Guest and host ( Georgian სტუმარ-მასპინძელი ) is an epic poem by the Georgian writer and poet Vazha Pshavela . First published in Tbilisi in 1893. As the author recalled, it is based on a short story about the killing of a blood enemy by a community over the grave of a person killed by him; he died free, and did not become the servant of the murdered man in the next world, because until the last second of his life he showed courage and unwaveringness [1] .
| Guest and host | |
|---|---|
| cargo. სტუმარ-მასპინძელი | |
 Khevsurskoye village of Shatili, depicted by Gigo Gabashvili | |
| Genre | epic poem |
| Author | Vazha Pshavela |
| Original language | Georgian |
| Date of first publication | 1893 |
The poem was translated into Russian by Nikolai Zabolotsky , Vladimir Derzhavin , Osip Mandelstam , Boris Pasternak , Sergey Spassky , Marina Tsvetaeva and others. Among others, the poem has been translated into English, German, Spanish and Italian.
Based on the poems "The Host and the Guest" and " Aluda Ketelauri " by the Georgian director Tengiz Abuladze in 1967 the film "Prayer" was shot.
Story
Near the native village, the hunter-cystine Johol meets a stranger who introduced himself to him as Nunua. During the ensuing conversation, Johol invites him to spend the night in his house. In fact, he met a Khevsur named Zviadauri, a blood enemy of the Kistins, and, as it turns out later, even killed Johol's sibling. In the meantime, the hunters come to the house where the wife of Joholah Agaz and he himself welcome the guest. At night, the villagers, having learned about such an alien, burst into the house and tie Zviadauri. Johola gets in their way with a dagger in his hands, and responds to the reproaches and explanations of his neighbors that while he is a guest in his house, he is inviolable. Two adats clash here: the law of hospitality and the customs of blood feud [1] . In a fit of righteous indignation, the owner even kills one of the neighbors who insulted him. Johol is beaten and left bound, and Zviadauri is taken to the cemetery to kill a fellow villager who died at his grave over the grave. He refuses to show humility until the last breath, so he dies free Khevsur. When everyone leaves, the wife of Joholy Agaz mourns the murdered woman, and her husband, later learning about this, does not blame her at all.
The Khevsur village receives news of the death of Zviadauri, and they advance to pick up and bury his remains. Near the village there is a clash of cystins and Khevsurs. Johol, now disgraced by his fellow villagers, despite this, bravely fights and dies in battle. Khevsury, pushing the enemy into the village, take the remains of his comrade from the cemetery. Jochola’s body is also not betrayed by the cysts, remembering his collision with the community. Agaza mourns her husband’s body, and then, herself in disgrace from her neighbors, rushes into the mountain stream.
The poem concludes with a legend about how at night the ghosts of Zviadauri and Johola reunite around the fire, talking as friends and brothers, and Agaza prepares a meal for them.
Links
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Aida Abuashvili. The highest breakthrough to humanity // Questions of literature. - 1996. - No. 6.