Transylvanian Gypsies: Story of the violin's birth

I just came across this myth in Walter Starkie's Raggle-Taggle and I thought I would share it with others:

"It is a story told in Transylvania, where every Gypsy believes that the violin has a miraculous origin. Once upon a time there lived in one of the villages of Transylvania a girl whom all the peasants thought bewitched because no man would ask her in marriage in spite of her great beauty and rich dowry. She herself was in love with a farmer, but he would never cast a look her way, though she sighed for him from morn till eve. At last, finding all her efforts fruitless, she prayed to the Devil and he said he would give her a magic instrument which would bring the young man to her feet. 'But, first of all,' said he, 'you must give me your father, your mother and your four brothers.' The girl was bewitched, as I said before, and she gave them all up without a murmur. Then the Devil out of the body of the father made an instrument, and out of the white hair of the mother's head he fashioned the bow, and out of the four brothers he made the strings and strung them across the fiddle. 'Now off with you,' he said, 'and play that fiddle into yon youth's ear and he'll follow you to the ends of the earth.'

"When the girl played, the young man followed her with his eyes set on her as in a trance. And she took his arm and both were ending their way home full of joy when suddenly the Devil appeared in their path and said: 'Now it is time for me to collect my dues: both of you have listened to the Devil's music and you must come off with me to Hell.' And off they went. As for the violin, it lay on the ground in the forest until a ragged Gypsy happened to pass that way, and he found it. And he, stranger, is playing it yet through the world, and because it is the Devil's instrument men and women go daft when they hear it, and the Gypsy alone knows its secret."

Living in Budapest: Sushi, vampires and prostitutes

I have been doing this "Living in Hungary" blog for a while now and I can clearly see that people find it searching for three topics:

1. Great sushi in Budapest
2. Vampires and vampire lore
3. Prostitute prices in Budapest

Now I admit to have written a couple of comments on all these subjects but they are definitely not my main interest. I live in Budapest and was trying to convey what I see of this great city, the frustrations, amusement and humor that living here involves. Good sushi, for example, is part of the good things in life - not having it in Budapest is part of the frustrations. Getting sushi that sticks to the plate so that when you lift it the plate comes with it - this is part of the amusement.

Vampires are not part of my everyday life. At least not the ones that bite in your neck to suck your blood (there are other more mundane types that suck your blood and money...) On the contrary, vampires are part of the Western mente, the way they see Hungary and Romania. This is what I was interested in, why are Americans and the West in general so obsessed with vampires and why do they place them in Eastern Europe. There is not a single vampire movie or novel in Hungary -- yet HBO is filled with them. The word Transylvania in the Western mind has a knee-jerk association with vampires. In Hungary Transylvania is associated with lost territories after WWI, with relatives who got stuck there, with people talking in a language that to many Hungarians sounds purer and less corrupted than what they speak themselves. Vampires are not something a Hungarian would think of when he hears the name Erdely (Transylvania in Hungarian).

And what about prostitutes? Well, I am aware of the great number of them in Budapest but, once again, they are the projection of the Western mind. Most Hungarians living in the city would be surprised to learn of the real motives behind the influx of large groups of British and Italian male "tourists" who fly here with Easyjet or Sky. People actually think that foreigners come to Budapest to see the city and to enjoy Hungarian food and wine. This might be true for many people but I personally know a lot more people who think that Hungarian food is crap and the wine is undrinkable and who come here to get drunk and get laid the cheapest possible way. The same goes for my blog. People find me looking for Hungarian prostitutes and Hungarian prostitute prices.

And you, my dear reader, what did you search for in Google that brought up this page for you? Was it "Western concept of Hungary" or "Hungary in the post-Communist era"? Or, perhaps, "The legend of St. Laszlo," "The history of Serbian communities in Central Hungary"?

In any case, it is interesting to see the image of Hungary in the mind of the average web surfer. Sushi, vampires and prostitutes: Hungary on its way to democracy.