The half-witted village mailman has good intentions and does not deliver letters containing bad news.
The son of the village fire chief Lajos Tót is serving on the Russian front line during World War II. He sends a letter to his parents that his commanding officer, the Major, is arriving to the Tót family for two weeks' leave, to have a rest from the physical and mental strain of front-line service. The whole Tót family tries to please him, his ideas and whims are self-sacrificingly fulfilled. They serve him, entertain him, sing with him, and even make boxes with him to the point of exhaustion - not knowing that it is all in vain: the mailman did not dare deliver the telegram with the tragic news of their son's death.
At last the kind guest leaves, life sneaks back to normal - but the Major immediately returns to keep on box making. Tót walks out into the garden with him and cuts him into four equal pieces with the large margin cutter. „True, he had not chosen the moment well: his rebellion was futile, belated, senseless. But why is he to be blamed even for that? There are happy nations: they are the rebels of the right time. We are the late rebels.”
(István ÖRKÉNY: Letter to the audience)
