"Gyurka ja Sándor" by Ferenc Herczeg is a comic novel written in the early 20th century. It follows the high-spirited Gyurkovics brothers, Gyurka and Sándor, whose pranks, bravado, and run-ins with teachers, soldiers, and small-town society drive a lively coming-of-age tale. With satirical warmth, it revisits these beloved characters from an earlier story and promises picaresque scrapes, mock heroics, and glimmers of future destiny.The opening of the novel frames the brothers through a playful preface: the narrator returns to them now that they are “grown,” recalling Sándor’s boisterous presence at a post-election revel and announcing a closer look at Gyurka’s childhood to explain a later controversial choice. It then drops into their school years: a dust-up in the square, a thrashing for the teacher’s pet Elefántovics, and a wicked prank involving a dead frog hidden in a dessert. The boys befriend Anikó, a poor tavern girl with a loyal dog, defend her from her father’s strap, and dream aloud of bandit glory. Summoned by the rector, they bolt—Gyurka adopts the swaggering alias “Bácskan haamu,” steals a pistol, and runs off to the woods with Anikó, while Sándor deserts them. After a nocturnal return to ink-mock his sleeping brother and free Anikó’s dog, Gyurka is found by a band of schoolboys eager to join his “outlaw” band; they arm themselves, soot their faces, string a rope across the road, and lie in wait to stage their first highway robbery as the scene cuts off. (This is…
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