Summary

In Chapter 3, the midday siren at the “nearby factory” reminded Eszter of the sirens growing up (59). She and Gizi used to lie around listening to them. Her community was impoverished. She realized the way others saw them now.

The lover once asked about Eszter’s first love. She lied, saying it was someone “from the tanning factory” (61). However, it was Ambrus’s younger brother Károly (61). Although Károly hated Eszter, she dreamed of marrying him. One day, he and Ambrus caught her spying on them in the barn. Károly beat Eszter for eavesdropping. She felt he had “beaten the love” out of her, “and something else too” (63). Afterwards, she was afraid of running into him.

When Eszter realized it was the lover’s birthday, she was overwhelmed.

Gizi’s parents Józsi and Juszti had paid Eszter to tutor Gizi. Sometimes...