As a child, Arany read every single Hungarian and Latin book of his parents' family library. By the time he grew up, he spoke Greek, German, English and even French fluently. He became a true collector of words: according to a recent study he possessed the greatest vocabulary in our language. Almost 60,000 unique words. Researchers added also, that after recording an entire year of today's people's talking, an average intellectual uses only half of this amount.
Arany's Shakespeare (Hamlet, Midsummer Night's Dream, King John) translations are considered the most brilliant and infinite in Hungarian literature.
May this quote put you in the mood tonight to read a little more of some romantic poetry.
"The evening comes and everything is hushed,
while darkly nods the leafy mulberry tree;
a buzzing insect strikes against the wall,
a loud crash follows, there is heard no more.
As if the very clods of earth had legs
the clumsy frogs to rolling everywhere
while round the eves there wheels a wandering bat,
an old owl's hooting in a ruined tower."
János Arany: Family Circle (1851)
