Sziasztok, Jánló vagyok. Közép-Európa első világra szóló podcast csatornáját hallgatjátok Magyarországról. Ez a Budapest.fm. Hi, my name is Ray, and you're listening to the number one podcast station in Central Europe, Budapest.fm, podcasting to the world from Hungary. Folks, it's Friday night story time. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. Welcome back to another edition of Csütötök Éjszaka Történet Idő. Today I'm here with a very special guest, Fruzsina, aka Fruji. Hi, sziasztok. Mízse Fruzsina. Igen. Mízse Fruzsina. And I met Fruji last year. She was a journalist for the A38 Hajó Napló magazine newspaper, whatever you want to call it, and we did an interview. We had a great day, walked around the city, went up to the tomb of Gul Baba, was it? Yeah, it was. Met a Serbian lady also. Met a Serbian lady, walked around the statue of Tavashevchenko, famous Ukrainian, Ukrainian kultúr, down by the Király Bathhouse, which is now closed, tragically. And now she is here to illuminate us with her expertise in all things literary. You had a degree in literature? Yeah, just recently got my master's. Nice. And what was the specific master's in? Oh, well, it was cultural theory, probably, and, well, Hungarian literature in general, and media theory also. Great. So unlike me, who's just a charlatan and not a fraud, but someone who is posing as an expert on Hungarian literature, we have an actual expert with us today. So I'm very excited to get to that. We're going to read a little bit more of the Hunor and Magor story in English, and following about maybe 10, 15 minutes, Fruji and I will break it down, have a little bit of a discussion, and then later in the show, we're going to move on to some József Attila, her favorite poet. Favorite. Kedvenc. One of mine as well. And so I'm very, very, very excited for that. But before we get going, I have a lovely bottle here. It's got a nice historical cape on the front, Ezer Hatszáz Kilencven Hat. That would have been at the end of the Tizenhétedik század, right before the Rákóczi szabadságharc. It's from Debonis Winery in Szabatka, which is currently in Serbia, but I think used to be part of the Magyar Királyság. What do they call, you know, Felvidék is like Slovakia. What's the Serbian part called? Is there a word for it? Vojvodina. Vojvodina. So this is a Vojvodinagi bor. Keteser, Kilenc, Vörös bor. And it's got a gold medal or something. Ooh, arany csapat. Must be great. Cheers. So let's get this poured out. We got a nice wine glass here for Fruji. Yeah, it's the nice one for me, the ugly one for Willie. Gentlemen should do. Very suitable. Thank you. Here you are. Oh, so nice. So welcome, everybody. Üdvözljük, Fruji és Vilmos. Igen. Egészségedre. Egészségetekre. Wow. Tetszik? Igen. Gyümölcsös, erős. Gyümölcsös, erős. Characteristic. How do you say, like, characteristic in Hungarian? Karakteres. Karakteres. Okay. Karakteres, gyümölcsös, erős, erős, erős. You know what is funny? When I first got my BA, it's like bachelor. Uh-huh, exactly. Then the English part, you know, there's the Hungarian part, and then the English part said expert in Hungarian. I was like, Oh my God, 23 years and I achieved this. Cool. Nagyon jó. My friends couldn't stop, like, laughing at me. Ügyes vagy, ügyes vagy. Köszönöm. Okay, so now we're gonna go to this Hunor and Magor legend, and this is part three, Hamadic race. It's called White Eagle of the Moon. Fehér Sas a Holdja. Fehér sas elődje? A Hold. A Hold. Fehér sas a Holdja, vagy... Fehér sas Holdja. Fehér sas Holdja. So here we go into Storyland. Enjoy. The White Eagle of the Moon. Hunor and Magor. You see, it always says Magyar here, but I, you know, his name is Magor. Hunor and Magor. So if I sometimes cross it up and say Magyar, that's why. Hunor and Magor were prepared for a long journey into the unknown lands. But they could not foresee that this journey would last for many long years. They could not foresee that there was to be no more peace for their people until they had reached the land of their destiny. They did not know that when they had left the Blue Lake, the Kék-tó, they had left the last unclaimed, undefended land, had left Asia, the land of the rising sun, and entered Europe, the land of the setting sun. They knew how to cope with wild beasts of the mountains or the occasional onslaught of marauding gangs. They were hardened to the burning heat and freezing winds of the plains. They knew how to pacify hostile spirits. But this time, they encountered something that was stronger, more dangerous than any of these: the desperate resistance of people who were defending their own lands. People who had found what the Huns and the Magyars were seeking, a permanent home. If they ever needed the armor of belief and the sword of purpose, they needed them in these ineluctable tragic years. Tragic for themselves because ensuing cruel wars changed their very souls, made fierce wild warriors of the once carefree hunters, and tragic for those who stood in their way. Because they were crushed by a pitiless, relentless torrent of savages. They swept across Scythia, leaving a path of destruction behind them, smoking ruins, desolate fields, and a multitude of the dead. In vain did Magor attempt to divert them toward the less populated north. The Huns, led by young Bendegúz, swept on. The wings of the white eagle were stained with blood, and his piercing cry was heard over the whole world. For years there was no rest for them. There could be no rest. Like a sharp wedge, they had driven themselves into Europe, and now they were surrounded by enemies. They had to go on or perish. Perish, that's a good word. Perish means basically to die, to expire, like food. It perishes. It has a perish, a date, a perishing date, a date that it perishes by. What's the word for perish in Hungarian? Meghalt? Semmivé lenni. Semmivé lenni. Oh, I like that. Köszönöm szépen. For years there was no rest for them. There could be no rest. Like a sharp wedge, they had driven themselves into Europe, and now they were surrounded by enemies. They had to go on or perish. Not until Bendegúz was a grown man did they find a haven from the terrific storm they themselves had created. Oh, I just saw a comment pop on there. Not sure exactly who it was, but szép estét, welcome, üdvözöljük. Feel free to comment while we're reading. Fruji and I will answer. Good evening all. Szép estét. Oh. Szavokároly. Alexa's Bátya. Jó estét, Charlie. What's going on? How's Bristol? Very nice to see you here. On a narrow strip of land between the river Don and the river Volga, protected from the south by vast stretches of quicksand and brackish swamps, they found a stronghold where no enemy could surprise them. And once more tents were raised all around an altar to Hadur. Once more men and women sat at peace around the campfires. But these were different tents and vastly different men and women. Tents were made of rich silks and velvets, filled with plundered treasures carried there by hundreds of captives. Their clothes were heavy with gold and precious stones. Warriors were armed with swords and vicious sharp javelins, and the rift between Huns and Magyars had become a gulf that they could not bridge over if they tried. Here, in this haven of peace, the beauty of a slave girl and the cunning of Attila severed the last thread that held the brother tribes together. Wow. So here we have some imagery of the Magyar horse lords, the bane of Europe for a couple of centuries, and I think that this is the coming of the slave girl. What do you think of the story so far, this part three? Does it ring any bells of what you know about the legend of Hunor and Magor, or is it quite different? Yes, of course. We always hear these stories in school, so we learn them, we read them, we try to understand them, but really it's just something that is, it just seems so far away from our time. And did you like this legend or the other legends growing up when you were reading them, or did they feel a little bit like too distant from the truth to really be powerful for you? You know, I think as a child, you cannot differentiate between these things, so you usually just listen to them as a good tale, as they should. And this story of Hunor and Magor specifically, what do you think it says about maybe the Hungarian culture or the Hungarian people in general? Is there any sort of clues to the makeup or the composition of the Hungarians in here? Well, I think Hunor and Magor, they are always like these originating sources of the Hungarians. So they are really like these big, like fathers of the nation or something, but it's not like that significant. You know, when you think about Hungarians, they mostly rely on not these stories maybe, but literature and big historical people. Maybe they look upon these personalities more, I think. Cool. I like that. So this is more of like a general origin story, but it's not necessarily what resonates in terms of like the cultural pride of the people. They're more proud of someone like maybe Petőfi Sándor or one of the actual tangible figures that aren't like Hunor and Magor, these sort of imaginary people in a way that represent perhaps the... You know, when I think of these characters, it always feels like to me like some kind of this misty forest with a lot of Hungarians just walking and searching for something. It feels different from these other things I told you before. These are true tales, I think. True fairy tales. That's where myth is very powerful for me. It sort of exists in this cross section of space between the truth and the imagination. Yeah, certainly helps to understand, just like dreams, I think. Yeah, it is like a dream in a way, just as a dream is real, a myth is real, and perhaps it's even more real because— No, yeah. Myth always has keys for life, like keys to understand, to everyday life, I think. Like these symbols of Hunor and Magor, the symbol of the, you know, these animals which we have, or like Emese álma, the dream of Emese. Emese was the mother of Álmos. Yeah. And she dreamed, and she was impregnated by the shah, by the eagle. Yeah. And she knew that she is pregnant with this Álmos guy who is gonna start a new way for the Hungarians. I think that might be where this story is heading. Let's read a little bit further, and we'll see where we go, and then perhaps head on to some poetry in a bit. Again, if you have any comments, questions, concerns, please throw them in the chat. We'll be here all night, maybe into the next morning. You never know how things are gonna go. The Magyars were content to stay in this sheltered land, but the Huns were restless. They had tasted battle, and it was to their liking. Most restless among them was Bendeguz, who had tasted power over thousands of men. He knew that he only had to command and his warriors... Hello, Willie from Debrecen. Debrecen. I said Debrecen because it's David. David Barat from Debrecen. Yo ashtei, David. Yo ashte. Egeshegedra. That's a good one. Where were we? He knew that he only had to command, and his warriors would go through fire or water, through danger and torture, to carry out his wishes. But he knew that winter would be upon them soon. The many wounded had to be cared for. A tired army was sure to be defeated. So he used his power to hold his men in restraint, a hard task for him who wanted to go on more than any of them. At night he could not sleep. The sound of his charging army, the clashing of the kardok, and their wild shouts of victory echoed in his heart. He was like a caged eagle waiting for the day when he could spread his wings again. One night he left his шатор and rambled around aimlessly in the sleeping camp. He wandered to the enclosure where the captive's tent stood near the banks of the river Ra. The night was cold, silvery with moonlight, and silent. He could hear the river gently lapping against its banks. It was a sweet, soothing sound, like the lullaby his mother used to sing. As he listened, a change came into the rhythm of the river's song. Now it was sad, yearning, and he could hear words. Someone was singing nearby. The melody coiled around his heart and drew him in. Down the grassy slope, down to the river's edge, he went. The soft grass deadened his footsteps, and he saw the singer before she heard him. Leaning against the tree so close to the river that her moonlit figure was reflected in the water, stood one of the captive girls. To be captive, that means to be basically captured like a slave, so she's a slave girl, this captive girl. Bendeguz stood motionless, watching and listening. Her deep, sad voice seemed to melt the fierceness around his heart. The restlessness, the restlessness left him. He was at peace. The song came to an end. The girl turned away from the river with a sigh. She saw Bendeguz. She made a move as to run away, then shrank against the tree and faced him defiantly. Defiantly. That's an adverb for the word defiant, and to defy someone is to stand up to them. There was contempt in her eyes and pride in the lift of her head. Bendeguz wanted to say, Do not be afraid, but now he could not, for there was no fear in her eyes, just cold, proud contempt. He walked closer. He could have touched her, and still she faced him defiantly. What is her name? he asked, and his voice was gentle. Alita. Alita, he repeated slowly. Alita, your eyes are as cold as Yeg. Do you hate me? She looked at him for a long time. Then she turned her head away. No. Not now, she whispered. Always I have before, but not now. She was speaking the language of the Huns, yet it wasn't the same. To Bendigoose, the words she spoke were like her elusive reflection in the water, the same words he knew, but subtly different. And suddenly, the words of her song rang again in his ears. Lead me westward, white eagle of the moon, oh lead me. Oh silvery rays of the moon, westward I long to fly. Alita, where did you learn that song? Where did you learn the language of my people? he asked. She looked at him, surprised. It is the language of my people, and it is a song we all know, the song of the Feher Shash. Okay. Wow, sick. Magyar szép, magyar szép. The song of the Feher Shash. What is the Feher Shash? Is that like a figure in the Hungarian mythology? I have no idea, no clue. That's what I'm curious about, because this version of the story, as we've said in the previous editions of this reading, was told by a Hungarian woman, Kate Seredy. I guess she was born a Seredy, Kate, born in Budapest in Eszternyolcas, Kilencvenkilenc, moved to America some twenty years later, and then wrote these books for American children, telling the Hungarian stories in English. But I feel like she might have changed a few things here and there to maybe make it, I don't know, different, or... I don't know, but the feeling is definitely something that stayed in the story. I don't know about this white eagle thing, but I loved it so far. Cool. What do you think? Should we keep going, or do you want to transition over to the poetry? No, you keep going. I like it. All right. Let's read a little bit more of this story. We have Bendeguz. I forget if he was the son of Hunor or Magor, but he was the son of one of them. And now he's getting restless. He's ready to fight. He's sort of freaking out. Sounds like maybe he needs a girl, and he finds this Alita, and she's speaking the language of his people. The White Eagle! exclaimed Bendeguz. Who are you? Who are your people? Alita lifted her head proudly. She stood like a white flame before him. I am the daughter of King Ashkenaz, and my people are the Simerians, homeless wanderers upon the earth, lost in the wilderness, downtrodden by the Scythians, slain by the enemy's swords, and torn by the fangs of famine for longer years than I can remember. We have never lost hope. We believe that someday we would find the land of peace, believe that someday the leader promised to us by our great forefather Gomer would come and lead us to the land, the leader who shall be called the White Eagle. And now we have been taken by slaves by you, Bendeguz, and hope is dead in our hearts. The White Eagle is but a song. Bendeguz listened to her rushing words in silence. And then he said, Alita, do you know what my people call me? Your name is Bendeguz, I know. He held out his hand to her. Alita, listen to me. My name is Bendeguz, the White Eagle. My people are also seeking a land of peace promised to them by our forefather Nimrod. We have been slain by swords and torn by famine on the way. Now we will kill and destroy, not because we want to, but because nothing must stand in our way. We must, and we will, reach the land of our destiny. While he spoke these words, Alita came slowly closer to him and took his hand. He closed his strong fingers on her hand and went on. Tomorrow, Alita, your people shall be free. Tell them that they may leave us or stay with us, not as slaves, but as our brothers. Tell them that our strength will be their strength, that we will never forsake them. She had been looking into his eyes intently, searchingly. Now she smiled. I can speak for my people now, Bendeguz. I will follow wherever you go. We will follow the White Eagle of the Moon westward, always. She stepped back and slipped away between the dark trees. She might have been a dream, but her voice floated back to Bendeguz, growing fainter and fainter. Lead me westward, White Eagle of the Moon. Oh, lead me. Bendeguz, back in his tent, was also singing softly. On silvery rays of the moon, westward I long to fly. And as he drifted into sleep, his last thought was, Westward, but not alone. Not alone anymore. Okay, so we have this scene between Bendegúz and Alita, and he has convinced her to bring her people over to him. Now, is my understanding, is Alita, she's representative of some other tribe, I think, right? Yeah, of course, yeah. I don't know which kind of tribe, but you know what came to my mind during your story? That this westward thing. This is something that Hungarians are always thinking about, this westward. And I think, I don't want to really go into these political or some contemporary social issues of the Hungarian society. I think we'll need another couple of podcasts for that. Yeah, me too. And also, it's kind of boring compared to this. But I think this is something that is very, very, like, Hungarian thing to think and dream about going west. That makes sense. I mean, even because this story, I think it takes place originally in Scythia, where Nimrod was the king, and then Hunor and Magor, they had to look for a new kingdom for their people. So even though now when we talk about this dichotomy between East and West, we're more referring to Eastern Europe versus Western Europe, this still, even back to those days, goes back to this idea of Europe as a whole and what was east of that. And even I think back before, you always have this wedge of Hungary, right, between these concepts of East and West, whatever they may represent. So before you had the Byzantine Empire and the Catholic Empire, or the Pope, whatever you want to call it, and the Hungarians have to choose between Orthodox Christianity and Catholicism. And then later on, you have the Turkish and you have the Austrians, and those are two decisions to go East and West. So perhaps this is a theme that is reflected throughout the history. Yeah, and this border identity type of thing is always represented now also, like feeling like a bridge. Actually, like from west to east. And would you say, Ah, Luxica. Hello, Willie from Tatabánya. Tatabánya. I love Tatabánya. I went to a great cave there. It was called the something barlang. What is it called? Oh, I don't know. It probably is Turul barlang. No, no, no. There's the Turul. There's that statue. The Szelim barlang. Zoltán Soós. Jó estét. How do you pronounce his last name? Soós? Soós. It's just like a duplicate if gondolom így van. Gondolom így van. És most azt hiszem lehet beszélni magyarul. Megpróbálhatjuk. Okay. Próbálok, próbálok. Jónapot. Julio Giulio. That doesn't sound like a Magyar. Julio Giulio. Jónapot. Jónapot, Julio. Hello. Zoltán. Üdv, tataró. Welcome. Igazából soha mentem a Tatabányara. Csak Tatabányára. És Tatabánya nagyon érdekes város, mert azt hiszem a klasszikus vegyes, történelmes és kommunista város, mert például sok panelházak, de is nagyon-nagyon szép kiállítás és szép termeszetes. De azt hallgatom tata nagyon-nagyon… nem? Igen, tata történelmibb, mint Tatabánya. Gondolom, hogy az volt inkább a bányaváros. De Tatán van igazából egy vár, Eszterházy vár. Eszterházy vár. És egy gyönyörű tó is, ahol már én is megfordultam. A nagyon gyönyörű tó, igazából azt hallgattam. Igen. És a… Miskolci vagy, nem? Igen, én miskolci. És megígérted, hogy eljössz egyszer. Megíg… Tessék? You promised. You come. Igen, igen, igen. Persze, persze. Igazából már mentem Lillafüredre, és nem szóltál. Nem szóltál. Mit az mondtad? You haven't told me you're coming. Most, igen, most igazából megyek New Yorkba 23. novembertől 20. hétig decemberig, de azt hiszem, buék után persze megyünk Miskolcra, Alexszal. Wow. De már mentem Miskolcra barlangfürdő. Nagyon érdekes, nagyon érdekes. Igen, az egy barlangba vájt termálfürdő. És mit írtak? Írtak valamit? Sziasztok. Milyen jó organumod van, Willie. Színész vagy? Ki segít? Mit jelent organumod? You have a very nice voice tone. The tone of your voice is very nice. Köszönöm szépen, Erika. Are you an actor? Nem, nem. Nem, nem színész vagyok, de nem tudom, mert azt hiszem, mindig ki… és az egész világ… Egy színpad. Egy színpad. Azt hiszem, okosabb Vilmos azt mondta azt, mit az, Zoltán. Gyere, megmutatom. Megmutatom, tatát. Okay, igen. Buék után talán első… Előtte, igen. És utána megyünk túrázni. Túrázni, nagyon jó. És mára mentem a Lillafüredre a legszebb családjával, mert nagyon jó kirándultunk Tokajra, és utána amikor visszajöttünk Budapestre, mentünk a Lillafüredre, és nagyon szép. Igen. Lillafüred olyan, mint egy mese. Mint egy tündér, nem tudom, egy tündéres történet. My family is from Hungary. I watch your channel to understand my mom's culture, so thank you very much for all your guys' hard work. Nagyon jó, köszönöm szépen, Julio Giulio. Hi. Where are you from, by the way, Julio? Are you from the States? Are you from America? Are you from New York like me, perhaps? And where is your mom's family from, is also… Because Vilmos is from Felvidék. Igen. Felvidéki Vilmos, Róvidnéve. Róvidnéve nickname? Nickname. Nem, Betenév. Betenév. Felvidéki Vilmos. Betenév. Las Vegas. Wow. You ever been to Vegas, Fruji? No, never planning on. Sorry. Not like a party person. Oh, yeah. Well, Vegas I've been just once, and it's… I wouldn't call it fun, but it's something. Budapest is where his mother is from, I believe, Julio Giulio. Cool. Jó város az, hiszem Budapest. Do you like Budapest, or do you like Miskolc better? You know, we only have this one huge city in the country, so everybody loves to come here eventually. And you have to also because you have your career and everything, but it's really an astonishing place, I think. Yeah, I agree. I also have some Italian friends who told me, okay, I have seen this whole bunch of cities in my life, but Budapest is something else. It is. It is something else. And köszönöm szépen, Adrian Brown. Barna Adrian. Most Magyarul... ... Sanaházban... ... Kel beszélgetni velem, mert a Sanaházban, és most lehet gyakorolni mindennap. Rá vannak kényszerülve, they must. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're closed up with you. No choice, no choice. And it's hot in there. Yeah, the heat actually brings out a lot of interesting conversations. You can talk with me now if you want to come on video with Fruchina and myself. You can go. Have you ever had someone on video? My friend Eddie, who's no stranger to being on camera, came on once before. Don't be shy, Julio. Yeah, Julio, Julio, if you want to come on, Julio, Julio, Julio, Julio, if you want to come on video. You're more than welcome to Budapest.fm, or .fm if you're American, backslash Willie. That's me. It's a craphole, Vegas. He loves Vegas. He loves Vegas, Julio, Julio. And who is Kedvenc költő, magyar költő? Az én kedvenc költőm valószínűleg József Attila. József Attila. He's like one of the biggest poets of Hungary, probably. He died very young. He was like 32 or 33. I'm not sure. Egyik a legnagyobb költő Magyarországon, és meghalt, amikor nagyon fiatal volt. Igen. És tragikus ember, nem? Igen, eléggé tragikus a költészete, de vannak azért vidám részei is. És az ő születésnapja a magyar költészetnek a napja. Magyar költészet napja. Mit jelent? It's the Hungarian Poetry Day on April 11th. Oh wow, I didn't know that. Tizenegyedik áprilisban. And also he has like the memorial places of where he was born in Budapest also. Where was he born in Budapest, you know? In Ferencváros. Ferencváros. And Ferencváros on most? Igen, most itt vagyunk éppen. Szuper, szuper. Jó, nem coincidence. Hogy is say coincidence in Hungarian? Véletlen. Véletlen. Nem véletlen. Barna Adrian. I was born in Budapest, but grew up in the US, so I feel like I need to relearn my mother tongue and practice. That's gonna be hard work. Nagyon nehéz a nyelv. Do you think it's a hard one? Igen, igen, nagyon-nagyon nehéz, de azt hiszem az első tíz százalék legnehezebb, és utána nem könnyű, de például azt hiszem soha fluent native beszélget, haris say native speaker. Sosem beszélek majd úgy, mintha az anyanyelvem lenne. Okay, yeah, like for me to get to that point. Anyanyelv means mother tongue, you know. That's also interesting, like anyanyelv, mother tongue, it's a very literal thing. Oh, I have a very good story on that, actually. Do you know one of these big, like philosophers, Heidegger? Yeah. He once came to Budapest, and he met some guys, some professors, you know. And once he got to know that the Hungarian word for thoughts is gondolat, which has this short part, which is gond, and that means issue, some issue, some problem. So you have to, when you are thinking, you see, you have some problem to solve. And that's contained in the word, actually. Wow. So, and he said, Okay, oh my God, I should have learned Hungarian instead of, like, ancient Greek. Classic Heidegger. Yeah. That's why they say semmi gond, like no problem, right? Yeah. Oh, Vashta glinda. Hello from Del Carolina. USA. I was in— hey, what's up? Where are you? Which part of South Carolina? I was in, uh... wow, now it's escaping me. What is that place? I've been there several times. I was in a wedding there, in Kiawah. Kiawah Island. Kiawah Island. Never heard. Is it a nice place? Very nice. Very nice. It's like one of the nicest places in the country, probably. Hi, Willie, from Marine Maioros. Nagyomuzsvág, Kosovnomszépen. I am French and moved to Hungary to follow my husband. I'm also trying to embrace the culture and the language. Love what you do. Thank you very much, Marina Maioros. I'm guessing the Maioros is your husband's last name. Cool. Another foreigner who loves Hungarian culture. There's a lot of us out there, actually. That's something strange to us, because it's such a small country. Who would have thought about us?
But actually, I have one of my best friends, Chila, who is living now in Japan. And she got to know his husband because of him liking Hungarian culture, and he wanted to learn actually the language. And I don't know, he's pretty fine with it now, but they also live in Japan, so can't really tell. So Chila and this guy, where is he from? Japan. He's from Japan. Okay, cool. That's cool. Yeah, and, but he told me that it's a very hard language also, so. Igen, de mindig érdekes, és nagyon szép a… a … Most. … Which one do you want to? Okay. How do I say we can give everyone three choices and they can pick? Okay, let's give three choices. So three choices: Nagyon fáj, Very pain, Sziasztok, Angliából, Leedsből. Leeds, like the football team. There's a saying everyone hates Leeds, but I think it's actually a lovely place. They just hate the football team. Willy mo. So, choice number one: Nagyon fáj. Choice number two… Dunana. Dunana. … Dunana. Choice number one, Nagyon fáj. Choice number two, Dunana. And choice number three? Maybe there's some… no. Wow, so many great poems. Sok. Nás. Vers. Sok szép vers. Oh, this one. Születésnapomra. Születésnapomra. From my birthday. So we got choice number one. Nagyon fáj. Nagyon fáj. Choice number two. A Dunánál. And choice number three. Születésnapomra. What's it gonna be? We can take the first one that answers. Put it in the. Go on. Beszélgetés szoba. Go on. Go on. Go on. Menu. Let's see. And see. We'll wait here. We'll wait here all night. A Dunánál, says Barna Adrián. Good choice, good choice. We were hoping that you would say that. All right, now to find it. Oh, probably, yeah. This one. Okay, so I think we'll do a little back and forth here. I'll read one verse. No, you're gonna read until that. I'm gonna read until that. Okay. Okay. I will do as you command. A Dunánál. Első rész. A rakodópart alsó kövén ültem, néztem, hogy úszik el a dinnyehéj. Alig hallottam, sorsomba merülten, hogy fecseg a felszín, hallgat a mély. Mint aki sírba száll, előttem elment, s felettem elzúgott a fennsík. Mint aki tévedésből lett ember, s mint aki lassú vízbe lép. Hogy enyededel, minden hullám, és minden mozdulás, s mint édes anyja ringatott, mesélt, s mosta a város minden szennyesét. És elkezdett az eső cseperészni, de mintha mindegy volna, el is állt. És megy is, mint aki bálánkból nézi a hosszú esőt, néztem a határt. Egy kedvű, örök első modra hullt. Színtelenül, mint tarka voltam ott, Alexa. A duna csak folyt, és mint a termeken másra gondoló anyjanák ülén, a kiskemek úgy játszadoztak szépen, és nevetgéltek a habok felém. Az idő, árnyán, úgy remegtek ők, mint sírköves, dülüngő temetők. Mély levegő. So what does that mean? He's basically sitting by the Danube, and he's thinking about the past, and he's thinking about his mother. He sees, it starts by him seeing like a watermelon, the piece of a watermelon. The rind of a watermelon. And then he's starting to think about the mother who was like a... She was washing the clothes of the people around the building. And it was a very, very dangerous job, so she died early. And then he's going to think about all this history that leded him to stand and sit there. Wow. Beautiful. Would you like to read part two? It's up to you. Okay, give it to me. Én úgy vagyok, hogy már százezer éve nézem, amint meglátok hirtelen. Egy pillanat s kész az idő egésze, mint százezerős szemlélget velem. Látom, mit ők nem láttak, mert kapáltak, öltek, öleltek, tették, amit kell, s ők látják azt, az anyagba leszálltak, mit én nem látok, ha vallani kell. Tudunk egymásról, mint öröm és bánat. Enyém a múlt, és övék a jelen. Verset írunk, ők fogják ceruzámat, s én érzem őket, és emlékezem. Anyám kun volt, az apám félig székely, félig román vagy tán egészen az, anyám szájából édes volt az étel, apám szájából szép volt és igaz. Mikor mozdulok, ők ölelik egymást. Elszomorodom néha miatt. Ez az elmúlás, ebből vagyok. Meglásd, hogy majd nem leszünk megszólíthatók. Megszólítanak, mert ők, én vagyok már. Gyenge létemre így vagyok erős, ki emlékszem, hogy több vagyok a soknál, mert az őssejtig vagyok minden ős, az ős vagyok, mely sokasodni foszlik. Apám s anyámmá válok boldogan, s apám, anyám maga is kettéoszlik s én lelkes eggyé így szaporodom. A világ vagyok. Minden, ami volt, van. A sok nemzetség, mely egymásra tör, a honfoglalók győznek velem holtan, s a meghódoltak kínja meggyötör. Árpád, Zalán, Verbőczi és Dózsa, török, tatár, tót, román kavarog e szívben, melye múltnak már adósa szelíd jövővel, mai magyarok. Én dolgozni akarok. Elegendő harc, hogy a múltat be kell vallani. A Dunának, mely múlt, jelen s jövendő, egymást ölelik lágy hullámai. A harcot, amelyet őseink vívtak, békévé oldja az emlékezés, s rendezni végre közös dolgainkat, ez a mi munkánk; és nem is kevés. Wow. Gyönyörű. Azt hiszem, jobban, mint az enyém. Nagyon, nagyon, nagyon jó. Was that the rest of the poem? Yeah, that was the ending. That was the ending. And you see, he was talking about Verbőczi, Árpád, Zalán. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he was just reminiscing of all these ancient Hungarian fathers who led us. Who’s Zalán? Oh, I can’t tell you about that. I always feel like you know Hungarian history better than me. I know Verbőczi, I know Dózsa, I know Árpád. I don’t know Zalán. I don’t know about Zalán that much. Katinka Szabó, a usual—how do you say, like a regular listener? Someone… kedves hallgató. Kedves hallgató. Katinka Szabó. Tecseg a felszín hargata, mely az egyi kedvenc verssorom. Is that another poem of József Attila’s? No, it was in the poem, actually. Oh. At the beginning, you see here. Uh-huh. It was. It's somewhere over here, but it actually means that I love how the— oh my God, it's hard to translate. It means that he's listening to the sound of the river, the top and the bottom. And the top is, like, babbling and just speaking very softly, and about some not so interesting facts, but, you know, the depth is something different. Cool. Love it. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Yenidu, yenidu, yenidu. Yenidu sep, asmota, bana, Adrian. Köszi szépen. Does anyone want to hear another poem? Maybe we have time for a couple more, one or two. By the way, would you mind checking if Alexa's lost in the stairs? Yeah. Yeah, that's why I said it's Alexa. Uh-huh. Okay. We have her standing by the door. She can't get in. All right. Alexa's trapped outside. Okay, well, all right. If anyone wants to hear another poem while my fiancée is trapped in the wilderness... She's lost in, like, the Danube River. Probably not. We have time for—we have a whole book of József Attila. But not to be just, like, so depressed, there is some disszolatás napomra is, something more, like, cheerful. Okay. Születésnapomra. You told me that one before, that you really liked it, so. Yeah. It's, like, one of the biggest poems of his, and we have to learn it by heart. I know a lot of you probably know. Biztosan tudjátok. Can you find it for me? I'm having trouble. Loose wrists. We can freeze you a little bit more. Thank you. It's only polite. It's only polite. Oh, actually, there is a song from this poem, which is pretty cool. The Szulejtés poem, right? Uh-huh. Oh, here it is. Here it is. Születés napomra. All right, let's see, what do we got here? Harminckét éves lettem én, Meglepetés e költemény. Csecse becse, Ajándék, mely meglepet, E kávéházi szegleten. Magam magam. The corner of the coffeehouse. The corner of the coffeehouse, that's kávéházi szegleten. Magam magam. Harminckét éven, Elszaladt, Meg havi kétszáz, Sorshúzott, Az ám, az ám. Lehettem volna oktató, Nem ily töttütű, Töttyütör, Koptató. Szegény legény. De nem lettem, mert szegeden, Eltanácsolt az egyetem, Fura ura. Intem egy gyorsan nyersen ért, A nincsen apám verse mert, A hont kivont. Szabja bal, Ofta ellenem. Ide idézi szellemem. Hévet s nevet. Önámig szóval értelken, nem lesz tanár effér tekén. Kagyok, srágyok. Ha urul, orger antalúr, hogy kültünk nem nyelvtan tanul. Székáj, eké. Én egész népemet fogom, nem középiskolás fokon taní-tani. What do you think? How did I do? Well, it was fine. You have to practice with these gaming words at the end because pronunciation is pretty hard with those. Can you show us how it's done? Maybe pick a couple to... Like this one, this kagyok, srágyok. The gy is something hard, I think, maybe, to pronounce because you have to just like... Yeah, that's the hardest for me. Okay, so Alexa is missing downstairs. Do you mind if I just give her a quick call just to make sure that she's... All right. Can you hand me my phone? Elnézést, elnézést, but we do not want to leave my menya son stranded. So actually... You can keep talking. I just wanted to tell the story of the poem, maybe. Hey, Alexa. It's like you're calling Siri. Are you outside? Okay, you can come back and ring the doorbell. Ray just didn't know it was you. All right, so we'll see you soon. Szeretlek. Okay, cool. And Péter Diglics: Sak küzepbe hallottam utoljára, a születésnapomra verset. He told that he was still in school, in high school probably, but when he last heard this poem, I guess he liked it. He liked it. Jó ötlet, Gloria Varszegi, jó ötlet. It's very nice having you here because usually I read these poems and I don't know, you know, I'm trying, but this is very hard, old Hungarian. Well, the story is pretty funny. Can you tell us about it? Yeah, because the guy was like 22 when he wrote this poem, or maybe even younger, and he had like this very grumpy teacher at the university. And he told him, Oh my God, you are not going to be teacher in Hungary until I live, because József Attila had some troubles because of his poems, actually. He wrote about Christ in not like a well-mannered way during that time, and he actually had like a jury meeting with this. Really? Yeah, because of the poem. And the guy said, Okay, I'm gonna cancel you, and he was like, You're not canceling me. I have another poem about you. And the ending is pretty funny because he says, Mr. Horger Antal. I'm not gonna teach, like, high schoolers. I'm gonna teach everyone on a higher level in this. Ah, cool. So he was pretty sure about what he does. So this is what he says here, ha örül. Örül. Ha örül, horgere antalul. Hogy kötünk nem nyelvtan tanul. Seké. It means, this is pretty funny because it means if you're happy that I'm not learning the grammars anymore at your school, don't be, because I'm gonna teach this one. Én egész népemet fogom. Én egész népemet fogom. Nem. Középiskolás fokon. Nem középiskolás fokon. Én egész népemet fogom. Nem középiskolás fokon. Tanítani. Speak. This kind of reminds me a little bit of, like, a nail törő. Like. Yeah, because it is. Actually, it's a playful thing. Like, it's just, okay, you told me that, I tell you this. It's fun, I think. Do you know any good nép törő? Oh my God, I hate those. You hate them? You know any good ones in Hungarian? Yeah, I know a few, like this páva thing. Yeah, just that was the one I just learned last week was, az aranybácsán papagyár van, pávat látván, szájat tátván, lábat rázván, pava-pavat. No, not correct. Nem jó. Oh no. Ádám bácsám. Ádám bácsám. There is a short version for that. Let's try with that. Ádám bácsám. Ádám bácsám. Pávát látván. Pávát látván. Páva, pávát. No, it's not correct either. I don't remember. The one that I learned was Adam, bátyám, papám, papányáván. Pávat látván, pávat látván, száját tátván. Páva, pávát. No, then there was labatrazván. Páva, pávát. No, that's harder, but it's correct now. And then I also learned the fekete bika, pata kobog a patika, pepita kövén. Oh my God. I cannot repeat that. Fekete bika, pata kobog a patika, pepita kövén. But this is all that I do. Now you can rap the poem. Én egész népemet fogom, nem középiskolás fokon, tani-tani. But we usually stop by this just to make fun of the word, like, tani, tani. Tani, tani. It's just plain. Yeah, okay, cool. So you want to hear the third one, last one? The third, the Harmadik, the utolsó. What was it again? It was nagyon fáj. It was the hurtful one. Do you want to hear that? Yeah, I think so. That's like a good one too. That's it. It's a long one. So maybe we'll do a little bit of switching back and forth. Okay. When you're tired of it. I can never get tired of József Attila. Do you like Petőfi more? I like Petőfi. I think Petőfi, for me, is a more interesting historical character. Yeah. Because of the revolution. Yeah, the revolution. It's almost like fake how heroic Petőfi's story is, and I think maybe part of that is because he has this cult built up around him. Yeah, of course. But it is also just the fact to me that he died when he was, what, 26, 27 years old, and he already had this incredible collection of poems. It's amazing. Yeah. Have you ever learned about the 1956 revolution, '56, and also the literature of that? Because there are a lot of emigrant... Writers, for example, Márai Sándor. He lived in America. Yeah, I know. He's actually quite prominent in Leányfalu, where I live now. There's a lot of Márai Sándor statues and streets. Leányfalu. Leányfalu. And he wrote a very cool poem about 1956 and the aftermath of the revolution, because there was a lot of people, you know, thrown into jail. And he wrote about basically the tyranny of the communists. And it's a very famous poem also, so I'm gonna search for it later, and then I'm gonna show you maybe. What's it called? It just won't come to my mind. I'm gonna search for it later. But if someone knows, tell us, please. But I did read the Agiertek. It's a Márai Sándor book, like, The Candles Burn. Oh, yeah, yeah. Gyertyak csonkig égnek. Have you read that? Yeah, it's a good book. Nagyan, Nagyan Erika. I love the way that it's told. It's like a very interesting concept for a story, because it's just two guys sitting, and like they're like 90 years old by the fireplace, and the guy wanted to get revenge for that whole time, and it's just very interesting. It's so interesting when someone leaves the home country, and then they write about the experience of not being there. And also Márai eventually killed himself when he was very old because of this. Really? Yes. I didn't know that he killed himself. He was attacked for not staying in Hungary at that time. And he thought he acted cowardly or something, I don't know. Of course, we never know what went in his head or what was in his head, but he committed suicide pretty, at a pretty old age. Actually, because there is this statue of him in Leányfalu. Te tanulsz, de most nekem is hozzád kell tanulom. Tisztelet neked, Zoltán Sós. Ah, Szia, Alexa. Hogy vagy? We got a new guest here. Nagyon a special guest. Különleges vendég. What does that mean? Különleges. So Nagyon fáj, józsa vátela. Az utolsó verset. Ah, who knows? Maybe not. I'll begin, and then I'll pass it off. Okay. Kívül-belül, … … mint lukba megriadt egérke. Amíg hevülsz, az asszonyhoz úgy menekülsz, hogy óvjon, kárja, ülje, terde. Nem csak a lágy, nem csak a lágy, meleg ülcsal, nem csak a vágy, de oda taszít a muszáj is, ezért ül el minden, ami asszonyra … Míg el nem feherül a száj is, kettős teher s kettős kincs, hogy szeretni kell, ki szeret s várja. Pára nem találhat. Oly hontalan, mint amilyen, gyámoltalan, a szűk segélyt végző vadállat. Nincsen egyebb menedékünk a késhegyet, bárányádnak szegzett kebátor. És lásd, akadt nő, ki érti e szavakat, de mégis ellökött magától. Nincsen helyem így élők közt, zúg a fejem, gondom s fájdalmam kicifrázva, mint a gyerek kezében a csörgőcsereg, ha magára hagyottan rázza. Mit kellene tenni érte és ellene? Nem szégyenlem, ha kitalálom, hisz kitaszít a világ így is olyat, akit kábít a nap, ettent az álom. A kultúra úgy hull le rólam, mint ruha másról a boldog szerelemben. De az hol áll, hogy nézzem mind dobál halál, s még egyedül kelljen szenvednem? A csecsemő is szenvedi, ha szül a nő. Párosként enyhíthet a lázat, de énnekem pénzt hoz fájdalmas énekem, s hozzám szegődik a gyalázat. Segítsetek ti kisfiúk, a szemetek pattanjon meg ott ő, ahol jár. Ártatlanok csizmák alatt sikongjatok, és mondjátok neki: nagyon fáj. Ti hű ebek, kerék alá kerüljetek, s ugassátok neki: nagyon fáj. Nők, terhetek viselők, elvetéljetek, és sírjátok neki: nagyon fáj. Ép emberek, bukjatok, összetörjetek, s motyogjátok neki: nagyon fáj. Ti férfiak, egymást megtépve nő miatt, ne hallgassátok el: nagyon fáj. Lovak, bikák, kiket, hogy húzzatok igát, herélnek, ríjjátok, nagyon fáj. Néma halak, horgot kapjatok jég alatt, és tátogjatok rám, nagyon fáj. Elevenek, mindenmi kíntól megremeg, égjen, hol laktok, kert, vadon, táj. S ágya körül üszkösen, ha elszenderül, vakogjatok velem, nagyon fáj. Hallja még él. Azt tagadta meg, amit ér. Elvonta puszta kénye végett, kívül-belül menekülő élő elől, a legutolsó menedéket. Wow, köszönöm szépen. That was tragically beautiful. I mean, I didn't even fully understand the words at the end, but you could just tell tonally how it became a very sad and deep poem. Could you tell us a little bit what he's talking about there when he says— Okay, let's see, because, well, he tells you that, okay, he feels like he starts with the fact that he's alone, okay, and that when a man wants a woman, it is something more than him. It is something more than wanting to have a relationship or a relation to a woman. It is like when it feels, and he starts to compare this state of mind to being like an animal when it's doing its job, you know? A wild animal. Yeah, a wild animal in the nature, with the man looking for the woman. Yeah, and then he says, okay, there are some women who know what I'm saying, but they are not giving me help. They are not letting me love them. Probably. And he says that at this end part, when I was chanting Nagyon fáj, he says to everyone, You men, you women, you people, horses and fishes and everything that lives, just scream with me, it hurts. And so it's kind of the hurtful existence that he's trying to have a response. Eduardo Chapulveda just says, Wow, I think he really likes the way that you read. Thank you. It's a nice poem. Read it a lot. Read a lot of József Attila. This Nagyon fáj, is that like a phrase that has stuck in the—is that a famous phrase in Hungarian? Like, will instantly everyone know that you're talking about this poem? Yeah, if you say Nagyon fáj, then okay, József Attila. It is. It's sort of like a representation of his whole life in a way. Must be. You know, he had severe problems, mental health issues, and he was also mistreated. Abused. No, mistreated by psychoanalysts. They thought that he was, as far as I can tell, they thought that he was like schizophrenic, but he was like actually borderline. He had borderline disorder, which they at the time did not know. So it was pretty tragic because they couldn't give them the treatment he needed, and so eventually he killed himself, unfortunately. He threw himself on a train track or something, right? Probably he did, yes. We cannot know for sure that he did it for suicide or something happened, like an accident, but probably it was a suicide, yes, because he left a lot of letters to loved ones. And how would you compare him to a figure like Ady Endre, for example? Oh yeah. Well, actually, he was a big poet for him also. He was like a big figure for József Attila. Because József Attila was more like 1920s, 1930s, and Ady Endre was more turn of the century? Yeah, yeah. It was like millennial poetry. But Ady Endre was like this big figure of actually making a revolution to Hungarian poetry, like the language itself, making it renewed. Neo-voytage. Neo-voytage, yes. Some type of that thing, yes. And he went to Paris, you know, everything. He was like a big cosmopolitan, and he really wanted Hungarian to be a big language and a big literature. Am I crazy for thinking that Ady Endre is like somewhat, obviously not a poet, but similar to Hemingway in a way? Similar to Hemingway. Oh, well, he loved life also. He loved women. But yeah, he was, you know, of course it was poems and not like the prose. And that's a nice comparison. I've never thought about that. The only reason I think about that is because he also lived in Paris, obviously, and Hemingway in many ways revitalized the English language because he got rid of—he made it much more simple, actually. More minimalistic, as far as I know. Like more short terms and more shorter sentences, very clear. And Ady Endre, he has this look about him that's like, it's almost—I wouldn't say it's like haunting, but it's like it sticks with you. It sticks with you. It's very like a power. He's this dark complexion and these eyes that sort of like pierce through. Yeah, he was ill, actually. He was ill also. So all the Hungarian poets were like— Yeah, there were like the big typical geniuses, you know, with illnesses and drinking problems and syphilis. Yes. I mean, that might— I don't know if it's just Hungarian poets. I think there's a lot of poets. Like the genius type of ones. They have an alienation from society. Of course. And they must be, because then they couldn't have a perspective that you don't have as a normal, more normal person. Do you think that's necessary for— A poet or a writer to have, like, a source of pain within them? Of pain, yeah, I think yes, that's a true thing. I also write sometimes, you know, prose, and I told you about that before, but I find that to be very true. When you have something to solve in yourself, then you are trying to solve it by words. And that must be very true, because look at those lives. They wouldn't be so painful in these sentences if they wouldn't have lived those hard lives and hardships. Well, I think that's what makes them also a little bit relatable, because we all have pain in our own lives in our own ways. We just can't express it. We can't express it. And somehow these people are like the conduit or the channel for us to express this pain or this joy, just strong emotions in every direction. Nem értem, amit beszélt. Ah, he doesn't understand. Okay. Talán utasul, utpetsa lehet beszélni magyarul, és utána vége. We'll do five more minutes in Hungarian, and then we'll wrap it up. Nagyon-nagyon jó volt igazából tetszik ez a beszélgetés. Nekem is. Jó, jó, azt hiszem a... pihentető. Pihentető. Pihentető, és kenyemes, nem kenyemes. That would be more boring. Ez nem unalmas, csak komfortos. Komfortos, komfortos. És nagyon jó nekem, mert azt mondtam előtt, nagyon nehéz általában, amikor olvasok magyar verseket, mert nagyon szép a hang, nagyon szép a szavak, de nagyon nehéz nekem tényleg lehet érteni nekem. És most... A veled könnyű, de is József Attila, az hiszem, I gained an appreciation for him tonight that I didn't. Mindig, mindig nagyon jó kultúrászkodottam Pesten, mert igazából a nagyon híres szobor a Dunánál, a Parlament mellett, a József Attila, és mindig azt hittem, hogy nagyon jó, nagyon jó srác. Mert néha nagyon furcsa vagyok, de néha tetszik a beszélgetni a szoborral. És leülhetsz, és beszélhetsz vele, miközben ő gondolkodik. Benne gondolkodik, mit jelent. When he's thinking while you are trying to talk to him, he's like thinking about... Igen, igen, igen. Nagyon jó szobor. És szeretnél beszélgetni több József Attila vagy Hunor és Magor, a véges gondol... Szerintem nagyon jó volt olvasni, jól olvasható, te is. Átéled, you live it in yourself, you live through what you read. Igen, igen. És nagyon jól tudsz egyre jobban, szerintem nagyon szépen beszélsz magyarul. Köszönöm szépen. Most nagyon jó nekem meghallgatni ezt, mert azt hiszem, tudom a magyarnyelvet nagyon nehéz, és az alban nem... Sok idegen emberrel lehet beszélgetni és olvasni, de nekem most a több tudom. Igen, igen, igen, igen. És most lehet... I want to keep going. I want to keep going because this language, I feel like it's going to be a lifelong challenge for me. And it's very good to have the motivation from everyone to keep going. So thank you. Thank you, Fruzsi Köszönöm szépen for being here. Köszönöm szépen mindenkinek, aki sem a legjobb epizód volt, mert sok action beszélgetés Szobaban, and we really appreciate all the comments. We really appreciate all the words. Egészségedre, one last time. Cheers. Egészség. Egészség. We will see you next week, same time, same place. Csütörtök éjszaka, történetidő. And that's a wrap.
