Átkozott józanság!

The work assembles short narratives and sketches set by rivers, villages, and forests, beginning with an elder engineer and a Székely who pull a young, well-dressed stranger from the Danube and tend him while learning almost nothing of his past. Other episodes turn to a young woman who stands apart from social conventions and shows unusual sympathy for animals and small life. Throughout, the prose observes landscapes and everyday labor, and reflects on human character, duty, and the uneasy balance between sober judgment and unexpected compassion.