From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 4/30/2005 10:10 AM
April, 29, 2005
A Meeting in the Daryal Gorge
Pay attention to the articles about Zelimhan, if you can look through Russian newspapers of the beginning of the last century. There are a lot of them. The well-known abrek from the Chechen Republic excited minds and hearts of the inhabitants. And there was a reason for that!
Right before the eyes of the amazed public he plundered a bank in Kizlyar full of armies expecting for him and disappeared. After a while he kidnapped the known rich man Mesyatsev, in Vladikavkaz he took contents of a jeweler shop in the central street and disappeared in mountains again. Then he changed clothes for a priest's, went to the ball of an outstanding official of the Terskiy region and found out everything, he wanted.
There are even more articles about Zelimhan's capture. And all of them are under large headings: "The last hours of the abrek", "Zelimhan in a trap", "The end of the robber". Let's read. It turns out: a retaliatory group surrounded Zelimhan, who was hiding in an unapproachable rock. He would be captured in several hours… But one day passes, another one, at last, there was a small hitch: chastisers undertook a storm of the rock. Zelimhan, having muffled in a felt cloak, jumped in a stream. Everybody rushed to catch him. They did, but only the felt cloak. Its owner disappeared completely.
And there is a lot of information about the murder of Zelimhan. They appeared almost every month. And readers got used to them. When in the end of September, 1913, there were news from the Caucasus about real liquidation of the well-known abrek, readers were perplexed: should we believe them, or not? But the official press did not stint in articles about "feats" of the Caucasian chastisers.
And suddenly there was another voice in this gloomy chorus – a strong and freshening one. It was in the newspaper "Responses of Caucasus". Open the newspaper of the 8 th of October. At once you will see the heading: "The hero is killed". Here are some lines from this article.
"… We can not believe that Zelimhan is killed. We see a hero in him. Once he refused to become a military minister of the Persian sheikh, having said, "I do not want to be against people". He loved freedom; he was brave, noble… He was going to see his wife and children, when he was killed… Those, who captured him, were black people. They will remain unknown. There will be no stories about them, and there will be no songs about them. And a poem or even an opera will be written about Zelimhan. Pushkin and Lermontov admired such mountaineers… And we do not wish to believe, that Zelimhan is dead!"
There was a signature under the article - A. Makeev. Yes, he was a clever, fair and courageous journalist. In 1918 he was lost in the Civil war, but his idea, that Zelimhan would not be forgotten and would be glorified in works of art, turned out to be prophetical. Already much is written, sung and told about fair avenger Zelimhan. And there still will be!
I have remembered a legend, which I heard from one known Ossetic poet, and he had heard it from his old teacher. Where the teacher knew it from is unknown! But it is not so important. Another thing is interesting: the legend was born in Ossetia . It was told to one another. And it does not contradict the facts of the biography of the characters. It actually could happen to them in September, 1910.
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Zelimhan had special attitudes with lieutenant colonel Verbitskiy since the day, when the latter got a retaliatory group and became the commander of it. The fighting task of the group was formulated extremely briefly: to take abrek Zelimhan alive or dead.
At each opportunity Verbitskiy told his friends, how he would detain "rascal Zelimhan" and would deliver him to Vladikavkaz in a cell. Zelimhan was not worried with this chatter, but the leaflet, which was published by the lieutenant colonel, made him be guarded. He promised 10 thousand roubles in it (in those days a good cow cost 10 roubles) and a site of land to the one, who would bring the head of the abrek. Then, contrary to logic, it was said in the leaflet, that Zelimhan "was a robber and a coward", "who was afraid to meet him", lieutenant colonel Verbitskiy, and his "valorous soldiers".
It was impossible to forgive and to forget it. It was like burning coal was put into Zelimhan's breast. It was burning his soul and did not give him rest. And there was one more event: Zelimhan received a letter from Verbitskiy.
"If you are a real man and wear trousers, instead of a skirt, - the lieutenant colonel wrote, - you will accept my challenge to a personal duel. Come, as well as I shall, alone to the place of fight. We shall battle fairly".
Zelimhan chose the place for the duel near settlement Vedeno, came there at the appointed time, but instead of the lieutenant colonel he was met with a group of soldiers. Only dexterity and force, sharpness and excellent knowledge of the district helped Zelimhan to be rescued from the artful ambush.
- Oh, great Allah! - Zelimhan exclaimed the same evening and raised his hands to the sky. – How can such mongrels step on the ground!
The destiny of Verbitskiy was predetermined. Since that day the enemies were between life and death. It is possible to tell much about it, but this is what once happened.
A reliable person came to Zelimhan from Vladikavkaz and said:
- In two days Verbitskiy is leaving for Tiflis .
Zelimhan even got up with excitation.
- Really? How do you know it?
- Yesterday our Ali saw, how aide-de-camp was taking a ticket for him for the machine, which runs itself.
The meeting with the sworn enemy in mountains promised the full success. Zelimhan made all necessary instructions, chose ten reliable people and the same evening left by mountain paths for the gorge, in which with the Terek was roaring and the Military-Georgian road was twisting.
( To be continued… )
Davlet Gireev, “The Groznyy worker”, of the 2 nd of April, 1975 . Amadi Aslambekov has sent it for publication.
Chechenpress, the Department of letters, 29.04.05.
http://chechenpress.co.uk/english/news/2005/04/29/07.shtml
