Plants

The Rose and the Violet were once brother and sister. The Rose would constantly prick the Violet with its thorns, and the Violet would suck the Rose's blood and smear it upon her own face. Seeing that the siblings' quarrels would never end, the mother cursed them to die longing for each other. Since that day, the Rose and the Violet never look upon each other's faces again. Whoever attempts to bring them together shall die with their deepest desires unfulfilled.

“Brothers' Blood” (Aghbrants aryun) is a crimson, blood-colored flower. Kurdish bandits killed seven brothers in the mountains. From their spilled blood grew this mournful and blood-red flower. Beside it, almost always, grows the wild poppy (lala), which bows its bell-shaped head and mourns the slain brothers.

The Water Lily (Nunufar) grew from the droplets of David of Sasun's spilled blood when an ambushing enemy killed him while he was bathing in the Meghraget River.

“Love-Love” (Siri-siri). Three brothers were in love with the same girl. They grew intensely jealous and envious of one another, and in the end, all three killed each other. From the spilled blood of these three brothers emerged the three-leafed siri-siri flower.

Juniper (Gihi). Grigor Narekaci worked as a plowboy for a master. Once, the old woman of the house grew angry with him and hurled the fire-iron (a tool used to stir embers in the tonir) after him. Narekaci picked up the iron, planted it into the soil, and vanished. The fire-iron blossomed and turned into a juniper tree.

The Grapevine. An angel came to visit Abraham's home. There was nothing to eat in the house, so Abraham was forced to slaughter his calf. In the evening, when the cow returned from the herd, she lowed mournfully searching for her calf. Her cries reached the angel's ears. He commanded Abraham to bring the calf's hide and bones. Abraham brought them, but could not find the calf's thigh bone. The angel blessed the remains, and the calf instantly came back to life and stood on its feet. Shortly after, Abraham found the missing bone and brought it to the angel. The angel commanded Abraham to bury the bone in the vineyard. Abraham did exactly so. A year later, the grapevine sprouted from that calf bone.

Cotton. God fashioned man out of clay. When He finished making him, He rubbed His hands together; the leftover remnants of clay fell to the ground, and from them, cotton was formed.

White Bryony (Loshtak). A vardapet (monk) had a servant named Loshtak whom he tormented severely. One day, while the vardapet was asleep, Loshtak poured oil from the lamp onto his master's beard and set it on fire. Terrified, the vardapet leaped from his sleep and, seeing Loshtak, cried out, “May you sink into the ground!” Loshtak instantly sank into the earth. Regretting the terrible power of his curse, the vardapet softened his words and said, “May you become a cure for every disease.” But a moment later, feeling the intense pain of his burns, he cursed Loshtak once more: “Whoever pulls you from the earth, may they take your place.” That is why, when people dig up bryony, they tie a dog to its roots and have the dog pull it out of the ground.

Watermelon. King Gagik's servants saw a serpent in front of the palace, restlessly rubbing its horns against the ground. The king learned of this and ordered the serpent's horns to be cut off. Once the horns were severed, the serpent found relief and departed contentedly. Sometime later, the serpent reappeared near the palace, dropped a seed from its mouth onto the ground, and vanished. King Gagik advised burying the seed in the soil and tending to it. In the summer, a colossal, round fruit grew from that seed. The king and his courtiers did not dare eat this unfamiliar fruit. They decided to test it on a dying old man. They cut a piece of the fruit and gave it to him. No sooner had the old man eaten the fruit than he was instantly restored to health and grew young again. Gagik and his courtiers ate the rest of the fruit, and they too were revitalized and rejuvenated. From that day on, they named the fruit “chmeruk” (meaning “non-dying”), which later passed from mouth to mouth and became “dzmeruk” (watermelon).