The Yazoo Whig and political register. (Yazoo City, Miss.) 1840-1842, 1842-10-28
Hungarian Tales & Legends.
BY MISS PARDoE.
THE TRAITOR-M MONK.

THE TRAITOR-MONK.
The mountainous range which hens in
like an eternal belt, the northern part o
Hungary, cutting against the sky in quain
and pictnresqe outline, and ailordng shelte
alike to the wild beast Of the wood and the
cavern, and the equally wild, and almos
equally ruthless rObber of the forest, j,
studded with fortified castles, and the
strange mystic looking remnants of might,
strongholds, which battle the eye by the in
gennity with which the living rock has beer
sublugaled to the will Of man, and made
subservient to his convenience and necessi
ties; making it difficult, now that the same
time-tint has fallen upon the ponderous ma.
sorry, and the surface of the mountain itself
10 distinguish where art had usurped the
place Of nature, and human beings based a
superalTucture of their own formation, on
the wa iation built up by the hands Of the
The wanderer who ventures 10 explore
some Of these mysterious, and cloud cano-
pied ruins, will find himself suddenly passing
from wide hall, upon whose walls still cling
the Wondering remains of rude and heavy
culPIure-gnant and almost shapeless CO.
Jesse, bearing some feeble semblance to hu-
manity, and proving by their disproportionate
hideOusness, aud savage design, the remote
period OF their creatiOn-inio a cavern hewn
in the heart of the rock, into which it is now
impossible TO decide whether the light of
day was ever permitted TO penetrate; and,
1t so, from whence it was admitted.
II is a strange and painful reflection, that
IN every instance, the most perfect portion
Ofa ruined stronghold is that which contains
the dungeons. The banqueting hall, and
the bower chamber-the proud rampant, and
the lofty keep-al the tall and naughty
symbols Of mans power, and Of mans pride,
mOulder, tOtler, and fall; but the relics of
his misery remain as au enduring memorial
Of the past. And IL ulust be so. for man ia
his strength and in his Joy looks up to hea-
ven, and bathes his brow in the pure ether:
while man in his rum, and in his despair.
is incarcerated where neither breeze nor
sunshine can reach him in bis Indebtedness:
and thus, the stately hall becomes roohess
space, and the cavern cell remains.
The large plains, or puSztas, which stretch
along the banks of the Danube and the
Thesis, were formerly inundated by wander
ing hOrdes of Marhanis, Magyars, MongoIs.
and Poles, who successfully dislodged each
other; and frequently with so little resist
ance, that no mention is made in the history
Of the times as to the exact period of their
location; but when the Turks were ulti-
mately swept from the country, they left be-
h'nd them fearful and lasting traces of a
tyranny which had existed for upwards oS a
century and half.
All the previous invaders had satisfied
themselves with a wild sort oC settlement
which may fairly be styled bivouac: thew
MADE I9eir rude dwellings like men who felt
that eet wa ere there only on sufFerance. and
that, They their strength prove inadeonats
20 retain what they had taken. thew mns, i
their turn, yield up their tenure. Tboir A.
mestic architecture We'd with thai ~ -.
American Indian; wood and mud snnnl;aJ
them with material; they required nai,har
magazines nor bridges; and thew poured !
yer the PusztGs in vast bands, easily reno
we'd, and easily replaced; only half armed
and wholly deficient in that most powerful
inducemont TO Valor-a love of father-land
They were strangers to the soil; and as they
successfully passed away, so were they for
gotten.
To escape all contact and danger from
these wild hOrdes, each of the more leeiti.
mate, or the more powerful inhabitants of
the region, took possession Of the summit Of
precipitous rock, or the crest ola difficult
mountain, and there erected his place of re-
fHge; and this fact accounts for the con
stantly recurring appahiiOn Of Wondering
castles, and dilapidated stroDgholds, which
meet the eye Of the traveller throughout all
this section of Hungary.
Among other, the chieftan Of TbuTolz, a
small province shut in b. lofty and frOwnine
heights, built the caslellated fortress of
Blatinitz; q pile, venerable even in decay,
which was the cradle of many brave and
gallant Baron of the house Of Revay; a race
man which none more noble holds place in
me annals Of the land; and who in time &C
4Ined, as the guerdon on their valiant a.
~a,osements in many well fought field,
~ Only extensive possessions, bat also the
l r'DIu s'le Of Counts Of Thnrotz, and the
c conn u hereditary lOrd-ieutenanls Of the
., - NE valley beneath the castle stood
Lso.LosSty' zoe pious fame Of whose holy
O'O'H'i"OOu nad extended throughout the