Mihály Babits (1883-1941), the respected editor of the first generation of Nyugat, is not considered one of the great laughers in literary history, even though he was no stranger to humor. The author, who is known as a poet, writer, literary translator, essayist, and literary historian, sometimes has its place in the work of serenity.
The setting is Gádoros, the small town of the novel Halálfiai. The house of the sociable and remarkable aunt Ilka, standing in the six-moon rose garden, is a meeting place for the small town's flirtatious young men and sales girls. This is where they ensnare Franci Gruber, the young law student whom Aunt Ilka singled out as her "adopted daughter", Irén. Apart from Franc, all relatives and acquaintances are initiated into the plan.
In the rose-scented summer night, lonely desires could reach each other by reaching out, but the very act of reaching out is impossible. Everyone is a prisoner here, a slave to conventions. And whoever breaks the conventions remains a prisoner of the broken conventions. Franci Gruber doesn't learn the strange truth until much later: he unwisely ruined his life, but if he hadn't ruined it, he wouldn't have been better off either.