Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-07-04
Fashionable Chinese Banquet.

fashionable Chinese Banquet.
hono,1et at the house of a Chinese
Apn isssomething to be dreaded.
Een..', he sioht or smell of the various
we're at all tempting, the dread of Of
s.1inr his hosts prejudices, or trans
Using the proprIesies by some awk-
E 'rJ movement or trivial blunder, is
f.iiciently embarrassing to take away
pr,est's appetite. Noe to the I'M
III foreigner who unceremoniously
o',II Down when invited to do so or who
snts ND his tea as soon as it is poured
'N N. takes his seat in the place of
u" a"or offered him without duly protest.
b;s unworthiness and showing his
pi,"tauce to &C ept the honored posi-
"" There are. of course, no ladies'
ss.eDt. the denizens Of the elmer
n,rtments" being content with peep
r through the curtains at their lords
u;ssts, In the b%anqueting room is a
u laaquered ''eight-fairy table," des-
E,nte of any approach to a t~able-cloth,
~ who hut a barbarian would spread
Ea iestal board with a white cloth, as
or,ated only with mourning, death
VI the crave? On thu table are ar
anced IN symmetrical rows dishes of
;nS and preserved fruits and four plates
dntaining sailed eggs, picked fish.
,;red ham and salt vegetables. The
EAST is opened by the host pouring out
each guest a cup OF wine, the guest
lacing one hand to the cup, bending
Drward and exclaiming, "lm koi, IN
@"-"I don't deserve, l don't de-
prve." The h st makes a
md amidst many graceful bowings and
,rpines the cups are drained at one
n, fruits are eaten first, after which
ones q waiter with q rinse-bowl and a
Inc of tobacco, which he prepares and
shts for the guests. These are only
hinor preliminaries to the dinner. The
rt course comes in, consisting per-
aps of a rich soup made of the edible
ird nest. q glutinous substance found
some islands far out at sea; sharks
n and sea-slug, with mushrooms and
igeons' eggs floating on the top. If
ne could forget the sickening ingred1-
MS, the grimy hands that prepared the
III and the dirty kitchen where it was
roked, he would probably say that it
as the finest soup he had ever tasted.
the time the guests have smoked q
w whiffs from their hubble-bubbles,
be next course is ready.
The courses are too numerous for de-
kription and l had better append a
snslation of a bill Of fare which we
cked up on one occasion, after a ter
BE ordeal lasting three hours:
First c~ourse-Bird's nest soup, as above de-
rlcl.
r. ond course-Fried fish and roast pork;
hi duck and cabbage.
Third course-Stewed bamboo shoots;
sEcd mushrooms; minced chicken andham.
Fifth course-Boiled fish, with a vegetable
EMue called tsOi.
sixth course-sugared duck n chicken.
seventh coursc-Pheasant and chicken fried
Eighth c%ourse-Lumps of mutton fried in
ri fat.
Rice of course is supplied nd hbituna
th every course and buildings and
Epctmeats come in for those who have
trcached the eruction stage of the
weddings. Each course is placed ia
middle of the table. We wait pa
aly, hoping these dishes will be de-
NJ served up. What is our horror
td each person stretching forward,
ring about in each dish with the
kmiicks that have just come from his
p&, till he finds some lump that
ssweeter than the rest, which he
Deeds to lift into his mouth or
his bowl of rice. We try our
TO execute this feat, but make a
SCRABBLE failure. Having dropped
Zee or four pieces of greasy gobbets
to the table in succession and made
Fmsy and futile efforts to lift them
tr the side of the bowl, the host
IDLY furnishes us with an old knife
i fork, which he had fortunately
'rhased at some sale. Kind man,
host! He showed one Of our party
Fh distinguished attention as taking
Ft1lt from his own bowl and putting
p TO his neighbours mouth. Very
lie man, our host! Very polite, too,
+ my honored friend at his left to ac-
the proilered mouthful, though we
ced he gulped it down amidst con-
ding emotions too painful to be
crlbed. The meal over, a waiter
nss each guest a bowl Of warm
E[cr and a dirty, wet cloth, with
PPch we proceed to mop faces.
gel for my pocket handkerchief,
a frown from my friend re-
his me that l must not offend the
ventionalities of a Chinese feast.
f. pipes, tea and wine are handed
nd for those who indulge, but as
e OF us felt the cold damps gather
on the forehead we quickly ex-
Fa ourselves and rushed out Into
night, having'had enough of Chi
oanQuets to last US a lifetime.-
NuH El,ancienn (ManaainIo