Miriji cuts Tiende's golden hair

Mirígy’s cutting of Tünde’s hair turns a moment of apparent romantic bliss into the material basis of a deception: while Csongor and Tünde sleep beneath the tree, Mirígy steals a lock to use in her plan for her daughter. The quiet intimacy of the sleeping pair is thus made vulnerable to an act of revenge that reaches beyond the scene and sets up Mirígy’s attempted control of Csongor.

The Sleeping Scene

The action occurs inside the tree, where Tünde and Csongor lie together on a bed of grass, partly hidden by its foliage. The surrounding imagery makes the scene seem abundant and protected: the apples are shining above them, and Csongor, overcome by sleep, dreams of happiness on love’s soft bed. The stage direction places the lovers in a sheltered interior, but their partial concealment does not protect Tünde from Mirígy, who approaches stealthily.

The contrast is immediate. The lovers are asleep and absorbed in a dream of happiness; Mirígy is awake, watchful, and driven by vengeance. Her movement into the lovers’ private space is not a confrontation: she does not wake them or challenge their union openly. Instead, she acts while they cannot respond, making their sleep the opportunity for an attack that is small in physical scale but consequential in what she intends to do with it.

The Theft of the Lock

Before the cut, Mirígy notices an unusual light and the apples shining above the sleeping couple. The evidence does not explain the light’s source, but it marks the scene as more than an ordinary encounter: the luminous tree and the lovers’ dream of happiness provide the setting in which Mirígy’s hostile intervention takes place. She then declares that she cannot bear to watch and names revenge and malice as the forces driving her. Her stated purpose is to damage Tünde’s beautiful hair.

The stage direction makes the intention physical and specific: Mirígy secretly approaches Tünde and cuts off a lock of her hair. The theft does not involve a spoken exchange with Tünde, who remains asleep. Its secrecy matters. Mirígy takes a piece of Tünde’s appearance without her knowledge, turning beauty into something that can be removed and put to another use. The scene shifts from the lovers’ shared, dreamlike stillness to a quiet act of violation, without disturbing their sleep.

Mirígy’s Scheme

Once she has the lock, Mirígy announces that she will cover her daughter with Tünde’s hair. She intends for her daughter to become carried away in Csongor’s arms, after which Mirígy believes she will rule. The cutting is therefore not an isolated gesture of spite: it is the first practical step in a plan to use resemblance and Csongor’s unawareness to gain power over him. Tünde’s stolen hair is meant to help substitute Mirígy’s daughter for the beloved woman who sleeps beside him.

Mirígy leaves after setting out this purpose, and Ilma enters afterward. The lovers themselves are not shown waking or responding before Mirígy’s exit. The immediate consequence is instead dramatic knowledge: the audience has seen the theft and heard the plan, while the sleeping pair remain unaware of the danger prepared around them. The scene closes not with the deception completed, but with its instrument secured and Mirígy departing to carry her design forward.

Dramatic Significance

The lock links the scene’s intimate image of love to the machinery of disguise. A small piece of Tünde’s body is made into an instrument in a plan aimed at Csongor; the threat arises not from open force but from the possibility that appearance can be manipulated while recognition is suspended by sleep. Mirígy’s stated revenge thus takes a calculated form: she damages Tünde’s hair and appropriates it for a deception intended to redirect Csongor’s affection and establish Mirígy’s own rule.

Sleep sharpens the reversal. Csongor dreams of happiness as the means of that happiness is being stolen from beside him, while Tünde’s stillness allows Mirígy to act without opposition. The scene places their unknowing repose against Mirígy’s purposeful secrecy, making the tree’s shelter a setting for both tenderness and intrusion. Its decisive consequence is the beginning of a scheme that turns Tünde’s hair from a feature of her beauty into evidence of Mirígy’s hostility and a tool in her attempt to control what Csongor sees and embraces.