"Write down my words," he continued. "No one but you must hear them or see them. I have performed a great work which must not perish with me. The earth is to pause in its course and stand still; or, if the earth as a whole will not stop, yet our small portion of it must do so. Many there are who understand me, but few that know how to follow out my designs, and still fewer that have the requisite courage. I have three sons who will take my place when I am dead. Write down, Marie, what my sons are to do after my death. They are all too young to assume their duties at once. They must first be trained in the school of life, and, meanwhile, you will be unable to see them. But don't sigh over that; they are big boys now, and are not to be fondled and petted any longer. "My eldest son, Ödön,[1] is to remain at the court of St. Petersburg; it is a good school for him. Nature and disposition have too long fostered in him an ardent enthusiasm which can bring no good to our stock, and of which he will there be cured. The Russian court is a good training school, and will teach him to distinguish between men born with certain inherited rights, and those born with no rights whatever. It will teach him to stand on the heights without feeling dizzy, to recognise the true rights of a wife in the eyes of her husband, to cast aside all foolish youthful enthusiasm, and, upon his return hither as a man, to grasp the rudder from which my hand has fallen. You are to supply him with money enough to play his part worthily among the young nobles of the Russian court. Let him drain the cup of pleasure to the dregs. Leave him to his extravagances. To gain the serene heights of indifference, a young man must first sow his wild oats." [Footnote 1: The vowel _ö_ is sounded much like _oe_ in _Goethe_. _J_, as in _Jenö_, is pronounced like _y_. In pronouncing other Hungarian proper names in the book, let it be noted that _a_ is sounded nearly like _o_ in _not_; _á_ like _a_ in _far_; _e_ like _e_ in _met_; _é_ like _a_ in _fate_; _o_ like _o_ in _whole_, but somewhat shorter; _ó_ like _o_ in _hole_; _cz_ like _ts_; _s_ like _sh_; _sz_ like _s_ in _soft_; _g_ is hard; _gy_ is sounded like _dy_ in _would you_. The stress of voice is on the first syllable in every case, though less pronounced than in English. For typographical reasons the diæresis has been substituted for the double acute accent; the latter gives the same sound to the vowel over which it is placed as the former, only lengthened.] [TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: The double acute accent in the name Jenő and in the title _A Kőszívű Ember Fiai_ has been restored in this electronic edition. An examination of the original Hungarian text found no other instances where the diæresis was substituted for the double acute.]