Romanian Stories Online

56 SLOVO, VOL, 20 NO, 1, 2oo8 international isolation, allowed Kornai to travel to Cambridge in 1963 where he was able to discuss his work with leading economists. Although the secret police were still collecting information on his anti-Marxist views, Kornai's work was no longer obstructed and he was allowed to travel abroad. In 1967 he was invited back to the Economic Institute, In the tolerant atmosphere of the Institute, Kornai and his 'group' flourished. No longer a 'naive reformer' but a critical analyst, his research led to books and studies which were translated into English and other languages and his international reputation grew rapidly. He was offered a chair in Cambridge, which he declined. After being elected a member of a number of foreign academies he was also invited to join the Hungarian Academy. In the 1980s he worked for extended periods as a professor at Princeton and Harvard, but he never thought to emigrate. What gives this somewhat long and repetitive book its freshness and interest is the author's willingness and ability to confront his political past with great honesty and his penetrating understanding of his own intellectual development. Emeritus Professor of Hungarian History, LASZLO PETER University of London Roumanian Stories Oniine Thanks to the University of Washington's Center for Advanced Research in the Arts and Humanities, Roumanian Stories, first published in 1921 and reprinted in 1971, is now available on the web at: http://depts.Washington.edu/cartah/text_archive/byng/toc_pag,shtml. These tales about the dispossessed and the forsaken epitomize what Mircea Eliade calls 'the terror of history',' Now in the public domain and translated in a colloquial style by Lucy Byng, these stories will delight those who seek a fine introduction to Romanian literature.^ Constantin Negruzzi's 'Alexandru Lapushneanu, 1564-1569' is about a brutal Moldavian prince. First published in 1840, the story illustrates Lord Acton's famous saying 'power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts ahsolutely'' and reveals the deep roots of Romanian totalitarianism. Using foreign mercenaries, Lapushneanu regains the Moldavian throne and consolidates his power through terror. He burns towns, executes subjects on the slightest pretext, and despoils the boyars, the powerful nobles whose large estates might enable them to challenge the prince, Lapushneanu assembles the boyars in a church, urging them to live in peace and love one another. He then invites the boyars to dine at court, where his soldiers massacre them. In the end, Lapushneanu, who cannot trust even his own lackeys, dies poisoned by his wife, loan Alexandru Bratescu-Voineshti's 'The Fledgling' is a fable about a mother quail living with her seven chicks near a plantation. Endowed with anthropomorphic traits, the mother quail teaches her brood the art of survival. The eldest chick tends not to heed to his mother and gets into trouble. One day, the chick fails to react in time to his mother's call, and a boy catches the chick under his cap. Although an old peasant makes the boy release him, tragedy later befalls the wayward chick. A hunter approaches with his dog, Nero, whose name recalls the Roman emperor who persecuted Christians, The hunter is so close that the chicks can see an ant crawling up his boot. When the dog spots the chicks, the mother quail instructs them to remain still. She attempts to distract the dog by pretending to be injured and flying low. Just when the chicks appear to be safe, the eldest chick suddenly takes flight. The hunter turns and shoots; and the chick falls to the ground, its wing broken. The hunter does not even bother to ' Mircea Eliade, Ordeal By Lahyrinth. (Chicago; University of Chicago Press, 1981) p, 12.8, ^ I did not provide page numbers for story quotations since this review refers to a web resource. The original print edition is Roumanian Stories. Tr, Lucy Byng, (London: John Lane, T9ZT), This book was reprinted by the Books for Libraries Press (Freeport, New York, 1977) and by Ayer Co, Publishing (New York, 1974), ^ Quoted in Stephen L, Bachr, The Locomotive and the Giant: Power in Chekhov's 'Anna on the Neck', Slavic and East European Journal 39,1 (1995) p, 2.9, REVIEWS 57 search for the little chick, which survives only for the time being. As days pass, the injured chick watches his siblings learn to fly, unable to join them. Winter arrives, and the mother quail is torn between her desire to protect her injured chick and the need to migrate with her brood. When the cold intensifies, the mother quail flies off with her healthy chicks as the injured fledging pleads not to be left behind. The story ends with the image of a lonely figure in the shadow of death: On the edge of the plantation lay a young quail with a broken wing and stiff with cold. After a period of great suffering he had fallen into a pleasant state of semi-consciousness. Through his mind flashed fragments of things seen - the stubble-field, the leg of a boot with an ant crawling upon it, his mother's warm wings. He turned over from one side to the other and lay dead with his little claws pressed together as though in an act of devotion. 'The Fledgling' conveys the vulnerability of those who stray from the herd. This fable about the fragility of life, and about cruelty, as reflected in the barbaric sport of hunting, silently invokes God's compassion and our own. loan Slavici's 'Popa Tanda' is about a priest who preaches in vain until he sets an example. Transferred from a prosperous parish for his candour. Father Trandafir is sent to Saraceni, an impoverished village.'' There, people were unemployed, homes were thrown together with straw and pieces of wood, and the church was nothing but 'a heap of old tree trunks piled one on the top of the other'. The sad state of Saraceni, where priests did penance, seemed immutable: 'Fish in the water, birds in the air, moles in the ground, and the people of Saraceni in poverty!' Realizing that he would have no baptismal or burial fees so long as the villagers remained idle. Father Trandafir scolds the villagers so much that they nickname him Popa Tanda'.' His sermonizing only confirms the truth of this Romanian proverb: 'Water flows, but rocks remain'. With a sick wife and a newly born fourth child to support. Father Trandafir proceeds to plaster the walls of his house, mend the roof, fence his yard, plant a vegetable garden, and plow the strip of land behind his house. The villagers marvel as the priest prospers, proving the wisdom of another Romanian proverb: 'Either act as you speak, or speak as you act'. Years later, Saraceni is bustling. The villagers have built a lovely church with bells and white walls. True to his name, which means 'rose' or 'flower'. Father Trandafir has spread his spiritual fragrance gradually, for as Slavici observes. The ant cannot overthrow the mountain. It can, though, change its position; but slowly, slowly, bit by bit'. At once endearing and despairing. Ion Popovici-Banatzeanu's bittersweet Out in the World is about a shy workman unsuited to a materialistic and callous world. After three years of military service, Sandu longs to resume his trade as a tanner. He fantasizes that he will work hard, save money for his own workshop, and marry the girl he loves. The dreariness around Sandu prefigures not only the coming heartbreak of this character, but also the early death of the author of this story at the age of twenty-four: It was late autumn, thefieldswere bare and road dreary. Buffeted by the wind, the poplars along the side of the road were shedding their leaves, and sadly swaying their pointed tops. The country lay barren and dead, while voiceless hills were glowing in the light of the setting sun like a man who, on the point of death, tries to save himself by some final remedy. The outlines of solitary fountains prolonged themselves mournfully against the horizon, as though they regretted the life and gaiety of other days. A flight of crows, frightened by 1 know not what, rose from the dark marshes and alighted upon the tops of the poplars, beating their wings and cawing above the waste. But Sandu saw and heard nothing; he walked absorbed in himself and communing with his own heart. When Sandu finds work, his master's domineering wife insists on offering Sandu a paltry wage which he accepts, grateful just to be employed. Though Sandu is competent and hard working. Mistress Veta misses no opportunity to find fault in what he does. The other workmen join in •^ The toponym 'Saraceni' appears to be derived from 'sarac' or 'saraci' which mean 'poor' in Romanian. ' The nickname 'Popa Tanda' appears to be derived from a Transylvanian regionalism, 'tandalitura,' which means a person who chaffs or banters. 1 am indebted to Pevronia Novae for this information. 58 SLOVO, VOL. 20 NO. i, 2008 the ridicule, which Sandu bears good-naturedly. Sandu is attracted to Master Dinu's pretty daughter. Ana, who sometimes sews for the workmen. Ana in turn loves Sandu. Alone in the workshop on a cold Christmas Eve, Sandu remembers how for the past nine years he had envied the joy of strangers during Christmas. Suddenly Ana opens the door, bringing wine. The two are drawn to one another. Sandu briefly holds Ana close before she pulls away. Unfortunately, a jealous workman observes them. Mistress Veta is aghast when she hears that Ana and Sandu were seen together. She orders her husband to dismiss Sandu immediately. Master Dinu reluctantly does so, and Sandu is thrown 'out in the world'.'' Mihail Sadoveanu's 'The Wanderers' concerns an elderly Polish couple, Vladimir and Ana Savicky, who have been in exile in Romania for the past forty years. They live with their adopted daughter, Magdalena, a name thats biblical resonance suggests spiritual renewal. When their natural son, Roman, returns home from Warsaw after ten years abroad, he embraces bis parents and greets their visitors, two elderly Polish friends. In a prophetic voice, Roman describes the despair of tbe Polish people after the demise of their commonwealth and tbe deatb of tbeir leader, Tbaddeus Kosciusko. The Polisb-Litbuanian Commonwealth collapsed at the end of tbe eighteenth century, after being invaded by Sweden and after repeated wars witb Russia. Kosciusko led a failed revolt in 1794 against the Russian Empire, but was wounded and taken prisoner. Ostensibly about Poland, 'The Wanderers' evokes tbe tragedy of Romania, at whicb the son's name, 'Roman,' seems to bint. After its independence from tbe Ottoman Empire in 1877, Romania found itself drawn into conflicts in a region dominated by great powers sucb as Germany, Russia, and tbe Austro-Hungarian Empire. Roman personifies tbe endurance and patience of tbe botb tbe Polisb and Romanian peoples, dramatizing tbe belief expressed by Mircea Eliade tbat the 'trials and bumiliations of tbe Rumanian nation are perbaps tbe price it must pay for its subsequent spiritual alteration'.^ Tbe story ends witb Roman transfigured by tbe rays of a fiery sunset as be gazes into Magdalena's tearful eyes in tbe fading ligbt. In Marcu Beza's 'Tbe Dead Pool' two wayfarers pause to rest near a bidden pool into wbicb tbey peer as if into an abyss of primordial time: The silence extended indefinitely; it was as though the world here had remained unchanged since its creation. Hardly a breath of wind reached us. It always carried with it at this spot the same odour of dank weeds, of plants with poisonous juices; everything told of the neighbourhood of water — not fresh water, but water asleep for centuries Glimpsing wbat appear to be supernatural 'flickering points of fire' in tbe pool, one wayfarer tells to bis companion tbe following legend. A bandsome stranger followed a beautiful girl, Virgbea, to tbe mountains, living tbere as a sbepberd. Tbe stranger would play tbe flute to deligbt Virgbea, wbo would steal away from bome to listen. One day, during a fierce storm, tbe mountain peaks began to rattle witb tbe tbunder of warring gods. Wben tbe sbepberd emerged from bis fold, be bebeld a pbantom turning a spit over bot coals. Tbe spit beld tbe beart of a mountain guardian spirit wbo bad been overtbrown. Tbe pbantom asked tbe sbepberd to turn tbe spit wbile be rested, warning bim tbat be would die if be tasted tbe beart. Tbe curious sbepberd tasted tbe beart, found it pleasant, and ate it all. On a cruel impulse, be killed tbe sleeping pbantom and took its beart. Feeling drawn to tbe water, tbe sbepberd left bis Hute witb a companion and asked bim to play it in case of danger. After tbe sbepberd disappeared, Virgbea took to bed in grief. Tbe companion went to tbe pool, and wben be bad finisbed playing tbe flute, bells tolled, followed by tbe sobbing rbytbmic words, 'Virgbea is dead — is dead!'. Arising from tbe pool, tbe The Romanian title of 'Out hi The World' is 'In lume'. 'Lume' has many meanings, including 'world', 'people', 'humanity', 'society', all of whieh enrich our sense of Sandu's disenchantment and social rejeetion. Mircea Eliade, Journal iil. 1970-78. Tr. Teresa Lavender Fagan. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989) P' 55- REVIEWS 59 grieving shepherd-spirit carried Virghca down to his palace where points of fire lit the head of the deceased woman — those mysterious lights in the dead pool, A masterpiece of irony, Ion Luca Caragiale's 'The Easter Torch' is about a Jewish innkeeper, Leiba Zihal, who lives with his wife. Sura, and their child in a dangerous and remote place, Zibal hires a servant, Gheorghe, who proves dishonest and violent, and who refuses to leave when Zihal dismisses him. Before Zibal has him forcibly removed from the premises, Gheorghe threatens to return on Easter Eve to 'crack red eggs together'. Soon afterwards, Zibal learns that Gheorghe is wanted for a crime. He unsuccessfully seeks protection from the authorities. On Easter Eve, Zibal, who is suffering from malaria, dozes off. He dreams that a hirsute madman approaches his inn, accompanied by an excited crowd. Soldiers unbind the madman who suddenly dashes towards Zibal's wife and child, and crunches their heads together. At this moment in the nightmare, Zibal is awoken by the mocking laughter of a customer. Soon, two coach passengers bring news that a Jewish innkeeper has been murdered. When the sun sets, Zibal closes the inn and orders Sura to go to bed early. Sitting near the door, he listens anxiously. After a long time, Zibal hears horses approaching the inn, and then men outside speculating whether Zibal was asleep, A man - Gheorghe — begins to saw through the door, as Zibal awaits in the dark, thinking of his wife and child. When Gheorghe breaches the door, he finds his arm caught in a noose sprung by Zibal. Sura awakes that morning to the sound of moaning. She finds Zibal at the door, burning an arm with a torch. When the moans cease, Zibal swings open the door with a body hanging on it, as villagers with Easter torches look on, Zibal has lit Gheorghe's arm as a grotesque torch for Christ, Zibal is converted: he is a Ghristian and a Jew no longer, Caragiale reminds, like William Faulkner, that 'the basest of all things is to be afraid',** Ultimately, the suffering of the outcasts and outsiders in these tales is cathartic. Like the lights at the bottom of the dead pool in Beza's tale, these stories portend the spiritual regeneration and cultural survival of the Romanian people. The tales yearn for a future more compassionate than the age in which they were written and are the finest expression of a persistent collective memory. State University of New York at Canton hu ZAIDI The Netv Right in the New Europe: Czech Transformation and Right-Wing Politics, 19892006 by SEAN HANLEY, Pp 274, Routledge: London and New York, zoo8, Hbk. ISBN 10: 0-41534135-3 Sean Hanley's study sets itself the task of tracking down, in the author's own words, "the origins, development, and success since 1989 of one national case, that of the centre-right in the Gzech Republic" (p, 8), Even if his research is primarily intended as a case study, its conclusions are envisioned to have a wider resonance for the study of the emergence of right wing politics in post-Communist Central and Eastern Europe, Such research is motivated by the relative paucity of literature on this topic when compared to the studies on left-wing parties and on the extreme right, Hanley's study begins by delimitating the object of his research and distinguishing the moderate or centre-right from the far right and the various populist nationalist projects in the CEE area (Chapter i). It moves on to a detailed description and analysis ofthe main centreright party in the Czech Republic after 1989, the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), It also briefly discusses smaller groups representing the Czech right-wing in the aforementioned period, largely in connection with or as alternatives to ODS, The analysis unfolds according to a predominantly chronological pattern from Chapter 2 to 6, followed by a more theoretical William Faulkner, The Portable Faulkner. Ed. iMalcolm Cowley, (New York: Penguin, Z003) p, 649,