Dirty Words

Dirty Words



Csenge (3) and Levi (5) won at the local Oxford competition but Levi became ill and couldn’t come with us. So Csenge and her disoriented mother went alone to the capital. It’s a stressful challenge for a partly disabled mother and a little girl. At the beginning we enjoyed being together and the nice train journey. But in Budapest orientation is difficult for an illiterate child, so Csenge wasn’t too much help for me. Csaba had already told me and showed me the “simple” way to the Buda Castle several times the previous day, however, for me there are only few things easier than to get lost. The 10-minute walk up took us much-much more than an hour – we managed to walk round the whole hill then walk up on the opposite side. Csenge didn’t mind and didn’t complain. She is the best company any traveller could wish. So in spite of the hot weather (35 Celsius degree) and after that long-long walk around the hill and up to the Castle we – at last – found the National Széchenyi Library.

… but not its entrance! We walked it around then wisely decided to go further up the hill. Then National Gallery was found … but not the Library.

And you cannot ask the hundreds of tourists where the building is. Csenge started to loose her optimism:

“Then I won’t see the exhibition!”

“We will” sounded the confident mother. “I will ask somebody.”

We walked round the Gallery’s building as well, then I decided to go back to the Gallery’s information desk. We had been on the route for at least one and a half hours (comparing the estimated 10 minutes!), and on the way back to the National Gallery the beautiful, always gentle, smiling princess in her long dress (with crown) sitting in her baby-sling determinedly said:

“A johadt éjetbe!” (i.e.: A rohadt életbe) – seems I’m teaching you to swear in Hungarian.

We both looked seriously surprised at each other.

“Wejj, I onjy said that bad thing because I am jeajjy angjy.” apologized the offender, and because it was absolutely the right expression at the right moment (I would have said the same if I had had more courage!) we both laughed.

And found the Library’s entrance … and enjoyed being there … and found The Three Billy-Goats amongst the other exhibited projects … and waited patiently to the start of the ceremony… and it started when Csenge finished her apple and was sitting barefooted on her chair in one of the back rows … and when the Hungarian representative of OUP said:

“Ladies and Gentlemen …”

my daughter stood up on her chair (don’t forget: she was bare-footed!) and shouted:

“Sjee bijjy- goats!” with both hands up. Then embarrassed by her own action she quickly sat down and looked at me. We cannot say that hundreds of eyes stared at us because we saw only each others’ and laughed – this little monster is 100 percent life, energy and enthusiasm. I hope her speech-defect prevented her audience from understanding her – otherwise she would have looked like a little boaster.

As Csenge never had sworn before (and after) a few weeks later I asked her:

“What did you say when we didn’t find the Széchenyi Library?”

After an embarrassed smile and some deep-thought moments she happily found the words in her memory:

“A kuta fáját!” (“A kutya fáját!”) – which is her well-used expression in difficult situations, and absolutely not bad.

Anyway, once dad couldn’t put two things together and became extremely angry. He usually doesn’t use ugly words in front of his children, but this time he was not able to control his tongue and said something very long. Next day my son walked into a similar situation and we heard absolutely the same expression with the same intonation and gesture. Never ever any of us have remembered the words since then but according to my husband it was appropriate.