If I thought the good lady would not take it amiss , I should call for a fat slice of fried bacon to begin with . '' Ah , the gluttons and gormandizers ! You see how it was with them . In the loftiest seats of dignity , on royal thrones , they could think of nothing but their greedy appetite , which was the portion of their nature that they shared with wolves and swine ; so that they resembled those vilest of animals far more than they did kings -- if , indeed , kings were what they ought to be . But the beautiful woman now clapped her hands ; and immediately there entered a train of two and twenty serving man , bringing dishes of the richest food , all hot from the kitchen fire , and sending up such a steam that it hung like a cloud below the crystal dome of the saloon . An equal number of attendants brought great flagons of wine , of various kinds , some of which sparkled as it was poured out , and went bubbling down the throat ; while , of other sorts , the purple liquor was so clear that you could see the wrought figures at the bottom of the goblet . While the servants supplied the two and twenty guests with food and drink , the hostess and her four maidens went from one throne to another , exhorting them to eat their fill , and to quaff wine abundantly , and thus to recompense themselves , at this one banquet , for the many days when they had gone without a dinner . But whenever the mariners were not looking at them -LRB- which was pretty often , as they looked chiefly into the basins and platters -RRB- , the beautiful woman and her damsels turned aside , and laughed . Even the servants , as they knelt down to present the dishes , might be seen to grin and sneer , while the guests were helping themselves to the offered dainties . And , once in a while , the strangers seemed to taste something that they did not like . `` Here is an odd kind of spice in this dish , '' said one . `` I ca n't say it quite suits my palate . Down it goes , however . '' `` Send a good draught of wine down your throat , '' said his comrade on the next throne . `` That is the stuff to make this sort of cookery relish well . Though I must needs say , the wine has a queer taste too . But the more I drink of it , the better I like the flavor . '' Whatever little fault they might find with the dishes , they sat at dinner a prodigiously long while ; and it would really have made you ashamed to see how they swilled down the liquor and gobbled up the food . They sat on golden thrones , to be sure ; but they behaved like pigs in a sty ; and , if they had had their wits about them , they might have guessed that this was the opinion of their beautiful hostess and her maidens . It brings a blush into my face to reckon up , in my own mind , what mountains of meat and pudding , and what gallons of wine , these two and twenty guzzlers and gormandizers ate and drank .
They forgot all about their homes , and their wives and children , and all about Ulysses , and everything else , except this banquet , at which they wanted XXXXX keep feasting forever .
as at below for from if on than to without