The Eighth Hungarian Tribe, 1985 (12. évfolyam, 1-11. szám)
1985-03-01 / 3. szám
SZÉCHÉNYI AND KOSSUTH The following scene is from the play The Bridge, by the Hungarian novelist and playwright, Ferenc Herczeg. Its central figure is István Széchenyi, and the bridge of the title is the Chain Bridge which, built at his instigation and through his efforts, was the first to connect the twin cities, Buda and Pest. In the play it is treated as a symbol of Széchenyi’s endeavor to lead his undeveloped, backward people towards Western progress and civilization. The bridge spans more than the Danube — it becomes the connecting link between two worlds; and he new ideas of the Western world, fanned to flames by Kossuth’s patriotic oratory, threaten to destroy the nation which has given them entry. Széchenyi sees the impending catastrophe, and is filled with horror at what he has done. He cannot rid himself of the conviction that it was he who, by rousing the nation from its slumber, precipitated all the disasters that he sees coming. As one by one his prophecies are fulfilled, and his darkest fears take shape under his eyes, his hyper-sensitive organization breaks down under the strain and his mind becomes unhinged. His sense of guilt fastens on the bridge, his proudest achievement, as the original cause of the tragedy of his people and in a poignant scene towards the end of the last act, he tries to persuade a casual caller to obtain for him two barrels of gunpowder with which to blow it up. The scene below occurs in the second act, and takes place in the hills of Buda. Széchenyi, his wife and his friend Baron Miklós Wesselényi have gone for a picnic, and Wesselényi, unknown to Széchenyi, has arranged for Kossuth to meet them. (The two men, left to themselves, observe each other with uncontrollable curiosity.) KOSSUTH (in an endeavor to set the conversation going). You have been travelling, Count Széchenyi? SZÉCHENYI (makes a gesture as though to rid himself of a painful memory): 1 have been on the Lower Danube. KOSSUTH; Was it not pleasant? SZÉCHENYI: No, very far from it. The travelling public in Hungary drives me to despair with its smoking and spitting. KOSSUTH (laughs). What would you? It’s a national habit. SZÉCHENYI: They all shout as though they were addressing a popular meeting. And they are always picking quarrels. At Mohács an officer fell foul of the captain of the steamer because he would not stop for as long as would have suited this gentleman's convenience. KOSSUTH: I am surprised that you, who have travelled so far and so wide, should stick at such trifles. SZÉCHENYI: They are not trifles. They are proofs of the distressing fact that our people lack both self-respect and respect for their fellow men. Yet the sense of our human dignity is the only firm support to which we can cling if we wish to climb out of the morass of barbarism. In England... (he stops and glances at his companion). KOSSUTH: Why do you not continue. Count? SZÉCHENYI: I know what is in your mind. That I am an Anglomaniac. It is the current opinion of me. KOSSUTH: It is not mine. I know that you have a great liking for the English, but there is nothing to be surprised at in that. SZÉCHENYI: Their mode of life is the best yet invented. KOSSUTH: Possibly. I do not know them well enough to judge. But I cannot help thinking of a reported saying of yours. The average Magyar, you said, is more intelligent than the average Englishman. SZÉCHENYI: That is so. There is an unusually large proportion of quick-witted people among us. Their intelligence comes from their Eastern imagination. It is as though their minds had wings. But they derive little advantage from them, for like the plover, they keep flying round in circles over the self-same pool. The Englishman has no imagination; he walks on foot, but he has managed to walk round the entire globe. KOSSUTH: And what has enabled him to do that? SZÉCHENYI: The knowledge that the best way of loving his country is to love his own countrymen. We poor, quarrelsome Magyars are like soldiers who under the enemy’s fire stop to dispute whether their superior officers are honest enough and wise enough to be their leaders... But excuse me, I perceive I have sidetracked the conversation. I presume you have not climbed this hill for the sake of idle talk. KOSSUTH: I felt that there was need of a meeting between us two. We have been at cross-purposes... that may have been my fault. I admit that I... But I am convinced that all such matters must dwindle to nothing by the side of the mighty events which loom, silent and menacing, on the horizon... SZÉCHENYI: We must come to an understanding. And since we must, we shall. KOSSUTH: I have come up here to offer you my services. Count. I elect you as my leader, and shall follow as your henchman wherever you lead. Who should be leader in this country if not István Széchenyi? It is you who have awakened the nation from its deadly lethargy. SZÉCHENYI (smiling). It was not a very great feat. It had more or less slept its fill. KOSSUTH: Your project of the Chain Bridge was the morning clarion. Only the plan exists as yet, but already the nation has crossed by the thousands — it is like a new migration of the peoples — and has set up its tents under new" and happier stars. This new world vibrates with the magnetism of your will-power; it is tense with youth — I might say, tense with the things to come. Fage 4 Eighth Hungarian Tribe
