On untrodden paths Contributions to the interpretation of the fourth book of György Pray Poema de institutione ac venatu falconum libris

Abstract

The fourth book of György Pray’s didactic poem on falconry deals with diseases of birds. The first part of the excursus, placed in the middle of the fourth book, contains an elevated reflection on the divine power of herbs, the greatness of people who know their medicinal power, and the almost inaccessible location of the sites where they are found. Although the passage is coherent in itself, it leaves a certain lack of clarity as to the origin of this special respect for the mountain grass people and the idea that unknown herbs grow on the tops of unclimbable, high mountains. To understand it properly, there was an obvious need for a background knowledge that is not covered in Pray’s didactic poem. In order to interpret the excursus, the paper draws on a few motivic parallels and invokes the folk legend The Rock of the Boy, known from the collection of Elek Benedek.