Free The Diary of Geza Csath by Geza Csath Page B

his last coitus was harrowing. He arrived home from a night of revelry at the Feszek 18 and started to bang his wife, then digustedly pulled out his penis. He already knew his wife was unfaithful.
    I wanted to take the opportunity to go and have a look at the big […] that an antique dealer was selling. The doorman rang, however, and signalled that our master required our presence for his first lecture. There was no alternative. We had to listen to the whole lecture, which lasted two hours and was completely devoid of interest and colour. There wasn’t a single interesting point, clever pedagogical approach, well-articulated phrase, pause, or talented gesture anywhere. Long sentences, sentences left unfinished and started again, etc. I had a feeling of great fatigue. Then the doorman announced Sassy, my friend the painter, was waiting for me. He had brought a carpet expert with him, as I had requested the day before. They looked over the carpets at my place and made an appraisal; conversing with them was so tiresome I had difficulty being polite.
18. Feszek Klub, a venerable restaurant and club for artists in Budapest’s Seventh District.
    I was called to the telephone. Harmos 19 was on the line and asked for a rendezvous. I gave her one: Kalvin ter at 2.15. I thought she could accompany me to Olga’s and we could talk on the way. I had lunch. The meal felt good, but I made a mistake in not pausing between each course. The cigarette afterwards again provided no enjoyment. Bozsi interrupted me in it as well. The girl came up to see me ebullient in colour and mood. The effect of Monday’s IP no. 5 was visible. She said herself that she was much the better for it, and asked for another injection. I gave her the same dose; her temperature of 37.5 C led me to opt for caution. She asked for my portrait. I gave it to her. We went to Kalvin ter together, and I accompanied her a bit further into Kecskemeti utca. Returning to Kalvin ter, I didn’t see Harmos anywhere, so I went into the Bathory Café and bought a box of Luxors. I was saddened by the pretty German hostess, who, while quite kind, was not nearly as friendly as I was to her. It even occurred to me that Harmos put Desiré 20 on the phone so she could boast that I had wanted to meet her. Reading the Est 21 , I took a coach and, with considerable appetite for P, I hurried up to Olga’s flat. I
    19. Ilona Harmos, wife of Dezso Kosztolanyi.
20. Csath’s nickname for Dezso Kosztolanyi.
21. The Evening (newspaper)
    Illustration by Attila Sassy (Aiglon)
found her little brother home and the windows open wide. I was disconsolate.
    We chatted. Olga’s beauty, purity, and shapeliness aroused me, and not being able to satisfy my passion, I had to pace up and down in the room to calm down. I injected .045 P, but euphoria again did not come. She made a snack. In the meanwhile I gave her a lesson in ethics on account of a lie [she had told], making her sulky and angry with me.
    Even so, I found her sweet and adorable. After the light meal I left quickly, prompted by the little brother’s lack of resolve to do the same. I wanted to visit Moravcsik. He wasn’t home. I went over to Jozsi Szabo’s, who was included in the agenda because he lived nearby. He wasn’t home either. In the chilly, beautiful evening, I started walking downtown with the intention of doing some shopping. First, however, I made my way to the Harmonia to pay for my piano. The new upright had been shipped two days earlier, and the way things stood I was able to pay the entire price easily. Conferring with Kohn, the piano dealer, I was sad to discover that the upright piano Harmonia sold me for 840 crowns actually cost 700. But then I calculated two years’ interest on 700 crowns is actually 140 crowns, and I had been leasing a piano from Harmonia for that long. So I wasn’t making a completely bad deal. Another problem emerged. While I had actually repaid 270 crowns, the manager’s books indicated only