Arduous were now the labors of the womankind preparatory to the feast.
Nanni No. I and Nanni No. 2 of the establishment might be met carrying
pounds and pounds of fresh meat into the cellar. In the stube sat
Kathi, seated on one of the wooden settees which surrounded the room,
her good old face bent silently over a paste board placed on one of
the square tables at which the large family took their meals. This was
more convenient than in the _gewoelbe_, or huge pantry, which was
half buried in provender: besides, Kathi thought, it struck damp.
But Moidel might be found there, with a quiet smile on her dear ruddy
face, whilst her healthy bare brown arm moved backward and forward
with marvelous agility in the beating of eggs. Let us step into the
gewoelbe, Kathi's domain proper. It is a marvelous place. Look at the
gayly-painted chests of the lowest decorative style of art, choking
with flour and buckwheat-meal; look at the racks full of heavy, flinty
household bread; at the pyramid of oblong bladder-like pastry, called
_krapfen_, which covers the table; at the smoked tongues, pig-cheeks,
feet and bologna sausage hanging from the ceiling. Light and air are
admitted by a large open window, but the atmosphere is so impregnated
with the odor of cummin (the favorite spice of the Tyrol, found in
bread, in dishes of vegetables, in puddings and pastry) that any sense
of great freshness is excluded. Rudely-made presses contain lint and
linen for accidents or sprains, whilst endless lotions and remedies
are carefully preserved in a long range of little drawers--cloves,
ginger, dried hyssop, fennel, anis and sage, all excellent remedies
for keeping the cold out of the stomach, to say nothing of a discreet
bottle of schnapps for the same purpose. There is many another herb,
dried by the careful Kathi between the two Lady Days, Mary's ascension
and Mary's birthday, which may usefully be employed for man or
beast--mullein, a very amulet against every kind of cough and
sore-throat; plantain, wormwood, red and white mugwort; nor are the
scrapings of hartshorn bought from a mountain huntsman forgotten. At
this moment, however, no one is dreaming for an instant of being ill:
that might happen after, but must not precede the feast.

Kathi and Moidel, experienced cooks and housewives, work steadily on,
without feeling the least anxiety for the success of their stupendous
efforts. They are only amazed that we should be surprised at the
quan