It was all new and wonderful to Shasta for Calormene food is quite different. He didn’t even know what the slices of brown stuff were， for he had never seen toast before. He didn‘t know what the yellow soft thing they smeared on the toast was， because in Calormen you nearlyalways get oil instead of butter. And the house itself was quite different from the dark， frowsty， fish.smelling hut of Arsheesh and from the pillared and carpeted halls in the palaces of Tashbaan. The roof was very low， and everything was made of wood， and there was a cuckoo.clock and a red. and.white checked tablecloth and a bowl of wild flowers and little curtains on the thick.paned windows. It was also rather troublesome having to use dwarf cups and plates and knives and forks. This meant that helpings were very small， but then there were a great many helpings， so that Shasta’s plate or cup was being filled every moment， and every moment the Dwarfs themselves were saying， “Butter please”， or “Another cup of coffee，” or “I‘d like a few more mushrooms，” or “What about frying another egg or so？” And when at last they had all eaten as much as they possibly could the three Dwarfs drew lots for who would do the washing.up， and Rogin was the unlucky one. Then Duffle and Bricklethumb took Shasta outside to a bench which ran against the cottage wall， and they all stretched out their legs and gave a great sigh of contentment and the two Dwarfs lit their pipes. The dew was off the grass now and the sun was warm； indeed， if there hadn’t been a light breeze， it would have been too hot.
