Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1914-12-03
RURAL HUNGARY
HAS A CHARM
Rural Hungary Said to Be on a
Plane With Rural England
by Writer.

Washington, d. c., Dec. I'm writ.
ing to the National Geographic So
city Of this city, g. Townlcy-Fullam
says that rural Hungary is upon the
plane OF rural England. physically
she has a beauty all her own" lie
writes, and then continues: p.
True, the noble magniiicence OF
the English estate is not reproduced;
but thereais a general air Of the feG-
dial tradition, heightened by caste,
tower and hattlement, which brins
Norman England appreciably nearer.
Abbies aud inconsistencies, creations OF
pure architectural beauty there arc
not; but the Rocco, the ScccCs5io,
and that splendid Moorish type which
passes, strangely enough, for Gothic.
fairly represent the achievements.
The baronial splendurs Of tn old
homes Of the magnateS are first pat
riachal and then wonderful.
."llrral Hungary is still the dream
OF, other days, the quaint, stu lifb
which brooded in prc-lirnai33ance
pictures and peeps out under the
magic Of Washington lrNing's touch
--restful, alluring, and casting the re-
Elective grace OF ~inrocencc upon 1T:
LiigEty sons. Sweet Au1urns' mat
are passing in oliiGr climes nestle
about every placid Nhy Of This"
Here is Arcade, h0me Of th"
ilappy'; aad here is 'ilc forest
primeval'; here are w meadows
stretched to the eastward and pasture
to 1ocks without number
y when the land is s%nowbound,
swept by the keen, clear. cold air OF
the white north, and the long winter
nights fall. great wood fires crackle On
the bare heartllstones; children and
old folk turn to the spinning Of silk;
the schools take their toll, aud virilc
energies are given over to basket
weaving, reed.plaiting, aud wood.carv.
ing, just as when HOratins kept the
bridge 1iby the yellow Tiber.
"A musical, w%inelOving, hospitablc
race, warm, generous, and ~cOmbatiyc;
proud and vain; bloodAbrother in
temperament to the impulsive Celt;
lowered like limH with the curse of
Reuben, with a total i~ncapacity to
unite ON great issues and the power
to fight on any soil but his own, but
spared tho Celtic rcprOach Of having
disturbed all states but founded none
"lmagine "a yirtle stock which car
still sit and think, a mourn its past
jH q sfair present. can fall into SlGuln-
ing frenzy as its harp or picture-pOct
storms 4 delicate imagination With
Dreathless deed; a race which COM
Dimes the Buddhist aversion to action
with the Celtic instinct Of opposition;
i%mprovident, again, a the Colt; Law"
ISL, laively charmed at the courtesy
Of the stranger; simple, with the bar
barian lust Of pleasure to the eye.
sensitive to Its inmost chords to gen.
tleness-a. passionate, chivalric, low
able, dreamy race Of fatalists: the
true Asian mystery. 4,
"This brave, patient, enduring folk
has sung its a G back to its ancient
freedom. 1t has sung, in the sweet
m%other.tone that but for it had beec
long forgotten, Of the glorious deaa
and the stricken field. Of memories
enshrined in wonderful lore, of hope
and Of regret; never Of despair. For
it has withal, that touch of humor
which none but a Magyar could SC
finely have described as the smile
between tears
Pastoral Hungary has features all
It's own. 1t stretches across the vistas
OF the Great Plain in the region o.
Hortobagy. There lives the genuine.
original Magyar, the Centaur Mazeppa
who, like his sires of old. that rushed
Alexander on the plains Of Sogdiana,
rides like a devil of the twilight;
eats. drinks and sleeps on his small.
tireless charger, and chokes with pure
delight in lust of life and rush OF
wind"
Many of the Hungarian customs are
full of %quaintness to the westerner.
OF the weddings aud dances of the
peasants. Mr.. Townley-Fullam says:
"See him On st. Stephens Day III
a picturesque garb, not %riotously bois,
ferrous, but gay in color and mood.
Or, see him at a wedding arranged to
suit the crops and rather for the Il
venience of the villagers. Then the
festivities last from \ to four days.
One does not wait for invitation: the
going is a matter Of courtesy TO the
bride. One drinks and dances. dances
and drinks. sleeps under the table, il
the pigstye, o1e the grass, anywhere,
to rise and dance again. Day or night
me music never stops. the wine
springs never run dry.
"The peasant girl whose considera,
ton depends upon the number OF
petticoats she can afford to wear
llave e e one with twelty-three-
wears the ~jack-boots, which are fam
lily heirlooms, and thus weighted
dances till she collapses and revive:.
to dance again"
pllpQ n M