You ask me, perhaps, why we mountain folk must needs take the field when already we are fighting for our country all our life long in the bowels of the earth.

You say it is enough for us to dig the iron in our mountains without wielding it on the battle-field; else what do the privileges mean that were granted us by Andreas II.

and Bela IV., by which we are exempted from military service?
It's no use your talking, Manasseh; you've been away from home.

But had you been here and seen and heard your brother David when he stood up in the middle of the marketplace, made a speech to the young men around him, and then buckled on his sword and mounted his horse, you would certainly have mounted and followed him.

How can you quench the flames when every house is ablaze?
All the young men were on fire and it was out of the question to dampen their ardour.