Hungarian Folklore
The English word coach, the Spanish and Portuguese coche, the German Kutsche, and the Slovak and Czech koč all probably derive from the Hungarian word "kocsi", literally meaning "of Kocs". Kocs (pronounced "kotch") was a Hungarian post town, and the coach itself may have been invented in Hungary. Hungarian villages such as Zakopane still hold Coachman of the Year competitions.
The coachman soon became a prominent figure in Hungarian folklore. As the Clever Coachman (tudós kocsis), he turns up unexpectedly in the hero's life, either knowing his name or naming him by his true name. After the hero enters the coach, the coachman becomes a kind of guide. He may not take the hero to where he wants to go, but he always takes him to where he needs to be. Many of Steven Brust's novels play with this image of the coachman.
Read more about this topic: Coachman
Famous quotes containing the word folklore:
“So, too, if, to our surprise, we should meet one of these morons whose remarks are so conspicuous a part of the folklore of the world of the radio—remarks made without using either the tongue or the brain, spouted much like the spoutings of small whales—we should recognize him as below the level of nature but not as below the level of the imagination.”
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