Beauty and The Beast | Page 6

handsomest
young men among the ten thousand serfs, clothed in loose white trousers and shirts of
pink or lilac silk; their soft golden hair, parted in the middle, fell upon their shoulders,
and a band of gold-thread about the brow prevented it from sweeping the dishes they
carried. They entered the reception-room, bearing huge trays of sculptured silver, upon
which were anchovies, the finest Finnish caviar, sliced oranges, cheese, and crystal
flagons of Cognac, rum, and kummel. There were fewer servants for the remaining guests,
who were gathered in a separate chamber, and regaled with the common black caviar,
onions, bread, and vodki. At the second blast of trumpets, the two companies set
themselves in motion and entered the dining-hall at opposite ends. Our business, however,
is only with the principal personages, so we will allow the common crowd quietly to
mount to the galleries and satisfy their senses with the coarser viands, while their
imagination is stimulated by the sight of the splendor and luxury below.
Prince Alexis entered first, with a pompous, mincing gait, leading the Princess Martha by
the tips of her fingers. He wore a caftan of green velvet laced with gold, a huge vest of
crimson brocade, and breeches of yellow satin. A wig, resembling clouds boiling in the
confluence of opposing winds, surged from his low, broad forehead, and flowed upon his
shoulders. As his small, fiery eyes swept the hall, every servant trembled: he was as
severe at the commencement as he was reckless at the close of a banquet. The Princess
Martha wore a robe of pink satin embroidered with flowers made of small pearls, and a
train and head-dress of crimson velvet.
Her emeralds were the finest outside of Moscow, and she wore them all. Her pale, weak,
frightened face was quenched in the dazzle of the green fires which shot from her
forehead, ears, and bosom, as she moved.
Prince Paul of Kostroma and the Princess Nadejda followed; but on reaching the table,
the gentlemen took their seats at the head, while the ladies marched down to the foot.
Their seats were determined by their relative rank, and woe to him who was so ignorant
or so absent-minded as to make a mistake! The servants had been carefully trained in

advance by the Grand Marshal; and whoever took a place above his rank or importance
found, when he came to sit down, that his chair had miraculously disappeared, or, not
noticing the fact, seated himself absurdly and violently upon the floor. The Prince at the
head of the table, and the Princess at the foot, with their nearest guests of equal rank, ate
from dishes of massive gold; the others from silver. As soon as the last of the company
had entered the hall, a crowd of jugglers, tumblers, dwarfs, and Calmucks followed,
crowding themselves into the corners under the galleries, where they awaited the
conclusion of the banquet to display their tricks, and scolded and pummelled each other
in the mean time.
On one side of Prince Alexis the bear Mishka took his station. By order of Prince Boris
he had been kept from wine for several days, and his small eyes were keener and hungrier
than usual. As he rose now and then, impatiently, and sat upon his hind legs, he formed a
curious contrast to the Prince's other supporter, the idiot, who sat also in his tow-shirt,
with a large pewter basin in his hand. It was difficult to say whether the beast was most
man or the man most beast. They eyed each other and watched the motions of their lord
with equal jealousy; and the dismal whine of the bear found an echo in the drawling,
slavering laugh of the idiot. The Prince glanced form one to the other; they put him in a
capital humor, which was not lessened as he perceived an expression of envy pass over
the face of Prince Paul.
The dinner commenced with a botvinia--something between a soup and a salad--of
wonderful composition. It contained cucumbers, cherries, salt fish, melons, bread, salt,
pepper, and wine. While it was being served, four huge fishermen, dressed to represent
mermen of the Volga, naked to the waist, with hair crowned with reeds, legs finned with
silver tissue from the knees downward, and preposterous scaly tails, which dragged
helplessly upon the floor, entered the hall, bearing a broad, shallow tank of silver. In the
tank flapped and swam four superb sterlets, their ridgy backs rising out of the water like
those of alligators. Great applause welcomed this new and classical adaptation of the old
custom of showing the LIVING fish, before cooking them, to the guests at the table. The
invention was due to Simon Petrovitch, and was (if the truth must be confessed) the