Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE STRANGE STORY OF RAB RÁBY DR. MAURUS JÓKAI'S MORE FAMOUS WORKS (Authorised Translations). LIBRARY EDITION. 6/- each. Black Diamonds. The Green Book; or, Freedom Under the Snow. Pretty Michal. The Lion of Janina; or, The Last Days of the Janissaries. An Hungarian Nabob. Dr. Dumany's Wife. The Nameless Castle. The Poor Plutocrats. Debts of Honour. Halil the Pedlar. The Day of Wrath. Eyes Like the Sea. 'Midst the Wild Carpathians. The Slaves of the Padishah. Tales from Jókai. NEW POPULAR EDITION. 2/6 Net each. The Yellow Rose. Black Diamonds. The Green Book; or, Freedom Under the Snow. Pretty Michal. The Day of Wrath. LONDON: JARROLD & SONS. [Illustration: portrait of Mór Jókai] THE STRANGE STORY OF RAB RÁBY BY MAURUS JÓKAI [Illustration: SANS PEUR ET SANS REPROCHE.] THIRD EDITION LONDON JARROLD & SONS, 10 & 11, WARWICK LANE, E.C. [All Rights Reserved.] PREFACE TO JÓKAI'S "RAB RÁBY," IN ENGLISH, By Dr. Emil Reich. In "Rab Ráby," the famous Hungarian novelist gives us, in a manner quite his own, a picture of the "old régime" in Hungary in the times of Emperor Joseph II., 1780-1790. The novel, as to its plot and principal persons, is based on facts, and the then manners and institutions of Hungary are faithfully reflected in the various scenes from private, judicial, and political life as it developed under the erroneous policy of Joseph II. Briefly speaking, "Rab Ráby" is the story of one of those frightful miscarriages of justice which at all times cropped up under the influence of political motives. In our own time we have seen the Dreyfus case, another instance of appalling injustice set in motion for political reasons. "Rab Ráby" is thus very likely to give the English reader a wrong idea of the backward and savage character of Hungarian civilisation towards the end of the eighteenth century, unless he carefully considers the peculiar circumstances of the case. I think I can do the novel no better service than setting it in its right historic frame, which Jókai, writing as he did for Hungarians, did not feel induced to dwell upon.