DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62133#0209
a monkey-table-d’hote. 193
elegant of cravats, the most elegant white wristbands, the
most elegant ring, and the most elegant moustache, per-
formed the part of host; the waiter and waitress were
monkeys. The waiter—a most drunken, good-for-nothing
waiter he seemed—a fat, big ape—drank behind the backs
of the guests the very wine he was serving them with •, he
seemed so very tipsy, that he could hardly walk; he stag-
gered backwards and forwards, and leaned against the wall
for support, as he emptied the bottle he was bringing for
the company. But the little waitress ! She was a little
darlingj the tiniest of little monkeys, and she came skip-
ping on the stage in a broad-brimmed straw hat, and a
bright-coloured little dress, with the daintiest of white
muslin aprons on; she looked just like a little fairy. Every-
body was enchanted with her. Even Monsieur Le Cerf
himself caressed her, and gave her not only, every now and
then, a nut, but a kiss. She behaved beautifully. But as
to the guests ! They quarrelled, and even fought—Mon-
sieur Le Cerf said it was about paying the bill.
I can’t pretend to tell you half the clever things the
monkeys did in the way of swinging, dancing, firing off
muskets, riding on a pony, etc. Wonderful things, too,
were performed by the dogs—splendid spaniels and setters.
One large black-and-tan creature walked on his fore-legs,
in the style of what children call “ playing at a wheel-
barrow,” only he himself, poor wretch, had to wheel the
barrow. He walked demurely round and round the stage,
carrying his two unlucky hind legs up in the air; then he
walked on three legs, and then, the most difficult task of
all for a dog, as we were assmed, upon two legs on the
same side. Another beautiful white spaniel came walking in
most grandly on her hind legs, as Madame de Pompadour,
in a long-trained dress which was borne by a tiny monkey
in livery, bearing a little lantern in his hand.
The finale was the besieging of a fortress; and to see
VOL. I.
O
elegant of cravats, the most elegant white wristbands, the
most elegant ring, and the most elegant moustache, per-
formed the part of host; the waiter and waitress were
monkeys. The waiter—a most drunken, good-for-nothing
waiter he seemed—a fat, big ape—drank behind the backs
of the guests the very wine he was serving them with •, he
seemed so very tipsy, that he could hardly walk; he stag-
gered backwards and forwards, and leaned against the wall
for support, as he emptied the bottle he was bringing for
the company. But the little waitress ! She was a little
darlingj the tiniest of little monkeys, and she came skip-
ping on the stage in a broad-brimmed straw hat, and a
bright-coloured little dress, with the daintiest of white
muslin aprons on; she looked just like a little fairy. Every-
body was enchanted with her. Even Monsieur Le Cerf
himself caressed her, and gave her not only, every now and
then, a nut, but a kiss. She behaved beautifully. But as
to the guests ! They quarrelled, and even fought—Mon-
sieur Le Cerf said it was about paying the bill.
I can’t pretend to tell you half the clever things the
monkeys did in the way of swinging, dancing, firing off
muskets, riding on a pony, etc. Wonderful things, too,
were performed by the dogs—splendid spaniels and setters.
One large black-and-tan creature walked on his fore-legs,
in the style of what children call “ playing at a wheel-
barrow,” only he himself, poor wretch, had to wheel the
barrow. He walked demurely round and round the stage,
carrying his two unlucky hind legs up in the air; then he
walked on three legs, and then, the most difficult task of
all for a dog, as we were assmed, upon two legs on the
same side. Another beautiful white spaniel came walking in
most grandly on her hind legs, as Madame de Pompadour,
in a long-trained dress which was borne by a tiny monkey
in livery, bearing a little lantern in his hand.
The finale was the besieging of a fortress; and to see
VOL. I.
O