MR. JOUR. You are pleased to say So, Madam, but I only wish it were
more worthy of your acceptance.
(DORIMENE, MR. JOURDAIN, DORANTE, _and the_ THREE SINGERS _sit
down_.)
DOR. Mr. Jourdain is right, Madam, in what he says; and he obliges me
by doing so well the honours of his house to you. I agree with him
that the dinner is not worthy of you. As it was I who ordered it, and
as I have not for this kind of thing the knowledge of some of our
friends, you will not find here a well studied repast, but will meet
with many incongruities of good eating and some barbarisms against
good taste. If our good friend Damis had ordered it, all would be
according to rule; there would be elegance and erudition everywhere;
and he would not fail to exaggerate to you the excellence of every
dish, and to make you acknowledge his high capacity in the science of
good eating. He would speak to you of a loaf with golden sides, crusty
all over, and yielding tenderly under the teeth; of wine full-bodied
and of not too perceptible an acidity; of a saddle of mutton stewed
with parsley; of a loin of Normandy veal, long, white, tender, and
which is, as it were, an almond paste between the teeth; of partridges
wonderful in flavour; and as his masterpiece, a pearl broth reinforced
with a large turkey flanked with young pigeons, and crowned with white
onions blended with endive.
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