[39] See Travel and Politics in Armenia, by Noel Buxton, M.P., and Rev. Harold Buxton; with Introduction by Viscount Bryce and a Contribution on Armenian History and Culture by Aram Raffi. Smith, Elder & Co. 1914. [40] The history of this war is recorded by Eghishé, a contemporary ecclesiastic, whose work is more widely read than any book except the Bible. He is a poet rather than an historian. [41] All the metrical translations quoted are by Miss Z. C. Boyajian. Like her other translations in this volume they are almost literal renderings; and the original metre has been kept. [42] These monarchs are mentioned because they were the first Christian sovereigns. [43] In the Armenian Church there are two classes of clergy—the higher order to which bishops belong and who do not marry, and the lower order of parish priests who do marry. [44] It is interesting to compare this with a Persian poem by Essedi of Tus called a dispute between Day and Night. In the former the Earth is victorious, in the latter the Day. The Persian is essentially Mohammedan in spirit and conventional, whereas the Armenian is almost modern. Day. By day the pious fast and pray; And solemn feasts are held by day. Night. Day can but paint the skies with blue, Night’s starry hosts amaze the view. Day. ... I am a Moslem—white my vest, Thou a vile thief, in sable drest. Out, negro-face!—dar’st thou compare Thy cheeks with mine, so purely fair? ... The Sun is ruddy, strong, and hale: The moon is sickly, wan, and pale. Methinks ’twas ne’er in story told That silver had the worth of gold! The moon, a slave, is bowed and bent, She knows her light is only lent, She hurries on, the way to clear, Till the Great Shah himself appear. From “The Rose Garden of Persia.” End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Armenian Legends and Poems, by Various