A VISIT TO "MATTHEW'S LAND"
OTHER things occurred so unexpectedly and rapidly that boylike, Jozef
forgot all about his store of hidden food. Late in the Fall, most of
the children under twelve were back in school.
Their home chores now had to be done on Wednesdays, which, instead
of Saturdays, were their holidays, or before or after school hours.
Ruzena's favorite studies were embroidery, drawing and painting, for,
like most of the peasants, she had inherited a decided art instinct.
Even her mother, who had never had any lessons, had painted without
patterns pretty borders around the guest and living rooms; while her
father, also untaught, had made and carved the two pretty chairs in the
latter, and also the long shelf on which stood a fine array of village
pottery. Besides the work at school, Ruzena also had crocheting,
knitting, and embroidery at home. It was mostly for herself, for her
mother had her follow the local custom of beginning in childhood to
work on her trousseau.
There were other holidays from school work besides the Sundays and
Wednesdays, such as Dusickovy Vecer, which comes in November, the
Slovak Memorial Day.
It was frosty and cold on this particular memorial day; there were even
some icicles hanging from trees and bushes. A few flowers, from indoor
window gardens, and hundreds of candles, had been placed and lit on
the rude graves. In their dim light, figures could be seen kneeling
and praying. Here the light fell on an old man with a patient, gentle
face, and there on a young girl, her red skirts adding color to the
scene. Children were about, too, most of them in fur coats, and none
of them quiet for long. In the middle of the cemetery a group of men
and women were gathered around a cross, while some one prayed. It was
an impressive occasion, and as the villagers strolled homeward there
was no loud singing nor even talking.
After Dusickovy Vecer, Jozef and Ruzena were taken by Jozef's godfather
to a little village far up in the beautiful Tatras, where life was much
more primitive and much harder than in their own little rude village,
the Magyar Government showing no concern whatever in the people's
welfare.
On the way to this village, they crossed a part of what the people
around call "Matthew's Land," because over it once ruled one of the
great figures of their history, Matthew Csak, Lord of the Vah and
Tatras, as he called himself.
There are many castles in the mountains, but the most interesting was
that actually inhabited by Matthew in the early part of the fourteenth
century.
Matthew's career was brief but remarkable. He was a Palatine, holding
the highest office in the power of the King to bestow. He ruled over
what is now the greater part of Slovakia, possessing enormous wealth,
of which thirty fortified castles were a small part. In these castles
he held court on a scale that rivaled that of the King himself.
When the male line of the Arpad Kings of Hungary became extinct, it was
largely through his influence that a Czech King, Vaclav II, was called
to the throne. Unfortunately, instead of coming himself, Vaclav sent
his son, then a lad of thirteen.
To this the Pope, who had much to say in politics in those days,
objected, and the King of Anjou, taking advantage of being preferred,
seized the throne.
Powerful nobles rose up in arms against him, but the one he feared most
was Matthew. He tried his best to gain his favor, but in vain. Then
the Pope excommunicated Matthew, who retaliated by burning a bishop's
stronghold. From everywhere nobles, zemans, and peasants flocked to his
standards.
The Anjou King now made peace with all the other nobles, and resolved
to direct his efforts to crushing the chief rebel. Near the little
River Torysa, the armies of the two met. The King's was enormous, and
although the Slovaks under Matthew fought bravely, they were so greatly
outnumbered that they were defeated.
Although Matthew was defeated, he was not reduced in rank. He retired
for a time to one of his castles, and then gradually assumed his old
powers, which he exercised to the day of his death.
"Had Matthew succeeded in this rebellion," Jozef's godfather concluded
in telling the story, "he might have laid the foundations of a
successful Slovak state, for the Slovaks at that time still had in mind
the part they had played in the big Moravian Kingdom of Svatopluk."