THE LAND OF THE MAGYAR

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2211, 25 July 1914, Page 18

THE LAND OF THE MAGYAR

[By Malcolm Koes, F.R.G.S.]

No. VI. From the railway we drove through a great tunnel in the Castle Mill to Buda, the- driver, who was in a talkative mood, lamenting to Stefan that the owners for whom he worked had .recently put a moter on his cab. This machine, ho sup*posed, -was an invention of modern civilisation, bufc to him it appeared tei bo an iuvontion of the devil. Anyhow, it did not give a poor man like himself a fair chance in life! We agreed, and at the end of the journey, when ho found our hearts wore less metallic than tho machine, his pessimistic old. faco became wreathed in smiles, and he returned, einging on his way. When 1 landed at tho door of my inn I looked up and saw the hanging gardens and the great castle of the King of Hungary looming against b, starry sky. And aftor I toad climbed the long, stairway to'my room and thrown open the double window, there, on the other hand, down below mo, was the mighty Danube, and, from the further'shore,,' , the thousand lights of Pest (sending quivering ribbons ,Oi: gold- ailiwart its darkly-flowing waters.- Hi© beckoning'lights seemed to call ono across the waters from the gloom of the old town to the throbbing life of the now nineteenth century city. A Historic City. In many of the great cities of the Old World every rood of ground almost has been the arena of some act of. turuiueat iiiscory, and ±Suaa-J'est, tnough its entry into the ranks of world-famed .towns'is comparatively of recent date , , is no exception to the rule; In the second century after Christ the Komans came arid built upon the right bank of the river tho city -of Aqumcum, and the Romans here, as elsewhere, built so well that you can still see the remains of an amphitheatre that must have seated 20,000 people. The -crumbling columns of Pagan temples, the ruins of lioman baths and theatres tell a tale of a large and prosperous city. Three hundred and soyonty-,six _ years after Christ there , began tho invasions of. the Huue and tho Ostrogoths, .those-Wo great peoples who were to play such an important part in European histoi-y. The Avars and the Slavs followed, and it was not till the. end of the tenth century that the .Magyars, came • upon tho scene. There were .still troublous times ahead, arid the Tartars, in 1241, destroyed the city. Three years later.'Beta IV proclaimed it a royal free-city j and various peoples took up their residence in it. Buda, : with its fororess and its castle pn the hill; soon became of greater importance than Pest on. the opposite bank •of the river. The flays of trouble, however, were not yet over,, for,'after the terrible slaughter on Mc-hac's field, the Tucks simply marched into and took possession of the' city, and for nearly a century and a , half, as one historian, puts it, tho Crescent banner, floated ..from the: walls of the Hungarian capital. When the-Turks departed Pest was in mine. The struggle between the Crescent and the Cross, adn between the Magyar, and the Turk and the, Austrian' make a long but fascinating story. ; ■'■'>:. ■'■-,■.■ ' : ■; The Parliament.

■To the north'of Pest is tho field of Rakos, whero for four hundred years, from 1000 A.D., the Hungarian' Diets .assembled sin the open air. Now the Hungarian Parliament meets in that magnificout pile fronting the Danube, -.which was built at a'cost and which, oxcoptiug only Westminster, is the finest building of its 'kind in the wholo world. Its magnificent domo and ..many spires reflected in the murky waters of the great Danube are. ever 'a source of delight.-, to the artistic. eye ■ ■while the stateliuess: and- tho gorgeous-, ness of its interior arrangements and decorations far surpasß anything < one sees in the Parliaments of the Western countries. It houses some 453 legislators, who represent a population of 19,000,000 people, of whom 1,200,000 are electors who.vote under a somewhat involved franchise. It-is one of-the few Parliaments of the world.in which'there aro no Socialists;, but that is perhaps attributable to the franchise," for, ovpii in; Hungary, tho Socialist is now very. much iii evidence. In the old days of the kingdom, Buda,. with'.its fortress and palace on the hill overlooking; .the right bank of the Danube, eclipsed Pestj.kit it is now rather the historic ; background to the; bustling, fashionable,arid commercial city across the river. In after years the two cities were amalgamated. ■ -.'.■-"•

, The Craat Flood. \ ':' But the city has to bear other ills than those of liro and; sword./ In 1709 a pestilence that wrought greater devastation, than tha-. Turk fell upon,the people. Later, the great flood of. 1838 swopt thousands of men, women, and children to their'doom, and left the city once more in ruins! .Standing in tho garden of the palace, on tho hill, and looking; across the.two cities, with the river liowiiig in between, across tho tops of; tho splendid .modern buildings, to whero the great dome of St. Stephen's looms against the sky-line, ono tries to imagine the dread scene when, an hour or, two after.' tho alarm bell sounded,, the waters burst, their bounds, and a crowd of 60,000 ■ people, who had been watching the ineffectual work of: tho labourers and soldiers, Bed before the overwhelming waters. It'.was in March, ana the broken ice blocks,, borne on the swiftly-rushing waters, large enough to 'injure but- not to save, must havo added to tho confusion and destruction. Night had already fallen, and us tho' torches of the workers ivoro' quenched by : the- oncoming flood the gr.oaus . of strong men and the shrieks of. helpless women being swept to their doom could be heard above the noise of the-rushing waters. Children, too; 'were in that great crowd that had assembled •> to watch the heroic efforts of tho. men who had been called to stay the flood. In-a little while undermined houses began to fall with a crash, and, togolhw with their occupants," were swept from their foundations. Heroes, known and unknown, did splendid work in saving fife.

r The Modern City. But neither sword nor pestilence, nor flood, nor fire"/could prevent' the reestablishment of tho city upon the 'ruins.of its darkest days. • Tho magnilicenco and tho geographical importance of its silo had marked it as a placo for man, and the boundless vision and optimism of the Magyar race combined with the practicality and business aptitude of tho Hungarian Jews in a comparatively few years resulted in the building of a new and greater city upon the mined foundations of the old. Tho florid Gothic pile of'the Parliament Houses looming .through tho grey mists of morning or standing clear cut against the blue of an autumn day; tho majestic facades of St. Stephen's Cathedral, with its beautiful cupola and its graceful campanile; tho university, with its 7000 students; the national museum, with its 1,400,000 volumes and- MS.: the great palace dominating tho old town, but no longer, in the day of tho sorely-tried, lonely, old Emperor, a scene of regal splendour; the six magnificent bridges spanning the noble river; tlie if?reat solid buildings of commerce; the fashionable boulevards; the highly artistic monuments, and the gailythrongod Corsal all seem to the stranger to be monuments of a national greatness, that, in the days to come, may expand beyond the dreams of presentday, financiers and diplomatists, or i.-'siy sink back upon the dust-heap of war and rapine. To anyone who has wet.

and mingled with tho Magyar [eoplo tho wish must bo father to tho first thought. In Budapest. Budapest is a city of restaurants, and the -restaurant lifo is ono of tho fascinating studies of the city. iNot even Paris can vie with it. Ono evening after a lengthy tour of tho sights of Pest wo dined merrily at tho principal Hungarian rostaurant, in company with my friend's relatives and a clever, excitable, young Hungarian, who was a doctor of law. Ho was a charming fellow, and intensely patriotic. As the ncli Hungarian dishes come one by ono to tho tablo 1 found that I was expected to do justice to a repast that would have served mo for three ordinary meals I My friend tho lawyer, witk a merry twinkle in his eye, remarked that the Hungarians were a poor people, but they lived well I "If we are sad we dance—but ive danco," ho explained; and Stefan added that there was an old Hungarian .saying to the effect that tho Magyar was enjoying himself in his crying.' I'could well believe .it,' even after such brief, study of the Hungarian character as I' had .already-been, able to make, and while the Gipsy Band was playing a wailing melody we watched a lonely man come in, sit himself down in a corner, and become absorbed in the music. He spoke- to no one: ho simply sipped his wine and listened intently to the music of the Gipsy Band. He was evidently oiio of thoso who was finding solace in his sorrow. The Clpsy Music.

By this time the band was in full swing, and everyone was enjoying tho Aational music. The man in tlio corner now seemed to havo tears in his eyes; but a fair-haired, clear-complex-ioned girl, with beautiful osprey plumes in her hat and diamonds flashing in her pretty ears, applauded heartily, as did we also, it- was a gay throng, brightened by the drosses of pretty women and.the'gity uniforms of the AustrianHungariau -officers. "They are studying what they-.will play for you,'"' said Stefan. He had spoken to the conductor, and had ordered him to nfiike me cry, and presently Kadics Bela led his men into a pot pourri of Hungarian folk songs, the music of which, passionately played, certainly .made a sad impression. The haunting melodies have not been effaced by time. Our friend the barrister, carried away by the; Magyar music, began to pour out his soul to Stefie, till Stefan jocularly interposed— 'If you talk to my wife like that I shall be jealous , ." "All right; you come to mo, and I'll got a divorce for you," was his quick-witted reply. Leaving the haunting melodies of the folk songs the conductor, without a pause, dashed into tho stirring music of the Csardas—The Hungarian National (lance.;. -Faster and faster they played it till: in imagination ono could picture the gay excited dancers swirling round in a mad revel. Sometimes the conduc-. tor would stop playing, while-the band went on jn laultless time. Occasionally he would • advance from the band towards us, playing with his back to his men, and then turn suddenly round, and lead them into quite a different theme. Of course there was not a noto of written music anywhere, and it was simply wonderful how easily and with what precision' tliey changed from one melody to another without any apparent sign from , their conductor. Next the conductor played a solo for, me, ' and after it was finished I wanted to make a fitting contribution in coin; but Stefan would not lot.me, though-fie smiled, and looked much pleased as he remarked that "Even, but of. the pocket ■of .a phlegmatic Angol the gipsy musician can charm the gold.". I admitted that I felt carried away with the musio and the surroundings, and this set Stefan to tell -us of instances in which gentlemen had been known to give a thousand- kronen, while'in the: villages women having no money at hand wouldtake the bracelets off their wrists and the rings out of .their ears to give to. tho gipsy' "musicians; while men 'were giving of their money as long as they, had it. ■ By this time the conductor saw that we wcro not only strangers, but also that* we wero taking a keen interest in him, <jo, evidently wishing to showus that lie could play other than Hungarian music,, ho led his orchestra through a gay pot pourri of various light operas. "Ho is part of tiiis city," 'said.my Hungarian friend, "and he has played before your late King Edward."

; The Hungarian and the Gipsy. It seems to be often a case of "easy come easy go" with these gipsy musicians, and'tney spend their money right royally in luxuries and, oil rings and jewellery for their women folk. Stefan went on to* add that in the villages often a man who had a quarrel with his wife or whose' sweetheart had jilted , him would seek.solaco in listening to the music of a Hungarian gipsy- band. He would offer them money,, and say to them, "Play your, bes!*—if you make mo cry, then my sorrow is over."- The lively lilt of light opera seemed a little out of place in this atmosphere, and the conductor himself seemed to think so, for, it was not long before he had switched baok into a plaintive Hungarian melody— a peasant' 6 courting song. The hours wont quickly past, and presently from, the theatres and otherplaces of entertainment the people began to swarm into the restaurants. Half Budapest" seems to live for a part of the day at least, in the restaurants. Our (particular restaurant was now filled with a inerfy. throng, and everyono seemed to bo talking at the same time, while a cloud of tobacco, smoke filled tho place from theuncarpeted floor to the domed coiling, till a stately palm in the centre of tho room grew dim to the oyes as the air grew thicker. The gipsy conductor came over to our table, and we drank to each other, touching glasses and looking, each other Mn the- eye, but saying nothing. Tho ceremony was mainly in "the look of the eye."

Another Band. But my friends were not eatisfied with this.performance. This baiid was the very apotheosis ' of respectability; We must go to another restaprant, a grade lewer down, where the conductor, though also a famous man, was not so sedate, and where the people were more plebeian in their type and manner. So off. we tracked, and in this other place I had the pleasure of meeting the 36th Rao>< Laoi, known as "The King of the gipsies and the son of them." He at once noted us down as strangers, and with half-closed eyes, and all the time drawing a firm bow across his old darkstained fiddle, ho came right up to our table, playing one of those melancholy wailing airs that, wenryou in a lojiely place, would make, you think ol banshees and such-like things. Then he would stop playing while tho band wont on without him, and walk suddenly back and lead his men into a crashing cre/condo, in striking contrast to the low wailing music of tho strings tliat had preceded it. Then ho himself would stop playing, and turning round would beam upon us as he aired his word or two of English—"Very goot, messieurs; very fine!" .Ho was quito an actor this man. One minute he would bo lavishing his attention upon tho ladies, another time he would he endeavouring to place and interest us, and again he would seq some- solitary individual and put all his soul into his fiddle in the eftort to make the heartstrings of the loßelv one vibrate in unison. One found his antics as fascinating as his music. His stylo of con. ducting and the music ho provided were not so roiined as those of the other gipsy band that wo had beon listening to earlier in the evening; but there was at-times more fire in it. Presently the orchestra wandered off into American (rag-time, and the latest lilt from the London music halls; but oven this commonplace stuff received a gipsy colouring, and' was played in quito a. distinctive way. After all those oxortioiiß "Uiq kLus of the gipsies and the son of

thorn" began to foel the need for somestimulant, so ho ordered himself a pint of champagne. This ho mixes with a sulphur mineral water, and stirs tlio potion to get the gases out of it, aftor which he quaffs two glasss for us, and ho drinks our-health, to which wo respond with tho "mixture a>s before. Hut it was a'vilo concoction, and a tasto as of sulphured hydrogen remained ■with me throughout tlio whole of tho night. It , was certainly a "case of a good wine spoilt; but, regarding it in the light of medicino, i>erliaps it did us some good. As the evening wore on, and his bottle got emptier, ho grow inoro sentimental, and treated us to. some old Hungarian ballad music. This seemed to affect many.of those present. Conversation stopped, and all were intently listening. An old man sitting at a tablo nea-;- us had let his cigar go out. and was gazing into tho past with .dewy, half-closed oyes. The ballads Rave place to tho field songs-that tho old-time soldiers used to sing each night as they gathered around the camp firo. These songs were always melancholy. The camp-fire songs in turn' made way for Hoffman's talcs. It was late that night when we parted from our musical friend, with many expressions of admiration for each other, and wertdod our ways to our several homes.