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The guests did not ask the names of the dishes, nor were they

halted by that curious mystery; they ate everything rapidly with

a soldier's appetite, filling their glasses with the generous

Hungarian wine.

But meanwhile the great centrepiece had changed its colour,207

and, stripped of its snow, had already turned green; for the

light froth of sugared ice, slowly warmed by the summer heat, had

melted and disclosed a foundation hitherto hidden from the eye:

so the landscape now represented a new time of year, shining with

a green, many-coloured spring. Various grains came forth, as if

yeast were making them grow; gilded ears of saffron wheat were

seen in rich profusion, also rye, clad in leaves of picturesque

silver, and buckwheat, made artistically of chocolate, and

orchards blooming with pears and apples.