Leon Surmelian, the editor and collector of the "Armenian Tales," which were published in the English-language first edition titled "Apples of Immortality," compiled this collection of stories that were previously passed down only orally through conversations with farmers from the region around Mount Ararat. He grew up with these tales as an Armenian boy. Whether they are realistic stories from everyday life or wonder tales, they always provide insight into the Armenian way of life, into the world of farmers, craftsmen, and merchants, into their joys, dreams, and sufferings, and they reveal a folk tradition shaped by the effort to preserve their cultural identity as a buffer between Asia and Europe.