“It will not stay like this” is the verbal translation of Hovhannes Toumanian’s poetic tale titled “Այսպէս չի՛ մընա»։ The original is posted below. Hovhannes Toumanian was endearingly known as the All-Armenian Poet.
I heard this poetic tale for the very first time two years ago, read by my former high school classmate Ohan Armenian in his penthouse like home, in an upscale, fashionable part of LA. I post it in a verbatim translation in remembrance of my high school years with my classmate Vaghenag Tarpinian who recites Toumanian marvelously (See post below).
Arguably Hovhannes Toumanian is the most colorful person that has graced us, as Armenians. In 1888, at the age of nineteen, Toumanian married seventeen-year-old Olga Machkalyan. They had 10 children, four boys and six girls. He died at the age of fifty-four. For all indications, throughout his life he remained a fascinating figure, not only as a literary larger than life figure, but also socially. His upper floor home became known as the "vernadoun", where the who's is who gathered.
It is given that “It will not stay like this" is a tale. But "who knows for sure?" asks Hovhannes Toumanian. It may have been an unlikely story of a poor man who was unable to feed his family, and his industrious, wise and driven son, whom the father gave for servitude to a rich and visited him on and off. That is how Toumanian envisioned it.
Here is its verbatim translation that does not and cannot do justice for the original piece. Vaհe H Apelian
*
Whether it is or not, who knows for sure.
And what is certain about the world...
There is only one thing certain in the world,
That is, that\ there is nothing certain.
There is, as it were, a peasant man,
Poor, in need of daily sustenance.
He has a clever boy,
He takes him for a servant.
The over achieving, driven, clever boy grew up working hard and better. His master was pleased with him and gave him more money. The boy's father missed his son and came to visit him.
They are getting old. This clever boy
Serves so honestly and cheerfully,
That the master increases his wages,
As he looks at himself.
One day the father remembers his son
And gets up to see him.
— Oh, how are you, my son, now too
Aren't you naked, and hungry?
— No, I'm fine, father, I always have a livelihood,
But what to do that... “It will not stay like this”,
The boy worked so well that he became the king's servant. The father missed the boy and came to visit him. The boy said that he is living well and there is no need to be concerned about him and that “it will not remain the same”.
Father goes. They are getting older.
The boy goes forward day by day,
Finally, he rises, reaches the palace,
Becomes a servant to the great king.
One day the father remembers his son
And gets up to see him.
— Hey, how are you, my son, what else do you want?
You swim abundantly in this full sea.
— Yes, I'm full, father, you go in peace,
But what to do that... “It will not stay like this”,
The king’s servant was so loved for his labor and wise manners that the king elevated him and he became the second in command in the kingdom. The father came to visit his son again. The boy said that he has become a nazir and is living very well and that “it won’t stay like this”.
Our clever servant is so loved,
That the king brings him to the palace
Makes him the second in command.
One day a father remembers his son
And gets up to see him.
Oh, how are you, my son, what else is happening,
They sit and stand up alive at your word.
— Yes, I am old, father, I am a Nazir,
But what to do that... “It will not stay like this”,...
Time passed by, the king died and the country remained without a ruler. The wise men of the kingdom decided that the boy should be the king. The father finds out and was proud of his son, and came to see him. The boy said that he is the ruler of the country and also said “it won’t stay like this”.
The father goes. They are getting older.
The king of this good country is old
One day he dies without an heir,
The throne and the world are left without a master.
They call a meeting of the elders of the country.
They come to a meeting, they consult,
They bring their clever Nazir
With words and glory, they make him king,
And one day our villager hears:
His son has become king.
He comes. —Son, what else do you lack,
You are the only one in the whole world who exists...
— Thank God, father, I have a crown and a throne,
But what can you do that... it doesn't happen like this...
Time passed, the king grew old and died. The father came and visited the king's tombstone that read: “it won’t stay like this”
The father leaves. They are getting old.
The autocrat, sitting on his throne,
makes a new decision of death and life:
The whole world has gathered dust.
Even if the world gathers dust,
You will leave the world alive again.
Our king once fell on his bed, and gave up his soul.
The old father heard one day,
That his son, the king, did not remain.
What can he say? It comes to him.
What more mourning, what more mourning and weeping...
With force, pomp, ceremony, and pageantry
They hold a royal funeral,
And they rise, making a show
They all go to their homes.
They are getting old. One day, the father
Comes to his son's grave.
He comes, sees a marble tombstone,
But written on it... "It won't happen like this..."
The father goes. They are getting old.
Who can tell us the account...
From there on people talked about what the wise, driven king had on his tombstone and much like in their lives, things will not remain the same and that time, glory, and power are all transient.
From that day to this day, endlessly, forever
The conversation says — "It won't be like this..."
And the magnificent statue of the king is no more,
Nor his city on the earth,
The earth is ours and life is the foundation,
But our world... it won't be like this..
For all indications Toumanian lived true to the "it will not remain the same" and lived the moment and wrote the following (recited by Vaghenag Tarpinian)
Hey greedy man, hey discontent man
Your mind is long, your life is short,
How many like you have passed away,
Before you, in front of you.
What did they take from life?
What would you take with you?
Pass peacefully, pass happily,
Through your two-day sojourn.
Link, Բնագիրը՝ ԷՍՊԵՍ ՉԻ ՄՆԱ` Հովհաննես Թումանյան, (Հին զրույց), 1908-
