he should eat without noise
and with great cleanliness. He knows that his napkin should be unfolded
(it should be unfolded once and not spread out) and laid across his lap,
not tucked into his collar or the top of his vest. He knows that he
should not eat with his knife.

He has never seen a finger bowl before but he has heard of them, so that
when one is placed before him he knows that he should dip the ends of
his fingers into it and dry them on his napkin. He has also heard that
toothpicks are never used by gentlemen, at least in public, and he is
not surprised when he does not see them.

He has read somewhere that when a knife or a fork is dropped to the
floor he should not pick it up himself but should allow the waiter to do
so, and that the waiter should be allowed to clear away the damage when
something is upset on the table. He knows that long apologies are out
of order anywhere, and he is not likely to say anything more than
"Excuse me" or "I beg your pardon" if he should by a clumsy movement
break a glass or overturn a plate of soup.

But he does not know about the various knives and forks or about how
courses are arranged, and he does not know about tips.

It is correct for him to explain to his host, just as Pip did when he
was dining for the first time with Herbert Pocket, that he is unused to
such things and beg him to give him a few hints as they go along. But it
is less embarrassing to consult a book of etiquette about fundamentals
and to pick up the other knowledge by close observation.

He discovers--our young friend uses both methods--that knives are laid
at the right of the plate in the order in which they are to be used,
beginning at the outside, and that the spoons are laid just beyond the
knives in the same order. The butter knife (which rarely appears at
dinner time) is usually laid across the little bread plate at the left
of the dinner plate. Forks are placed at the left of the plate in the
order in which they are to be used, except the oyster fork, which is
laid across the knives or else is brought in with the oysters. The steel
knife is for cutting meats. The flat fork with the short prongs is for
salads. Salads are always eaten with a fork. It is sometimes not very
easy to do, but it is the only correct way.

This is the general standard, but there are deviations from it. Nothing
but experience in dining--and a great deal of it--will teach one to know
always what fork or what knife or