GARAY

garay, janos (1812-1853), hungarian poet and author, was born on the 10th of october 1812, at szegszard, in the county of tolna. from 1823 to 1828 he studied at funfkirchen, and subsequently, in 1829, at the university of pest. in 1834 he brought out an heroic poem, in hexameters, under the title _csatar_. after this he issued in quick succession various historical dramas, among which the most successful were _arbocz, orszagh ilona_ and _bathori erzsebet_,--the first two published at pest in 1837 and the last in 1840. garay was an energetic journalist, and in 1838 he removed to pressburg, where he edited the political journal _hirnok_ (herald). he returned to pest in 1839, when he was elected a corresponding member of the hungarian academy of sciences. in 1842 he was admitted into the kisfaludy society, of which he became second secretary. garay enriched hungarian literature with numerous lyrical poems, ballads and tales. the first collection of his poems was published at pest in 1843; and his prose tales appeared in 1845, under the title of _tollrajzok_ (sketches with the pen). his historical ballads and legends, styled _arpadok_ (pest, 1847, 2nd ed. 1848), showed him to be a master in the art of ballad-writing. some of his lyrical poems also are excellent, as, for example, _balatoni kagylok_ (shells from the balaton lake) (pest, 1848). his legend _bosnyak zsofia_ (pest, 1847), and his poetical romance _frangepan kristofne_ (christopher frangepan's wife) (pest, 1846), gained the prize of the kisfaludy society. his last and most famous work was an historical poem in twelve cantos, with the title _szent laszlo_ (saint ladislaus) (eger, 1852, 2nd ed., pest, 1853, 3rd ed. 1863). garay was professor of hungarian language and literature to the university of pest in 1848-1849. after about four years' illness he died on the 5th of november 1853, in great want. a collective edition of his poems was published at pest the year after his death by f. ney (2nd ed. 1860), and several of his poems were translated by kertbeny. see _garay janos osszes koltemenyei_ (2nd ed., pest, 1860); and _dichtungen von johann garay_ (2nd ed., vienna, 1856). garble (a word derived from the arab. _gharbala_, to sift, and related to _ghirbal_, a sieve; the arabic words are of foreign origin, probably from the lat. _cribrum_, a sieve), originally a medieval commercial term in the mediterranean ports, meaning to sort out, or to sift merchandize, such as corn, spices, &c., in order to separate what was good from the refuse or waste; hence to select the best of anything for retention. similarly a "garbler" was an official who was appointed to sort out, or test the work of those who had already sorted, the spices or drugs offered for sale in the london markets. in this original sense the word is now obsolete, but by inversion, or rather perversion, "garble" now means to sort out or select, chiefly from books or other literary works, or from public speeches, some portion which twists, mutilates, or renders ineffective the meaning of the author or speaker.