out in it. The old man stands in front of the oldest brother’s door.
- Show some charity! Let me stay with you. It’s raining heavily outside.
- My wife burnt her hand by baking the bread for the last guests we had and, because of that, this time I won’t let anyone in - said the oldest brother.
- Whatever fortune you had before, you will have the same again - said the old man.
Then he stands in front of the middle brother’s door and says:
- Show some charity! Let me stay with you. It’s raining heavily outside.
- My wife burnt her hand by baking the bread for the last guests we had and, because of that, this time I won’t let anyone in - the middle brother answered the same way the oldest had.
- Whatever fortune you had before, you will have the same again - said the old man.
At last the old man stands in front of the youngest brother’s door. Only his wife is at home. Her husband has just died and she is at the side of his coffin crying.
- Hostess, hostess, good woman, let me stay with you tonight.
The grieving woman looked out:
- Do come in, please, and I will sweep the floor in a minute.
The woman wiped the tears from her eyes, hid the coffin in a dark corner, tidied the house, started the fire, killed a hen and invited the guest in.
- Oh, I didn’t know that you were alone. Where’s your husband? –the old man asked.
- Yes, I am on my own at the moment. My husband went to the market, and he hasn’t come back yet- said the heartbroken woman.
The guest knows that her husband is dead and he is in the coffin in the dark corner of the room. The guest got up pretending that he wanted to go out. He went to the dark corner, lifted up the lid of the coffin, blew over him, and the youngest brother came back to life again. And this time he was even better looking than he had been before. The old man held him by the hand and they went into the room together.
- Why were you so late? - asked the woman, trying not to show the guest her true feelings.
- I already know everything. You’re a very good woman and you will have a great fortune- said the old man. He blessed the youngest brother and his wife, said goodbye, and left.
Ever since that time, the youngest brother has become richer and happier but his brothers poorer and poorer, and anything but happy with their lot in life.
Please check the Creative Methodology for the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.
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