第54章

There are three sections of the table service；[19] the first for the king and his younger children； the second， called the little ordinary， for the table of the grand-master， the grand-chamberlain and the princes and princesses living with the king； the third， called the great ordinary， for the grand-master's second table， that of the butlers of the king's household， the almoners， the gentlemen in waiting， and that of the valets-de-chambre， in all three hundred and eighty-three officers of the table and one hundred and three waiters， at an expense of 2，177，771 livres； besides this there are 389，173livres appropriated to the table of Madame Elisabeth， and 1，093，547livres for that of Mesdames， the total being 3，660，491 livres for the table. The wine-merchant furnished wine to the amount of 300，000francs per annum， and the purveyor game， meat and fish at a cost of 1，000，000 livres. Only to fetch water from Ville-d'Avray， and to convey servants， waiters and provisions， required fifty horses hired at the rate of 70，591 francs per annum. The privilege of the royal princes and princesses "to send to the bureau for fish on fast days when not residing regularly at the court，" amounts in 1778 to 175，116livres. On reading in the Almanach the titles of these officials we see a Gargantua's feast spread out before us. The formal hierarchy of the kitchens， so many grand officials of the table， - the butlers， comptrollers and comptroller-pupils， the clerks and gentlemen of the pantry， the cup-bearers and carvers， the officers and equerries of the kitchen， the chiefs， assistants and head-cooks， the ordinary scullions， turnspits and cellarers， the common gardeners and salad gardeners， laundry servants， pastry-cooks， plate-changers， table-setters， crockery-keepers， and broach-bearers， the butler of the table of the head-butler， - an entire procession of broad-braided backs and imposing round bellies， with grave countenances， which， with order and conviction， exercise their functions before the saucepans and around the buffets.

One step more and we enter the sanctuary， the king's apartment. Two principal dignitaries preside over this， and each has under him about a hundred subordinates. On one side is the grand chamberlain with his first gentlemen of the bedchamber， the pages of the bedchamber， their governors and instructors， the ushers of the antechamber， with the four first valets-de-chambre in ordinary， sixteen special valets serving in turn， his regular and special cloak-bearers， his barbers， upholsterers， watch-menders， waiters and porters； on the other hand is the grand-master of the wardrobe， with the masters of the wardrobe and the valets of the wardrobe regular and special， the ordinary trunk-carriers， mail-bearers， tailors， laundry servants， starchers， and common waiters， with the gentlemen， officers and secretaries in ordinary of the cabinet， in all 198 persons for domestic service， like 50 many domestic utensils for every personal want， or as sumptuous pieces of furniture for the decoration of the apartment. Some of them fetch the mall and the balls， others hold the mantle and cane， others comb the king's hair and dry him off after a bath， others drive the mules which transport his bed， others watch his pet greyhounds in his room， others fold， put on and tie his cravat， and others fetch and carry off his easy chair.[20] Some there are whose sole business it is to fill a corner which must not be left empty. Certainly， with respect to ease of deportment and appearance these are the most conspicuous of all； being so close to the master they are under obligation to appear well； in such proximity their bearing must not create a discord. -Such is the king's household， and I have only described one of his residences； he has a dozen of them besides Versailles， great and small， Marly， the two Trianons， la Muette， Meudon， Choisy， Saint-Hubert， Saint-Germain， Fontainebleau， Compiègne， Saint-Cloud， Rambouillet，[21] without counting the Louvre， the Tuileries and Chambord， with their parks and hunting-grounds， their governors， inspectors， comptrollers， concierges， fountain tenders， gardeners， sweepers， scrubbers， mole-catchers， wood-rangers， mounted and foot-guards， in all more than a thousand persons. Naturally he entertains， plans and builds， and， in this way expends 3 or 4 millions per annum.[22] Naturally， also， he repairs and renews his furniture； in 1778， which is an average year， this costs him 1，936，853 livres.