I begged him to address me in German, as I was quite capable of making myself understood in that tongue.
"No! no! En _akarom_ magyariul beszélni"[92]--and at the same time he made as though he were ducking the head of a refractory urchin in a basin of soapsuds.
[Footnote 92: "I want to talk in Hungarian."]
"_Akarok_," I good-humouredly corrected him.
"No! no! _Akarok_ is the _indefinite_ mood, _akarom the definite_ mood; and I want to speak Hungarian _definitely_."
I was forced to acknowledge to myself that his logic was stronger than his grammar.
"I was born in Leutomischl"[93]--here he let his head fall regretfully on his breast.
[Footnote 93: A Bohemian town. He meant by this that he belonged to Czech officials who had been forced upon Hungary.--TR.]
I with corresponding pantomime replied that that need not make any difference between us.
"My father was"--here with both hands he took aim with an imaginary gun.
It now occurred to me _why_ he made all these gestures. Such is often the way with those who have taught themselves a foreign language without a master, and cannot find quickly enough the word they want. I hastened to his assistance.
"Yes, a forester. He had sons"--he lifted up both hands, and then one finger.
"Yes, eleven. I myself was"--he held the palm of his hand quite low down towards the floor.
"My father gave me"--here followed a very suggestive gesture.
"But it was all"--he lightly tapped the hollow of his hand, as much as to say "No good!"
"He wanted me to be"--he laid the palms of his hands together as if in prayer.
"Quite right! I wouldn't"--a snap of the fingers, and then a lizard-like dart into the palm of the hand.
"You mean to say you took French leave of the Seminary?"
At this we both laughed. The gesture next following--a smack on the palm of the hand illustrated by a little equitation on the back of a chair--gave me to understand that my visitor had then become a soldier.
"At four-and-twenty I was a lieutenant. I lay at Cracow for two years. I served in the Hungarian war from beginning to end. I am now thirty-four years old. And still I am only a lieutenant. Curious, isn't it?"
I agreed with him that it was certainly most surprising.
"My other comrades--no, not _comrades_, that's a French word."