“Who art thou? How didst thou come into our kingdom to save us? Who was thy instructor? O mistress, do let us know the history of thy life! Why shouldst thou speak of captivity—O thou happy, happy Tsaritsa, who hast delivered us from the burdens of captivity? For through thee we found out that the Son of God had been predicted by prophets, that after Him the work of spreading the new faith was carried out by twelve apostles, and as many as seventy-two pupils. But of all this immense number, thou alone wert given and sent unto us by God. Why in the world dost thou then call thyself a prisoner and foreigner?” Then the Saint continued:
“Children of the Faith, Tsaritsa and princesses—all ye who are surrounding me, I now see that you may be compared with the ancient women in their faith and love to Christ. You desire to know the biography of His insignificant servant. I consent, for I feel that my end is approaching and I shall sleep the eternal sleep in which she who gave birth to me is already resting. Take ye then the inkstand and write up the history of my life, so that your children shall discover how great your faith in God was, how constant and unchangeable your love to me and what wonders you were allowed to be witnesses of.”
Then the Princess Salomee and Kherosh Avrizounelle began to record the events, while the Saint related to them all that we have here undertaken to describe. She advised the Tsar to replace Bishop John by the priest Jacob when the time should come. John held a final mass, and Nina received from his hands the Holy Communion, after which she gave up her most righteous soul to the Lord of Heaven and earth, in the fifteenth year after her arrival in Georgia, in the year of our Lord three hundred and thirty-nine. Her death caused great sorrow and mourning in Mtzkhet and Oudjarmo. They buried her at Bondi (the present Sidjack) in accordance with the sworn oath which she had received from the Tsar. As this was at that period a little known and unimportant village, the Saint had evidently chosen it from extreme humility. The Tsar and his noblemen were deeply grieved by this choice, but of course did not venture to oppose her last will.
V. The Diamond
A Legend
At the time of Tsar Artchill the First, who was married to Marion, the daughter of the Greek Emperor Julian (363 A. D.), many Greeks settled over into Georgia, among them the painter Martin. To his care the inner ornamentation of the church of Stephan Tsminda (i.e., of Saint Stephen) was left. This great house of worship had been planned and constructed at Mtzkhet by the all honorable Artchill, near the gates of the Aragva, near the towers and bastions erected in its neighborhood for national defence. Martin was a perfectly honorable and reliable man and very clever and gifted in the execution of his orders. The paints which were at his disposal assumed such a marvellous, nay overwhelming resemblance with reality, that several of the saints represented by them appeared as though they were alive, and astounded faithful and esteemed believers many hundred years after his death. On one of the walls he had undertaken to reproduce the apparition of the most Holy Virgin to Saint Nina. The latter was seen down on her knees stretching out her arms and receiving a holy cross made of fine vineyard branches. The fear, happiness, love to God and perfectly boundless submission to His holy will were expressed not only in the character features of the Saint, but in every movement, nay, in every fold of her garment. The union of all these various thoughts was above picturesque sciences and naturally called forth the amply justified astonishment of the contemporaries of Martin and of the very latest visitors to the temple. Yes, indeed, the Greek Martin was a great, great artist. And therefore he loved his art so much that it seemed dearer to him than all the world put together, with the exception of his daughter Poullkheria.
At the period when our tale begins, the portrait of Saint Nina was already carefully finished off, and the artist was applying himself over the figure of the most Holy Virgin. As humble as he was clever and ingenious, he alone, it appeared, did not notice the beauty of his productions, and while just then all those standing about were filled with amazement and extreme delight, he sighed while comparing his master works with those shining, marvellous, indescribable, and exceptionally extraordinary pictures which his poetic imagination seemed to behold moving as it were in the air, and which were so dear to his elevated soul. How in the world should he represent the features of the most Holy Virgin?
That was a question which tortured him day and night. Every time he reflected about them he thought he could see the sweet, short, dear face of his daughter, and with terror in his heart he attempted to drive away this imaginary apparition. It seemed to him like some wicked, harsh, impossible insult. Again he did his best to find a proper type which would have nothing earthly about it, and once more that same loving and beloved little face of Poullkheria presented itself to him. At last in perfect despair he went to the Katholikoss (this fully corresponds to the rank of a patriarch), John the Second, imploring counsel and prayer. One day and two nights they fervently prayed together near the holy djouar (thus was named the place near the fountain of tears of Saint Nina, not far from the cross erected in that very vicinity; djouar in reality means cross). On the second morning the Katholikoss ordered the painter to immediately return to his home.
“Lay thyself down at the feet of our great converter,” said he, “and go to sleep, for I do heartily believe that in a dream thou art destined to see namely those features in which the most Holy Virgin must be represented!”