
In a sleepy Hungarian hamlet, the eyes of every passer‑by are drawn to an unlikely pair: a misshapen, one‑eyed cartwright named Csunya Pista and his strikingly beautiful wife, a proud exemplar of Magyar beauty. Their stark contrast fuels whispered gossip and a mixture of awe and pity among the villagers, who watch the couple’s daily routines as if they were a stage performance.
The arrival of a regiment of Uhlan officers adds a lively, if awkward, twist to the town’s routine. The handsome lieutenant, accustomed to winning hearts with ease, becomes enthralled by the cartwright’s wife, while the grotesque appearance of her husband seems to give the soldiers a perverse permission to pursue. Their clumsy attempts at romance quickly turn comic, leaving the villagers—and the listeners—wondering just how far this tangled attraction will go.
Language
en
Duration
~5 hours (289K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Release date
2006-08-04
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1849–1923
A restless, sharp-eyed critic of modern culture, this Hungarian-born physician and writer became one of the best-known Jewish thinkers of his era. He is remembered both for fierce books like Degeneration and for helping found the modern Zionist movement alongside Theodor Herzl.
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