Wherein is shown of what great use it is when a
mother is hardhearted toward her only son. Also
concerning divers skirmishes with the Turks, things
not to be read of without a shudder.
Rumor said that the Turks had invaded the Tokay district and ravaged
Hegylaja, and this, too, just at vintage time when the whole rural
population was living in the vineyards.
Now an Hungarian does not lightly surrender to the foe the chiefest
of the three mountains in his coat of arms, to wit, the Tokay
mountain. Orders, therefore, were given by the Palatine of Hungary
on the one side and by the Prince of Transylvania on the other for
the banderia of Zemplin and Alany to turn out immediately, unite
with the Zipsers at Onod, and fall upon the Turks whenever and
wherever they might meet them.
It was at the very time when he was celebrating the feast in honor
of his wedding with the lovely Isabella Peruyi, that the local
commander, Count John Hommonai, received the order to depart.
They were just at the last dance, the torch-dance, during which the
guests and the bridesmaids dance before the bride to the
bridegroom's house, when the herald summoned the bridegroom from the
midst of the dancers, whereupon the gentlemen threw away their
torches and mounted their horses, while the count himself had only
time to impress a kiss on the lips of his beloved bride and
recommend her to God's protection on the very threshold of the
bridal mansion.
The departure of the troops took place in the dead of night.
Valentine rode beside his faithful Simplex, who not only had to blow
the field-trumpet but also to beat the kettle-drums, which hung down
on both sides of his saddle. His horse was naturally the sorriest of
hacks, for all the others were much too spirited to patiently endure
the roll of kettle-drums close behind their ears.
"Look ye, comrade Simplex," said Valentine, "our present campaign
will be my ordeal. You have told me that my poor Michal is unhappy
and wants to see me; that she has never reached Great Leta, that she
has been shamefully deceived by her husband; that she suffers much,
and is exposed to indescribably great dangers. More than that you
will not tell me, nor have I asked to know more, but I have been
thinking ever since such thoughts as these: Shall I not be
committing a grievous sin if I go seek her? Shall I not be d----d
for it along with her? It does not matter very much, perhaps, if I'm
d----d, although I, too, should like to see my dear old father in
Paradise, and the sight of my good mother among the blessed would
rejoice me greatly; but the thought that I might drag this unhappy
creature down to hell with me, fills me with horror. Her place is in
heaven among the angels. But you've such an enticing way of putting
matters, that I'm no longer able to decide whether what I am about
to do is good or bad. Now I mean to leave it to the decision of the
Lord of Hosts. When we stand on the battlefield, he who tries the
hearts and reins will read in my breast that I still love my Michal,
though she has bound herself by an oath to another, and if this
feeling be a sin, the guards of the Lord, the angels of Death are
there, and he can charge them to call me away so as to prevent me
from committing evil. If, however, I return in safety, if sword and
bullet (and I certainly shall not keep out of their way) leave me
unhurt, that will be a sign that the heavenly Omnipotence is ready
to perform a miracle for my sake, whereby I shall win back again her
whom I had given up for lost. If I return safe and sound, if no evil
befall me, I'll go and seek my Michal."
"But in that case you must take care that I come back too, for
without me you will not find your Michal, even if you were to set
out to seek her with Christopher Columbus himself for your guide."
"Have no fear, comrade, we will live and die together."
But Valentine lagged behind the troop. A load lay upon his breast.
From his earliest childhood he had been wont every night, as it grew
dark, to say this prayer: "Be with me, O Lord my God! and let my
poor, good mother awake safe and sound. Amen." His tutor had taught
him a much finer prayer in Latin; but this prayer he never could
recollect. He could never reconcile himself to the secula seculorum;
why should he ask good things for himself for a thousand years to
come? He was content to pray for what he wanted day by day. That
would be quite enough if it were granted him. He made as if he were
only dismounting to tighten his loosened saddle-girth, and when he
was out of hearing of his comrades' curses, he covered his face in
his furred horse-cloth and muttered his short prayer, whereupon he
swung himself into his saddle with a lightened heart and galloped
after his comrades.
By morning they stood before Nemeti, which is half an hour's journey
from Göncz, and there the captain, officers, and gentry swear the
banner oath under the open sky. Then they halted, and after a short
rest proceeded on further.
Just as they were about to cross the Hernad at Nemeti, whom do you
think they found on the banks? Why, Dame Sarah with a huge Kassa
wagon drawn by three stout horses. The wagon was well laden. It
contained a Gönczer cask full of wine, a keg of plum brandy, fresh
white bread, cakes, sheep cheeses in small trusses, and in the midst
of this ambulant storehouse beamed the radiant countenance of the
buxom citizeness of Kassa, with both her round white arms bare to
the elbow.
"My dear, good mother! What do you want here?" cried Valentine,
rushing to the wagon.
"Oh, you wicked son! if you are bent on following this trade, I, at
any rate, won't let you die of hunger. Come, eat and drink! Call
hither, too, the gentleman officers and your good companions. There
is enough here for everyone."
They did not wait to be asked twice, but crowded round the wagon
straightway, and Dame Sarah helped them to everything with both
hands. When she perceived the trumpeter she singled him out from the
rest.
"Hi! come here, trumpeter! May the thunderbolt strike the ground
within three yards of you! You've seduced my son, have you? Then
come hither and sit down by me, and if you don't eat your fill it
will be the worse for you."
Good Simplex did what he could. He sat down in the wagon at Dame
Sarah's side, and ate and drank his fill; but soon his appetite
began to flag, and at last he protested he could go on no longer.
"Fellow! you must eat or I'll stuff it down your throat."
And with that she seized Simplex by both arms, shook him like a sack
which must be made to hold still more, and compelled him to begin
his meal over again.
But worthy Valentine was more delighted at the sight of his
mother's strong, stout arms, than at all the good things she
distributed, and he covered the good creature with kisses.
"And now, dear mother, turn back, there can be enough of a good
thing," said he, perceiving that the main body of the hussars had
reached the ford on the opposite side, and only the rear guard still
remained behind. The officers also urged her to turn back.
"Turn back, eh? Do you really think I have come all this way, with a
heavy-laden wagon, only to turn back? I will follow my son to the
very end of the world. I'll not leave him just when things are going
badly with him. Why should I be afraid when others are not?"
In vain they represented that it was not the proper thing for a
woman to roam about in regions haunted by fighting Turks. There was
no reasoning with her, they were obliged to take her along with the
baggage wagons.
Meanwhile the scouts brought tidings that the Turkish predatory
bands were assembling on the other side of the Theiss at Plakamocz.
It was a good thing that all the ferry-boats at Tokay had been drawn
up on to the shore, thus preventing the enemy from crossing over
without great difficulty.
Count Hommonai therefore resolved to seek the Turks beyond the
Theiss, and led his troops toward Tokay.
When they had crossed to the other side of the river, they could
nowhere find a trace of the enemy, who evidently intended to entice
the Hungarians further inland, and then drive them back upon the
Theiss.
Dame Sarah would have followed them to the other side also, but this
they would on no account allow her to do. The baggage wagons had to
be left behind on the opposite bank. She then begged that, at least,
they would let her drive up to the highest hill thereabouts, from
whence she might watch her little son scuffling with the Turks.
"Take care, good mother, that a cannon ball does not hurt you."
"Fiddlesticks! You call yourself a student, and don't even know that
a cannon ball cannot fly across a river because the water draws it
down," cried Dame Sarah, triumphantly, and with that she drove to
the top of the hill, where she stood up on the wagon and thence
surveyed the course of the skirmish, while her great lout of a
coachman, in his fear and anguish, crawled under a wagon, and viewed
the fight with his back. And yet the fellow called himself a man!
First of all, five Turkish horsemen appeared on the top of a hill.
How many more lay behind the hill, nobody of course could tell.
To the left stretched a large morass covered with rushes, on the
right lay an oak forest. The presumption was that the whole thicket
was swarming with hidden foes.
So out against the five Turkish horsemen rode just as many and no
more, from the Hungarian side, whereupon the five Turks turned tail
and galloped off, the Hungarians also instantly returning to their
ranks.
Then seven or eight Turkish horsemen reappeared, and began insulting
the Hungarians, not with words indeed, which would have been quite
thrown away at so great a distance, but with all sorts of outrageous
gestures; while the Hungarians, not to be outdone, retaliated in
kind with great spirit and originality. Tiring at last, however, of
this pantomimic war, eight of the Hungarian horsemen dashed against
the Turks with couched lances. In the ensuing mêlée all sixteen
lances were splintered to atoms, whereupon the horsemen on both
sides returned to their respective places.
At last the Hungarian commander grew weary of these tantalizing
tactics, divided his troops into four battalions, and sent one of
them off to encompass the forest. On this division coming close up
to the outskirts of the wood, a swarm of Turkish horsemen rushed out
upon them with loud cries; whereupon the Hungarians feigned flight
till they had drawn the pursuers within reach of the second line of
battle, when they suddenly turned and drove the Turks, who were now
completely surrounded, toward the morass. Here, however, they
themselves fell into an ambush of janizaries, who picked them off
from among the bushes, and at the same moment from behind the sedges
there poured forth a whole stream of horsemen of all sorts,
Albanians, _Spahis_, and Moors, who attacked them on all sides like
a swarm of hornets.
The Hungarian captain now set his third division in motion, in which
were also Valentine and his comrade Simplex.
Dame Sarah, from the opposite shore, saw how they charged the foe.
"Why, the plucky lad sits on horseback as if he had never learnt
anything else all his life! If only his poor father could see him!"
Valentine had never learnt the trade of a soldier, but he did what
he thought was the right thing, grasping his father's broad crooked
sword in his right hand, and his long three-edged dagger in his
left, at the same time throwing his horse's reins over its neck.
Simplex, likewise, drew his broadsword and wrapped his wolfskin
round his left arm by way of a buckler.
Two horsemen were coming straight at them; one of them was an
Albanian in a coat of mail, the other a distinguished _Spahi_, an
Aga at the very least.
The Albanian horseman was covered from head to foot with a coat of
scale armor; his horse's head and neck were protected in the same
way, and it also bore a huge spike on its forehead, so that the pair
looked for all the world like a crocodile mounted on a unicorn, and
worthy Simplex was so astonished at this strange sight that he
forgot he had a sword in his hand. Besides, thought he, what weapon
can cut down a man who is cased in steel? So in his terror he merely
held his wolfskin buckler in front of his head, and the Albanian
aimed a mighty blow at him with his sword, which was like to have
felled him to the ground.
Fortunately Valentine observed the danger of his comrade, and while
throwing him a word of encouragement, smote the Albanian so
violently on the head with the dagger in his left hand, that the
scaly monster immediately plunged headlong from his horse; but at
the same time the _Spahi_ aimed a terrific blow at Valentine's neck.
"Don't you touch my son, you heathen you!" cried Dame Sarah from the
wagon on the opposite shore; and whether it was the effect of her
voice or of Valentine's rapid hand it is difficult to say, but at
any rate the youth parried the blow of the Turk so well that he
struck the sword out of his hand, and at the same time sliced off a
piece of his thumb. Then he seized the _Spahi_ by the collar and led
him away captive, the Turk all the time begging for mercy, and
promising him a ransom of two hundred gold guldens if he spared his
life.
Valentine brought his captive safely to the rear, where the captain
praised him for his valor, but said that they had now had quite
enough fighting for one day. The skirmish was over. On both sides
there were just enough of killed and wounded to satisfy honor,
neither more nor less, so that both generals could tell their hosts
that they had conquered. Those of the enemy who had not taken flight
were cut down, and those who could not work their way out of the
morass were drowned. As for the leaders, neither of them had lost a
hair, and if either of them cared to fire a haystack on his retreat
and claim to have burnt a fortress, no one would be a whit the wiser
and his reputation would be made.
But all this time Simplex was nowhere to be found, which greatly
embarrassed the whole company, for he had with him the field-trumpet
and the kettle-drum of the banderium, and without them they could of
course neither beat a recall nor sound a reveille.
But Valentine was more embarrassed than them all, for if Simplex
were lost, who was to lead him to his Michal? All that he knew of
her at present was that her husband had not taken her to Great Leta
as he had promised, but to some other place.
Valentine, therefore, begged the captain to allow him to return to
the battlefield with two companions, to search for Simplex on the
margin of the morass where they had last fought side by side. The
undertaking was not without danger, for bands of marauders were wont
to prowl about the battlefield to plunder the fallen and make
captive the survivors; so the captain, Count Hommonai, gave
Valentine not two, but six horsemen, who were to help seek the
field-trumpeter by the borders of the morass.
But Simplex had not been cut down by the Turks after all. Such a
glorious death was by no means his ideal. When the battle was raging
its fiercest, when the opposing warriors fell upon each other tooth
and nail, and there was such a whirring and clashing of lances and
battle-axes that it was as much as a man could do to avoid having an
eye knocked out--then, I say, Simplex, without thinking twice about
it, sprang nimbly from his nag, unbuckled both his kettle-drums,
left his steed to its own devices, hid the trumpet in the bushes,
and crept himself into a place where the reeds and sedges were
thickest. Then when the din of battle was over and everything was
quite still again, he crept out of his hiding-place and looked about
him.
Here and there a few couples were still fighting in the distance,
but all around lay only the bodies of those who had already had
their fill of fighting in this life. Close to the swamp, too, he
espied the charger of the Albanian horseman. It was quietly grazing,
but the Albanian, whose head Valentine had split open, lay on the
ground still holding fast the reins in his convulsively clenched
fist, so that the horse dragged him along whenever it changed its
place. The trumpeter immediately appropriated this beautiful beast.
First he loaded him with the kettle-drums, then he took off all the
Albanian's finery, hung it on the end of his lance, and so rode
toward the camp. Valentine and his comrades met him when he was
already half-way there.
Simplex made the most of his victory. He demonstrated how he had
first cloven the Albanian horseman to the very saddle-bow, and then
torn his horse away from under him by main force. Valentine listened
to him in silence, for in those days it was an understood thing that
when one friend had achieved an heroic deed which sufficed for two,
he was to relinquish half the glory of it to his less fortunate
comrade; and further, that one friend should never put another to
shame by publicly contradicting him when he drew the long-bow too
strongly.
Simplex was highly commended by the captain, who made him a present
of the Albanian's horse (his former sorry nag had returned of its
own accord to the camp), so that he was richly recompensed. Then he
gave the signal for the scattered horsemen to reassemble, and in the
evening the Hungarians retreated in perfect order to the other side
of the Thiros, almost everyone of them taking back with him a
captive Turk.
Valentine brought his prisoner to his mother, who was as much
delighted as any child to whom his father brings home from the chase
a live wild cat. The good woman would not hear of the Turk being
bound to the wagon, and compelled to run after it on foot all the
way to Kassa; but assigned him a place near the coachman, merely
taking the precaution to bind one of his feet to the trestle with a
leather strap, so that it might not occur to him to spring down and
run away. After that she tied up the poor fellow's maimed thumb.
With what pride would she not exhibit this real live Turk at home!
Young Fürmender would no longer be able to say that Valentine was
possessed by evil spirits, and that he was afraid of blood.