THE CHRONICLE OF VAHRAM.
THE CHRONICLE.
The Patriarch Nerses, called the Gracious,[(1)] has written a history of Armenia in verse, informing us of the manners and customs of our forefathers, from the highest antiquity down to his own time; and by so doing he admonished the people to walk in the path of righteousness. Seeing and reading this history, Leon, the anointed king of Armenia,[(2)] has been pleased to command me, the poor in spirit, to subjoin to the work of our holy father both what has been reported by faithful witnesses, and what we have seen with our own eyes. And he commanded me to write this supplement (also in verse), that it may be read with more pleasure.[(3)]
Now I, Raboun Vahram, am convinced of my want of talents, but am well versed in the law of God, and have never deviated from the path of righteousness. Receiving the commands of the king, I have been ever since uneasy in my mind, out of fear that in not obeying, I may bring on me the two-fold punishment spoken of by St. Paul.[(4)] For, if to subjoin my mean composition to those of the ancients be audacious, to think that it could be compared with their finished productions, would be folly. This alarmed me, and I abstained from writing. Considering this very seriously, I thought at last that my humble and mean writing would increase the beauty of others, to which it was subjoined: the same as painters intentionally surround a gold ground by a black colour, not to adorn this black border, but to raise the beauty of the gold.[(5)] These considerations made me regain confidence, and I felt resolution enough to undertake this work. I confide in Him, whose grace is unbounded, who knows what nobody has seen, who under three appearances is only of one nature, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; whose reign is for ever, who alone should be worshipped, and who alone creates and preserves all beings. With his name I begin, and with his name I will finish. Both the Son and the Holy Ghost proceeded from the Father.[(6)] Going back a little to former times, I will give (till I come to our age), in a cursory manner, what has been written down by our forefathers.
The Christian nations have been favoured with the inheritance of God; they have been enlightened by the faith, and had excellent laws; but they strayed from those laws, and were polluted by their bad works. The measure of their sins being filled, it excited the wrath of the Lord, and a burning fire arose in the desert of Arabia called Mahomed, the son of darkness.[(7)] This Father of heresy drew many after him; he arose and preached by the sabre and the sword, and subdued many countries. The wickedness remained after the death of the wicked, the son followed the father, and the usurpation was confirmed.
Togrul Beg. 1037 In the course of the following centuries, the nations, whom we call Turks, came (divided into twenty-four tribes)[(8)] from the north, conquered the realm of Persia and adhered to the heresy of Mohamed; they humbled the kings and vanquished the emperor;[(9)] they filled the world with their victories and destroyed its inhabitants, endangering both body and soul of their captives.[(10)] They came at last to Babylon,[(11)] and there erecting the seat of their empire, they marched to the westward, 1042 came to Armenia, dealt hardly with its inhabitants, and laid a heavy yoke on them.[(12)]