Table

“ For a square or extra wide table a large centre-piece, either round or oblong, is usually chosen, with endless varieties in its component arrangement. It may be low and flat, like a floral mat, in the middle of the table, or it may be a lofty epergne, or an inter-lacing of delicate vine-wreathed arches, or a single basket of feathery maidenhair fern—in fact, anything that is pretty and which the inspiration of the moment may suggest. ”

“ On the contrary, there are many tables where the closest economy is practiced; and yet the table-cloth is so white and smooth, the dishes, silver, glass, and other table articles so bright, and arranged with such propriety; the bread so light and sweet; the butter so beautiful, and every other article of food so well cooked, and so neatly and tastefully served, that every thing seems good, and pleases both the eye and the palate. ”

“ The shape of a table is a point of more importance than some people think. If you wish your dinner to be social—not a mere collection of tête-à-têtes—the table should be of a shape which will make it easy for each guest to address any one at the table. The long parallelogram, with the host at one end and the hostess at the other, is stiff, too broad, too long, and isolates the givers of the feast from the guests. ”

“ It is certainly so, every time I take up a little ball in that way there are two and for every one who takes up a ball in that way there are two, and nevertheless there are no two little balls. In the same way, the table is a table only for the twisted fingers of my senses, but it is perhaps half a table, a thousandth of a table—in fact, no part of a table at all, but something altogether different. So that what is real is only my ever recurring impression, confirmed by the impressions of other people. ”

“ The table cloths at every meal are masses of lace, and every sort of wonderful implement in the way of different gold forks and knives for every dish lie by your plate; and such exquisite glass; and some even have old polished tables like Aunt Maria, but instead of the simple slips they have mats and centrepieces and squares of magnificent lace. Only the very highest cream of the inner elect have plain table cloths and a little silver like we do at home. ”

“ Yes; much more fearfully and wonderfully made, already, is the table, as it stands now, nothing but a piece of dead deal wood, than if, as foxes say, and geese believe, spirits could make it dance, or talk to you by rapping on it. ”

“ A table-service, all of simple white, of graceful forms, even though not of china, if arranged with care, with snowy, well-kept table-linen, clear glasses, and bright American plate in place of solid silver, may be made to look inviting; add a glass of flowers every day, and your table may look pretty;—and it is far more important that it should look pretty for the family every day than for company once in two weeks. ”

“ My Table Book, therefore, is a series of continually shifting scenes—a kind of literary kaleidoscope, combining popular forms with singular appearances—by which youth and age of all ranks may be amused ”

“ One wanted, she thought, dipping her brush deliberately, to be on a level with ordinary experience, to feel simply that’s a chair, that’s a table, and yet at the same time, It’s a miracle, it’s an ecstasy. ”

“ Neat housekeepers observe the manner in which a table is set more than any thing else; and to a person of good taste, few things are more annoying, than to see the table placed askew; the tablecloth soiled, rumpled, and put on awry; the plates, knives, and dishes thrown [Pg 308] about, without any order; the pitchers soiled on the outside, and sometimes within; the tumblers dim; the caster out of order; the butter pitched on the plate, without any symmetry; the salt coarse, damp, and dark; the bread cut in a mixture of junks and slices; the dishes of food set on at random, and without mats ”

“ The art of keeping a good table, consists, not in loading on a variety at each meal, but rather in securing a successive variety, a table neatly and tastefully set, and everything that is on it, cooked in the best manner. ”

“ FIG. 4.
By the apparatus described above, many changes can be made, as a living man appearing in a previously empty chair, flowers growing on an empty bush, a change of a man into a woman, a painted picture into a living one, etc. In some effects a table is employed, to all appearances the common square kitchen table. A person is seen sitting at the table, which is empty; suddenly there appears before him a large dish of oranges or a meal. This is arranged by providing the table with a slot which runs diagonally from corner to corner. ”

“ A sheet of paper, a pen, or any other light body, being placed upon a table, if the young girl approaches her left hand, even before she touches it, the object is driven to a distance as by a gust of wind. The table itself is overthrown the moment it is touched by her hand, or even by a thread which she may hold in it. ”

“ It is fortunate for such things as pots and pans, and chairs and tables, that they haven’t any human feelings—at least, I never heard a table talk, although I have read in the newspapers of their spinning precious long yarns for fools and madmen to listen to (but what can you expect from newspapers but lies?) ”

“ Thanks to the efforts of upwards of ten human beings—counting laundresses, gardeners, cooks, kitchen-maids, butlers and footmen—the table was sumptuously laid for eight, with silver waterjugs, decanters, kvass, wine, mineral waters, cut glass, and fine table linen, while two men-servants were continually hurrying to and fro, bringing in and serving, and then clearing away the hors d’oeuvre and the various hot and cold courses. ”

“ To make our difficulties plain, let us concentrate attention on the table. To the eye it is oblong, brown and shiny, to the touch it is smooth and cool and hard; when I tap it, it gives out a wooden sound. ”

“ Silverware on table, on which sits half-opened dark lantern; side-board in background; burglar behind table in center, faces audience while examining silverware, face lighted by lantern. (Face may be darkened by scorched flour.) ”

“ The table was strewn with sheets of paper of the size that they roll a quarter of butter in, and it was an amazing thick table, a solid square of wood, save for a narrow lane down the centre for the man to put his legs in—if he had legs, which unfortunately there was reason to doubt. ”

“ Something off your own table to the sick and ailing—that’s a fashion of speaking—something off your housekeeper’s table, not French dishes, will be the best, and a helping hand with the schooling, and a kind thought of the old people. ”

“ Fair the table, whereat every man shall get his just portion, and the guests shall each one wash the other's feet. But say not, 'I will set up this table by force in the streets of the city and in the public squares.' For it is not knife in hand you must call together your brethren to the feast of Justice and Gentleness. ”

“ An amateur can render a common table more suitable for concealing any little object he wishes to have secreted, by placing three or four tumblers under each end of a plank, about the length to extend across the table, and throwing any common cloth over the board and table, or a kitchen table, covered with a cloth, having a drawer pulled out about six inches, will furnish a very good conjuror’s table. It is well to have the table rather broad, so as to keep the spectators at a sufficient distance. ”

“ There should be a table large enough for half a dozen people to sit around of an evening—a round one is best—strong, solid, and covered with a serviceable cloth. There are handsome woolen table covers that grow yet handsomer with age as their colors mellow together, but the best is expensive. ”

“ When meal time comes, the family does not gather around the table, for as I told you, there are no seats that can be moved. They sit on the benches, and the table is therefore kept in the corner of the room. ”

“ Among the common people the table itself was little more than a rude board on trestles, with benches or stools along the side and with places scooped out to hold the portion of food allotted to each person. ”

“ A word concerning reaching at table, for your guidance, my dear mother, when next you find yourself at a table d’hote. I calculate that for this method of helping one’s self there is a wrong way and a right. Imagine yourself beside a busy person beyond whom lies the wished-for dish. If you reach with the arm nearest the dish, your arm goes across your neighbor’s plate, a fact which my neighbors have frequently proved to me. But if you reach with the arm furthest from the dish you will not cross his plate, your body swinging your arm in over the table. ”

“ Behold! no sooner did one turn from the washing of hands and face than the table was miraculously spread upon the surface of a flat rock, with other stones nearby to serve as chairs; and on the table steamed “pone,” warmed over ”

“ A table means more than a glass even a looking glass is tall. A table means necessary places and a revision a revision of a little thing it means it does mean that there has been a stand, a stand where it did shake. ”

“ In the work of laying the table the children are seen quite by themselves, dividing the work among themselves, carrying the plates, spoons, knives and forks, etc., and, finally, sitting down at the tables where the little waitresses serve the hot soup. ”

“ The table looks best when not over-decorated. The housekeeper who cannot make changes in her table decoration finds that a mirror centerpiece is a background that multiplies the beauty of her flowers, fruit, leaves, or whatever may constitute the decoration.
A unique and effective decoration for a luncheon table is made of long, narrow bouquets of white carnations, tied with bows of yellow satin ribbon, and arranged so that the ribbons all meet in the center of the table, while the points are directed towards the guests. ”

“ These tables are set in white, with centrepieces and other decorations to carry out the color scheme. Have first table near the door, and others arranged according to the menu, which can be changed to suit the seasons. It is necessary to have two sets of waiters, the first to clear away, and the second to furnish fresh supplies. All must dress to harmonize with the colors of their tables. Serve food in small quantities and in small dishes. At the ringing of a bell seven guests are seated at the first table. ”

“ A beautiful tall girl immediately made her appearance, and prepared the round oaken table before us for the reception of the landlady’s hospitality, by spreading over it a table-cloth of snowy whiteness, and in arranging the shining implements, which, from their brilliant cleanliness, seemed to be kept as much for ornaments to the kitchen shelf, as for the more vulgar purpose of preparing food for the process of mastication. ”

“ A long table was covered with every kind of thing good to eat, and, on smaller tables in the corners, was ever so much more, in case it should be needed. Here and there, on the long table were enormous cakes, great bowls of jelly, and vast pies. ”

“ The “bellows” table combines the apparent simplicity of the undraped table with the internal capacity of the old-fashioned draped article. There is a trick, formerly very popular as the wind-up of an entertainment, which consists of the magical disappearance of a youthful assistant, male or female. ”

“ Do not act more in the marguerite and shine with the best eddying work table set easily on a table. Rattle and strain and shove a calendar and more much more is the same reason and mightily in time, mightily in time. ”

“ Most Honoured Scholar,—Behold me, an hour ago, a great lady, seated in lonely grandeur at the head of my own ancestral table. This is the first time I have used the dining-room; usually I take all my meals in the morning-room, at a small table beside the fire. ”

“ You don't need to say a word, and those of you who want to change from the small tables to the large one, will find your names on the long table as well as at the small tables, where you have already chosen your places. ”

“ If you will only invite your relations and friends, they shall, for once in their lives, have a good meal, for no one ever leaves this table unsatisfied."
When the guests were all assembled, he put his table down as usual, and said, "Table, serve up a meal," but the table did not stir, and remained as empty as any ordinary table at such a command. ”

“ Our dinner-tables in America are generally long and narrow, fitted to the shape of the dining-room. Once I 219 saw in England, in a great house, a table so narrow that one could almost have shaken hands with one's opposite neighbour. ”

“ Table-turning, movement of a table ascribed to the agency of spirits or some recondite spiritual force acting through the media of a circle of people standing round the edge touching it with their finger-tips in contact with those of the rest. ”

“ If tables the size of an ordinary kitchen table are procurable, and are placed end to end, they make an admirable hunting ground. However, chairs can be used if they are arranged so that they cover about the same space that the tables would, the seats turned in. ”

“ I said, glancing at his place. The repast continued and when it was finished I screwed my chair round to leave the table. Mrs. Peck performed the same movement and we quitted the saloon together. ”

“ Home, which still remained on the table, could easily agitate the surface of the table-cloth, so as to cause the white sheets of paper to move, and gradually disappear over the edge of the table into the blank space beneath the window ”

“ When the table is a small one, the centre of it may be occupied by a single plant, or two plants or bowls of flowers placed equidistant from each other may form the decoration of a larger table. Other appointments depend on the number of persons to be seated and the dishes to be served. ”

“ The table seemed to have risen a little toward the sky like a mechanical dancing platform, giving the people around it a sense of being alone with each other in the dark universe, nourished by its only food, warmed by its only lights. ”