Peeking Under the Covers

Chapter 11 Sweets! Candy!  The cry rose incessantly in the transparent and warm air through the clash of confetti. And the little balls of coated sweets — singular candies — passed by whistling, rough, scathing, hurried, and attacking everyone without pity. They dripped from balconies decorated with banners and flowers, and onto those dressed as multicolored dominoes as they elbowed each other on the quays, the bridges  the Corso, and the Rue Saint-François-de-Paule. Chariots passed by, strange or funny or charming; sea caves in the shade of which appeared mysterious naiads, whose hands opened full of confetti; Venetian gondolas; bizarre monsters worthy of the Apocalypse; gigantic flowers that advanced gravely, raining down the little candy-coated sweets from their unfathomable chalices; harvesters' carts on which were piled sheaves of wheat, studded with poppies, and transported under the feet of sturdy boys, while beautiful brown girls artistically grouped together as in a L...