The Feast
of which Zikundo thought as mortification of the flesh, at the time of fasting among the ferns
We've cool ale with a high head
We've crescent pastries shining like gold
Beside them sweet honey-cakes
A full board, nothing lacks
For the merry people of the waters
Sweet draughts for their sons and daughters
Along with bread that's honey-sweet
All that swims and creeps and crawls
And can be placed on the festive board
Now piled high on plates before you
With good sweet honey-cakes beside
Pluck a young duck and leave for some days, then wash it and rub salt and herbs into it. Take some dog's bane, take zikmuth root, take frozen mint, tear-grass and steam them with the duck. When roasting, baste with golden lard and juices. Border wit the rarer fruits of the earth and decorate the table generously with tikhmony. Suck the meat from the lobster's claws with care, for it is a rare gift from the water. Roots enrich the board, serving as decoration. Cut the roots in rings, not forgetting the carrots and aromatic spring onions that crackle between your teeth as you bite into them. Let your spices be bay, sun-yellowed lemons, thyme, sacred salt and a piece of water bladderwort. Include the fruits of trees among the victuals bedecking your feast: dewy plums and soft-fleshed figs should not be omitted, and lush bunches of grapes border your golden meats. Crumble beside them yellow goat cheese; after all, that is why you suffer their greedy bleating in the sun's early morning rays. Take blood-red wine in an ornate chalice, letting its cool blend smooth your throat. Do not forget to belch quietly, for the chef seeks that as a discreet compliment…
Take a few morsels for your faithful-eyed, brindled hound, which lies at your feet during your feasting. Mean-while let your servants make merry with the meat of the kid, but do not forget to dilute their wine…
Fresco fragment from the Growing City
Rituals
