Summary
Summary of 'Midst the Wild Carpathians
Key ideas
Key idea 1
Pride shadows a daring hunt
In the marshes of the Drave valley, Nicolas Zrinyi leads a hunting party with the confidence of a soldier and poet. His niece Helen shares his daring, leaping a chasm and killing a charging boar. But the gathering also carries political tensions: a watchful bald man presses Nicolas Bethlen about politics and angers Zrinyi with a toast to the Turks.
When news comes of a giant boar, Zrinyi insists on pursuing it alone. His proud choice turns the hunt toward danger.
Key idea 2
Anna buys her husband's freedom
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Key idea 3
Apafi receives an unwanted crown
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Key idea 4
A careless kiss plants a feud
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Key idea 5
War exposes Kemeny's misplaced confidence
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Key idea 6
Anna teaches kindness to govern
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Key idea 7
Hidden schemes surround the prince
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Key idea 8
A strange errand reveals hidden power
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Key idea 9
Small acts threaten a country's peace
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
Readers who love historical fiction with real kings, pashas and magnates, romantic mountain scenery, sword fights, court intrigue, and a strong-minded heroine in the middle of it all.
What this book is
Midst the Wild Carpathians is a historical novel by the Hungarian writer Mór Jókai, who died in 1904. It is set in the Transylvania of the 1660s, a small, proud principality squeezed between the Turkish Sultan and the German Emperor. Jókai builds his story from real people and events: the death of the poet and soldier Nicolas Zrinyi, the rise of the unlikely Prince Michael Apafi, and the long rivalry of the magnate Denis Banfi and the minister Michael Teleki.
The book moves between a hunt in the Drave marshes, a farmhouse at Ebesfalva, a drunken court at Hermannstadt, a Turkish camp, a robber's fairy palace, and the council halls of Karoly-Fehervar. It gives you battles and banquets, comic scenes with a poet in borrowed boots, and a wife who rules her husband's conscience.
You will meet a prince who would rather study old coins, a woman who sells her jewels to ransom her husband, and a haughty lord whose pride is his strength and his weakness. Let us begin where the story begins, with a hunt in the forest and a death that no one expects.
In this summary
- 1A hunt ends in a hero's deathFree
- 2A farm wife saves her husband
- 3A prince against his will
- 4Kemeny's feast and Beldi's kiss
- 5A Turkish pasha and a Magyar boy
- 6The battle of Nagy Szollos
- 7A princess teaches the prince
- 8A freebooter's palace and a ministers' court
- 9The Devil's Garden and a panther
Key point 1 of 9
A hunt ends in a hero's death
The story opens in 1666 in the wild marshes of the Drave valley. Jokai spends pages on the swamps before the hunting party appears. At its head rides Nicolas Zrinyi, a huge, blue-eyed lord who is both a soldier and a poet. Behind him ride his niece Helen, a fearless young woman, and a young cavalier at her side. Farther back rides a young Transylvanian named Nicolas Bethlen.
A bald, watchful man rides near them and keeps pressing the young Transylvanian, Nicolas Bethlen, to take part in politics. Bethlen brushes him off, saying he wants only to hunt today. The reader is told to study this man's face, because he will follow the story from start to finish.
The chase is full of daring. Zrinyi, Helen and the young cavalier leap a wide chasm that frightens the rest of the party. Helen kills a charging boar with a dart, and the whole party cheers her. Bethlen boasts that Transylvania has even finer boars, and Zrinyi is stung by it.
At a meal in the woods, the bald man proposes a toast to the Turks, and Zrinyi knocks over his glass in anger. Then the huntsman David whispers that a giant boar lies nearby. Zrinyi sets off after it, and he will have no one with him. The chapter shows how a bold man can die by one proud choice.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Check yourself
Why does Apafi become Prince of Transylvania?
Right. “The Sultan has decided to make him Prince of Transylvania, because the present prince, John Kemeny, may rebel.”Not quite. “The Sultan has decided to make him Prince of Transylvania, because the present prince, John Kemeny, may rebel.”
What role does Anna play in Apafi's rule?
Right. “The chapter shows the Princess as the true statesman behind a gentle husband.”Not quite. “The chapter shows the Princess as the true statesman behind a gentle husband.”
What starts the later feud between Banfi and Beldi?
Right. “Banfi, flushed with wine, dances with Beldi's beautiful wife and kisses her.”Not quite. “Banfi, flushed with wine, dances with Beldi's beautiful wife and kisses her.”
Questions about 'Midst the Wild Carpathians
What is Midst the Wild Carpathians about?
It follows Transylvania in the 1660s, when the gentle Michael Apafi is made Prince by the Turks. It shows his wise wife Anna, his scheming minister Teleki, and the proud magnate Denis Banfi, whose quarrels shape the fate of the country.
Is Midst the Wild Carpathians based on a true story?
Yes, in part. Apafi, Banfi, Teleki, Beldi, Kucsuk Pasha and Zrinyi were real figures of the 1600s, and the main events follow history. Jokai added invented scenes, comic episodes and characters to fill out the story.
Who is Azrael in the novel?
Azrael is a beautiful odalisk, first the favorite of the Turkish robber Corsar Beg, then of Banfi. She keeps a panther, lives in a hidden retreat called the Devil's Garden, and loves power above every person.
What is the Devil's Garden?
It is a round valley in the mountains where flowers bloom in winter, because a hot mineral spring warms the soil. Local Wallachs fear it as the devil's place. In the book it hides a secret retreat.
Is Midst the Wild Carpathians easy to follow?
Yes, because it moves through vivid scenes with clear people: a hunt, a battle, a banquet, a comic ride on a borrowed horse. Short chapters and lively dialogue make it simple to keep track of who wants what.
