66 The Banquet 



1. The first course was served double for the duke's table — 

 meat and fish. There were sucking pigs, gilded, with fire in 

 their mouths; the fish were porcelain-crabs [or perhaps sea- 

 snails], also gilded. — The gifts were two greyhounds,^^ with 

 velvet-* collars^^ and silken leashes.^*' Also twelve brace oi 

 sausi/'^ six brace to a leash, their chains being of gilded brass, 

 their collars-^ of leather, and their leashes oi silk.-^ 



2. The second meat-course was of hares, gilded. The fish- 

 course was of pike, gilded. — The gifts were twelve brace of 

 greyhounds, with silken collars, buckles-^ of gilded brass, and 

 six silken^" leashes ; besides six goshawks,^^ with as many 



pressed in 1776), on the site of which stands the theatre of that name 

 (Rosmini 2. 147, note i; Leo 3. 325, note i). 



"'See No. 2. But here, where the other chroniclers have 'Ievr(i)eri,' 

 'livr(i)eri,' Aliprando has 'liopardi.' This, after all, is probably the right 

 reading, since (i) there are only two of these, whereas at the second 

 course there are 24; (2) we are told of Gian Galeazzo that though 

 he, like his uncle Bernabo, quartered large numbers of dogs upon his 

 subjects for his use in hunting, he preferred the leopard (cheetah) for 

 this purpose (Religieux de Saint-Denys, ed. Bellaguet, 3. 132; cf. De Noir- 

 mont 3. 332-8; Hist. Background, p. 174; Encyc. Brit., nth ed., 5. 368; 

 6. 22). 



'■'■' De Noirmont (2. 300) tells of a Frenchman who received from an 

 Englishman (in 1550) six greyhoimds, with velvet collars embroidered 

 with gold. 



-'" See Nos. 2, 3, 4. 



-"See Nos. 2, 3, 4. 



^'' Frag.: sauxi. This seems equivalent to the M.H.G. siise, defined by 

 Lexer (MHD. Handworterbuch) as 'eine Art Jagdhund'; Florio : 'a 

 Hound, a Spaniell.' 



^ Cf . De Noirmont 2. 298 : 'Dans les comptes de depenses du roi Jean, 

 Pierre des Livres, orfevre, regoit 19 ecus pour 4 marcs, 6 onces, 10 

 esteUins d'argent, "a faire la garnison de deux grands colliers garnis de 

 grandes pieces d'argent dorees et faites d'orbevoyes et d'esmaux sartiz a 

 cerfs enleves a manteaux esmailles des armes dudit seigneur pour deux 

 grans chiens alans." Les alans de Louis XI avaient aussi des colliers de 

 cuir de Lombardie garnis de clous dores de fin or et sondes d'argent.' 



^ Spranghe. I have not been able to distinguish in all cases between 

 'buckle' and 'clasp.' See Nos. 3, 6, 7, 11, 12. 



'" The romance of Partonope (ca. 1450) has (Univ. Coll. 2235-8) : 

 Coupled with sylk and not wyth heere, 

 Lemours aboute her nekkes bere 

 Her lees were as softe as sylk. 

 And therto whyte as ony mylk. 



''^Astori. See Nos. 4, 5. 



