admitted that even today there is dancing at funeral feasts and in those times there was even more. These priestly rebukes and threats, however, have served at least one useful purpose. The writings of the priests have preserved for us certain characteristics of the Hungarian dances and their curses have had little effect on the dancers, past or present. A long poem published about 1670 and probably written by a Calvinist preacher bears the turgid baroque title, A knotty stick for the purpose of straightening the backs of those striplings who in form resemble men but in dancing and capering are like goats
and
kids,
for describing their offensiveness when prancwhich, at the end, showers curses on all dancing
and
ing, and Christians
:
... cursed be the Christian
That
takes part in a dance.
But this poem with its long title, although inspired malice and expressed in highly uncomplimentary language, by records that the Hungarian dancer bends his trunk shakes his head and inclines his neck, tilts his hat over one ear kicks like a tired horse, sticks out his chest, makes his eyes sparkle, opens his mouth now and then to shout hejje ! or hujja hopp-hajja !, jumps about, stamps out the !
swings his legs energetically, description finishes somewhat maliciously:
rhythm,
slides,
He waves his arms about and claps His hands like a showman at a fair. His hands are never still, never quiet5 In this resembling the executioner At Pozsony. Many look At him in their wickedness, And loudly laugh at him He were one of Vienna's 18
as if fools.
etc.
The