The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-01-15
.. King J..
- .,..'4
A Legend Of a Lost
Kingdom.
By 2 A. Mitchell

Since the dawn Of history the map i
Europe has been changing. Many
years ago there "a u nation the very
location Of which has been lost. but It
Is supposed to have occupied q part OF
Austria and n part OF northern Italy
There is a legend connected with this
country which has been handed down
by word Of mouth for many centuries
Traces Of 1t have been found among
German speaking people and among
Italians.
There was IA king of this cOuntry-s
the story goes who was at continual
war with Il people living to the east OF
his territory. supposed to have been
Slavs. whose descendants now occupy
the Balkans. He appears in different
versions Of the tradition under differ
n names, but usually Bonverd. The
name of the nation he governed was
Thungaria. supposed by some to have
been the origin of Hungary
While King BOn"erd was hard press
ed by his neml il son was born to
him. Their was Il prophecy thai the
Serbs would overpOwer Thungaria, but
that a Bonverd born ut the time of the
conquest would re-establish the king
dom and subject the conquerOrs. This
prophecy. which reached he Serbs.
filed them with Il desire. should the!
succeed in fulfilling the first part Of
it, to nullify the second part by either
killing the infant who a when
grown. to work their destruction or
make him ii captive.
At the birth of the heir to the throne
,Bonverd H.. If be lived) his mother
was unable to Nurse him. and u peasant
woman who gave birth to a man child
at the same time was called In to give
suckle to the prince She was assign
ed rooms in a wing Of the palace and
brought her own child with her
The whose name vas 10
sepha. was dark and her child was Of
like complexion. while the heir appar
ent to the throne was fair. with blue
eyes. The king. when Josepha and
uCl 0Ou. ~ was SoIgCo AACl 1o
were brought to the palace. called upon
bis councillor to make an inspection of
the two infants in order that the peas
ant boy could not be substituted fOl
the prince. They reported to the kin.
that. since one was light and the 9th
er dark. any n who had seen them.
knowing which was the prince. would
always be able to Judge correctly be-
tween the two. This satisfied the king
and he made no objection to Josepha
having her own son with her.
Meanwhile the Serbs were slowly
approaching the capital of Thungaria.
their king. Boris. being a great general
and matched against a commander
who was his inferior. for King Bon
verd was not Il warrior and was
obliged to yield the command Of his
troops to another. This man risked all
whole of Thungaria was open to the
enemy. who had advanced rapidly on
the capital indeed. they came as
fast as the news that they were com
ing.
One morning JOSepha heard a din
below and. looking through a window.
saw the street filled with the enemy's
troops. The prince was asleep In his
cradle. covered with drapery of the
finest texture and bearing the royal
arms.
JOsepha's W son was in his own
x.no I ~o0lo - ~nIy o-1 n~n@~~ool
Hearing a noise in the corridor and
believing that the Serbs had broken
into the palace and would murder the
prince. she laid him In her sons era
die and put her son in the place of
the prince. Then. passionately EN-
bracing her offspring, she went into
an adjoining that she might not
see him killed
She had scarcely done so when the
nursery door was thrown open and
armed men entered. In q few minutes
they were gone. and Josepha went
back. expecting to e the body Of her
murdered son. The cradle was empty
and the prince was lying where she
had placed him in the oaken cradle.
King Bonverd was killed lighting at
the head Of his bodyguard. and all his
courtiers who Outlived the taking of
the city were scattered. Josepha. car
rying the prince: who was supposed to
be her child. escaped from the palace
and made her way to her home In the
country. She dared not let 1t be known
that the babe was heir to the throne
of Thungaria lest the fact reach the
conquering king and be should be kill
ed. She therefore kept her secret.
Twenty years passed. Thungada was
a province Of the kingdom Of Boris
governed by q viceroy. Bonverd was
brought up by his foster mother under
the name OF Joseph Bernstein and
unlike his father. manifested a predis
position for a military life. At an
early age be enlisted In the army of
King Boris In a corps stationed in
Thungaria. Being a One, soldier. be
was rapidly promoted till at twenty
years Of age be was made q captain.
ro~ uoora lo<op a vo,,nu MON oou