Page:Liliom (1921).djvu/16

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its child-like expressionlessness accentuated by the monocle he always wears, though rather belied by the gleam of humor in his dark alert eyes. His hair is iron-gray, his figure stocky and of about medium height. A mordant wit, an inimitable raconteur, he loves life and gayety and all the luxuries of life. Nothing can persuade him out of his complacent and comfortable routine. He will not leave Budapest, even to attend the première of one of his plays in nearby Vienna. The post-war political upheaval which has rent all Hungary into two voluble and bitter factions left him quite unperturbed and neutral. His pen is not for politics.

Yet it is a singularly prolific pen. His novels and short stories are among the finest in Hungarian literature. He has written nine long plays and numerous short ones. A chronology of his more important dramatic works is as follows:

1902 A DOKTOR UR (The Doctor).

1904 JOZSI.

1907 AZ ÖRDÖG (The Devil).

1909 LILIOM.

1911 TESTÖR (Played in this country as "Where Ignorance is Bliss").

1913 A FARKAS (Played in this country as "The Phantom Rival").

1914 URIDIVAT (Attorney for Defence).

1919 A HATTYU (The Swan).