'Neath the Hoof of the Tartar Or, The Scourge of God

'Neath the Hoof of the Tartar; Or, The Scourge of God

Baron Mikls Jsika, the Walter Scott of Hungary, was born at Torda, in Transylvania, on April 28th, 1796. While quite a child, he lost both his parents, and was brought up at the house and under the care of his grandmother, Anna Bornemissza, a descendant of Jkai's heroine of the same name in "'Midst the Wild Carpathians." Of the young nobleman's many instructors, the most remarkable seems to have been an emigr French Colonel, who gave him a liking for the literature of France, which was not without influence on his future development. After studying law for a time at Klausenberg to please his friends, he became a soldier to please himself, and in his seventeenth year accompanied the Savoy dragoon regiment to Italy. During the campaign of the Mincio in 1814, he so distinguished himself by his valour that he was created a first lieutenant on the field of battle, and was already a captain when he entered Paris with the allies in the following year. In 1818, at the very beginning of his career, he[Pg 8] ruined his happiness by his unfortunate marriage with Elizabeth Kally. According to Jsika's biographer, Luiza Szak,[1] young Jsika was inveigled into this union by a designing mother-in-law, and any chance of happiness the young couple might have had, if left to themselves, was speedily dashed by the interference of the father of the bride, who defended all his daughter's caprices against the much-suffering husband. Even the coming of children could not cement this woeful wedding, which terminated in the practical separation of spouses who were never meant to be consorts. Jsika further offended his noble kinsmen by devoting himself to literature. It may seem a paradox to say so, yet it is perfectly true, that in the early part of the present century, with some very few honourable exceptions, the upper classes in Hungary addressed only their servants in Hungarian. Latin was the official language of the Diet, while polite circles conversed in barbarous French. These were the days when, as Jkai has reminded us, the greatest insult you could offer to an Hungarian lady was to address her in her native tongue. It required some courage, therefore, in the young Baron to break away from the feudal traditions of his privileged caste and use the plebeian Magyar dialect as a literary vehicle. His[Pg 9] first published book, "Abafi" (1836), an historical romance written under the direct influence of Sir Walter Scott, whom Jsika notoriously took for his model, made a great stir in the literary world of Hungary. "Hats off, gentlemen," was how Szontagh, the editor of the Figyelmez, the leading Hungarian newspaper of the day, began his review of this noble romance. Jsika was over forty when he first seriously began to write, but the grace and elegance of his style, the maturity of his judgment, the skilfulness of his characterizationall pointed to a long apprenticeship in letters. Absolute originality cannot indeed be claimed for him. Unlike Jkai, he owed very much to his contemporaries. He began as an imitator of Scott, as we have seen, and he was to end as an imitator of Dickens, as we shall see presently. But he was no slavish copyist. He gave nearly as much as he took. Moreover, he was the first to naturalize the historical romance in Hungary, and if, as a novelist, he is inferior to Walter Scott, he is inferior to him alone. In Hungary, at any rate, his rare merits were instantly recognised and rewarded. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 36203
Author: Jósika, Miklós
Release Date: May 24, 2011
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Translator: Gaye, Selina