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ANONYMOUS. 1 1
BALLAD OF THE EMPEROR'S DAUGHTER 5 OR THE HISTORY OF MICHAEL SZILAGYI AND LADISLAUS HAJMASI.
I HAVE an interesting tale to tell you,
Such: as you never heard. List! for 'twill charm you;
9Tis of the Turkish Emperor's lovely daughter.
Two youthful heroes were of old made prisoners, Sent to Constantinople to the Emperor, And hy the Turkish Emperor flung in prison.
The prison was adjacent to the palace;
The heroes9 names were, Szilagy Mihaly The one—Hajmasi Laszlo was the other.
Szilagyi, looking through the prison trellice, ('Twas Whitsun day,) play'd an harmonious ditty On his guitar—'twas sweet, yet melancholy :
And spake, 'midst deepest sighs—"With father, mother, And with mine own dear sister, this day twelvemonth, This very day, I was so very happy!"
12 ANONYMOUS.
The Emperor's daughter, standing near the window, Heard him—look'd in—and soon was moved to pity;
Besides, Szilagyi's form had pleased the maiden.
And suddenly she sought the prison's portal, And pour'd sweet comfort on Szilagyi's bosom.
And gently, sweetly, held this flattering language:
" Young hero! if upon thy knightly honor Thou swear to bring me to the Magyar country, And swear too (should I prosper) to espouse me—
" I shall be satisfied—and I will free thee;
Yes! I will free thee from thy prison's darkness:
So swear me by thy faith and by thine honor!"
And soon Szilagyi answered—" Free me, maiden ! And I will wed thee—by my faith and honor I swear to wed thee, thou imperial daughter !"
And so the maiden won the prison keeper ;—
Aroused at midnight both the sleeping heroes.
And led them forth to the imperial stables:
Gave each a sharpened sword in golden scabbard;
They kilPd the stable-keepers and attendants, And the three fleetest horses swiftly saddled.
The morning brought the tidings to the Emperor—
The prisoners were out-broken from the prison—
The boys, the keepers of the stables, murder'd.
ANONYMOUS. 13 They stopp'd the heroes at the gate of customs, Ask'd them where speeding. " Out to Nagy-Szombat,*
Among the wolves—with Isten's holy favor." f Five of his choicest chiefs the Emperor summoned, And thus commanded them: " Pursue the flying—
Capture them—and produce them in my presence."
And the five chieftains hasten'd to the borders, Bidding the guards arrest the flying heroes, And bear them swiftly to the Emperor's presence.
They fell upon the heroes at the border—
Strove to arrest them—but they fought so bravely, They forced their way, and passed in safety onward.
The chieftains heard it, and pursued the flying—
O'ertook them—and there was a bloody combat:
The chieftains fell—it was the will of Isten ! The heroes sent the maid for her protection, What time the battle lasted, to an island, An island not remote. The battle ended, The heroes sought again the hidden maiden, And then Szilagyi heard a voice of wailing—
Szilagyi saw the maiden sorely troubled.
• Tyman (Germanice).
t The meaning (says Schedel) is, " We go to Tyman to join the Turkish troops, who are terrible to the enemy (the Hunga-rians) as wolves to sheep."
14 ANONYMOUS.
Uttering despairing tones of lamentation,
" Merciful Isten! I have left my dwelling:
What will befal me in this dreary desert ?
" O miserable fortune! But my fortune Is far less grievous than those youthful heroes', Who fell beneath the sword-strokes of the foeman.
" For them, I'll haste to death—for them, I'll make me A burial-bed upon the gloomy desert:
God! let the wolves and wild fowl be my mourners.
" Into God's hand I now my soul deliver."
Szilagyi hastened thither—and the maiden
Smiled joyous while he led her forth. They jouraey'd Towards the Magyar land; they reach'd the borders;
And then Hajraasi said to his companion,
" Let's strive who shall possess the lovely maiden."
But swift Szilagyi turn'd upon Hajmasi:
" Nay, at thy peril; thou art wed already To a fair bride: I'm pledged unto the maiden."
Then cried the imperial daughter to the heroes,
" Nay! not for me shall hero blood be wasted:
Fling me upon the sword—not your own bosoms." *
* " Hanyjatokinkabb engem szablyara, mintezt niiveljltek."
This is an Hungarian idiom for " Kill me, uot yourselves/1
ANONYMOUS. 15 Hajmasi still persisted, and their weapons,
Unsheathed, were swiftly drawn upon each other;
And sorely, sorely was Hajmasi wounded.
Then spoke the wounded man to his companion,
" Forgive me, friend! for I am well rewarded:
Well recompensed is he who breaks his duty.
" I had a gentle wife and two fair children—
The thought overwhelms me—I am justly pumsh'd : Brother in arms! farewell—and O forgive.me!"
So each bestow'd on each a friendly greeting;
Szilagyi took the maiden to his dwelling, And made a bride of that imperial maiden.
[This Ballad has been just published by Schedel. He has done me the honor of dedicating the volume which contains it, to me, in terms far too flattering for any deserts of mine. There is a concluding stanza which says that the Ballad was taken from an old History, and writteu in 1571. Schedel thinks it not impro-bable that the Michael Szilagyi of the Poem was afterwards the Governor of Hungary, and the uncle of the famous Matthias.
The character of the Ballad in form and manner remarkably resembles the uarrative poetry of the Slavonian nations ]
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