Concept:This extract is from the scene in The Tempest where mysterious spirits present a banquet to the shipwrecked nobles.Explanation:In the extract, Gonzalo is speaking to Alonso and trying to calm his fear.The speech refers to strange sights that they once would not have believed possible.Just before this, several strange shapes have brought in a banquet and set it before the travellers.Therefore, the thing "laid before them" in the extract is a banquet.Answer:banquet