A Latin-Hungarian Prisoners’ Song from the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century

ALatin-Hungarian Prisoners’ Song from the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century1 Rumen István Csörsz ABSTRACT ‘Inolus, Inolus’ is one of the most mysterious text families in eighteenth-century Hungarian popular poetry. It emerges in both Latin and Hungarian manuscript versions, primarily in East Transylvania and later around Debrecen too. The secret hero of the prisoner’s song is ajailed robber who was sentenced to death. He mourns his own fate leaving amoral for those around him, or for posterity. According to some researchers, this song is about aRumanian outlaw leader, Gligore Pintea. Others tried to identify vague Armenian references in the text. Areassuring solution has not yet been found. Another complex motif is the hidden treasure in the linden tree, about which the protagonist might have sent some encoded message in Latin from the prison. This topic is very popular in tales but not in linguistic context, so we are almost unable to decode it. It is atypical model-poem of our popular poetry and warns us against atoo easy and quick interpretation; moreover, it gives us strength and patience to protect us from the danger of a‘too clear-cut to be true’ final conclusion. KEYWORDS: prisoner song, outlaw, Latin, Romania, Hungary Shave the linden tree until it allows itself to be shaved (early Hungarian proverb) János Bocskor Junior began collecting his songbook2 on 16May 1716, in Csíkszentlélek (today’s Leliceni), asettlement located in the Eastern border of Transylvania. There was arumour about it being the work of akuruc soldier (someone fighting on Prince Ferenc Rákóczi’s side), as the little pocket-sized book is full of songs which were popular in this historical period. Regardless, the collector of these songs must have been astudent at the time, most probably in Csíksomlyó (today’s Sumuleu, district of Miercurea Ciuc). Later he became the assessor of Csíkszék; our last data on him is from 1767, allowing us to calculate his age. His father, Mihály Bocskor, was hiding in Moldavia with his fellow-fighters, after the fall of the Rákóczi’s War of Independence (1703–1711). His son perhaps selected these kuruc songs to fill the first unit of his booklet to strengthen his family heritage and identity (Csörsz 2003, pp.20–30). 1 In Hungarian: Egy latin–magyar rabének a18.század elejéről (Csörsz, 2017, pp.87–110). Translated by Éva Petrőczi and Dávid Szabó. Special thanks for the help to László Szörényi, István Vadai†, Benedek Zsigmond, István Kilián†, Imola Küllős, Judit Gulyás, Mária Domokos, András Szabó, Ernő Albert†, and Adél Csata. 2 Cluj-Napoca, University Library Lucian Blaga, Special collection, Ms. 12. In detail: Stoll, 2002, nr.180. OPEN ACCESS 10 STUDIA ETHNOLOGICA PRAGENSIA 1/2023 This poetical collection was enlarged by János Bocskor by 1739 and the order of texts was later modified (Ibid., pp.9–20). This article is about two poems which can be found in the opening part of the ‘ancient codex’, under aheavily decorated inner frontispiece (today situated at 65a–b). The mysterious Latin text consists of 25 verses, with the incipit, ‘Inolus, Inolus, cordi mihi solus’. It is followed by aHungarian version of 17 verses, but the two variants are not closely connected.3 We find ‘curves’ in both, while in the Latin version some poorly copied lines also appear. The first strophe of the Hungarian poem serves as an argumentation and reminds us of the title of later variants: The painful song of afamous hillside highwayman, Who was imprisoned by his innumerable sins.4 The parallel of this original Latin strophe looks like this: Inolus, Inolus, joy of my heart, Whose friendliness towards me was bright. According to the translator, ‘Inolus’ is the name of aperson, and he is mentioned by the imprisoned highwayman, but he is not addressed in the vocative case (*Inole), he is not personally named, but rather spoken about. The author then bids farewell to the mountains rich in silver, to the rocky landscape and hills and woods, in avery passionate style: Thou, small hills above, cry for me, And thou, for my being aprisoner, fragile flowers. Though my body will be taken in prison, alas, The farewell to you won’t happen until my death. (verses 5–6) After these highly poetical lines, the thief addresses the linden tree directly: My kindest girl, rich in treasures, Cry, my only hope, plant of my pleasures. Towards the soil move your higher branches, Send your leaves there in their full greenness! (verses 7–8) And alittle bit later: Oh, my most precious tree, Iwill not see you again, Send alament to your son, hopefully not in vain! 3 Earlier Iassumed the Hungarian version to be the first (due to the many mistakes and misunderstandings of the Latin variants), but Iam not sure now (Csörsz, 2005, p.214). 4 Bocskor Codex, 67b. All the Hungarian verse citations have been published only in English. OPEN ACCESS RUmEN ISTVáN CSöRSz 11 There was no tree richer than thou upon the earth, The one who finds thou, finds pleasures. (verses 12–13) After all these yearnings, he confesses his sins and asks God to take him to heaven after his death: Take my final farewell, which Ibid here, under arrest, Under your branches Ican’t rest any further. Joy of my heart, remain in good health, Woe, I’m punished for my sins in their fullness! Oh, judicious God of vengeance, Iask Thee To be merciful with sinful me, Give me aplace at Your door in heaven And be blessed for it, forever, amen. (verses 14–17) The most evident difference between the Hungarian text and János Bocskor’s Latin version is the lack of Christian cadence; instead, his text is ruled by mythological allusions. This is not accidental: if all these are told by the character of an antique, or an allegorical, fictitious text, this person is not praying, not appealing to the Christian God. The Hungarian version thus greatly differs from later variants. It is suspicious that, though Bocskor was familiar with the Hungarian text, he greatly relied on his personal memory, producing asomewhat mixed, but freshened version, referring to some parts taken from the Latin version. Sicelides Musae, Driades puellae, Date gemebundos Triste voce sonos.5 Another important point is the ‘Driades puellae’ line. Dedicating apart of the strophe to dryads is natural, as in Greek mythology they were the souls, nymphs of the trees and the singer expects sympathy and tears from them, sharing his ill fate. Orpheus is also mentioned in the Latin version to strengthen the mythological local colour as, in Ovid’s verses, the trees— many haunted, suffering souls— are listening to the song of Orpheus (Metamorphoses, Book 10). This is probably why in the Hungarian text the linden tree is called ‘my little girl’, personifying this lovely plant, and referencing atransformation, based upon the great Latin master. In this way, we can try to clarify the linden tree simile from several directions. 5 The adaptation of the verse in another Hungarian version: ‘Group of nymphs, beautiful choir of the Parcas, mourn me with wails and your five-corded lute!’ Memorial of Mihály Dezső (1729–1761), pp.66–9. Az Pintyi Eneke (‘Song of Pintea’), verses 15–16. OPEN ACCESS 12 STUDIA ETHNOLOGICA PRAGENSIA 1/2023 The Latin text of Bocskor could have been representative of another genre: alove song, sung by agirl, who was unable to regain the heart of her unfaithful beloved. If this supposition is true— though no relative of this Latin version is known— then this text family follows the same pattern as other pieces of public poetry in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. These all emerge from alove theme, but this theme later abandons the songs, and they live their lives as laments, hiding peoples’ or prisoners’ songs. The widely known ‘Őszi harmat után’ (After the Autumn Dews), ‘Bokros búk habjai’ (Waves of Great Sadness), etc., are all amorous farewell-songs or courting ones (E.g. Csörsz, 2016, p.43). Similar changes can be witnessed in the text family of ‘I’m aPrisoner, Waiting to be Set Free’, the first versions of which refer undoubtedly to the soul being imprisoned by love, rather than areal, concrete imprisonment situation (Csörsz & Küllős, 2015, p.411). This text family can be followed for almost ahundred years. In the critical edition, with Imola Küllős (Ibid., p.79), we tried to summarise all known facts about this song, but afinal conclusion has not yet been reached. The seemingly well-ordered variations are hiding dozens of questions, rather as proof of our steady search than our wisdom. The ‘Inolus, Inolus’ song is known from eighteenth and nineteenth century manuscripts, first from Transylvania, but from other regions as well. Whether there was aprinted version is not known. The first varieties were Catholic, the later ones evidently Protestant. Most varieties are bilingual, consisting of parallel Latin and Hungarian verses, though sometimes these consist of only one verse. Fifteen varieties are known. 1. Bocskor Codex (1716–1739), 65a–67b. ‘Inolus, Inolus, cordi mihi solus’. 25 Latin verses. 2. Bocskor Codex (1716–1739), 65a–67b. ‘Egy fő hegyi tolvaj keserves éneke’ (ALament Song of aChief Mountain Thief). 17 Hungarian verses. 3. Memoriale of Mihály Dezső (1729–1761), 66–69. ‘Az Pintyi éneke [Song of Pintea]’. Inolus, Inolus, corde mihi solus. 22 verses (11 Latin, 11 Hungarian, alternately). 4. Szádeczky-Miscellania (1755), pp.256–257. ‘Inolus, Inolus, corde mihi solus’. 4 verses (2 Latin, 2 Hungarian, alternately). 5. Balás József-ék. (1784–1787), 102a–103b. ‘Inolus, Inolus, corda mihi solus’. 22 verses (11 Latin, 11 Hungarian, alternately). 6. Dávidné Soltári (1790–1791), nr.174, ‘Inolus, Inolus, corde mihi solus’. 20 verses (10 Latin, 10 Hungarian, alternately), with primitive musical notation. 7. Songbook of Imre Szeel (1790–1794) pp.104–105. ‘Inolus, Inolus, corde mihi solus’. 16 verses (8 Latin, 8 Hungarian, alternately). 8. Holmi of Sámuel Rákosi (1791), 47b–49a. ‘Egy megfogatott tolvaj éneke [Song of an Arrested Thief]’. ‘Inolus, Inolus, corde mihi solus’. 28 verses (14 Latin, 14 Hungarian, alternately). 9. Songbook of Márton Veress (1793), 78a. ‘Inolus, Inolus, ki miatt szívem bús’. 2 Hungarian verses. OPEN ACCESS RUmEN ISTVáN CSöRSz 13 10. Academic Collection of Poems (end of the eighteenth century), 6a–7a. ‘Cantio elegans’. ‘Inolus, Inolus, ki miatt szívem bús’. 12 verses (6 Latin, 6 Hungarian, alternately). 11. Miklós Jankovich: Nemzeti Dalok Gyűjteménye [Collection of National Songs] (after 1800), vol III, 173a–b. ‘Inolus, Inolus, corde mihi solus’. 20 verses; copy of the variant VI. 12 Songbook of János Resetka (1801), 45b–46a. ‘Inolus, Inolus, corde mihi solus’. 12 verses (6 Latin, 6 Hungarian, alternately). 13. Songbook of Sándor Jánosi (1802), p. [123], ‘Inolus, Inolus, corde mihi solus’. The page is cut from the manuscript, we know the incipit only from the contents. 14. Ádám Pálóczi Horváth: Ötödfélszáz Énekek [450 Songs] (1813), nr.206. sz. ‘Inol az örmény hegyekben’ [Inol in the Armenian Mountains]. ‘Inolus, Inolus, corde mihi solus’. 2 verses (1 Latin, 1 Hungarian), with simple musical notation. 15. Collection of János Veress (1828–1830), 235. ‘Mindenható Isten, ki vagy az egekbe’. 2 Hungarian verses.6 After the first Latin version by Bocskor, two purely Latin varieties were found. Songbook from Lőcse / Levoča (1768), pp.129–130. ‘Aria de Inolo’. Songbook of Márton Lang (1789), 13b–14a. Their texts are similar, both derived from the Highlands of Hungary (today: Slovakia). The purely Latin versions were composed earlier than the bilingual ones. Apart from the text by János Bocskor, just one totally Hungarian version is known, circa 1828. It is not arare phenomenon that in the Bocskor Codex both the Latin and the Hungarian ‘Urtext’ differ from later varieties. This collection is an exceptional one in many ways: it was gathered in an ethnographically peripheral region, in Al-Csík (Lower Csík), asmall and hidden village. Its repertoire is therefore more unusual than those collected in college circles. On the other hand, Bocskor rewrote and enlarged the poems. Because of the creativity of its author and the rare elements within this local tradition, this collection may be considered an exceptional piece of public poetry. These individual features are such that on its later pages we find further prisoners’ songs and laments written by the collector, making it aco-mingling of traditional and personal elements (E. g. ibid., pp.60–62). The later versions play avery important role. These are connected to the two inner strophes of the Hungarian text of Bocskor, and with the final Christian prayer, which he learned somewhere by heart and cited ‘at random’; there is no trace of it in his Latin version. Even the opening formula was altered, in the Bocskor text we find: ‘Inolus, Inolus, joy of my heart…’, implying the presence of apositive person (or place?), but in later Hungarian versions atotally different message can be seen: 6 See in detail: (Ibid., pp.412–415). OPEN ACCESS 14 STUDIA ETHNOLOGICA PRAGENSIA 1/2023 Inolus, Inolus, The state of my heart is scandalous, The rock of Armenus Is bringing back my ‘raptus’.7 In prose: ‘Inolus is the cause of my sorrows; they can be healed only by Armenia’. Looking at the table below, we see two important facts: 1) The Hungarian equivalents do not include all of Bocskor’s texts and 2) The first Hungarian version does not have asequel; the later translations keep to aphase earlier than the ‘Urtext’, or rather its parallels. The text below is more or less complete:8 Song of aCaptured Thief Inolus, Inolus, Corde mihi solus, Rupes Ameniae, Meae deliciae. Quando vos contemplor, Semper flere cogor, Petros Ameniae Gaza [!] feliciae. Corpus captivatur, Gaudis privatur, Mens ibi vagatur, Ubi recreatur. Lugite socium, Lugite captivum, Nam ego lugebo Vos semper deflebo. Tilia, tilia, Dilecta tilia, Indos aurea, Externa lignea. 7 Memorial of Mihály Dezső (1729–1761), pp.66–9. Az Pintyi Eneke, verse 2. 8 Holmi (mixed collection) of Sámuel Rákosi (1791), 47b–49a; RMKT XVIII/15, nr.79/VIII. Inolus, Inolus, The state of my heart is scandalous, The rock of Armenus Is bringing back my ‘raptus’. My eyes are flowing with tears When looking at my dears, To my humble shelter And to my treasury, hereafter. My body is sitting in chains, In my heart no happiness remains, My brain is walking to and fro, Sadness turns into happiness, so. Cry over this prisoner, Send him tears forever, While I am lamenting Until I’ll be hanging. My greenest linden tree, My only treasury, Grasping your richness again Would be my freedom, my gain. OPEN ACCESS RUmEN ISTVáN CSöRSz 15 Floribus hiantes, Ramorum tenelis, Plorate lacrimis, Sublimi propensi. Gladicibus [?] frontis Taesseream ludit, Beotum dixerit, Qui te succederit. Sicediles Musae, Driades puellae. Datae genebundae, Triste sono voce. Montes, mei montes, Ad amici fontes, Valete sodales, Sub imbris latentes. Nec choreas ducam, Nec carmina dicam, Amplius sonorum Bis sona conticum [!] Si possem fugere, Carceres rumpere, Non vos relinquerem, Sed ad vos redirem. Salve, dulcis pinus, Tallerorum signus, Si te conspicerem, Sub diu jacerem. Summus misericors, Cordis mei faces, Doluito [!] queso, Exaudito praeces Jamque fores polli Potitum perenti, Quare cordis sono Alleluja dixi. Towards the soil Move your higher branches, Send there your leaves In their full greenness! The one can be happy Whoever finds you, really, As all my good deeds Moved into your body. You also, my dear nymphs, For me in chorus sing, Play your five-corded lyre Until my soul’s final expire’! And now, you, high mountains, Quick torrents and bushes, I pray you to forget my sins And tell me some good things. All my favourite songs, All my beloved dances, I’m bidding you farewell, Pomp and joy here won’t dwell. If I could run from here, Free walk would be so dear, I would sit at your door, Like a faithful pastor. My sparkling, good ‘footman’, Keeper of my ‘angel’ [‘Thaler’] If I could touch your shelter, Could I be a free goer. God of true justice, Hater of all sin, let me ask Thee To take this sinner, me, To thy holy mercy! Give me place at Your door in heaven, And be blessed for it, Forever, amen! OPEN ACCESS 16 STUDIA ETHNOLOGICA PRAGENSIA 1/2023 The age of this prisoners’ song is still uncertain, only Bocskor’s data gives us some clues. Most probably it was composed earlier than the period when it was put down (1716–1718), but it is impossible today to propose acertain year. Close reading of the text is avery difficult task. One thing is sure: an imprisoned person, clearly described as ‘achief hillside highwayman’, bids farewell to his country and his friends. This can be learned primarily from the title; the text of the song does not mention that its hero was athief. But the hidden treasures are mentioned, being concealed in the cavity of alinden tree (‘tilia’) or in apine tree (‘pinus’) and our hero would gain much by reaching this treasure. The Latin text does not refer to the fact that the imprisoned hero will be hanged, but it is areal Leitmotif in Hungarian variants. It is nothing other than that, areflection of the Hungarian heritage of farewell songs of persons sentenced to death. But what can be found about the concrete hero of this poem? According to some scholars it was acertain Vasile Fekete (Black Vasile) who fought in the kuruc army and with his troop of thieves, escaped to the hills of Gyergyó (today: Gheorgheni). The German (Austrian) soldiers tried to catch him, with no success, and he continued fighting against them. The problem is, that ‘Vasile’ is anickname, he belonged to Rákóczi’s circles, and his real name was László Mojszén (Seres, 2007, p.360). In spite of being acruel and brutal thief (or perhaps for this strange ‘merit’) in the kuruc army he got higher and higher positions. In 1710 he was commanding 150–200 soldiers. We know absolutely nothing about his imprisonment, at least not about alonger one, fitting into apoem. After the general amnesty he remained (most surely) asoldier and an officer of the Habsburg army. Consequently, he was not atraditional highwayman, and his supposed imprisonment would not have led to the gallows. And from folklore he is totally missing. Not like another hero-candidate, Pinte Gligore (Pintea, the hero, 1670–1703), the other famous revolutionary person. According to Károly Köllő, ‘[József] Gvadányi9 could have heard one variety of these in Máramaros, where the bilingual ‘kuruc’ songs were not ‘out of fashion’ in the nineteenth century’. His announcement refers to only one sentence of Gvadányi, unfortunately, without any textological similarity (1796). AHungarian manuscript (The Memorial of Mihály Dezső, 1729–1761) connects this song to another one, entitled The Song of Pintyi. And The Song of the Famous Thief Pintye, was, according to him, ‘amanuscript from the disordered material of the Reformed College of Kolozsvár / Clausenburg [today: Cluj]’. Pintea Vitez is considered today aRumanian national hero, and not just an everyday thief— which he never was, only the eighteenth-century unjust recorder considered him one. But we can hardly prove the identity of the Inolus-song with any of the Pintea-ballads, though in the Rumanian folklore and in some Hungarian legends— he was also the hero of innumerable pieces of poetry. József Gvadányi’s Urszuly (‘Bear’), aRumanian person from Máramaros (Gvadányi, 1796, pp.46) could hardly accept aHungarian-Latin song as his model, while being familiar with dozens of similar Rumanian ones. Pintea did not die in prison, he fell in battle for the ownership of the town Nagybánya (today: Baia Mare), on 14th August 1703, according to others he continued to 9 One of the best known Hungarian epic poets in the eighteenth century (1725–1801). OPEN ACCESS RUmEN ISTVáN CSöRSz 17 fight somewhere else. In Rumanian folklore he appears in anoble role: not as aprisoner, but as atrue-born hero wounded in abattle or turns into astorm when— upon his black stallion— he escapes from his enemies.10 We can meet ‘the song of achief mountain highwayman’ in many further paraphrases. It can lead us to the circle of Transylvanian folk-ballads, to the archetype of ‘The Great Mountain Thief’, which first appeared in the Moldavian collection of Ince János Petrás, recorded in 1843.11 The anti-hero of this shocking story is about to kill ‘an Armenian priest’, while his wife— belonging to another nation, victim of aforced marriage12— is crying at home. The husband returns, makes inquiries, kills her and sends her body as afrightening example to Brassó (today Braşov). Consequently, we have arelated hero and somehow related circumstances; but the story itself is totally an upside down one: that man can’t be captured and revenged, and the woman is an innocent victim. There is no word about regretting sins, comfort, or hidden treasures. But what can we do with the ‘Armenian line’ in the song? Though in the majority of the eighteenth-century variations of the ‘Rupes Armeniae’ (Cliffs of Armenia, II:- XIV) it is repeated every time, this fact increases our instability. In the text by János Bocskor another word, ‘argeniae’ appears there and he translates it as ‘huge cliffs rich in silver’. In the first strophe of the VIII variety the very word ‘Ameniae’ is not the ill-spelling of ‘Armeniae’, but one of the words ‘amoeniae’ (kindness). In this case the Armenian reference can be considered as agrammatical error of the early copy; due to the Latin education and cultural experience of the copying persons, ‘saturated by’ the elements of Latin and Greek poetry. Therefore, this authorial logic became evident for Ádám Pálóczi Horváth in 1813, so much that in 1813 he formulated the title like this: ‘Inol in the Mountains of Armenia’. But even in the case of having an Armenian thief as ahero (it might be possible!), it would be rather strange to mention Armenia as the country of freedom. The natives of Armenia could hardly have such experiences in seventeenth-eighteenth century Transylvania. At that time, they became asporadic nation; after the occupation of their homeland, they were thrown throughout the Balkan Peninsula and Transylvania. One thing might be possible: athief of Armenian origin could be longing for his home country as the symbol of their lost national freedom, when, perhaps in the mysterious country of ‘Inolus’— probably in Moldavia or Transylvania— he became imprisoned. But are we able to understand this opening line at all? This ‘Inolus’ can be ageographical name, but not an accurate one: probably the ‘Imaus’, (the Latin-Greek name 10 Papers in Hungarian: Domokos, 1959, pp.418–28; Niculescu, 1988, pp.157–72. 11 ‘Vidd el jó széjel, búmat, / Vidd el bánatomat…’ (Blow away, good wind, my sorrow and my trouble). (Domokos & Rajeczky, 1956, pp.61–3). About the type of this ballad: Vargyas, 1976, vol. II, nr.20 (‘The wife of the Rogue’); Küllős, 2012, pp.402–9. 12 One of the subtypes of this ballad describes the forced marriage from the perspective of the wife, Borbála Seprődi, who was married off in Poland. The ballads variant the subtype ‘Rákóczi kis úrfi’ (Young Master Rákóczi) is about the aggressive fiancé, which might have been imported to Hungary by Mediaeval Vallonian settlers (it belongs to the subtype Marianson). OPEN ACCESS