I hope I may never again be obliged to
drink goat's milk; in these days it became so unutterably loathsome
to me that I had, at length, to give it up altogether, and I cannot
think of it now without a qualm. The broth offered me was infamous,
mere coloured water beneath half an inch of floating grease. Once
there was a promise of a fowl, and I looked forward to it eagerly;
but, alas! this miserable bird had undergone a process of seething
for the extraction of soup. I would have defied anyone to
distinguish between the substance remaining and two or three old kid
gloves boiled into a lump. With a pleased air, the hostess one day
suggested a pigeon, a roasted pigeon, and I welcomed the idea
joyously. Indeed, the appearance of the dish, when it was borne in,
had nothing to discourage my appetite--the odour was savoury; I
prepared myself for a treat. Out of pure kindness, for she saw me
tremble in my weakness, the good woman offered her aid in the
carving; she took hold of the bird by the two legs, rent it asunder,
tore off the wings in the same way, and then, with a smile of
satisfaction, wiped her hands upon her skirt.
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