And they began first to make the huts. So strong was
Abamelik that he built ten huts every day, while the others brought in wood for their building. In four days they finished forty huts, and then they set about building the house and finished it. They set up stone pillars in rows—so powerful were they—and laid a stone base under them, and the house was made ready.
Abamelik rode to the King of Kraput-Koch and said: “We are thy children. We have built our castle: it is finished, and we come to you and entreat you, ‘Come and give our dwelling a name.’ It pleased the King of Kraput-Koch that Abamelik had done this, and he said: “I rejoice that you have not forgotten me.”
So the King gave Abamelik his daughter in marriage and made him his close friend. After the wedding the King and the young pair came together at the palace—and Uncle Toross[1] was with them—and they mounted their horses and departed. Abamelik rode before them to point out the way. When they were approaching the castle the King suddenly turned his horse as if to ride back again, and said: “You have given your castle a name and have purposely brought me here to try me.”
Abamelik said: “May your life be long, O master! Believe me, we have given the castle no name. We have but built it and made it ready.”
“Very well. It may be that you have given it no name, but as you have set up rows of stone pillars let us call it Sausun or Sassun.”[2]
Here they remained several days. Uncle Toross was also married and stayed at Sassun, but the King returned home.
And Abamelik was strong and became a mighty man. From the environs of the Black Mountain and the Peak of Zetzinak, from Upper Musch as far as Sechanssar and the Plains of Tschapachtschur,[3] he reigned, and built a wall around his dominions. He made four gates. Often he shut
- ↑ Probably the King's brother.
- ↑ "Sassun" signifies "pillar upon pillar." This explains the origin of the name of Sassun, a district of the old Armenian province Achznik, south of the city of Musch. The residents of this district up to the present day owe their independence to their inaccessible dwelling-place. The places lie in the old districts of the Turuberan and Achznik in the present district Musch.
- ↑ The names cited here exist to the present day. The places lie in the old districts of the Turuberan and Achznik in the present district Musch.
