Вазовия

Saturated with intense reflection and feelings, the epic poem by the great Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi "The Madman" is one of the first translations of Hungarian literature in our country. It is associated with the name of the national poet Ivan Vazov. He was the first to translate and print it in his magazine "Dennitsa". Although not very popular in Hungary, in Bulgarian translation "The Madman" became one of the most recited poems in our country. Its dramatic texture, the sharply posed problems in a socio-ethical aspect, the bold and direct conclusions, reaching at some moments a decisive protest conscious and directed in a certain direction, make it not only a relevant, but also a highly influential work for the time. For such great popularity, Vazov also has some merit, who with a sense of proportion and poetic flair managed to give artistic flesh to the hatred for the world of corruption or indolence, which permeates the tragic monologue of the Hungarian poet. In 1967 in "Studia slavica". organ of the section "Linguistics and Literary Studies" of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences published an interesting article by Istvan Pot. 2 In it, the Hungarian scholar poses the question - through the mediation of which language Ivan Vazov translated "The Madman". This question, as I. Pot himself shares, is "still unresolved". Written in an argumentative manner, with a specific analysis of the artistic and literary-historical facts, this article nevertheless calls for an answer to those problems that have not found a place in it, as well as to further clarify the statement considered by I. Pot about the source of Vazov's translation.