When Grigor Robakidse's Caucasian stories were published in Germany in the early 1930s, Georgian literature was even more distant than it is today. The almost ethnographic title story "Magical Springs" takes us to Chewsuria - a mountainous region of primal beauty. Here, modernity clashes with archaic customs as the narrator embarks on an expedition with a film crew from Moscow, becoming increasingly captivated by the enigmatic people of Chewsuria. In the story "Imam Shamil," Robakidse brings a Caucasian hero into focus, who had to surrender to a massive Russian army in 1859. Today, he is seen as an identification figure for Islamists with a somewhat sinister allure, and after 1921, he became a symbol of resistance against Russian and Soviet imperialism in the collective consciousness. The narrative, alongside its p.