Birds

An old woman, returning home from church, found her only son, Boghos, dead. Heartbroken, she began to wail, striking her head and pleading with God to turn her into a bird. The old woman became an owl, and since that day she has known neither rest nor sleep, mournfully calling out for her son all night long: “Boghos, Boghos...”

A brother and sister had a stepmother. Every day they took their ox out to graze. One day, lost in conversation, they lost the ox. They searched endlessly but could not find it, so they returned home and told their stepmother what had happened. Furious, the mother cursed them, threw them out of the house, and ordered them never to return without the ox. After long and fruitless searches, the despairing siblings prayed to God, asking for wings. God took pity on them, gave them wings, and turned them into owls. To this day, the poor brother and sister search for their lost ox, calling out to each other:

“Sahak...”

“Hey...”

“Found it?”

“No...”

The turtle dove was once a girl. One time, her father brought her a length of fabric from the city for a dress, but the girl disliked it and refused to sew it. Angry, her father cursed her, saying:

“Since you don't like the fabric I brought, go, let God clothe you in feathers.” By God's command, the girl instantly turned into a turtle dove, took flight, and continuously repeats:

“Coo-coo, uncle is here,Coo-coo, what has he brought,Coo-coo, a bolt of silk,Coo-coo, what color is it,Coo-coo, I don't want it.”

The partridge was originally a young bride. One day, while she was kneading dough, her mother-in-law angrily scolded her for making the dough too stiff. The bride argued back, insisting the dough was soft. Enraged, the mother-in-law cursed the bride. She instantly turned into a partridge, and to this day, she still contradicts her mother-in-law, endlessly repeating: “It's soft, it's soft.”

Birds with hoarse voices envied the partridges and went to complain to the eagle, saying that the idle partridges sang all day long and disturbed their peace. The eagle, who disliked singing himself, forbade the partridges to sing. The partridges obeyed and remained completely mute. Sometime later, the eagle regretted his decision and allowed the partridges to sing again. But they were no longer able to sing and could only cluck, “Kgh-kgha.”

The son of the pagan Prince Suren converted to Christianity against his father's will and hid from his persecution. When Prince Suren went looking for his son, the partridges betrayed his hiding place. Suren found his son and killed him. The partridges dipped their beaks and feet in the martyred son's blood, and from that day on, they became red-beaked and red-legged. In time, they repented for their deed. When Gregory the Illuminator arrived and built a monastery on the spot where the boy was martyred, the partridges came to ask for his forgiveness. Although Gregory the Illuminator pardoned them, the bloodstain remained on their beaks. That is why they rub their beaks against the soil and stones all day, trying to wipe away the traces of blood. But the bloodstain always remains on their beaks, so that they may always remember their mistake.

The swallow was once a clever and sweet-talking child. His stepmother hated him fiercely. One day, the mother feigned illness and demanded that her husband cut off the child's pinky finger and give it to her to eat so that she could be cured. The husband was forced to fulfill the wicked woman's demand. When he cut off

the boy's pinky finger, the boy died. But when he gave the severed pinky to his wife to eat, the finger suddenly turned into a swallow, flew away, and sang:

“A swallow I am, yes, a swallow I am,Slaughtered by father, a swallow I am,Eaten by mother, a swallow I am.

I flew away and a swallow became!”

Once, the stinging reptiles gathered in a council to determine which creature's blood was the sweetest. After much arguing without reaching an agreement, they summoned the mosquito. They ordered the mosquito to go, taste the blood of all animals, and return to report to them. The mosquito went, bit all the animals, and found that human blood was the sweetest of all. As the mosquito was returning to inform the reptiles of his conclusion, the swallow attacked and killed him.

Storks are human in their own land and have a human form. When it is time to migrate, they come to the riverbank, bathe in the waters, put on bird feathers, and set off for our land. On their return journey, they gather on a high mountain, make a sacrifice, bathe in the river, become human once more, and go back to their country. Every year, a stork sacrifices one of its chicks to God.

“Do not look for your bracelet,” said the farmer. “I took it so others wouldn't steal it; I hid it under my nest, so rest easy.”

When spring begins to unfold, the farmers of the land of storks come to the riverbank, bathe, and don their wings. They also present a pair of wings to the woman who owns the bracelet. They all transform into storks, form a flock, and return to our land.

Killing a crane is a grave sin. When a man raises a gun and takes aim at a crane, the crane instantly turns into a beautiful bride with a nursing babe at her breast.

The hoopoe was once a beautiful girl in love with a brave young man. Against the girl's will, her parents married her off to someone else. During the bridal bath, the girl remembered her beloved and longing filled her as she said to herself, “Ah, if only I were a bird, I would soar over mountains and valleys to find my love!” God instantly granted her wish. The girl turned into a bird with a comb on her head and flew out of the bathhouse. To this day, she flies over mountains and valleys with a heavy sigh, searching for her beloved and calling: “Ipip... cuckoo...”

A bride was kneading dough when she left the task unfinished and began to comb her hair. Suddenly, her mother-in-law entered, saw the bride had abandoned her work to comb her hair, and said:

“Ho, po, po, po, what are you doing?”

Out of shame and fear, the bride turned into a hoopoe with a comb on her head and flew out of the house. To this day, she repeats her mother-in-law's words: “Ho, po, po, po.”

The Sahak Bird. There were once two orphans, a brother and a sister; the brother's name was Sahak. One evening, as Sahak was combing his sister's hair, he was suddenly snatched away and taken off. Deeply grieving for her brother, the sister begged God to grant her bird wings so she could go and find him. God instantly fulfilled her wish. The sister turned into a bird with a crest on her head, flying through mountains and forests, calling her brother in a shy, mournful voice: “Sahak, Sahak, Sahak...”

The cuckoo was once a bride. One day, she hung a cradle from a tree, placed her child in it, and went to weed the field. When she returned from weeding, she could not find the baby in the cradle. Tormented by grief and the fear of her mother-in-law, she turned into a bird, crying “Cuckoo, cuckoo!” as she searches for her child.

A stepmother sent a boy and a girl into the forest to fetch wood. In the forest, a black snake bit the brother and killed him. The sister wept bitterly over her brother's body, then said to herself, “What will I do now that my brother is gone? Better that I become a cuckoo and flee to the mountains.” She had barely finished speaking when, by God's command, she turned into a cuckoo, flew into the mountains, and now calls out, “Coo-coo, poo-poo.”

The Bebuk Bird. There was once an orphaned and tormented girl named Bebuk who had a brother. In early spring, just as the snow was barely melting and the first wild greens were sprouting here and there in the mountains, their stepmother forced the sister and brother to roam the mountains so they would be the first to bring home the fresh spring greens. The miserable orphans, barefoot and half-naked, wandered through mountains and valleys to gather greens. But there was a hole in the bottom of Bebuk's sack; no matter how many greens the siblings gathered and put in, they found the sack empty. Furious with his sister, the brother plunged his blunt foraging knife into her side. Seeing the blood flow from his sister's side, he began to weep and wail, took the same knife, stabbed himself, wounding himself, and cried out in despair:

“Bebuk, Bebuk, Bebuk, take pity on your brother, wake up...”

He called out to his sister with such a heart-rending voice, falling to his knees, kissing her, and pleading, that Bebuk turned into a bird, perched on her brother's shoulder, and mourned and called out just like him:

“Bebuk, Bebuk, Bebuk...”

The holy spirit of the forest took pity on them and turned the brother into a bird as well. From that day on, the brother and sister became known as Bebuk; they fly over mountains and valleys, calling out, “Bebuk, Bebuk.”

Havalasan. A woman loved her husband very, very much. The husband went away to work in foreign lands and never returned. The woman gave all her love to her newborn son. But one day, an eagle snatched the baby from the cradle and carried it off. Crushed by terrible grief, the poor woman turned into the havalasan bird. She flies ceaselessly, calling out mournfully, and rests only when three drops of blood fall from her heart.

Once, the magpie came and perched on the roof of an old woman's house, bringing the good news that her son was returning from abroad. The old woman, not understanding the magpie's good news, threw a piece of bread at it. The magpie immediately took the bread in its beak, carried it away, and gave it to the old woman's son, who was very hungry. It returned to the old woman again, heralded the same news, received another piece of bread, and took it to her son.

The magpie did the same thing a few more times until the old woman grew annoyed and threw a stone at the magpie. The bird took the stone, carried it, dropped it on the head of the old woman's son, and killed him. The old woman came to her dead son and instantly recognized the stone she had thrown. Since then, people no longer throw stones at the magpie; they only give it bread and say:

“Good to us, evil to the enemy.”

The Wren. God announced to the birds that whoever reached Him first would be appointed their king. The eagle immediately spread his wings and soared toward the sky, but growing weary on the way, he stopped somewhere to rest. The wren, which had secretly tucked itself under the eagle's wing and comfortably ridden up, flew out from under the eagle's wing at that moment and presented itself to God first.

“Why have you come?” God asked the little bird.

“I came so you would appoint me king of the birds,” the wren replied.

“If that is so,” said God, “go and bring me a twig that is neither short nor long, neither crooked nor straight.”

Ever since that day, the little bird has been searching for twigs under fences, and when it finds one, it chirps:

“Not it, not it, not this, not that...”

The Chicken. All the birds gathered and decided that, God willing, they would fly together to a certain place. The chicken stood up and arrogantly declared:

“Whether God wills it or not, I will fly regardless.”

At daybreak, all the birds flapped their wings and took to the air. No matter how hard the chicken flapped its wings, it could not lift off the ground. From that day to this, the chicken has been unable to fly, even though it previously knew how to fly just like all the other birds.

The rooster is the herald of daylight. When dawn breaks, the heavenly rooster crows first. The earthly rooster hears its voice, calls out, and awakens people from their deep sleep, which is perceived as a temporary death. That is why the rooster is considered the “resurrector of the night,” meaning the one who resurrects and awakens sleeping people.

Every morning, the rooster sees the gates of heaven opening, which is why it crows more frequently at sunrise. At that moment, it sees the guardian angels of humans, who ascend to heaven while people sleep and return at dawn. It also sees the angel of death and all the evil spirits.

The abbot of the St. George monastery of Phutku in Moks was always a rooster, which managed the monastery and its estate. Without this rooster's crow, the caravans lodging at the monastery never set off on their journey. When that rooster dies, the people appoint as the new abbot the rooster that has appeared in the dream of a pious person.

A moth went to the devil to ask for his daughter's hand in marriage. The devil said:

“Go bring me a lamp, and I will give you my daughter.”

The moth went, fluttered around a lamp, fell into the flame, and burned up. That is why moths constantly flutter around lamps.

A king had a very beautiful daughter. When the time came for the girl to marry, the father announced:

“I will give you to the brave man who can bring an unquenchable fire.”

Many brave men came to fulfill the king's condition, but none succeeded in bringing the unquenchable fire. All who went fell into the fire and burned. The moths that flutter around the fire, known as pharvana, are the suitors who sought the princess's hand.

God did not create the scorpion. Scorpions emerged later from the graves of traitors and apostates. After death, they left the scorpions as their legacy, which sting and destroy people.