The Successors of Genghis Khan - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian ...

BEGINNING OF THE HISTORY OF OGETEI QAAN
many horses and garments, made him the commander of several
thousand soldiers, and sent him to Khitai.
[xl] One year when the crops were growing, hail fell and destroyed
them. Because of the fear of a dearth, a maund could not be obtained
for a dinar in Qara-Qprum. He ordered a proclamation to be made
that whoever had sown corn should not give way to anxiety, because
whatever might be lost would be made good from the treasury. They
should water their fields again, and if there was no harvest, they would
receive the full equivalent from the granaries. They acted accordingly,
and that year such a harvest was reaped as had no ending.
[xli] He was very fond of watching wrestling and at first [his
wrestlers] were Mongols, Qiipchaq and Khitayans. Afterward he was
told of the wrestlers of Khurasan and 'Iraq, and he sent a messenger
to Chormaghun and ordered him to send him such wrestlers. From
Hamadan he dispatched, with relay horses and forage, the pahlavdns
Fila and Muhammad Shah with thirty [other] wrestlers. When
they came to Qa'an he was extremely pleased with Fila's appearance
and size and the symmetry of his limbs. The Emir Elchidei of the
Jalayir tribe was present and said: "A pity that relay horses, forage,
and other expenses were wasted on these." "Bring thy own wrestlers,"
said Qa'an "to wrestle with them. If they win I will give thee 500
balish. If they are beaten give me five hundred horses." So it was
agreed.390 Qa'an sent by night for Fila, gave him a cup and spoke to
him kindly. Fila laid his head on the ground and said: "My hope,
based on the fortune of the World-Bestowing Emperor, is that fate
in this matter will be in accordance with his desire." Elchidei for his
part brought from his tiimen a man called Orghana Boke. They presented
themselves in the morning. Elchidei said: "It is a condition that
they lay hold of each other by the leg." The fight began. Orghana
threw Fila on all fours. Fila said: "Hold me with all the strength and
force that thou hast and do not let go." Then he made a play, turned
Orghana Boke round and round like a wheel, and struck him on the
ground with [so] much force that the sound of his bones could be
heard far and near. Qa'an leapt up like a lion and said to Fila: "Hold
thy opponent well." And to Elchidei he said: "What now? Was he
390 The account of the bout with Elchidei's champion is absent from Juvainl's
version ([xli], pp. 227-28, in HWC).
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