“I want to understand it,” she replied.
Mamuka would just smile, his mustache twitching. “You see iron. I see a story. And a story is told qartulad — in Georgian.” the crown qartulad
“Read it,” he said, handing her a magnifying lens. “I want to understand it,” she replied
“Go to Mamuka,” they said. “He speaks in riddles.” “I want to understand it
Old Mamuka knew the crown was not made of gold. The others in the mountain village of Shatili thought he had finally lost his mind. They pointed to the iron band, rusted and pitted, that sat on the velvet cushion in the tiny stone chapel. “It is a relic of a forgotten king,” they said. “A thing of the past.”