MARIA NOSTRA.
Ah! what an ocean of time has passed since this happened. It must be
twenty years, at least. It makes me giddy when I look back upon it. But
how many evil years there were, how many days that I do not love to
think about! How many have been torn from my side to whom life was a joy
and on whom the future smiled! And I still remain! Only here and there,
now and again, perhaps, do I encounter a grey-headed shape like myself,
a relic from that brilliant time, and what a joy it then is to look back
upon those old days and say: "It is not so good now as it was then!"
Some years ago I was on a visit of inspection among our large national
State prisons. I happened to be at Szamosujvár and Illava, where the
aristocracy of crime is collected together, persons condemned to a term
of imprisonment exceeding ten years, all of them criminals once under
sentence of death, but reprieved by an act of grace. Here were
interesting studies of the night side of human nature.
I also visited the Maria Nostra. Here the female criminals resided, and
nuns were the warders.
This house of correction can only be visited by special permission of
the Ministry.
There the discipline is strict, but the prisoners are very well treated.
Last of all we visited the day-room, where the prisoners were at work.
They all sat in a long room, and were sewing. Those who could do the
finer sort of work were at little tables of their own. I stopped before
one of such tables; a woman was sewing some sort of child's garment. It
is the rule that when a visitor stops before the table of one of the
felons, she shall immediately rise from her seat and, whether asked or
unasked, say what her crime is and how long her term of imprisonment.
She arose when I stood before her table.
Her hair was as white as autumn gossamers, but her eyes still flashed
with their old varying fires--they were still, as of old, the flaming
eyes like the sea! In a dull monotone she told me her crime and her
sentence: "I killed my husband. I am condemned to imprisonment for
life."
For life!--and life so long!
"Can I not use my interest in your favour?"
"I thank you, but it is well with me here. I wish for nothing more in
this world."
And with that she returned to her place and went on with her work.
Poor little Bessy!
Last year I received a letter announcing her death. It was her last wish
that I, but nobody else, should be informed of it.
THE END.
EYES LIKE THE SEA.
BY MAURUS JÓKAI
12MO, CLOTH
A FEW COMMENTS OF THE
ENGLISH PRESS
Half autobiographical, dramatic, and at the same time
humorous, Jókai's novel, crowned by the Hungarian
Academy in 1860, is a delightful exception to the
tendency which is fast making fiction a branch of
science instead of art.--_Morning Post._
It is a strikingly original and powerful story ... The
great charm of the book is the manner in which Jókai
analyses Bessie's character. All through the story
indeed we feel ourselves in the presence of a master of
the human heart, and again and again we come upon
sentences pregnant with that wisdom which it is the lot
of but few to acquire.--_Speaker._
From beginning to end "Eyes like the Sea" teems with
entertaining matter and the English version is highly
creditable to Mr. Nisbet Bain the translator of this
sprightly autobiographical novel.--_Daily Telegraph._
"Eyes Like the Sea" is an alluring book into which to
dip at random ...--_Academy._
"Eyes like the Sea" is one of those rare books that
break all rules and defy criticism by justifying their
irregularities.--_Guardian._
It is good to know too that fiction in Hungary has a
master so hearty, so human, and so free at once from
priggishness and _naturalism_.--_Saturday Review._
In some respects the heroine reminds us of Becky Sharp
and in others of Manon Lescaut, and in feminine
dexterity and sexual eccentricities is no unworthy mate
for either.--_Athenæum._
It is truly, as Mr. Bain remarks in his preface, a
brilliant example of the now rare novel of incident and
adventure ... The vigor of the book is
astonishing.--_World._
The charm of the original as a work of art loses a good
deal in the translation ... none the less the book is
extremely interesting. It is a sketchy and vivacious
summary of the more salient incidents in the political
and literary career of the eminent Hungarian poet and
romancist, its author.--_Literary World._
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the
original edition have been corrected.
In the Preface, "pronouned preference" was changed to "pronounced
preference".
In Chapter I, a missing period was added after "Valsez là".
In Chapter II, "would have withrawn" was changed to "would have
withdrawn", and a missing quotation mark was added before "you ought
really to be a tamer of animals!".
In Chapter III, a missing period was added after "after her wedding".
In Chapter IV, a quotation mark was added before "They are all in a very
good humour to-day".
In Chapter VI, "amongst us at the, Table of Public Opinion" was changed
to "amongst us at the Table of Public Opinion".
In Chapter VIII a missing quotation mark was added after "skiz and
pagát...."
In Chapter X a missing period was added after "Newspapers he never
reads".
In Chapter XIII, "beleagured fortress" was changed to "beleaguered
fortress", "hide yourself in the village of Isza" was changed to "hide
yourself in the village of Izsa", a missing period was added after
"glass full of szilvorium", and an extraneous quotation mark was deleted
after "the hovel at Hetény".
In Chapter XIV, a quotation mark was added before "Forget what we have
been speaking about!"
In Chapter XV, "Wencesclaus Kvatopil was decidedly an improvement" was
changed to "Wenceslaus Kvatopil was decidedly an improvement".
In Chapter XVI, "Kakas Mártin," was changed to "Kakas Mártin."
The ellipses in Chapter XVII both contained an extra dot (a period plus
four dots at the end of a sentence, and four dots following an
incomplete sentence). The extra dots have been removed. Also, a missing
period has been added after "her various temperaments".
In Chapter XVIII, a missing quotation mark was added after "mutually
discovered in Kvatopil's character....". In Chapter XIX, "Özvegy
Kapitáuyné" was changed to "Özvegy Kapitányné", a period was changed to
a colon after "said to the President", a missing quotation mark was
added after "left to practise alone", and "piroutted off" was changed to
"pirouetted off".
In Chapter XX, "turn the jok against you" was changed to "turn the joke
against you", "the Józsefvarose dispensary" was changed to "the
Józsefváros dispensary", "the real Ca holic faith" was changed to "the
real Catholic faith", and a misplaced quotation mark was move from after
"taken in hand to get on very well" to after "sit in judgment on his
faults".
Numerous Hungarian words have been spelled inconsistently, sometimes
with an accent and sometimes without, and some words have been
inconsistently hyphenated. Each occurrence has been left as it appeared
in the original text, except as follows: "Fövarosi" has been changed to
"Fövárosi", "Heteny" to "Hetény", "Honvéd" to "Honved", "Jokai" to
"Jókai", "Rakóczy" to "Rákóczy", "Sagi" to "Sági", "Segesvar" to
"Segesvár", "Valy" to "Vály", "Vasvary" to "Vasváry", and "Verchovszky"
to "Vérchovszky".
Also, the section titled "A Few Comments of the English Press" has been
moved from the front of the book to the back.