
A young man arrives in Budapest in the spring of 1919, stepping off a dawn train into a city that smells of river mist, coal smoke and fresh market produce. The narrator paints the capital as a living tableau—its ancient bridges, the rustle of chestnut leaves on Buda's terraces, and the distant march of military bands that echo through quiet streets. Through his eyes the metropolis feels both timeless and on the cusp of modernity, a backdrop for his restless ambitions.
Among the bustling avenues he encounters Sneider, a striking young woman whose golden hair and vivid blue eyes seem to embody the city's own flamboyance. Their conversations drift through cafés, salons and the ornate rooms of old houses, where music, poetry and the rustling of silk skirts create a lyrical atmosphere that mirrors the narrator’s inner yearning. The opening pages weave together memory, romance, and the everyday rituals of post‑war Budapest, inviting listeners to wander its streets and feel the pulse of a world poised between nostalgia and change.
Language
hu
Duration
~3 hours (186K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
Hungary: Franklin-Társulat, 1919.
Credits
Albert László from page images generously made available by the Google Books Library Project
Release date
2022-09-09
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1878–1933
Best known for the dreamlike, melancholy world of the Szindbád stories, this Hungarian writer blended memory, desire, and everyday life into prose that still feels modern. He was also a prolific journalist and novelist whose work helped shape 20th-century Hungarian literature.
View all books