Novel
Eclipse of the Crescent Moon
Egri csillagok
Géza Gárdonyi · 1901
Opening lines
A patakban két gyermek fürdik: egy fiu meg egy leány.
Two children are bathing in the brook: a boy and a girl.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from gutenberg.org
Synopsis
In 1533, two children, Gergely Bornemissza and little Éva Cecey, known as Vicuska, are abducted by a Turkish horseman, Jumurdzsák; thanks to Gergely's resourcefulness, they escape and free the other captives. After his mother's death, Gergely is taken in by the great lord Bálint Török; he grows up, finds Éva again and becomes a soldier. In 1552, the Ottoman army marches on the fortress of Eger, which two thousand defenders must hold against a far larger army.
Context
The novel first appeared as a serial in the Pesti Hírlap from Christmas 1899, then in book form in 1901, in two volumes, published by the Légrády brothers. To prepare it, the author travelled to Constantinople in the spring of 1899. The story begins in 1533 and follows, up to the siege of 1552, the years leading to the defence of Eger, the town where the author had settled in 1897. It was adapted for the screen twice, in 1923 and then in 1968.
Who it is for
A long novel of adventure and siege, read at school in Hungary; translated into English under the title Eclipse of the Crescent Moon, while no French translation has been located.
Prizes and reception
Voted the Hungarians' favourite novel in 2005, in the great national survey “A Nagy Könyv”.