It is hardly necessary to say that
there were no traces of forks, knives or spoons. That I might
run no risk of breaking the rule I put my left hand in my pocket
and held on to my pocket-handkerchief all the time the dinner lasted.
The singing lasted only a few minutes. During the rest of the
time a dead silence reigned amongst us. It was Monday, a fast day,
and so the usual absence of noise at meal times had to be observed
still more strictly than on any other day. Usually a man who is
compelled to break the silence by some emergency or other hastens
to plunge into water the middle finger of his left hand, which till
then had remained hidden behind his back, and to moisten both his
eyelids with it. But a really pious man would not be content with
this simple formula of purification; having spoken, he must leave
the dining-room, wash thoroughly, and then abstain from food for
the remainder of the day.
Thanks to this solemn silence, I was at liberty to notice everything
that was going on with great attention. Now and again, whenever
I caught sight of the colonel or Mr. Y---, I had all the difficulty
in the world to preserve my gravity. Fits of foolish laughter
would take possession of me when I observed them sitting erect
with such comical solemnity and working so awkwardly with their
elbows and hands. The long beard of the one was white with grains
of rice, as if silvered with hoar-frost, the chin of the other was
yellow with liquid saffron.
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