THE NABOB'S BIRTHDAY.
Squire John's birthday was approaching, and a famous, notable day it
always was for the whole county of Szabolcs. The clergymen in all the
surrounding villages ordered new frock-coats from Debreczin or
Nagy-Kun-Madaras a month beforehand, at the same time directing the
tailors to make the pockets "extra large;" the Lemberg firework-makers
collected hay and straw far and wide for the rockets; the students of
Debreczin learnt nice congratulatory odes, and set fine old folk-ballads
to music; the gipsy _primas_ bought up all the resin in the shops he
could lay his hands on, and the Strolling Players' Society began, in
secret, to plan how they could best escape from Nyiregyháza.[6]
[Footnote 6: The county town, where they had a standing engagement.]
In more distinguished circles, where prudent housewives are wont to take
their unfortunate husbands in hand, and exercise towards them that
office which guardian angels perform in heaven, and police-constables
perform on earth, the advent of Squire John's birthday festival was the
signal for domestic storms. The festival itself used to last for a week.
On the first day thereof every well-ordered female being fled from the
place, and on the last day thereof those of the nobler masculine race
who had remained behind, came tottering home--some half-dead, others
wholly drunk, and all of them more or less battered and penniless.
Squire John himself was so much accustomed to the delights of that day,
that he would have considered the year lost in which he did not duly
celebrate it; and any of his acquaintances who should have neglected to
appear before him on the day itself would have been thenceforth regarded
by him as his mortal enemies. Death was regarded as the one legitimate
excuse.
The festivities were this year to be celebrated at the Castle of
Kárpátfalva, Squire John's favourite residence, where nobody ever lived
but his cronies, his servants, and his dogs; and he obtained special
permission from his Highness the Palatine to absent himself for a
fortnight from his legislative duties at Pressburg, in order that, as a
good host, he might devote himself entirely to his guests.
As the day approached, an unwonted piety used to take possession of
Squire John. The buffoons and the peasant wenches were excluded from the
castle, and his reverence the village priest took their place, and was
closeted long and frequently with the squire; the dogs and the bears
were locked out of the courtyard, that they might not, as usual, tear
approaching mendicants to pieces; and the Nabob and all his retainers
went to church to partake of the sacrament, the former vowing on his
knees before the altar that he would mark the day by giving all his
enemies the right hand of fellowship and forgiveness. Then came the
regulation interview between the Nabob and his steward, Mr. Peter Varga,
who was such a fool that he not only did not know how to steal, but was
by no means willing to even receive presents except for services
rendered. Anybody else in his place would long since have become a
millionaire; but he had not got much beyond fastening a pair of silver
spurs in his Kordovan leather boots, and making use of a ramshackle old
_calèche_, to which he attached two horses, trained by his own hand ever
since they were colts. This, moreover, was only when he wanted to cut a
figure.
And now, too, we see him descending from this venerable conveyance. He
forbears to drive right in, lest the cranky wheels of his carriage
should cut up the beautiful round pebbles with which the courtyard is
covered.
The inside of the carriage was chock-full of longish tied-up bundles of
documents, which Mr. Peter first of all crammed into the arms of the two
heydukes hastening to meet him, and sent on before him, whilst he,
picking his way along, with his spurred feet at a respectable distance
from each other, straddled leisurely into the presence of Master Jock,
who was awaiting him in the office of the family archives, whose
gigantic whitewashed and gilded coffers, in their worm-eaten cases, rose
up to the ceiling, filled with the mummies of old deeds and discharged
accounts, which, for a long series of years, had been disturbed by
nobody except an ostracized mouse or two; and what accursed appetite or
hereditary perversity constrained even them to feed upon such meagre
fare, when the granaries and bacon-larders were in such tempting
proximity, Heaven only knows.
Master Jock, on perceiving the approaching steward, leaned forward in
his armchair, and held out his hand. Peter, however, instead of
advancing straight towards the hand extended towards him, retreated
backwards all round the large oak table, to avoid the discourtesy of
approaching his honour from the left hand; and, even when he got where
he thought he ought to be, he remained standing before him, at three
paces' distance, and bowed with deep respect.
"Come, come, man! Draw nearer!" cried the confidential heyduke
Palko,[7] who was also present. "Don't you see that his honour has been
holding out his front paw for ever so long?"
[Footnote 7: _I.e._, Little Paul.]
"Crying your pardon," said the worthy steward, drawing his hands away,
"I am not worthy of so much honour!"
And not for the whole world could he have been brought to extend his
hand towards Master Jock, to whom he alone of all the world gave his
proper title. It was also impossible to ever get him to sit down by the
side of his honour. Palko had to hold him down in a chair by main force,
but he would always jump up again, and remain standing before his master
as soon as the pressure was removed.
And, indeed, his honour, the steward, and the heyduke made up an
odd-looking trio between them. Kárpáthy's face, at such moments, was
always unusually serene, his great bald forehead shone like the cupola
of a temple, the scanty remains of his grey hair curled round his
forehead and the nape of his neck in silvery wisps; he was shaved
beautifully smooth, save for a well-kept moustache curling elegantly
upwards at both ends; the fiery redness of his eyes had vanished, and
there was no longer any trace of deforming wrinkles.
Opposite him stood the worthy steward, with the old-fashioned,
scrupulously obsequious, and infallibly respectful homage of a former
generation writ large on every feature of his bronzed countenance. His
moustache was clipped close to save trouble, but all the more care had
he bestowed upon his marvellous powdered top-knot--itself a
survival--which respectable elevation the worthy fellow revealed to the
light of day, neatly bound up with a black ribbon. Behind him stands
the old heyduke Palko in a laced dolman. He is just as old as they are.
All three have grown up together, all three have grown old together; and
now, too, Palko is as familiar with his honour as he used to be in the
days when they played and fought together in the courtyard. The old
fellow's head is grey now, but not a hair of it has he lost, and its
flowing abundance is brushed backwards and kept in its place by a
circular comb; his moustache is more pointed than a shoemaker's awl, and
waxed to a fearful extent at both ends; his features are so simple that
a skilful artist could have hit them off in three strokes, only the
colouring would have given him something to think about, for it is a
little difficult to paint-in blood-red on scarlet.
"Would his honour," said Peter, standing by the table, "be graciously
pleased to cast his eyes over these accounts? I have made so bold as to
most humbly make out a brief summary thereof, that his honour may find
the examination a little easier." And with that he beckoned to Palko to
put down the documents.
The latter venomously banged down the whole bundle on the table, but he
could not refrain from observing, "What a shame to spoil such a lot of
nice clean paper by scribbling on it!"
"You speak like a fool," growled Master Jock.
"It would be all the same, so far as your honour is concerned, if they
put blank paper before your honour; for they don't pay the slightest
attention to what your honour says. It is not enough to know that they
_do_ rob you; I should also like to know how much they rob you of."
"Come, come, my heart's best son, what do you mean by talking to your
master like that? Look now! you shall look through all the accounts
along with me, from beginning to end, so just stand behind my chair, and
hold your tongue."
"I am ready to eat up all that your honour looks through," murmured the
old servant to himself.
Thereupon Master Jock, with commendable determination, extended his hand
towards the top-most bundle lying before him, which contained the
accounts of his agent János Kárláts, and began fumbling about with it
till he arrived at the conviction that he could make neither head nor
tail of it, whereupon he handed it back to Mr. Peter, who immediately
found the schedule he was looking for.
"This is a schedule of the income and expenditure of your Kakadi
estate."
And now, reader, let us listen. You may find it a trifle tedious,
perhaps, but you could not have a better opportunity of seeing how the
estates of the Nabob were administered.
"With your honour's gracious permission, I would beg to call your
attention to a few notes in the margin concerning the exact position of
affairs, if your honour will listen to them."
Master Jock intimated that he would undertake to do as much as that.
"To begin, then, the Kakadi estate this year yielded twelve thousand
bushels of pure wheat, consequently, the richest soil scarcely produced
sufficient grain to pay for the expense of cultivating it."
"It was a bad year, you know," objected Master Jock. "The corn was
levelled with the ground by hailstorms in the spring, and there was so
much rain afterwards that it sprouted in the stack."
"That, indeed, is what your agent said," returned Mr. Peter; "but he
could have insured against hail at Pressburg, and there's such an
enormously big barn on the estate, that the whole crop could have been
safely housed, and then there would have been no fear of its sprouting."
"Very well, Master Peter, go on! Another time things shall be
different; you may rely upon me for that."
"The twelve thousand bushels of corn were sold at nine florins the
bushel to a corn-dealer of Raab, I see, thus making a total of one
hundred and eight thousand florins, although I notice from the
newspapers that good wheat was selling all the time at Pest at twelve
florins the bushel, and the corn might easily have been transported
thither, for, owing to the inundations, the oxen had no work to do."
"Yes; but those very inundations carried away the bridge, so that it was
impossible to cross the Theiss."
"It was a pity, truly, that the water carried away the bridge, but if
the dyke had been kept in proper repair, the water would not have got at
the bridge."
"Never mind; rely upon me in the future. Go on!"
"The millet-seed, it is said, got musty from waiting too long for
purchasers, so that we could only get eight thousand florins for it.
Now, that is a misstatement. I know as a fact that there was no rain
just then; but the agent, in order that he might attend a christening,
stacked the crop so hastily that it got black and sour from heat."
"No, really! And would you, as a Christian man, I ask, have the agent
postpone the baptism of his son even for the sake of all the millet-seed
in the world? Leave that to me, and go on!"
"The water carried away the hay because, just in the middle of
harvest-time, your honour required the services of every man capable of
holding a hay-fork at a big hunt. Otherwise nice large sums would, as
usual, have been entered to your honour's credit under this item."
"Well, then, it is simply my fault this time; the poor fellows are not
to blame. Rely upon me in the future."
"On that account, however, the receipts are increased by a new item, to
wit, the hides of the sheep and oxen, which fell dead in heaps from want
of fodder."
"Ah, you see it is an ill wind that brings nobody any good."
"On the other hand, our receipts are less, so far as the item of wool is
concerned, which usually is considerable."
"Yes, I know, the price was low; there was scarce any demand for it."
"Moreover----"
"Let that be, Peter. We know that you are a worthy, honest man, and that
everything is in order. What is that other bundle there?"
"That is the account of Taddeus Kajáput, the overseer of the Nyilasi
estate."
"Ah! that is generally interesting reading. Any fresh discoveries?"
The gentleman in question was an enterprising soul, who had started
model farming on the estate committed to his care, but this model
farming cost infinitely more than it brought in. Moreover, amongst other
things he had started glass-works, sugar-works, a silk-factory, a
post-office, laid down fir plantations in drift-sand, not to mention
many other wonderful things, all of which had come to grief.
"So that is what comes of your scientific gentlemen taking up economical
questions," observed Master Jock, sententiously, when he had laughed
heartily over each separate item.
"I humbly crave your honour's pardon," said Peter, "but it is not the
scientific but the semi-scientific who do the mischief. Science is one
of those poisons of which a good deal cures but a little kills."
"Well, well, let us go on with the rest. What is that slender little
bundle over there?"
"That is the report of the lessee of the opal mines. He has paid the
four thousand florins rent in precious stones, which we could have
bought in the market for a thousand florins, if we had paid cash for
them."
"But what is the poor man to do? He must live. I know he has children to
support."
"But there was a merchant here from Galicia a little time ago who looked
at the mine and offered twenty thousand florins rent for it straight
off."
"What? Would you have me give the mine to a man from Galicia--to a
foreigner? Not if he paid me for it with the stars of heaven! Let us
stick by the old agreement. What is that other bundle?"
"That is the account of the Talpadi Forest."
"The Talpadi Forest! Why, it is now twelve years since I have seen any
accounts at all from that quarter. Don't you recollect how you and I
were out coursing a little time ago, and the rain overtook us? It
doesn't matter, said I. We must be near my Talpadi forest; let us gallop
thither and shelter till the storm has blown over. So we galloped
thither in hot haste, and when we got there not a trace of the forest
was to be seen. At last I asked a maize-reaper I fell in with, where on
earth the Talpadi forest was? Over there, said he, pointing to a spot
where some fifty birch-trees were withering in the sand like so many
broomsticks, all set nicely in a row. And that, if you please, was the
Talpadi forest which I had planted at a very great cost! You had better
tell the man to plant out a few more broomsticks if he wants me to see
my forest in the future."
"This, again, is the account of the miller of Tarisa. He always mixes
bran with his meal."
"Let him alone; he has a pretty wife."
"Pretty, but bad, your honour."
Upon this moral observation, Master Jock thought fit to make the
following philosophical commentary:--
"My friend, bad women are a necessity in this world. For inasmuch as
there are dissolute men, it is needful that there should be dissolute
women also, for otherwise the dissolute men would of necessity cast
their eyes upon the virtuous women. You just leave that to me."
"Yes, you leave the wife of the miller of Tarisa to his honour,"
observed Paul, from behind his master's chair.
"What, sir, you presume to speak again, eh?"
"I? I never said a word."
"Come, then, Peter, let us make an end of these accounts quickly.
Surely, there's no need of so much fussing. What else is there?"
"Your honour's donations and charities."
"Don't undo them. You need only tell me which are paid. Are there any
fresh claims upon us?"
"Yes. The college at A---- has not received its annual gift."
"It did not get it because it did not send in a petition on my birthday
last year."
"Then if it sends the petition this year you will give the donation, I
suppose?"
"Yes, and for last year too."
"There are, besides, a heap of petitions and circulars."
"What for?"
"This is an invitation to subscribe to the foundation of a Hungarian
learned society."
"Not a farthing will I give. The kingdom was happy enough till the
pedants got into it. We learn quite enough at college."
"Here is the specimen-sheet of a newspaper about to be started."
"Newspaper!--a parcel of lies! I'll not spoil my den with that rubbish,
I warrant you."
"Here is a proposal to found a permanent Hungarian theatre at
Buda-Pest."
"Whoever wants play-acting can come here to me. There's a theatre here
and lots to eat, and they can stay, if they like, all their days."
"Here is a suggestion for bettering the position of the National
Museum."
"I'll wager I have far better collections here than there are in the
National Museum."
And this was the way in which the Hungarian magnate examined his
accounts every year.
When the worthy steward had withdrawn, the Nabob sent for his _fiskal_,
or family lawyer, who found him looking out of the window, motionless,
with his hands behind his back.
The _fiskal_ stood and waited for his master to turn round. He waited a
good half-hour, but the Nabob turned round at last, and said to his man
of business, "Pray sit down, sir, and write."
An unusual embarrassment was observable in the Nabob's voice, which
would certainly have surprised anybody else but the _fiskal_.
"My dear younger brother," old Kárpáthy began to dictate, "inasmuch as
you are living at present in this realm, and I do not wish the name of
Kárpáthy to be slighted on this particular day when I have made peace
with all who ever angered me, therefore I now, as becometh a kinsman,
offer my hand to you also, my younger brother,[8] in the hope that you
will not reject it; and I, at the same time, send you, my younger
brother, two hundred thousand florins, which you shall receive from me,
so long as I live, from year to year. And I hope that henceforth we
shall continue to be good kinsmen."
[Footnote 8: _Öcse_, a familiar and affectionate salutation from an
elder to a younger kinsman.]
The old man's eyes were wet while he recited these words, and if a more
sympathetic man than the _fiskal_ had been present, there might have
been something like a tender scene.
"Wrap it up and write on the outside: To the Honourable Bélá Kárpáthy of
Kárpát, at Pressburg. A stable lad must mount a horse at once, and
deliver this letter personally."
Then he gave a great sigh of relief, as if two hundred thousand stones
had been lifted from his heart with these two hundred thousand florins.
He had never felt so happy as he was at that moment.
How Abellino received this noble disposition to stretch out the right
hand of fellowship and forgiveness, we shall see presently.
* * * * *
Master Jock could scarce await the dawn of St. John Baptist's Day; he
was as delighted as a child who knows that some long-wished-for
amusement awaits him. He was awakened long before sunrise by the baying
of the dogs and the rattling of the baggage-waggons into the courtyard.
The huntsmen were coming back from the forest with newly shot game; over
the sides of the lofty wains the horned heads of the noble antlered
stags bobbed up and down; heaps of pheasants were carried between two
poles; well-fattened heath fowl were slung over the shoulders of the
beaters. The cook came forth to meet them in his white _kantus_, and
tapped row after row of the fat game, his face beaming with satisfaction
all the time. Master Jock himself was looking down from the
latticed-window into the courtyard; even then the day had only just
begun to dawn, and the eastern curtain of the sky was aflame with
purple, pink, carmine, and saffron hues. The whole plain around was calm
and still; and silver mists lay here and there over the fields like
fairy lakes.
And now the Nabob lay down for another little snatch of slumber. We
know, of course, that early morning dreams are the sweetest. And he
dreamt that he was speaking to his eagerly desired nephew Bélá, sitting
beside him, and drinking the loving cup with him; and so it came about
that the sun was already high in the heavens when Palko shook him out of
his slumbers by bawling in his ear: "Get up! Here are your boots!"
Master Jock leaped out of his bed with the vigour of a sprightly lad.
The first question he asked was: "Has any one come?"
"As many as muck," replied the old servant; thereby showing _his_
appreciation of the arrivals.
"Is Mike Kis here?" continued Master Jock, as he drew on his boots.
"He was the first of all. His father could not have been a gentleman; no
gentleman could have had a son who is up and about two hours after
dawn."
"Who else is here?"
"There's Mike Horhi. No sooner had he got to the door than he suddenly
recollected that he had left his tobacco-pouch in the inn at Szabadka,
and would have gone back for it had I not torn him out of the carriage
by force."
"The fool! And who else is there?"
"All the good birds of the order of gentleman have already appeared.
Friczi Kalotai is also here, in his own conveyance. I wonder where he
stole it?"
"But you're as big a fool as he, Palko. Any more?"
"More!--more! There's no end to them, of course. How do you suppose I
can carry the names of all of them in my head? Come, and look at them
yourself; you'll soon have your fill of 'em, I warrant."
Meanwhile the trusty heyduke had dressed his master, brushed him down
and smoothed him out, till there was not a spot or wrinkle to be seen on
any portion of his attire.
"But is there not some other, some strange, unusual guest, the sort of
man, I mean, who is not in the habit of visiting me? Eh?"
Palko regarded his master for a moment with wide-open mouth and eyes,
not knowing what to answer.
"I want to know," continued Kárpáthy, in a solemn voice, "whether my
little brother Bélá is here?"
Palko made a wry face at these words, and dropped the velvet brush with
which he was just preparing to smooth out the collar of his master's
_mente_.
"What! that weather-cock?"
"Come, come! None of that! Don't you know that a Kárpáthy should always
be spoken of respectfully?"
"What!" cried Palko, "the man who insulted your honour so grossly?"
"What business is it of yours?"
"Oh, no business of mine, of course, not a bit! I am only a
good-for-nothing old heyduke. What right have I to poke my nose into
your honour's affairs? Make friends with him again, by all means! What
do I care. Kiss and hug each other if you like, I don't care. It was not
me but your honour whom the worthy man insulted, and if your honour
likes that, why, be it so--that's all!"
"Come, come, don't make a fool of yourself, Palko," said Master Jock,
more jocosely. "Have the comedians arrived?"
"I should think they had. There's that Lokodi with four others. He
himself plays the heroic parts; a spindle-shanked, barber's apprentice
sort of fellow, takes the aged father parts; and there's a matron, well
advanced in years, who acts the young missies. They are now making ready
to give a representation this evening. When your honours are all dining
in the Large Room they are going to act the _Marriage of Dobozy_ in
twelve tableaux, to the accompaniment of Greek fire, in the front room."
"But why in the front room, and not rather in the theatre?"
"It is too small."
"But there are only five of them."
"True; but all the heydukes we have must be there too, either as Turks
or Hungarians. We have already brought down all the costumes and weapons
from our museum of antiquities. The students meanwhile will recite the
history of Dobozy; the poet Gyárfás is at this moment writing the verses
for it, and the chief cantor is composing the music. It will be fine!"
The old fellow took as much delight in the comedy as any child.
Meanwhile he had finished dressing Master Jock--brushed and combed his
hair, pared his nails, shaved him, tied his cravat, and buttoned his
coat _comme il faut_.
"And now, sir, you may appear before your fellow-men."
"Where's my pipe?"
"Pipe! Tut-tut! Don't you know that, first of all, you must go to church
to pray? nobody smokes till after that."
"You are right. But why don't they ring the bell?"
"Wait! I must first tell the priest that your honour is up."
"And there's another thing you must tell him--a sausage should be long,
a sermon short."
"I know," said Palko; and off he trotted to the priest, whose chief
defect and peculiarity consisted not in delivering long sermons, but
rather in the rebuking of Master Jock roundly, in the name of the Lord,
on this the one occasion in the whole year when he met him face to face,
to the intense delight of the assembled guests, who kept up the joke
afterwards till dinner-time. A particular Providence, however, delivered
Master Jock from this bitter jest on this occasion, inasmuch as the
reverend gentleman had suddenly fallen so ill that he could not perform
his duties.
"The dean is here," added Palko, after communicating the sad
intelligence.
"Who never knows when to leave off spouting," commented Master Jock. "If
he gets hold of us, we must make up our minds to have dinner at
supper-time; and he so bombards the ears of God with my praises that
even I am ashamed. Let the _supplikans_ complete the service."
The _supplikans_, be it explained, was a five years' student (counting
not from his birth, of course, but from the beginning of his academical
course)--a student _togatus_, as they called it, who ever since he had
been immured at college had never set eyes upon a human being. We can,
therefore, picture the terror of the worthy youth when he was informed
that, within a quarter of an hour, he must preach an edifying discourse
for the special benefit of a whole assembly of genteel backsliders.
He would very much have liked to have crawled away into some hole, but
they kept much too good an eye upon him for that, and, perceiving his
fear and affliction, the unprincipled mob played all sorts of devilries
upon him. They sewed his pocket-handkerchief fast to the pocket of his
toga, so that he could not pull it out when his nose required its help;
they made him believe that the gipsy Vidra was the cantor; and finally
contrived to substitute a book on veterinary surgery for his
prayer-book.
The poor _supplikans_, when he perceived that he had carried a
cattle-book into the pulpit, was so dumfounded that he could not even
remember with what words the "Our Father" began, so he descended from
the preaching-stool again without uttering a word. They had, therefore,
to fall back upon the dean, after all; but they bound him down not to
preach, but only to pray; and pray he did--for an hour and a half at
least. The right reverend gentleman heaped so many blessings upon the
Kárpáthy family and all its members, male and female, _in ascendenti et
descendenti_, both in this world and the next, that, whether they lived
or died, no very serious misfortune could possibly befall any of them.
All the guests were present at this pious ceremony, for Master Jock made
it a point to speak to nobody on his birthday till he had first lifted
up his soul to God, and on such occasions there was not a trace on his
countenance of any of the feelings that moved him so strongly on
ordinary days. When he knelt down to pray, a deep, unaffected devotion
was legible in every feature; and when he heard the recapitulation of
his merits, he cast down his eyes as if he considered all that he had
done in his life so far but a small matter compared with what he might
and must do in the future. "God grant me but one more year over and
above the many He has already bestowed upon me," he sighed, "and I will
make up for my neglect of the rest." But could he reckon upon another
year being granted him? Was he sure of another month, or another day, or
even of the morrow?
Deeply affected, he quitted the chapel, and it was only the
congratulations of his friends that restored him to his usual self.
Master Jock's unusual emotion did not interfere one jot with the good
humour of the waggish company, who laughed and joked all the way from
the church to the castle, some repairing thither on horseback, and some
on foot. Ordinarily, Master Jock would have been much diverted by their
practical jokes, but now he only shook his head at them. Mike Horhi
devised every conceivable sort of joke capable of making him roar with
laughter. He filched the clergyman's book; he rubbed pitch on the
cantor's seat, that he might stick fast there; he substituted gunpowder
for poppy-meal in the kitchen, and filled the powder-flasks of the
heydukes with poppy-meal instead of gunpowder, so that when they
prepared to fire salvoes in honour of their master, on his return from
chapel, not a gun would go off, while the poppy-cakes intended for the
banquet all exploded on the hearth. But Master Jock not only did not
laugh at these funny things, but actually took Miska Horhi to task for
making such a blockhead of himself, and bade him divert himself more
decently in future. He also made the poet show him beforehand the verses
he was to recite at table, in case they might contain any frivolous or
improper expression; he told the gipsy that when he got drunk he was on
no account to kiss all the guests one after the other, as usual; the
dogs were kicked into the courtyard, and not allowed to come into the
banqueting-room and pick the fat morsels off the plates of the guests,
as they generally did; the gipsies, actors, and students were told to
behave themselves decently; and the common people were given to
understand that, though an ox would be roasted and wine would run from
the gutter for them, they were nevertheless not to attempt to fight or
squabble, as it would not be allowed. And every one asked his neighbour
in amazement what was the meaning of this strange phenomenon.
In point of fact, this sudden change of conduct was due to a single
idea. He believed that his young kinsman Bélá would infallibly come on
his birthday. He might come late, but come he certainly would. He could
not have given any reason for his belief, but he expected him, he
counted on him; and whenever his cronies began to commit any
out-of-the-way absurdity, the thought immediately occurred to him: If
the youngest scion of the Kárpáthy family were to see this, what would
he say to it? No! Once he had beheld his uncle in the midst of
diversions unworthy of him; he should now see him taking his pleasure
like a gentleman.
After the usual festive congratulations, the guests of quality descended
into the garden, where the assembled peasantry were awaiting their
master.
At other times, whenever Master Jock ascended or descended the steps, he
had to be supported on both sides, for, like a locomotive, he could only
get along on level ground; but now he shoved Palko's hand aside, and
easily went down the two and thirty marble steps which led into the
garden. No doubt the six months of regular living he had had to submit
to while attending to his parliamentary duties at Pressburg had restored
somewhat the elasticity of his nerves and muscles.
Below, a host of school children, drawn up in a row, greeted him with
cries of "_Éljen!_"[9] And at the moment when he had descended among the
festive mob awaiting him there, all the gipsies present blew three loud
flourishes on their trumpets, and two grey-haired retainers advanced
towards him, leading after them, by the horns, a young stall ox that had
been fattened up for the occasion, and the bolder of the twain, coming
forward, took off his cap, coughed slightly, steadily regarded the tips
of his own boots, and recited congratulatory verses in his master's
honour, without the slightest hesitation or stumbling, which, perhaps,
is not to be greatly wondered at, considering that he had now recited
the selfsame verses nine years running.
[Footnote 9: Vivat!]
"And God grant your honour long life, which I wish you with all my
heart!" concluded the worthy man, as if he doubted what reception the
pious verses he had just recited might receive in heaven, and was
determined to clinch the matter in prose of his own making.
Master Jock, according to good old custom, had fifty ducats ready, which
he gave to the veterans who had brought the ox. As for the ox itself, he
ordered that it should be roasted forthwith for the benefit of the
assembled peasantry.
After them came the youths of the town, rolling before them a ten-firkin
cask full of the wine of Hegyalja. They brought the cask to a standstill
at the feet of the Nabob, and set on the top of it Martin, the former
Whitsun King, as being the one among them whose tongue wagged the
nimblest. He took a beaker and, filling it with wine, thus toasted his
honour:--
"God willing, I desire and pray that the Majesty of Heaven may suffer
your honour, both to-day and hereafter, to go about clothed in velvet
well patched with gold ducats, and ride a good nag shod with silver
shoes. I pray that your honour may not be able to count the hairs of
your head, and that as many blessings may be showered upon your
shoulders as you have lost hairs from your poll. I pray that all the
ministering angels of heaven may have nothing else to do but sweep all
earthly cares out of your honour's path. I pray that the golden-spurred
_csizmas_ of your felicity may never be bespattered by the puddles of
tribulation. I pray that the field-flask of your good humour may always
be filled with the red wine of Eger. And, finally, when that merciless
scytheman cometh who makes hay of every man, and mows down your honour
with the rest of them, I pray that the chariots of heaven may not keep
your honour's soul awaiting, but that the horses of the other world may
arrive speedily, and, with a great sound of trumpets, convey you to that
great forecourt where Abraham, Isaac, and the other Jewish patriarchs,
side by side with three and thirty red-breeched, heaven-ascended gipsy
fiddlers, dance the Kálla duet in velvet pump-hose. God grant your
honour many more days! I wish it from the bottom of my heart."
Master Jock handsomely recompensed the youth who had rattled off this
odd salutation without missing a word. Yet it was observed that he did
not take as much pleasure in it as of yore.
And now a pretty young damsel approached--the loveliest virgin that
could be found within the limits of seven villages. She brought him a
white lamb as a birthday present, and made him some sort of a speech
besides; but what it was all about nobody could tell, she spoke so low.
They kept on telling her not to hold her apron before her mouth, as they
could not hear a word; but it was of no use.
It was a good old custom on Master Jock's birthday to admit the damsel
who made the pretty speech on this occasion among the guests, and seat
her beside Master Jock at table; and thus she was the only woman present
at the banquet. And rumour added that still worse things befell towards
the end of the feast, when the wine had mounted into the heads of the
guests, and the lamb-maiden had been caught in the whirl of an unwonted
carouse. But she was always married to some one afterwards; for Master
Jock used to give her a rich dowry, and she got six oxen from her own
father into the bargain to set up with. So the good peasants were not
very much alarmed at the prospect of bringing their daughters to
Kárpáthy Castle.
Master Jock, with patriarchal condescension, approached the damsel,
pinched her cheek, patted her head, and asked her kindly--
"What is thy name, my daughter?"
"Susie," she replied, in a scarcely audible voice.
"Hast thou a sweetheart?"
"No, I have not," replied the damsel, casting down her eyes.
"Then choose thee among all the youths present the one that liketh thee
best, for married thou shalt be this very hour."
"Is Master Jock in his right mind?" whispered some of his cronies to one
another. "Why, he generally postpones this little ceremony to the
afternoon of the following day."
"Well, my lads, who among you has a mind to take this young virgin to
wife on the spot?"
Ten of the youths leaped forth, Martin among them. Miska Horhi, by way
of a joke, also joined himself to them, but Master Jock shoved him aside
with his stick.
"I'll have no goat among the sheep," said he. "Come, my girl, make
haste. Canst thou not choose thee a husband from among so many pretty
fellows?"
"My dear father----" stammered the girl, without raising her eyes.
"Oh, so thou dost want thy dear father to choose for thee, eh?" inquired
Master Jock, interpreting her desire. "Where is the girl's father,
then?"
A greyish-haired man lurched forward, holding his cap in his hand.
"Come, sirrah! look sharp and choose your daughter a husband."
The boor seemed inclined, however, to take his time. He began to tick
off the candidates one by one.
"One--two--three! Not one of you has much to bless himself with." At
last he pitched upon a son-in-law agreeable to him--a short, thick-set
lout who happened to have a well-to-do father.
"Well, are you content to have him?" inquired Master Jock of the girl.
Susie blushed up to the ears and replied in a scarcely audible voice--
"I would rather have Martin!"
At this the whole company laughed heartily.
"Then why send for your father?" said they.
Martin did not wait to think the matter over, but rushed forward and
took the girl's hand. Master Jock gave them his blessing and fifty
ducats, and advised Martin to look well after his consort.
"Oh, I'll look after her," cried Martin, and he glanced defiantly in the
direction of the gentlemen.
"Why, what's come to the old chap?" murmured the guests among
themselves; "he has grown very virtuous all at once!"
Then there was another flourish of trumpets, the noble guests ascended
into the castle, the peasants looked after their own pastimes, the
youths and maidens played at blindman's-buff, kiss-in-the-ring, and
other artless games, for the old men there was wine and spirits, and the
old women had enough to do to talk of old and young alike.
On reaching the castle a fresh amusement awaited Master Jock. Bandi
Kutyfalvi, whom every one had given up, had just leaped from his horse,
and a few moments later they were in each other's arms.
"So it is only you, then!" cried the worthy old gentleman, involuntarily
drying the tears from his eyes.
"Yes, but it is only by the merest chance that another whom you expect
least of all has not arrived also."
"Who is that?" asked Master Jock, with a face beaming with joy.
"Come, guess now!"
"My little brother Bélá!" said the old man.
"Why, what the devil is the matter with you?" cried Bandi Kutyfalvi. He
had expected the Nabob to be enraged, not rejoiced at the news.
"Where is he? Where is he stopping? Why did you leave him behind?"
inquired Master Jock, amazing Bandi still more by the impetuosity of his
delight.
"He was with me in the next village; he was coming on to you with a
birthday greeting, having only just left Pressburg, but was taken ill on
the road, and had to put up at my house. Nevertheless he had brought his
present with him, and will send it on this very evening. I would have
brought it with me, but I came on horseback, and the present was so
large that it would have filled a cart, at the very least."
Master Jock trembled for joy. He had so thoroughly made up his mind that
his nephew must come, that he regarded his presence there as an
indispensable feature of the entertainment.
"Quick, Palko, quick!" he cried; "get the carriage ready for him! Send
four horses on before, that you may have a fresh relay at the Rukadi
Csárda waiting for you! Go yourself! Nay, you stay behind, and send a
man of a less proud stomach than you are! Send the fiscal! Tell Mr. Bélá
that I honour, that I embrace him! Bring him along by main force as
quickly as you can! Run! I say, run!"
"Run, eh?" grumbled Palko to himself. "I'll go, of course, but don't
suppose that I can fly!"
And not another word did Master Jock say to anybody till he saw the
fiscal bowl off in the best state carriage to meet his nephew. Then he
began making a little calculation: Four hours there and four hours back,
that makes eight hours; it is now two o'clock, he'll be here at ten. No
doubt he thought I was angry and sent Kutyfalvi on before. It was very
nice of him to show me such respect. Well, I'll not be behindhand in
expressing my regret for my hastiness--asking his pardon; and from
henceforth we will be good friends and kinsmen, and I shall be able to
rest in the Lord with an easy conscience.
"Look ye, my friends!" he cried, turning at last to those standing
around him, in the exuberance of his frank delight, "this will be the
commemoration of a double festival, inasmuch as on this day the two last
surviving male members of the Kárpáthy family, after a long
estrangement, will extend to each other the right hand of fellowship, in
token of complete reconciliation."
Meanwhile the heydukes had begun carrying round _szilvorium_ and
_öszibaraczk_ liqueur, ten years old, with wheat-bread sippets, which
signified that dinner-time was drawing near, and it became every one to
have a good appetite. Half an hour later the bell rang, which told that
dinner was actually on the table. Thrice it was repeated, to recall any
guest who might, perhaps, have strayed away too far, and then the
heydukes threw wide open the large folding doors which led into the
banqueting hall.
The vast and splendid room was filled from end to end with long tables,
which as usual were spread for as many guests again as there were people
actually present, so that any late comers might easily find room.
Every table bent beneath the weight of pies and tarts; the most
magnificent fruit--golden melons, scaly pine-apples, whole stacks of
them--everywhere exhaled their fragrance; pasties of terrific size and
shape towered upwards from the midst of the guests who sat opposite and
around them, and huge fish, veritable whales in size, embedded in
vine-leaves, filled their would-be devourers with despair. Wreaths and
bouquets in porcelain vases stood between all the dishes.
A whole museum of gold and silver plate was piled upon the tables. Even
the singing students were to drink out of silver beakers. In the midst
of the room stood a silver basin, from whose cunningly devised fountain
the pure wine of Tokay spouted upwards in a jet of topas yellow.
Every one sat down in his place while Master Jock made his way to the
head of the table. When he got there he perceived that another cover was
standing there beside his own. It used to be there on the other
birthdays also, for there, from year to year, the peasant girl who
brought the votive lambs was wont to sit. But now, Master Jock, in high
dudgeon, shouted to Palko, who stood behind his chair--
"What is this? Whose cover is it?"
"There's no need for so much hallooing, surely! Don't you see that the
family goblet has been placed there? I thought that if that other should
come, he might have somewhere to sit."
At these words Master Jock's long-drawn face grew beautifully round
again. This little attention pleased him. He patted Palko on the
shoulder, and then explained to all the guests that the empty place had
been left for his nephew Bélá. Then he praised Palko before them all.
"I see you have a good heart, after all," cried he.
"Nothing of the sort," growled the old servant, sulkily.
The soup now, for a moment, reduced the guests to silence. Every one
wished his neighbour a good appetite, and then fell to on his own
account. At the head of the table sat Master Jock, with the Dean next to
him; at the other end of the table Bandi Kutyfalvi presided, supported
by Mike Kis. Nobody durst sit beside Mike Horhi, as he was wont to
perpetrate the most ungodly pleasantries--letting off fiery crackers
under the table, pouring vinegar into his neighbour's wine-glass when
he wasn't looking, etc. The smaller gentry occupied another table.
In the background stood a colonaded peristyle, in the centre of which
was the decorated stage where, during dinner, Mr. Lakody first exhibited
a magic-lantern, and afterwards, with the assistance of the students,
acted a play called _Dr. Faust_ translated from Goethe by Lakody
himself, though Goethe himself would scarce have recognized his own
masterpiece. Then came twelve tableaux, amidst Greek fire, representing
the flight of Dobozy, and at the end of the last tableau the
folding-doors in the background were to be thrown open, revealing a
magnificent display of fireworks, which was to terminate the
entertainment.
The feast went off capitally. Music, singing, the clinking of glasses,
and merry discourse were mingled together into a joyous hubbub. There
was not a single guest who, so long as he still had full possession of
his tongue, did not call down blessings on the head of the master of the
house. And he too was in an excellent humour, and his face beamed,
though he drank far less of wine than usual. Evening had now fallen. The
heydukes brought in large candelabras, the clinking of glasses went on
uninterruptedly. At that moment the rumbling of a carriage was audible
in the courtyard.
The fiscal had returned from his mission--but alone.
Master Jock sank back dejectedly in his chair when he learnt from the
mouth of the messenger that Abellino really could not come, because he
was sick; but he had sent what he had promised, all the same--a birthday
gift to his dear uncle, with the hearty wish that he might find his
greatest joy therein.
It was as much as six strapping fellows could do to bring in the long
box which contained the birthday gift, and they hauled it on to the
table so that all the guests might see it.
The four ends of the box were fastened down by strong iron clamps, and
these had first to be removed with the aid of strong pincers.
What could be in this box? The guests laid their heads together about
it, but not one of them could guess.
Suddenly all four clamps burst asunder, the four sides of the box fell
aside in four different directions, and there on the table stood--a
covered coffin!
A cry of indignation resounded from every corner of the room.
A pretty present for a seventieth birthday! A black coffin covered with
a velvet pall; at the head of it the ancient escutcheon of the Kárpáthy
family, and on the side, picked out with large silver nails, the
name--J-o-h-n K-á-r-p-á-t-h-y.
Horror sealed every mouth, only a wail of grief was audible--a heavy,
sobbing cry, like that of a wild beast stricken to the heart. It came
from the lips of old John Kárpáthy, who had thus been so cruelly
derided. When he beheld the coffin, when he read his own name upon it,
he had leaped from his chair, stretched out his arms, his face the while
distorted by a hideous grin, and those who watched him beheld his
features gradually turning a dreadful blue. It was plain, from the
trembling of his lips, that he wanted to say something; but the only
sound that came from them was a long-drawn-out, painful rattle. Then he
raised his hands to heaven, and suddenly striking his forehead with his
two fists, sank back into his chair with wide-open, staring eyes.
The blood froze in the veins of all who saw this sight. For a few
moments nobody stirred. But then a wild hubbub arose among the guests,
and while some of them rushed towards the magnate and helped to carry
him to bed, others went to fetch the doctors. The coffin had already
been removed from the table.
The terrified army of guests was not long in scattering in every
direction. Late that night all the roads leading from the castle of
Kárpáthy were thronged with coaches speeding onwards at a gallop. Terror
and Hope were the only guests left behind in the castle itself. But the
rockets still continued to mount aloft from the blazing firework and
write the name "Kárpáthy" in the sky in gigantic fiery letters visible
from afar.
* * * * *
Now, what more natural than that the mob of breathless, departing guests
should lose no time in presenting their respects, and paying their court
to the heir-presumptive of the vast possessions of the Kárpáthy family,
his Honour Abellino Kárpáthy?
They had all seen John Kárpáthy sink back in his chair, stricken by
apoplexy. He had not died on the spot, it is true; yet he was as good as
dead, anyhow, and there were many who carried their friendly sympathy
with his highly respected nephew so far as to urge him vehemently to
hasten at once--yes, that very night--to Kárpátfalva, take possession,
and seal up everything, to prevent any surreptitious filching of his
property. But the young Squire was suspicious of all premature rumours,
and resolved to bide his time, await more reliable information, and only
put in an appearance on receiving news of the funeral. Early next
morning the Dean arrived to greet him. The very reverend gentleman had
remained behind at Kárpátfalva last of all, in order to make sure that
Master Jock really signed the codicil in favour of the college in which
he was interested. He brought the melancholy intelligence that the old
gentleman had not indeed actually given up the ghost, but was certainly
very near the last gasp, inasmuch as it was now quite impossible to
exchange a reasonable word with him, which signified that the Dean had
been unable to get him to subscribe the codicil.
The Dean was followed the same day by a number of agents and stewards
attached to the Kárpáthy domains, who hastened to introduce themselves
to his Excellency, the heir and their future patron. They brought still
further particulars of the bodily condition of the expiring head of the
family. A village barber had bled him, whereupon he had somewhat
recovered his senses. They had then proposed to send for a doctor, but
he had threatened to shoot the man down if he crossed his threshold. The
barber was to remain, however. He had more confidence in him, he said,
because he would not dare to kill him. He would take no medicine, nor
would he see a soul, and Mike Kis was the only person who had admittance
to his room. But he could not possibly last longer than early to-morrow
morning, of that they were all quite certain.
Abellino regarded the appearance of the agents and stewards as of very
good augury: it showed that they already regarded him as their master,
to whom homage was justly due. On the following day a whole host of
managers, cashiers, scribes, shepherds, tenants, and other small fry,
arrived to recommend themselves to Abellino's favour. The moments of
their old master, they said, were most assuredly numbered. None of them
could promise him so much as another day of life.
On the third day the heydukes and doorkeepers also migrated over in a
body to Abellino, who began to be exasperated at so much flattery. So he
spoke to them curtly enough, and on learning from them that henceforth
they would regard him as their earthly Providence, inasmuch as his uncle
was by this time drawing his last breath, he suddenly announced that he
was about to introduce a series of radical reforms among the domestics
attached to the Kárpáthy estate, the first of which was that every male
servant who wore a moustache was to instantly extirpate it as an
indecent excrescence. The stewards and factors obeyed incontinently,
only one or two of the heydukes refused to make themselves hideous; but
when he began to promise the lower servants also four imperial ducats a
head if they did their duty, they also proceeded to snip off what they
had hitherto most carefully cherished for years and years.
On the fourth day, of all his good friends, officials, domestics, and
buffoons, Mike Kis, Martin the former Whitsun King, Master Varga the
estate agent, Palko the old heyduke, and Vidra the gipsy, were the only
persons who remained with John Kárpáthy as he stood at Death's ferry.
Even the poet Gyárfás had deserted him, and hastened to congratulate the
new patron.
On the fifth day there was nobody to bring away tidings from Kárpáthy
Castle; perchance they were already engaged in burying the unfortunate
wretch.
On the sixth day, however, a horseman galloped into Abellino's
courtyard, whom they immediately recognized as Martin.
As he dismounted from his horse the steward of the Pukkancs estate, one
of the first deserters, looked down from the tower, and, smiling
broadly, cried out to him--
"Well, so you have come too, eh, Martin, my son? You're just in time, I
can tell you. Had your marriage been celebrated a week later, your new
landlord would have revived in his own favour some old customs. What
news from Kárpátfalva?"
He had come, of course, to invite the gentlemen to the funeral. That was
the most natural supposition.
"I have brought a letter for you, Mr. Bailiff," said Martin,
nonchalantly; and, to the great disgust of the steward, he did not even
doff his cap before Abellino, who was standing on the balcony.
"Look to your cap, you bumpkin! Why don't you doff it, sirrah? Who sent
this letter?"
At the first question Martin only shrugged his shoulders; in answer to
the second he replied that the steward of the estate had given it to
him.
The bailiff broke open the letter, and green wheels danced before his
eyes as he peered into it. The letter, which was in old John Kárpáthy's
own handwriting, begged to inform the bailiffs, heydukes, and domestics
assembled round Abellino that he had so far recovered as to be able to
rise from his bed and write them a letter, and that he was very glad to
hear that they had found so much better a master than himself, for which
reason he advised them to remain where they were, for on no account were
they to think of coming back to him.
The bailiff pulled the sort of face a man would naturally have who was
compelled to make merry on a diet of crab-apples, and as he had no
desire to keep the joyful intelligence all to himself, he passed the
letter on from hand to hand amongst his colleagues, the other bailiffs,
factors, doorkeepers, shepherds, scribes, and heydukes, till it had gone
the round of them all. Under similar circumstances men often find a
great consolation in twirling their moustaches; but now, alas! there was
not a single moustache to twirl among the lot of them. They had neither
places nor moustaches left. Some of them scratched their heads, some
burst into tears, others cursed and swore. In their first fury they knew
not which to turn upon first, Abellino for not inheriting, or Master
Jock for not dying as he ought to have done. To make such fools of so
many innocent men! It was scandalous!
Abellino was the last to whom, with tearful faces, they carried the glad
tidings. The philosophical youth, who happened at that moment to be
sipping an egg beaten up in his tea, received the intelligence with the
utmost _sang-froid_.
"Enfin!" cried he, "I verily believe the old chap means to live for
ever!"