"This, then, was the man beloved by Mariora.
"In our part of the country, my lady, there is an original popular
custom, the maiden-market.
"In the highlands of Bihar stands the rocky bluff of Geina, which grows
green, like every other Transylvanian height, as soon as it is cleansed
from snow. There I first met Juon, many years ago. He stood there on the
mountain summit the live-long day, blowing on his alpenstock, while the
bear was plucking strawberries in the valley below and guarding the
goats, not from running away, but from other wild beasts. The prospect
from this spot is really sublime. In one direction you can see the
mountain-chain of Vulcani, in the other the environs of Klausenberg and
the Gyalian Alps. But westwards stretches the great Hungarian plain,
whose misty expanse loses itself against the horizon.
"On a certain day of the year things are very lively at Geina. In the
evening of the first Sunday after St. John Baptist's day the
ginger-bread-bakers come thither from Rezbanya and Topanfalu with their
horses dragging loads of honey-cakes, and barrels full of meal and
brandy, and pitch their tents in the forest-clearing. On that Sunday the
highlands are full of merry folks, and the maiden-market is held there.
"From near and far repair thither the mothers and their marriageable
daughters, all tricked out with their dowries ready in the shape of
strings of gold and silver coins round their necks, with bright
variegated garments at their horses' sides, and stuffed pillows and
painted pitchers on the saddles in front of them.
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