Nagy Gyula: Parasztélet a vásárhelyi pusztán (A Békés Megyei Múzeumok Közleményei 4. Békéscsaba, 1975)

Idegennyelvű kivonatok, képaláírások, képek

tobacco pouch etc.). In the evening before the funeral the mortuaries come, this means respect. In olden times there was mourning performed by professional mourner-women. Recently they prepare mourningcards also. The burial itself follows the ceremonies of some church up to present. There were three cemeteries on the "puszta", the persons belonging to different religions were buried promiscuously in each of them. The bury the husband in the middle of the gave and they put the wife into the grave's side. After the funeral in the evening they used to keep death-dinner with carousing quietly. In the 12

th chapter the author presents the path of life of five characteristic in habitants of the "puszta". Máté Gregus (1861—1938) represents the upward striving, reformative, organizing peasant. He sells and buys field becomes a well-to-do peasant from being a have-not, but beside this he adopts the modern agroculture. In the last century extensive farming was here growing one-sidely only wheat and corn. Gregus plants big orchard on the unserviceable fields, his 60 thousands saplings provide the surroundings. He establishes gardening breeds selected kinds of animals, tries everything, organizes consumers' cooperative, acquires veterinary fights for the railway station. Many people follow his example. Péter Karasz (1897—1938) is more one-sided already his sense for commerce is stronger than his reformative side. He is the first on the "puszta" who has thrashing-machine, bicycle and radio and he tries to improve expediently his bad fields. Personally he is a winning individuality and his strongest side is organizing. He puts a farmer-course into operation, organizes instructional excursions, produce disposal co-operative, reading circle. He speaks in the radio works in the management of the village, becomes parliamentary representative and fights hard for the peasantry. He is the main organizer of the writer-peasant meeting mentioned above. He dies young because of appendicitis. Maczelka Takaros is a completely different type. His characteristic feature is the totally precise, careful work which is entirely destined for its own end. He forces his numerous family into this cruel harrased way of life because this way their accomplishment gets four, times bigger. E.g. his family hacked going backward not to step on the field hacked already they didn't pour out the ear of maize in the usual way on the loft but selecting them the built pyramids of them to make the stock look outward. His courtyard and his fields were so well-kept that everybody stopped there to gaze at it even who went with cart but none did follow him, not even his children after his death. Sándor Dani Győri is quite an everage peasant-type who has no outstanding feature except how much he likes animals and his unprecendted diligence. He does notinnovate too much, at most he applies what proves good. He lives thriftily spends little and tries to make money from everything to buy field. He prefers working fast to working precisely. He depreciates science, despises men of books and all his thoughts are about his farm. And he does grow richer. Imre Rózsa (1901—1952) is an enthusiastic, warm-heated lyrical poet and a popular man on the "puszta". He is a close, introverted man who doesn't show the scope of his emotions not even in his poems. He has not self-contained lyrical intonation and he is inspired by the change of the old life form by demonstrating the gradual destruction of buildings, illustrated also with photos. At last the author publishes the biographies of his colleauges and the list of his informants. Some belong to the group who actually wrote smaller parts of the volume and to the other group belongs a literary adviser and 11 so called peasant literary advisers. The latters were informants on one hand collecting the informations and on the other hand they read through the book and the author took their remarks into consideration. The author tried this method as an attempt and he found it very useful. 41* 643