Sketches of Life and Character in Hungary (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. MERRY MAGYARS. TT7E had decided not to begin Count Esterhazy's Transylvanian programme until August 1st. That date was still a month hence, and there was much to be seen and done in Hungary proper. We had been asked if we cared to join the " Buda-Pest Karpathian Society" on a trip to the Valley of the Waag, near the north-western frontier. It was rather a dark question, and we felt our knowledge of the facts upon which to base a decision to be so very slight. Suppose it should prove to resemble one of our archeological society's expeditions, or worse still " a Cook's party "; most distinctly we should not care to join it, be the Waag never so beautiful. After some deliberation we decided to venture, and turned up at seven o'clock one morning at the wrong end of the station, and should have missed three highly coloured days, if the president had not caught sight of us in the nick of time, MERRY MAGYARS. and swept us off to the train. We were naturally anxious to investigate our fellow travellers, who in their turn entertained a lively curiosity on our account. The entire carriage was filled with the society, but we sat in state in a compartment by ourselves, while the president brought the members in by twos and threes, and introduced them. Two Jewish ladies were the first to arrive, who spoke a very fair English, and at once unfurled a motherly sort of wing over our heads. The muster of English phrases by the rest of the party was most striking. I fancy that each one waited in the passage, until he had constructed or borrowed something to say, then claimed a turn and shot it off. One owl-like old gentleman advanced to Miranda, and began as follows: " I vas ever of opinion that de honest man who married and brought up a large familee did more service dan h...