Kazha-ndii

There was once a king who had three sons and three daughters. When

the day of his death was come, he called all his children, and said

to his sons: 'Hearken to my will, and see that ye fulfil it. When I

die, let each of you watch my tomb for one week, give these maidens

to the suitors who ask for their hands.' After he had said farewell,

the king died.

He was buried, and on the first night the eldest brother went to

guard the grave. But in a short time something began to approach

with a mighty noise, and when it came near, it was so strong that it

drove the prince out of the enclosure. From a distance, the prince

saw how the being that had come with noise went to the king's grave,

dug up the corpse, and wept over it till morning; when morning came,

it buried the corpse in the earth again, and went away. When the prince

reached home, he was ashamed to say anything about what had happened.

At that time, both the elder brothers set out for the chase; the

youngest brother was left at home, he heard a voice and looked

round. It turned out to be a suitor for the hand of his sister. He

took and gave him the eldest sister. Soon after, he again heard

a voice. The prince looked round--another suitor had come. The

absence of his brothers somewhat disturbed him, but, according to

his father's will, he married his second sister also. A little later,

a third voice was heard, and to him he gave his third sister.

In the evening, when the two elder brothers came home, they did not

see their sisters; they asked the youngest, and he told them what

had happened. They were not pleased, and sent him out to feed the

sheep. That night the middle brother went to guard the king's grave;

the same thing happened to him as to his elder brother, but he too was

silent on the subject. When he reached home, the youngest brother began

to entreat his elder brothers, saying: 'Be just, let me also watch my

father's grave.' But they were angry, and answered: 'Get thee gone,

how couldst thou guard the grave when we are not able to do it!' But

afterwards they said one to the other: 'Let us allow him to go.'

So the youth went, came to the tomb of his father, lighted a

candle, and, as soon as he sat down, an uproar began, but he was

not affrighted. At the approach of the monster an earthquake began,

but the youth was not afraid, he swung his sword round his head,

and cleft the monster in twain, but the monster's blood put out the

candle. Looking round, the youth saw, some way off, the blaze of a

fire. He arose and went thither. On his way he said to the cock: 'Crow

not, so that dawn break not till I come back again, or I shall slay

thee.' When he came near, he met with a vast river like a sea. When

he had swum over and reached the other side, the youth saw that the

fire was burning among the demis, [1] who were sitting round it--so he

stopped and bethought himself seriously; but, at last, he took a leap,

jumped into the middle of them, seized a burning brand, and ran away.

The burning cinders and ashes were showered over the demis, but they

did not see the youth. The youth went back, but as he crossed the

river the burning log went out. He was angry at this, but what could

he do? He went back again, and when he threw himself upon the fire the

demis caught him, and asked what he wanted. He told them. The demis

said to him: 'In yonder castle there dwell three maidens unseen by the

sun, [2] thou must bring them to us or we will not let thee go.' The

youth asked them: 'Is there a ladder up to the castle?' They answered:

'Yes.' 'Then let us go,' said he.

He took all the demis with him, and said: 'I shall climb up first,

then you must come one by one.' They agreed. The youth went up, one

demi came after him. As soon as the first demi reached the top, the

youth brandished his sword, slew him, and laid down his body. When

the second came up, he did likewise unto him. Thus he slew them all,

one by one, and left their bodies there.

Then he went in, saluted the maidens, and gave each of them a ring--to

the youngest for himself, to the others for his brothers. The youth

went out, thrust his sword into a stone, and left it there, took fire

with him, and went back. When he had crossed the river, he cried to

the cock: 'Now crow!' Then he went to his father's grave. Till dawn

he stayed there, and then he went home.

The beautiful maidens told the king what had happened. The king

ordered all his subjects to be summoned, and asked: 'Who is able to

draw this sword out of the stone?' But nobody could draw it out. Then

the king made a proclamation: 'To him that can draw out this sword I

will give my daughter.' The princes, as soon as they heard of this,

decided to go thither. When they were making ready for the journey,

the youngest asked his brothers to take him too. At last they consented

to take him. When they arrived, they found a great uproar: people

from all parts of the world were, in turn, laying hold of the sword,

but could not draw it out. Last of all, the youngest brother came up,

pulled out his sword, put it in the scabbard, and said to the king:

'All three daughters are ours now, for I have two brothers.' He

called his brothers, and they took the three maidens to wife. Great

merry-making began.

The king gave to the wife of the youngest prince a flying carpet,

which carried away any one who sat on it. The princess sat on it, and

followed her suite. The groomsmen and youths set out with them. When

they had gone half way, a monster swooped down on the princess and

carried her off. A sad uproar began, but what was to be done? The

young prince said to his brothers: 'Farewell! I must perish with her,'

and went away.

He went, he went, he went, he went as far as he could, and in a field

he found a spring, beside which he lay down. There came a boy with a

water jug. The prince asked: 'Whose village is this?' The boy replied:

'Here dwell three brother demis, all married to daughters of one king.'

When the youth heard this he was glad, for it turned out that his

sisters dwelt here. When he came near, the sisters went out to meet

him. It is easy to imagine how glad they were to see him. When it

was dark, the three demis returned. One of the sisters went out

to meet them, and said: 'My brother is come.' The demis answered:

'If the elder brothers are come, we can make roast meat of them, if

it be the youngest, we shall know how to do him honour.' The demis

went in, and kissed the youth for joy at meeting him.

As they were all sitting round the hearth, the demis began to sigh

deeply. The youth asked them: 'Why do you sigh?' 'Why?--we are sorry

for that poor damsel! Kazha-Ndii-Kerkun (i.e. the swift, flint-like

demi) was carrying through the air a golden-haired woman; we pursued,

but only succeeded in pulling off a lock of the woman's hair.' They

showed the hair to the youth. As soon as he saw it he fainted, crying:

'Ah! woe is me! woe is me!' The demis asked him what was wrong. He

told them all. As soon as day dawned, the youth arose, and made ready

to depart. The demis were very sorry at this, but what could they

do? They gave him a horse and a little dog.

The youth set out, and came to the house of Kazha-Ndii; but Kazha-Ndii

was not at home. He dismounted, and went in to the princess; when

they saw each other, their joy was so great that they fell to the

ground. The princess said to him: 'O youth, why hast thou sought thy

doom? Against Kazha-Ndii thou canst do nothing.' But the young man

would not hearken, and lifted her on to his horse.

As soon as they reached the gate, it creaked so loudly that a star

fell from heaven. The door cried: 'Kazha-Ndii-Kerkun, where art

thou? they have carried off thy wife.' Kazha-Ndii heard this, and

pursued them. When he was overtaking them, Kazha-Ndii's horse neighed

so loudly that it stopped the princess's horse. The princess said

to him: 'O youth, did I not tell thee how it would be? Save thyself

at least.' Then Kazha-Ndii rode up, cut the youth into pieces, and

carried his wife back. The little dog came up, gathered the scattered

fragments of the young man's body, put them in a bag, tied it to the

saddle, mounted the horse, and took the body to the demis.

When the demis saw it they wept greatly, but their youngest brother

blew the soul back into the pieces, and raised the youth to life. The

prince arose, and again made ready to depart; the youngest demi said

to him: 'Here is my three-legged horse, [3] take him with thee; if

he do not help thee there is no help to hope for.' The youth mounted

the horse, came again to his princess, took her and put her on the

horse. When he was riding out of the gate it creaked more loudly than

before. Kazha-Ndii heard it and pursued them. As he was overtaking

them, Kazha-Ndii's horse neighed, and the youth's horse slackened its

speed. The young prince said to his horse: 'Why doest thou this?' 'What

can I do? If I had a fourth leg I might be victorious.' When Kazha-Ndii

came near, the three-legged horse neighed so loudly that it stopped

Kazha-Ndii's horse. Then the youth came up to him, brandished his

sword, cut Kazha-Ndii into halves, put the princess on his horse,

and they rode merrily away. They visited the demis and then went home.

[1] demi, dii, ndii in Mingrelian, devi, mdevi in Georgian (connected

with Pers. div), a representative of the principle of evil, but with

certain limitations, neither incorporeal nor immortal, but half

demon half man, i.e. an unclean spirit in the form of a giant. He

is subject to death, even a man can kill, cheat, terrify him; he can

marry a woman, etc.

[2] This phrase is continually applied to beautiful girls in Georgian

poetry. It has three meanings: (1) A girl strictly kept, and not seen

out of doors; (2) One who is not sunburnt, fair complexioned; (3)

A maiden such as the sun has never seen the like of for beauty. The

last meaning is the most frequent.

[3] Cf. No. III. 'Geria's faithful dog and three-legged horse.'