HUNGARY GAY UNTIL TOMORROW LIKE GERMANY'S RIOTOUS FASCHING FESTIVAL, HUNGARY'S FARSANG WAS 
TRADITIONALLY A TIME TO BLOW OFF STEAM BEFORE THE ONSET OF 
LENT'S RIGORS . IT WAS BANNED BY HUNGARY'S RED RULERS . 
BUT NOW, WITH THEIR TOLERANCE, FARSANG (PRONOUNCED FORSHONG), IS MAKING A 
COMEBACK NOT SO MUCH AS A PRE-LENTEN SPREE AS A CHANCE 
TO ESCAPE THE AUSTERITY OF EVERYDAY LIFE UNDER COMMUNISM . EXPLAINED 
ONE BLONDE MERRYMAKER : " WE CELEBRATE FROM THE MORNING AFTER 
NEW YEAR'S RIGHT THROUGH LENT, AND ON TO EASTER . " 
HUNGARY'S FESTIVAL PALES BY COMPARISON WITH THE OLD DAYS, WHEN MAGYAR 
ARISTOCRATS WOULD SPIT ON A 100-FORINT NOTE (WORTH ABOUT $12.50), SLAP 
IT ON A GYPSY'S FOREHEAD, AND DEMAND PASSIONATE VIOLINPLAYING UNTIL THE 
SPITTLE DRIED AND THE NOTE FELL OFF . BUT ALL THINGS 
CONSIDERED, IT IS GAY ENOUGH . AT BUDAPEST'S PRESS BALL LAST 
WEEK, YOUNG MEN IN STOVEPIPE TROUSERS AND GIRLS IN DARINGLY DECOLLETE 
DRESSES PERFORMED A WRITHING TWIST THAT ONLOOKERS POINTED TO WITH A 
TOUCH OF PRIDE AS THEIR OWN " DIRTY TWIST . / 
FOR THE MONSTER MASKED BALLS THAT PUNCTUATE THE SEASON, PROBABLY 100,000 
COSTUMES WILL BE RENTED . AT SOME EVENTS THE MEN SPORT 
TUXEDOS RENTED FOR 120 FORINTS (THE AVERAGE HUNGARIAN EARNS 1,600 FORINTS 
A MONTH, OR $70 AT TOURIST EXCHANGE RATES), AND THE LADIES 
WEAR OLD REMODELED PARTY DRESSES . EVERYBODY THROWS A PARTY : 
THERE IS EVEN A BALL OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF WATER ECONOMY 
. AT THE FORESTERS' BALL IN BUDAPEST'S HOTEL GELLERT FORTNIGHT AGO, 
1,500 GUESTS TURNED UP, INCLUDING EVEN A FEW FORESTERS . GYPSIES 
PROVIDE THE MUSIC, SAWING OUT STRAUSS WALTZES, WILD HUNGARIAN CSARDAS AND 
SONGS BY SOMEBODY LISTED AS / COLPORTER . " THE BALLS 
GO STRONG UNTIL DAWN BREAKS OVER THE DANUBE . FOR ALL 
THE DANCING, DRINKING AND CASUAL LOVEMAKING, THE FESTIVAL HAS A BITTERSWEET 
AIR . AFTER THEIR NIGHT-LONG REVELS, BUDAPEST'S RESIDENTS PICK THEIR WAY 
TO WORK ALONG POCK-MARKED SIDESTREETS, GAZE ABSENTLY AT THE STRIPPED-BARK SCAFFOLDING 
ON BUILDINGS GUTTED BY SOVIET TANKS DURING THE 1956 REBELLION, QUEUE 
UP FOR THE CONSUMER GOODS THAT ALWAYS SEEM TO BE IN 
SHORT SUPPLY . THE RED ARMY STILL STAYS PRUDENTLY HIDDEN IN 
ITS CAMPS RINGING BUDAPEST, AND THE HATED AVH SECRET POLICE HAVE 
BEEN REPLACED BY A LESS CONSPICUOUSLY MURDEROUS BUNCH KNOWN AS BKH, 
BUT NOBODY IS ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THE " PERMISSIVENESS " SHOWN LATELY 
BY PREMIER JANOS KADAR . DON'T LET ALL THIS GAIETY FOOL 
YOU, " A BUDAPEST WRITER WARNED AN AMERICAN VISITOR AFTER A 
FARSANG BALL . " THE YOUNG PEOPLE ARE GAY BECAUSE THEY 
ARE YOUNG . THE OLD PEOPLE THEY ARE GAY BECAUSE THEY 
DON'T KNOW WHAT COMES TOMORROW . " 