The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 12 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 626 pages of information about The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 12.

The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 12 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 626 pages of information about The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 12.

I shall pass over the kitchen activities on the day of the entertainment and describe instead the feast itself.  Along extension table was moved into my mother’s parlor—­the only room available for the purpose—­and soon stood well set in front of the moire sofa with the three hundred silver studs.  The guests were not seated at the table till the candles were lit.  The man who presided over the banquet always sat with his back toward the Schinkel mirror, whereas all the other guests could, with little or no inconvenience, observe themselves in the glass.

So far as I can recall they were always gentlemen’s dinner parties, with twelve or fourteen persons, and only on rare occasions did my mother appear at the table, then usually accompanied by her sister, who often visited us for months at a time in the winter season and was in those days still very young and handsome.  It was always a specially difficult matter to assign her a suitable place, and only when old Mr. von Flemming and Privy Councillor Kind were present was she in any degree safe from extremely ardent attentions.  It was almost impossible to protect her from such attentions.  The men had respect for virtue, perhaps, though I have my doubts even about that, but virtuous airs were considered in bad taste, and where was the line to be drawn between reality and appearance?  That the ladies retired from the table toward the end of the meal and appeared again only for a brief quarter of an hour to do the honors at coffee, goes without saying.

I have spoken above of the culinary art of good Mrs. Gaster, but in spite of that art the bill of fare was really simple, especially in comparison with the luxury prevalent nowadays at dinner parties.  Simple, I say, and yet stable.  No man was willing to fall behind a set standard, nor did he care to go beyond it.  The soup was followed by a fish course, and that, without fail, by French turnips and smoked goose-breast.  Then came a huge roast, and finally a sweet dish, with fruits, spice-cakes, and Koenigsberg marchpane.  An almost greater simplicity prevailed with respect to the wines.  After the soup sherry was passed.  Then a red wine of moderate price and moderate quality gained the ascendant and held sway till coffee was served.  So the peculiar feature of these festivities did not lie in the materials consumed, but, strange to say, in a certain spiritual element, in the tone that prevailed.  This varied considerably, when we take into account the beginning and the end.  The beginning was marked by toasts in fine style, and occasionally, especially if the feast was at the same time a family party—­a birthday celebration or something of the sort—­there were even verses, which from the point of view of regularity of form and cleverness of ideas left nothing to be desired.  Only recently I found among my father’s papers some of these literary efforts and was astonished to see how good they were.  Humor, wit, and playing on words were never lacking. 

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The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 12 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.