Horst, a young archeologist, vainly tries to persuade the rulers of Ceramos that their past is worth unearthing. Even with all his irony, Horst cannot understand that a culture must be rich and stable before it can care about what it used to be. Durust Osman, the richest and most powerful man in Ceramos, is more interested in his lemons, which are the finest in the world, than in what lies buried in the soil that bears them. At the age of 70, he is surrendering to the simplest pleasures, which a lifetime of intriguing has taught him to enjoy. Each in his own way destroys Ceramos, trying to make it better or worse.
Nothing is more inimical to a culture than to become self-consciously picturesque.
Even the wisest heads in the city are intoxicated by the idea of a tourist hotel on the offshore island of Yazada. The new hotel will be a Trojan horse, but the Ceramians cannot be expected to understand that. Some things, though, they cannot change.