Myself.  Who will bring about his downfall?

Hungarian.  The Russians.  The Rysckie Tsar will lead his people forth, all the Sclavonians will join him, he will conquer all before him.

Myself.  Are the Russians good soldiers?

Hungarian.  They are stubborn and unflinching to an astonishing degree, and their fidelity to their Tsar is quite admirable.  See how the Russians behaved at Plescova, in Livonia, in the old time, against our great Batory Stephen; they defended the place till it was a heap of rubbish, and mark how they behaved after they had been made prisoners.  Stephen offered them two alternatives:- to enter into his service, in which they would have good pay, clothing, and fair treatment; or to be allowed to return to Russia.  Without the slightest hesitation they, to a man, chose the latter, though well aware that their beloved Tsar, the cruel Ivan Basilowits, would put them all to death, amidst tortures the most horrible, for not doing what was impossible—­preserving the town.

Myself.  You speak Russian?

Hungarian.  A little.  I was born in the vicinity of a Sclavonian tribe; the servants of our house were Sclavonians, and I early acquired something of their language, which differs not much from that of Russia; when in that country I quickly understood what was said.

Myself.  Have the Russians any literature?

Hungarian.  Doubtless; but I am not acquainted with it, as I do not read their language; but I know something of their popular tales, to which I used to listen in their izbushkas; a principal personage in these is a creation quite original—­called Baba Yaga.

Myself.  Who is the Baba Yaga?

Hungarian.  A female phantom, who is described as hurrying along the puszta, or steppe, in a mortar, pounding with a pestle at a tremendous rate, and leaving a long trace on the ground behind her with her tongue, which is three yards long, and with which she seizes any men and horses coming in her way, swallowing them down into her capacious belly.  She has several daughters, very handsome, and with plenty of money; happy the young Mujik who catches and marries one of them, for they make excellent wives.

“Many thanks,” said I, “for the information you have afforded me:  this is rather poor wine,” I observed, as I poured out a glass—­“I suppose you have better wine in Hungary?”

“Yes, we have better wine in Hungary.  First of all there is Tokay, the most celebrated in the world, though I confess I prefer the wine of Eger—­Tokay is too sweet.”

“Have you ever been at Tokay?”

“I have,” said the Hungarian.

“What kind of place is Tokay?”