Pastor Hlovík began to fear his own parishioners. Ever since cholera broke out, they suspected him of trying to poison them with Communion bread. Every time he went to administer the Holy Communion to the dying, he had to taste it himself first. Hlovík was not alone in this; the peasants viewed other priests, doctors, and nurses with the same kind of suspicion. Encouraged by alcohol, they went from impoliteness to open aggression. Hlovík flew from his own clergymen to a neighbouring village to hide at his colleague's, unaware that the peasants had already killed him. A thrilling journey begins, in which his life is at stake.

 

Hlovík medzi vzbúreným ľudom (Hlovík amidst the rebellious people) is not typical of Záborský's prose; it is a reportage. Based on eyewitness accounts, he compiled a shocking chronicle of events that occurred in eastern Slovakia during the 1831 peasant uprisings. In a factual yet captivating style, he describes Hlovík's journey, captivity, anticipation of execution, and sudden liberation. The text is full of suspense, dramatic situations, and even dark humour in places. However, Záborský's text primarily questions a whole range of ideas that we have formed about ourselves – about our dovelike nature, Christian foundations, or heroism.

 

There are numerous testimonies, accounts, and statements about the peasant riots of 1831, which reveal in an exciting way the circumstances under which mild-mannered and kind people become a lynching mob that, in its desire for justice, only multiplies injustices.