Albania, an important post for a
man of 47. But he was not certain,
he said, whether he wished to
exchange the idyll of Athonite
existency for the turmoil of that
uncouth political fiction.
‘The courses began with soup,
and continued, four in succession,
with octopus. There was octopus
cooked amid segments of the garlic
bulb, and octopus, more subtly
delicate perhaps, alone. There was
octopus with beans; and there was
octopus again alone but for a hot
gravy. Then followed roes, hard
and round, an inch in diameter and
three long. These were garnished