canopies of crimson and
gold, and provided with the softest of cushions, which were tasseled and
fringed with gold cord. Each of the strangers was invited to sit down; and
there they were, two and twenty storm-beaten mariners, in worn and
tattered garb, sitting on two and twenty cushioned and canopied thrones,
so rich and gorgeous that the proudest monarch had nothing more splendid
in his stateliest hall.

Then you might have seen the guests nodding, winking with one eye, and
leaning from one throne to another, to communicate their satisfaction in
hoarse whispers.

"Our good hostess has made kings of us all," said one. "Ha! do you smell
the feast? I'll engage it will be fit to set before two-and-twenty kings."

"I hope," said another, "it will be, mainly, good substantial joints,
sirloins, spareribs, and hinder quarters, without too many kickshaws. If I
thought the good lady would not take it amiss, I should call for a fat
slice of fried bacon to begin with."

Ah, the gluttons and gormandizers! You see how it was with them. In the
loftiest seats of dignity, on royal thrones, they could think of nothing
but their greedy appetite, which was the portion of their nature that they
shared with wolves and swine; so that they resembled those vilest of
animals far more than they did kings,--if, indeed, kings were what they
ought to be.

But the beautiful woman now clapped her hands; and immediately there
entered a train of two and twenty serving-men, bringing dishes of the
richest food, all hot from the kitchen fire, and sending up such a steam
that it hung like a cloud below the crystal dome of the saloon. An equal
number of attendants brought great flagons of wine, of various kinds, some
of which sparkled as it was poured out, and went bubbling down the throat;
while, of other sorts, the purple liquor was so clear that you could see
the wrought figures at the bottom of the goblet. While the servants
supplied the two and twenty guests with food and drink, the hostess and
her four maidens went from one throne to another, exhorting them to eat
their fill, and to quaff wine abundantly, and thus to recompense
themselves, at this one banquet, for the many days when they had gone
without a dinner. But, whenever the mariners were not looking at them
(which was pretty often, as they looked chiefly into the basins and
platters), the beautiful woman and her damsels turned aside and laughed.
Even the servants, as they knelt down to