Page:A history of Hungarian literature.djvu/152

 138 HUNGARIAN LITERATURE Cserhalom, is the king, St. Ladislas (109 2), wh o was the favourite character of legen dary poetry. Cserhalom is the name of the battlefield where St. Ladislas van quished the Kumanians. Doring the hattie the circumstance happened which became so famous during the Middle Ages, that we find it depicted in fresco on the walls of old churches. Aceording to the tradition, St. Ladislas, after his victory, observed that one of the flying Kumanians was carrying a H o ngarian maiden on his horse. The chivalrous king rode after the Kuma nian to rescue the girl, but since his charger was fatigued by the battle he could not easily overtake bim, and the distance between the two riders did not diminish. St. Lad islas then cried out : "Fair maiden, take hold of the soldier's belt and throw yourself to the grou nd, that you may bring him down too .'' The maiden did as the king bade her, and the king soon came up with the soldier, disarmed bim, and only spared his life at the maiden's request. Vörös­ marty's poem is based upon the incident, which, however, he expanded and alte red. Vörösmarty's m ost famous but most terrihle epic is entitled The Two Castles. The story is that of a family feud existing in the Middle Ages, between the owners of two neighbouring castles. Such ferocious events are narrated that a colleague of Vörösmarty, Daniel Ber­ zsenyi, characterised the epic as "a cann ibal poem." The feúd had petsisted for a long time, and once when Tihamér, a son of one of the noblemen, ret urned from the wars, a dreadful scene met his eyes. He found every member of his family slain, parents, brothers, al i. Tihamér vowed an awful revenge. He would destroy his foe's wh ole fam ily. He challenged aU the members, one by one, to a duel. At last only two were left alive,