báró Miklós Jósika

“ Six months passed away; but Matthias had a good many other and more important matters to think of than the beggar lad, and he had not once been in Visegrád since Miska had been there.
"So much the better," thought Miska; "he will come some time, and then I shall know all the more. If only there were not this learning! But it is no good; it has got to be. And yet why? A little page like me is as wise as an owl if he can read and write, and what does he want with more? I can read and write too.—Hm," he thought to himself, "the man who invented writing—what the thunderbolt did he invent it for? ”

“ Of course the courage of the private was also needful—quite indispensable, indeed, in every soldier, officer or not, who must always be ready to sacrifice his life if need be; but he strove to acquire besides the cool courage which does not let itself be carried away by excitement, which can listen to the sound of the trumpets and the din of battle without being intoxicated, which remains calm and collected, retains its presence of mind, and is capable of seeing and hearing, and, above all, of thinking for others, even when the issue looks most doubtful. ”

“ Matthias held in his hand a heavy gold case, with a piece of parchment from which hung a large seal. The clouds had vanished from his face as if by magic, and he was apparently quite himself again, for he looked as bright and pleasant as possible.
"Mr. Michael Tornay," he said in a gay tone, which completed Michael's bewilderment, "you have answered all our expectations. If we have been the making of you, you have given us complete satisfaction in return. You have won our heart by your faithful affection, your valour, and your love and devotion to your country. ”

“ Michael was sitting in the window one morning to eat his breakfast, when he chanced to look across to the opposite window, and saw, to his great surprise, that there was some one there, or at least he fancied that he saw some one, but the glimpse was so momentary that he could not be sure.
When one has nothing at all to look at, very small trifles become quite important; and the idea that he might have, or be going to have, neighbours was quite exciting. Certainly the king had said something about it, but hitherto he had seen no one. ”

“ The lad believed in King Matthias as if he had been some altogether superior being; he was ardently, passionately attached to him, but he said nothing.
To tell the truth, he felt more confused than grateful; for the new-made noble, the private of the Black Legion, had just so much delicacy of feeling that he was much more flattered by the king's treating him seriously than he would have been by jests and teasing. ”

“ The king's whims were so well known at the court that the stranger was admitted without difficulty, and was ushered into the king's presence forthwith. Matthias was alone, and at once recognized his man, who stepped into the room, looking very spruce, and as sound as an acorn.
"It's you, Miska! You have brought good news; I can see it in your eye. You're a man—speak!" ”

“ The beggar grinned. "What would you have?" said he. "People say a great many things of all sorts, and a fellow like me just believes and blunders along with the rest! If His Grace in there does live on Jews' flesh, I wish him good health; but for my own part I had rather have a little bit of chicken than roast Jew."
"Now, boy, listen. Just look there," began the horseman again: "if you can get into that castle and bring me word again how the world wags there, you shall have a hundred gold ducats in your hand." ”

“ Michael smothered his wrath as best he could, feeling how much he owed to the king, and that it would be the blackest ingratitude to show passion and resentment because he now crossed his will.
"I will obey His Highness's commands," said he to the page, who at once withdrew.
Then he embraced Esther, and said with a heavy sigh, "All is not lost yet. The king is good, and—God is better. Keep up your heart." ”

“ An hour later Miska had had a bath, and had donned a clean shirt and the becoming livery worn by the royal pages of the second rank.
The change in his attire had completely metamorphosed him, and now, as he stood before the king, the latter was more than ever struck by his face.
"Listen," said he, fixing his keen eyes attentively on the beggar. "You have been well fed, and you have been fresh clothed from top to toe. Now, I don't want you to go to Buda; for you see I am here, and have seen the governor myself. But you remember what I said to you outside Mr. Samson's castle? ”

“ Governor here if you were [Pg 28] angry; but if your eyes had been starting out of your head with hunger as mine were, I believe you would have been sitting in some csárda [wayside inn] till now. Stop anywhere? The idea of such a thing! As if any one who had business needing haste entrusted to him would think of stopping to rest!"
"Listen, Miska," said the king. "Would you like to be something better than you are now?"
"Hja!" said the beggar, "I might soon be that certainly, for at present I am not worth even so much as a Jew's harp."
"Let us hear, gossip; what would you like to be?" ”

“ The fact is that it was vanity which led you to risk your head in an experiment which was not merely hazardous, but so desperate that there was hardly the remotest reasonable hope of success; and vanity under such circumstances is cowardice. I honour courage; as for insane foolhardiness, it belongs not to the knight but to the highwayman."
Tornay listened abashed, and though much hurt he felt that Matthias was right.
[Pg 84] "I should have a great mind to punish you," the king went on, "but that one of my best generals owes his life to your folly, so for his sake I pardon you." ”

“ IN THE ROBBER'S NEST.
Great men—especially the very few who are great even in their night-shirts, as the saying is, which was the case with King Matthias, if it ever was with any one—great men are, by their very natures, strongly attached to their own ideas and opinions. It is not easy to shake them when once they have made up their minds about a matter; for truly great men are not given to hasty judgments. ”

“ Samson's castle, was no other than King Matthias himself.
"Has my messenger, the beggar boy, arrived?" he asked briskly.
"He is yonder in the stable," said the governor; "he has only just come in, very faint, and he is urging me to give him a horse already."
"He is here?" said the king in surprise. "Impossible! I came at a good pace myself, and set out hardly half an hour after him. Call him here."
[Pg 27] In a few moments the lad was standing in the presence of the great king, though he was far enough from guessing whom he was talking with.
"It is you, the horseman?" said Miska. ”

“ From that time Tornay tried to make himself more and more useful to the king, by learning all that he could of his profession.
The courage of a private was not enough—it was [Pg 86] not what was wanted of him, now that he was an officer in command; and he felt that the courage which made a man strive to acquire the knowledge necessary to those in his own position—generals and commanders, that is to say—was courage of a higher, nobler sort than that which led to deeds of mere daring. ”

“ Samson called me at last one evening and said,—
"'Miska, I am satisfied with you; you will go with me to-night, at midnight. There will be only the two of us; have you the courage?'
"'I have,' I answered.
"'See,' Mr. Samson went on, taking a couple of daggers out of a table-drawer, 'I will make you a present of these; they are the only arms you will have. Be ready, and when I ring at midnight make haste and come to me.'
"I haven't much more to tell you, Mr. King. ”

“ But come in; why do you stand there in the window? We are neighbours, you know, as we used to be, and neighbours ought to be on good terms with one another."
Michael felt as if he were dreaming, but naturally he did not wait to be asked twice; and the old woman, who had shown a marked liking for him before while he was in Samson's castle, welcomed him now with the greatest cordiality.
"Why, Jancsi, stay a bit," said she, "and let me look at you! Why, what a smart lad you have turned into, to be sure! What fine buttons you have on your dolmány! ”

“ Somebody has to make a beginning, and you are making your own name; surely that is a great deal more than merely inheriting it! Besides, your family pedigree is as long as any one's in the world after all; for it reaches back to old Father Adam, and no one can go further."
[Pg 114] At that moment Euphrosyne reappeared with the lights; but Michael cared little for her, now that he had found out what he wanted to know. Esther cared for him; what else could possibly matter?
"I must go to the king," said Michael. ”

“ But in the reign of Matthias, clocks made their appearance on many of the castle towers in Hungary; and, thanks to the king's encouragement and the energetic measures he took, it was not long before Hungarian craftsmen became so famous that the Grand Duke of Moscow asked to have goldsmiths, gun-founders, land-surveyors, miners, architects, and others sent to him from Hungary.
[Pg 34] But where is the use of arts, crafts, and manufactures—how indeed can they flourish—where there is a dearth of food? ”

“ You have [Pg 120] fallen in love with Esther. It is just fortunate that the girl has more sense than you, and does not trust your fine words."
"I humbly beg your pardon," said Michael, unwilling to let the opportunity slip, "I believe, on the contrary, Your Highness, that Esther—"
"Esther is going to marry Aggtelky Mihály, the Supreme Count," said the king decidedly; "and now that you know this, it will be as well for you to give up thinking of her. To make it easier for you, and to impress it upon your mind, it will not be amiss for you to spend a few months away from Buda." ”

“ King," said he (for 'Mr.' is used in Hungary in speaking to any one of whatever degree, and people say 'Mr. Duke' or 'Mr. Bishop,' as they do in French) —"Mr. King, God preserve Your Highness, and give you a thousand times as much as you have given to a poor boy like me. I vow"—and here the beggar raised his right hand—"I vow that I will do all I can; and if God keeps me in health and strength, and preserves my senses, I hope to bring Your Highness news of Mr. Samson six months hence, in Buda." ”

“ The active young king, who was well accustomed to exert himself, worked away energetically; but the well-fed, self-indulgent lords almost melted away, the labour made them so hot, and very soon they were completely exhausted.
"That's enough, my friends," said the king, observing the state they were in. "Now we know a little of what it costs the peasants to produce that which we waste in idleness while they live in poverty. They are human beings like ourselves, yet we often treat them worse than we do our horses and dogs." ”

“ But Visegrád was still a long way off—long, that is, when the journey had to be made on foot; for the castle stood on a hill on the Danube, just where the river makes a sudden bend to the south. On the hillside, under the wing of the old fortress, stood a palace built by one of the former kings of Hungary, which is said to have been equal in splendour to Versailles or any other of the most magnificent palaces of Europe ”

“ Those who want to learn, can learn without going to school. You will learn to write and read, which is only play after all to any one who does not wish to remain a dunce. Do you understand?"
"I don't mind," said Miska.
"Well, then," said the king, turning to the governor, "let him be clothed, and then you can present him."
[Pg 30] Thereupon the king withdrew to his own apartments, where some of the great nobles were already waiting for him in one of the saloons, and were not a little surprised to see him appear travel-stained and dusty, but in the most lively spirits. ”

“ Now King Matthias was so true a lover of justice that his name has become a proverb, and when he died there was a general sigh and exclamation, "Matthias is dead! justice is fled!" It was not likely, therefore, that he was going to tolerate robbers merely because they were nobles ”

“ There was plenty of work for the Black Legion in those days; for the Turks were perpetually invading the southern provinces, and the Hungarians were left to fight them almost single-handed—though, as the king reminded Louis the Eleventh of France, "Hungary was fighting for all Christendom," as she had been doing for many a long year past.
Michael had distinguished himself more than once for his courage, and for a daring which amounted at [Pg 81] times to actual foolhardiness, and now he had outdone his previous exploits by the gallant rescue from extreme peril of General Rozgonyi. ”

“ When the army was drawn up in battle array, fronting the enemy and all ready for action, the young soldier would begin to ask himself what he should do if the king were presently to give orders, as he might some day, that he, Michael, was to take the chief command and lead the army to battle. ”

“ With that he stepped up to the entrance of the low white house, daring himself, as it were, to go any further, asked for some bread, which he paid for and began to devour at once, drank a good draught of water from the well-bucket, and then ran on as if the Tatars were at his heels, or as if he were afraid to trust himself any longer in such a dangerous neighbourhood. ”

“ Before setting out for Buda, he had shown his friend the Jew the secret way in and out of the castle; and as Mr. Samson had the keys of the various gates upon him, the king's soldiers would of course [Pg 69] have no difficulty in getting in and surprising the garrison at any time. If only he had been a soldier, he might have gone with them; and even without being a soldier, he might have gone with them to act as guide, if only the king had thought of it. ”

“ King," answered Tornay, who saw at once that Matthias was in high good-humour, "I think Your Highness has got hold of your anger by the small end this time, and perhaps you won't go quite so far as to have my head cut off."
[Pg 92] "Your head may possibly be allowed to remain in its accustomed place," said the king jestingly. "However, it is not necessary that you should know which part of your person I have sentenced to punishment; it is enough, gossip, that you are to expiate your offence, and that to begin with I am going to send you to prison." ”