The Eighth Tribe, 1975 (2. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1975-03-01 / 3. szám
March, 1975 THE EIGHTH TRIBE Page Seven chance he discovers a concealed printing press, hidden deep under the earth, and there he prints his works. His book circulates in thousands of copies without the approval of the censor. The people read the book with keen interest. Szilveszter is found guilty of high treason and duly receives the punishment meted out to seditionists. In prison he realizes that to be doomed to inactivity is one of the most horrible punishments for an active revolutionist. Szilveszter spends ten years in prison. As the jailkeeper opens his door and tells him that he is free, he imagines that his country and his people have been freed from social and political oppression. He soon finds out that his country and also the rest of the world have sunk deeper into slavery. The revolutionist makes up his mind to use his newly won freedom to further the cause of a popular liberation movement. He does not want to commit regicide under the cover of darkness. Rather, he plans to act at a time when his deed will serve as an encouragement for the masses to throw off the yoke of the cruel but weak tyrant. The opportunity presents itself when the capital is brilliantly illuminated. Thousands of people are jostling on the streets; the king himself is there too. . .. The hordes of slaves shout at the top of their voices, “Long live the king!” Who would dare not to shout with them, or shout anything else among those thousands? Who would dare? One of them does... one of the multitude. He says, “Death to the king!” He pulls the trigger of his weapon and the haughty king sinks to the dust... In a lyrical digression Petőfi, as a would-be onlooker, identifies himself with the regicide; he justifies the deed and addresses the king: ... Get up, you coward tyrant, the buUet missed its target and hit your robe instead of your heart. The devil, to whom you sold it, saved your life. Get up, you! Coward Tyrant! and wipe off the dust from your face. In a further lyrical digression the poet compares his hero to another liberator, whose work began to bear fruit only after his self-imposed martyrdom: ... Unfortunate people, why do you draw God’s curse upon yourselves? Don’t you have enough trouble already? Wasn’t it enough for you to crucify Christ? Do you crucify all the Saviors then? Unhappy, oh, hundred-times unfortunate people. A few days after his attempt on the emperor’s life, Szilvesztert execution is the final period, a full step in the story of his life. Such dedicated heroes do not die in vain according to Petőfi, because their actions contribute to the final victory of their cause, and their spirit will live, their names will be remembered : ... And the victors remember those saints and great minds who were free even in the days of slavery; they were teachers of the world and death was their reward. His liberal, democratic ideas, his active revolutionary work make Szilveszter a typical Petőfi hero, an uncompromising political and intellectual leader. He is the apostle of love and liberation for the people preaching hatred toward oppressors, tyrants and their lackeys. The next part of this article will be devoted to the last years of the bard’s struggle for liberty and independence. It would be best, perhaps, to start with the Galician peasant revolution of February, 1846, which turned Petőfi’s attention to the contradictions between the liberalism of the nobility and the revolutionary democratic tendency of the masses. From this time on the young patriot fought both as a politician and as a poet for the political success and victory of the people. Petőfi’s poems accomplished more than any other human endeavour for awakening the Hungarian people to their rights. The poet clearly saw his role in the struggle for liberation of the peoples in Middle-Europe against autocracy. He was not only the poet and the prophet of the people, but also supported his ideas with deeds as a political leader. When he looked into the future, he saw “the enslaved peoples rise, serfdom and tyranny fall,” and “one grave for all heroes that died for World Liberty-” Revolution broke out in Italy in January, 1848; Petőfi’s enthusiasm erupted in a lyric poem “Italy”. In February, 1848, France, by March Vienna became engulfed in the flames of the revolution. Petőfi responded with the poem “Rise Magyar” on March 13, written for the Society of Opposition. The next day he took his place at the helm of the Young Hungarian Movement, the new generation of liberaUy minded intelligentsia. And then came March 15, 1848. Petőfi’s words changed a procession of young people into a determined march of masses for human liberties. Their demand for freedom of the press and immediate abolition of censorship was granted. The first printed document of the free press was the poem “Rise Magyar.” The political prisioner Táncsics was freed. The revolutionary Tívelve Points
