Books
The Golden Rooster
translated from Armenian and introduced by Donald Abcarian
Gomidas Institute, 2021,
x + 134 pages, glossary
ISBN 978-1-909382-58-9, pb.
Price: UK£15.00 / US$20.00
To order please contact books@gomidas.org
First published in Tbilisi (Georgia) in 1879, The Golden Rooster is the second and most popular in a trilogy of short novels by Raffi focusing on the ethos and social significance of the traditional Armenian merchant class of the Caucasus. With this trilogy Raffi sought to ‘tear away the mask of gold’ covering the faces of these powerful merchants and lay bare for all to see the trickery and moral bankruptcy that was at the heart of their success. At the same time, he sought to suggest a more honorable course for a new generation of merchants, young men willing and able to make a genuine contribution to the larger interests of Armenian society.
About the author
Raffi (né Hakob Melik-Hakobian) was born in 1835 in Bayajuk, near Salmas, in northwestern Persia. He died in Tiflis in 1888. He was a prolific and popular writer who contributed to Krikor Ardzrouni’s Tiflis-based liberal periodical, Mshak (Cultivator). Among his other principal works of fiction are Jalaleddin, Gharib Mshetsi (The exile from Moush), Khachagoghi Hishatakarane (The diary of a cross-stealer), Kaitzer (Sparks), Davit Bek, and Samuel.
About the translator
Donald Abcarian was born and raised in Fresno, California, where his family was part of the extensive Armenian-American community that has settled there since the turn of the last century. His earliest influences, including the Armenian language, derived from that milieu. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in philosophy and has pursued a lifelong interest in languages and world literature. His translations also include Raffi’s The Fool and Jalaleddin.