Harry Terhanian.com

The roots and stalks

ahrchuh parehgamatzahv kuughatzeeee muh hehd
A bear became friends with a villager.
ahnohnk voroshetzeen shoghkahm tzahner
They decided to plant turnips.
kuughatzeen uhsahv
The villager said.
ahrmahnehruh eentzee, tzoghounnehruh kehzee.
“The roots for me and the stalks for you.”
togh kou uhsahdzut uhllah, uhsahv ahrchuh
“So let it be as you have said,” said the bear.
yehgahv ahsounuh.
It became fall.

kuughatzeen ahrahv ahrmahdnehruh, eeshk tzoghounnehruh ahrahv ahrchuh.
The villager got the roots and the bear got the stalks.
ahrchuh muhrtmuhrtahtz, paiytz eench guhrnahr uhnehr
The bear grumbled, but what could he do.

hahtchohrt dahreen kuughatzeen uhsahv ahrcheen.
The next year the villager said to the bear.
yehgour nohrehn meeahseen tzahnehnk
“Come let us plant together again.”
hahmahtzaiyn yehm. Meeaiyn teh aiys ahnkahm toun ahr tzoghounnehruh , eeshk
ahrmahdnehruh eendzee douhr, uhsahv ahrchuh
“I agree. But this time you take the stalks and you give me the roots,” said the bear.
sahd aghehk. ahys ahnkahm ahl togh kou ouzadzut uhllah, uhsahv kuughatzeen.
“Very good. So this time let it be as you have said,” said the villager.

yehv ahnohnk tzahnetzeen tzohrehn yehv ahrahd pehrk uhsdatzahn.
And (this time) they planted wheat and had a bountiful harvest.

kuughatzeen tzoghounnehruhn ahrahv, eeshk ahrchuh tzohrehneen ahrmahdnehruh.
The villager got the stalks and the bear the wheat roots.

ahrchuh dehssahv vohr tahrtzyahl khahpvehr eh.
The bear saw that he was cheated yet again.

The old woman and her son

An old woman had ten sheep and a son. Every day her son would take the sheep to pasture, and the mother would mix a cup of water with the sheep’s milk that she sold to the neighbors. One day the son asked his mother why she mixed water with the milk. The mother answered:
“Son, we have very little milk, so I mix water with the milk to make make more money so that in winter we have more to eat.”

One day, when the boy took the sheep again to pasture, it began to rain. A bad storm with torrents of rain fell and the raging river swept the sheep away and they drowned. The son was luckily able to return home before sunset that day. His mother asked, “Son, where are the sheep, and why have you come home so early? ”

The boy answered, “Mother, that cup of water you added to the milk everyday to sell more milk to the neighbors accumulated and swelled to the size of a great tidal wave that swept away and drowned our sheep.”

This is a fable by Vartan Ayhkegtzee (1170-1235).

He puts one and counts two. This is the typical math of cheaters.

A crooked ruler cannot draw a straight line.

Praise the Lord, we were able to calculate the bill with a white face (meaning we made the calculation honestly).

In the villages of Turkish Armenia, butchers would purchase young sheep in the early spring. They would give the sheep to Kurdish shepard who would graze the sheep during the summer months to fatten them and return them in the early fall. For their work, they would keep five sheep and return five fatted sheep to the butchers. In the fall, one butcher goes to see a Kurdish Shepard to whom he entrusted 10 sheep to fatten. The Kurd receives him and offers his a large bowl of sheep’s yogurt for refreshment. As the Armenian eats the yogurt, the Kurd begins to explain the accounts for the sheep.

One day, as I brought the sheep down the mountain, the lead one slipped off a rock and fell to its death.

Five other sheep followed it over the cliff.

Another one was eaten by a wolf.

I gave one to a butcher.

Let’s not mix in another one in this calculation (or make an exception of one)

The last one was taken by my stubborn brother who hung it around his neck and made off in a hurry. He won’t return that one to you, nor will he give it to me.

Shocked and angry, the Armenian butcher threw the bowl of yogurt into the face and beard of the Kurdish Shepard. The Kurd says in Turkish, “Ahl hamdoulah, aghlugh, eeleh bir heesab gehordeuk or Praise the Lord, we were able to calculate the bill with a white face. In Armenian, park astdoudzoh, germak yereesov haseev muh desank, Praise the Lord, we were able to make an honest calculation with a white face.”

This proverb uses the image of a white face to communicate that the calculation was done honestly (a white face equals honesty). The Armenian butcher angrily threw his bowl of yogurt into the face of the Kurd because he was cheated.