svv18_03

_ Once my uncle, when we were on the Mekhana mountain, then my uncle went off to go hunting in the rocks.

_ ašxun mišgouba, nä mexanäyšs xweḳrawdad, ečkas anqäd mišgo uba i latxwarte ačäd ḳoǯärte.

He was a good hunter man.

xoča metxwär mare läsw.

He went there and he saw some game animals.

ačäd i xäc̣da nätxwrols.

One of them was motley, when he fired at that motley animal and caused it to fall, a big hail began.

ešxu ləmär č̣ərel, eǯ č̣ərels er axtope i k'anšq̇äd, xaqid bəgid sḳarxal.

_ Suddenly?

_ ucebmo?

_ Suddenly.

_ uceb.

The sky was cloudless, (yet) so the hail began, and he was looking for a shelter from this hail.

moġrublul deme läsw, eǯži sḳarxal xaqid i al sḳarxalxenka ali tawšesapars xetxelida.

Wherever he came, it poured upon him.

ka imgwa xewxeniw, ka xäṗirṗla.

When he was looking for shelter he found one place.

tawšesapars er xetxelida, gamonaxa ešxu ädgilas.

At (this) one place, there was something like a cave and there, like a barn, so he was sheltered.

ašxw ädgis gamokwabulšal läsw i ečeču imži pardul, amži gadmoparebul läsw.

He went inside.

sg'ačäd.

He laid down under it and looked upside.

amčuka čwaṭq̇urda i xosdi žibow.

Covered under the moss, he saw an inscription, he inspected this inscription and started to scrape this inscription off.

xawsmodebuls čuka xec̣äd c̣arc̣eras, al c̣arc̣eras xec̣äd i anqäd i k'atxəḳne al c̣arc̣era.

He scraped this inscription off.

al c̣arc̣era k'atxəḳne.

There he read that: "In this mountain in one thousand eight hundred and... umm... in one thousand eight hundred and seven, seventy..." umm... I cannot say it in the Lower-Bal dialect.

ečeču ädč̣wed, ere: al laxws eser ləmärdeli atäsiaraširi... isa..., atäsiaraširiišgwid, išgwidešd... eǯi.., mu... mučwabrer deš ṭuli.

_ Speak in the Lower-Bal dialect, in the Lower-Bal dialect!

_ mučwabrer reka, mučwabrer!

_ Yes, I can't say it, and...

_ wu, deš ṭuli i...

_ Say it in what ever way you can say it.

_ imwǟyži räkwine, eǯži lēka.

_ "In the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one Mikha... Mikhail Kvaratskhelia was here."

_ išgwidešdešxw zawži ləmärd mixä... mixäyl ḳwaracxelia ameču.

He left everything marked there...

alär mäg aġnišnul čwacwir ameču i...

_ Aha!

_ aha!

_ Then...

_ ečkanġwe...

_ Oho!

_ əhə!

_ The Abkhaz people came and in (the year) {sixty...} seventy-three, the Kobakhias, in seventy-two they had (that place) settled (there), right?

_ anqädx apxzär i {samocda...} išgwidešdisamži, ḳobaxyol, samocdatormeṭši xom daaq̇enes?

_ Yes, they did so in seventy-two, and then in seventy-three he rested (there) with his helicopter in the Gvandra mountain and me and my cousin and my poor father, on the Gvandra mountain, and me and my cousin and my poor father, we were there, on the Gvandra mountain, in the field, to attend them.

_ wo, samocdatormeṭši daaq̇enes i ečkanġwe išgwidešdisamži {iswenebda} miča werṭalioṭšw gwandrä laxws i mi i mišgu biʒašwil i mišgomu ġal gwandrä laxws, mindors, eǯäre məznänid xwardad.

_ Oho!

_ əhə!

Once Spiriton Gujejiani had a bet with the Abkhaz people.

ešxu ninʒlew oxqäd sṗirdon guǯeǯians apxzärcaxän.

The Abkhaz people said, "this canyon has been ours from the beginning", and Spiridon Gujejian had a bet with the Abkhaz (man) Kvitsinia.

apxzärd räkwex: _ "mine rok li al xeoba tawidan", _ i k'äxnirzal sṗirdon guǯeǯian məypxäzi ḳwicinias.

He had a bet with Kvitsinia.

ḳwicinias k'äxnirzal.

Because of this bet they rode up with (their) horses.

al nirzġa ačädx ži čažäršw.

****

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_ To that cave.

_ eǯ kwäbtemo?

_ To that cave.

_ eǯ kwabte.

They rode up and proved that before the Abkhaz people (came), these mountains there had belonged to the Kvaratskhelias, Megrelian people.

ž'ačädx i čwadmiṭḳcawex, ere apxzär sgebd ečeču ləmär eǯi, al laxwär, ḳwaracxelyole, zanre.

_ Aha, aha!

_ aha, aha!

_ Then they returned and this Abkhaz man had lost this bet and the Abkhaz man was to give Spiridon Gujejian, my uncle, a revolver and one basket of cartridges, but he refused this, (saying):

_ ečkanġo čwanṭäxx i al linʒlew c̣aago eǯ məypxäzid i məypxäzi xačkwärida sṗirdon guǯeǯians, biʒačems, liwers i ešxu cinḳ ṗaṭronärs, mare amnem mad änḳid:

"They are not very trustworthy, after all," (so) he didn't accept it.

"alär rok sabolood demeg lix bəgid sando", _ demeg äxbišda.

_ Aha!

_ aha!

_ Then a helicopter came... {on August 29th,} it came on August 29th and the Abkhaz people were in this helicopter, (and) then we attended them so well, look, Kobakhia and his people, therefore - he had a backgammon game made from ivory, from ivory, ivory, that he gave me as a gift.

_ ečkanġo anqäd werṭalioṭ, lim... {wocdacxra agwisṭos}, yerwešdičxara agwisṭos werṭalioṭ anqäd i al werṭalioṭšw esġərdax apxzär, ečkas nä er bəgid oxəznaned alärsū, ḳobaxias i miča xälxs, eǯġa, ḳobaxias xuġwanda sṗilos ʒwlis, ʒwalxenka, ǯiǯwxenka məsq̇e... məde..., nard, ali lančukwre.

He, my uncle Sriridon, stood up and (said):

ali, anqäd mišgu... mišgouba sṗirdon i:

"They are wicked people," (he said), "they will tell our regional party committee and the executive committee and the ministry that we made them pay a rent, the Abkhaz people, they would say, that: "We, the girls were nursing them and that's why they made us pay the rent," - and when the helicopter started, Spiridon threw this backgammon up in to that (helicopter), and we were very sad (about) that, and I almost beat my uncle, (saying) that "they will reproach our people because of this at the regional committee."

"alär rok ləmxäl xälx lix i eys rok ka xaṭulix gwišge räyḳomisga i raiaġmasḳomisga i saminisṭroisga, ere kira rok anḳidx apxzärd rok, eǯis xaṭulix, ere nä, dinol, er xoznänidad, amġa rok kira anḳidx", _ i šoma werṭälioṭ ž'änmərtawän, sṗirdond al nard ž'oṭḳwär ešteži i eǯi nä anxərənda i xyär xwaqd mišgoubas, ere "alär rok alis daaq̇wedreben rok gušge xälxs, räyḳoms rok i eǯärs".

_ Aha!

_ aha!

_ The regional committee, which...

_ romel raiḳommac...

_ "They will demand a recompense."

_ "ka rok gwämdunex".

_ "They will demand a recompense," yes, and... then they left.

_ "ka rok gwämdunex", _... ə... eǯär ačädx ečkanġwe.

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That year, no, the next year we went into the upper mountains.

eǯ zaw mama, očädd merma zaw žibe laxwärte.

We turned up towards the Mekhaili mountain and my uncle went to inspect that cave and he returned in the evening and what had those people done!

ž'otṭixd mexäylä laxwte i ačäd mišgouba eǯ gamokwabuliš lasənǯäwite i anṭäx ču nebozs i turme mä xočwminax mine xälxs!

They had blasted it entirely with explosives.

ali mtlianad laġumäršw gamoungrewiat.

There was nothing any more.

araperi ar iq̇o ik.

Nothing was visible there at all.

mangwe čanda ečeču säertod.

_ You see?

_ xosdima?!

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_ We went up (there) too.

_ näy ž'očädd.

We inspected it.

č'otsənǯawed.

It was fully blasted off.

mtlianad läsw gamongreul.

That is, they had swept it off.

ese' gi, c̣ašales.

_ They had removed it.

_ ka meġre.

_ Of the Megrelian... the Megrelians...

_ megreleb... zanre...

_ their trail.

_ eǯäre ḳwal.

_ They had swept off the trail of the Megrelians.

_ zanre ḳwal c̣ašales.

_ Aha, and did your uncle get angry?

_ aha, i isgwa buba änxirnǟnma ži?

_ He got angry, but...

_ ž'änxirnan, mare...

_ And we couldn't do anything now, being in the mountains.

_ i sgäy māngwešmoš čwemind atxe, meḳrawad.

_ I... what could we do?

_ mi... im otčomudad?

How could they destroy the whole rock, I was very surprised.

eǯi mtlyänd ḳoǯ imžido axxwirx amži ka, gun mambaž.

_ You see?

_ xosdima?!

That is, they had lost the bet...

ese igi, niʒläwi c̣aages...

_ Yes!

_ o!

_ And that's why (lit. with that) they swept off that trail, you see?

_ i amnoš eǯ ḳwali c̣ašales, xosdima?!

_ That there was the inscription, that he said (only) later..

_ ik c̣arc̣era rom iq̇o, is upro gwian tkwa.

After my uncle had read that inscription and he, when he told (about) it down (here), my uncle made me write the inscription down.

eǯ c̣arc̣era xo c̣aiḳitxa biʒačemma da eǯinem, ǯinem čub er räkwe, mi čamac̣erina bubad.

He made me write this down, and before this inscription (was made) they had been there themselves for twenty-eight years, before the Megrelians (came there), the Abkhaz were there twenty-eight years later.

ali čamac̣erina i eǯ c̣arc̣erad xošil gwyand min ləmärdx wocdarwa c̣lit, yerwešdiara zawšw xošil gwyand ləmärdx apxzär ameleža zanärd.

This note... umm... he made me put this under the table-cloth.

al dac̣eril... eǯi..., sṭolsapär čuk' ämdäwne.

When Kvitsinia and he himself arrived on (their) horses, then he said it.

šoma čwanqädx ḳwicinia i ǯi čažäršw, ečkas eǯinem räkwe.

Kvitsinia said to Kobakhia:

ḳwiciniad xäkwe ḳobaxias:

"Well, we've los... we, we've lost, we've lost," and uncle Spiridon made me take it out and I showed it to them and the difference between the two events (lit. one another) was twenty-eight years.

"nu, čwen c̣awag... nä rok, c̣awaget rok nä, c̣awaget", _ i k'amqidne buba sṗirdond i ka loxc̣e i yerwešdiara zä gansxwaweba läsw ušxwarnensga.

_ So many years earlier the Megrelians had been there.

_ amšeld zawš xonḳi ləmärdx zanär ameleža.

_ Aha!

_ aha!

_ Aha, and what location did the Gvandra mountain have?

_ aha, i mdebareoba imžiš xuġwǟn gwandrǟ laxws?

_ The Gvandra mountain...

_ gwandrä laxws...

The Lower mountain, which we call the 'field', that is a plain.

čube laxw, mindwers er xwaṭulid, eǯi li naḳ.

It has a good location.

xoča mdebareoba xuġwa.

The Upper mountains, they, (to get there) you must climb up the rocks, and there are plains up there, but they are very, very mountainous places.

žibe laxwär, eǯär, ži lezi lix ḳoǯärži masärd i žib diršär, mare mtagoryän lix megč̣e.

_ And which passes... umm... around that... are there?

_ i xed tanġär... məde... girḳid ečas... xacxiṗ?

_ The rocks of the Begina (mountain)?

_ beginäyš ḳoǯär?

_ Of the Gvandra (mountain).

_ gwandaräys.

_ And where do you get through that Gvandra pass, to Kabardia-Balkaria?

_ i eǯ g{w}andaräy tanäġšw imte li ka lāz q̇ärčateya?