The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-07-24 00:00:00

THE ROYAL DINNER TABLE.

On my first appearance at the royal table, the amusements
for the evening (this was after dinner) were a puppet-show
and the usual nautch-girls. His Majesty laughed heartily at
the performances of the little burlesques of men and women,
and enjoyed himself. The barber saw that his Majesty was
pleased, and condescended to express his approbation also of
the show. The nautch-girls exhibited their fine figures in
graceful attitudes, advancing and retiring, now with one hand
held over the head, now with the other. Their faces were not
so captivating as those of the female attendants behind his
Majesty ; hut their forms were perfectly moulded, and they
managed their limbs with a graceful dexterity, not to be sur-
passed. Voluptuous is, perhaps, the title that most correctly
indicates the entire character of their performance. Atten-
dant musicians played upon a species of lute and tamborine
behind them, advancing and retreating with them, and
accompanying the instruments with their voices. The instru-
mental seemed the principal part of the musical performance ;
the voice accompanied it, rather than it the voice. But no-
thing of all this graceful attitudinising and profuse exhibition
of fine forms was attended to by the king or his party. The
nautch-girls danced, and their attendants played and sang ;
but no man regarded them, unless it was myself. The king
was taken up with the puppet-show, and every one looked at
it and praised it. At length his Majesty gave a whispered
order to the barber, who went out, brought something in his
hand, and gave it to the king. The regal chair was pushed
back, and his Majesty condescended to advance to the front of
the puppet-show, going round the table as if to inspect it more
closely. The owners exerted themselves to give still more
satisfaction, regarding their fortunes as made. The king
watched for a little ; his hand was advanced suddenly, and as
suddenly drawn back, and one of the innocent marionettes
fell motionless upon the stage. It was quite plain that his
Majesty had a pair of scissors in his hand, and had cut the
string. The performers must have been as well aware of this
as we were, but they gazed in affected wonder at the catas-
trophe. Natives of India require no training in simulation or
dissimulation. The king turned round, his face beaming with
fun, and looked at us knowingly, as much as to say, " Did I
not do that well ?" The barber laughed loudly in reply, and
other courtiers joined in the chorus. But this was not the
whole of the royal wit. The hand was pushed forward and
drawn back again and again; and again and again did one
after the other of the puppets fall dead and immovable upon
the stage, every successive fall eliciting a shout of laughter
from the table, and a blank look of astonishment from the
general manager of the show, who was visible directing and
superintending. When nearly all had fallen, the royal wit
was satisfied, returned to his chair, ordered a handsome pre-
sent to be given to the owner of the show, and it was with-
drawn. During the rest of the evening the dancers and
singers were criticised with more freedom than delicacy, the
wine circulating freely, and his Majesty indulging in it to a
far greater extent than prudence would warrant. It will not
be supposed that during all this time I kept my eyes altoge-
ther away from the gauze curtain drawn across one end of the
apartment. I had been told previously that some favourites
of the harem were allowed by his Majesty to witness the
dinner-parties from behind that screen, and that it would be
rude to be observed gazing intently at it. I found many
opportunities, however, of inspecting it without violating
etiquette. It was thick enough to prevent our recognising
faces or figures behind, although we could see faintly the out-
line of shadowy masses of drapery passing to and fro. One
principal figure was seated on a cushion—the reigning
favourite, doubtless ; and her jewelled arms and neck glared
brilliantly ever and anon as the light flashed upon them. We
heard, too, a sweet feminine laugh, as the puppets were cut
down, issuing from behind the screen ; for although we could
not see distinctly through it on account of our distance from
it, those on the other side no doubt could. The revel pro-
ceeded ; songs were sung. His Majesty became gradually
more and more affected with the wine he had taken, until his
consciousness was almost gone; and he was then assisted by
the female attendants and two sturdy eunuchs behind the
curtain, and so off into the harem. It was astonishing how
like a drunken king looked to an ordinary drunken unanointed
man.