“Perhaps, in order to forget those words, I needed to forget the actual language in which they had been spoken, just as we move from a house that reminds us of the dead. Perhaps it was possible to replace one language with another in my head, little by little, discarding a word for every word acquired. For a time, my head would be like a house undergoing renovations, with new words being hoisted up through one ear and the rubble being lowered down through the other. I would of course be saddened to see so many beautiful words, wainscoting, going to waste all because of a few disastrously employed pieces. On the other hand, however, once free of my entire Latin vocabulary, with Kriska's help I would learn to speak Magyar flawlessly.”