APPENDIX I
AN ENGLISH RENDERING OF THE RUSSIAN TRANSLATION BY PROFESSOR MARR OF THE INTRODUCTORY QUATRAINS OF "THE MAN IN THE PANTHER'S SKIN" ("Teksty," t. xii., pp. 7–9).
[The numbers given in round brackets are those of the strophes in the preceding translation.]
God and the King [1 (1)].—He who by His mighty power created the firmament breathed a celestial spirit from heaven and made what is; to us men He gave the earth: we own its infinite variety. And every king is ordained by Him in the image issuing from Him.
The Georgian King David Soslan, Consort of Queen T'hamara [2 (3)].—Behold the lion! (lit., To the lion to whom is fitting …). It befitted him to use spear, sword, and shield; (he is the lion of [lit., to the lion of]) Queen T'hamara, the sun, whose cheeks are like rubies, whose hair is like jet: dare I sing of him and extol him in verse? (lit., the singing of the sermon [for doxology] of verses). Of a truth, they that gaze on him cannot but taste sugar and milk. (For khshiri, which breaks the rhythm, read sherisa; Pers. shir = milk.)
The Subject of the Poet's Songs [3 (25)].—The poet ought not to lavish his labour in frivolity. One (woman) should be the subject of his madness, he must love but one; let him for her alone show his art, laud her alone, embellish her alone (in song). Save her let him need nought: let the music of his discourse sound for her alone. (Cf. Prof. Marr's Odopistsi for another version.)
[4 (26)].—Now you shall know concerning me: I laud her for whom Heaven has already set apart a place in Itself (more literally, whom Heaven has made Its own, or made Its denizen, or adopted for Its own; ikia, second aorist of verb derived from adverb iki = there, is equivalent to "has made
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