we who sit in the middle
are never served first at all!' It nettled me that they should fancy
themselves treated worse than we, so I called him up at once and made
him sit beside me. And I am bound to say he obeyed that order with the
most exemplary alacrity. But when the dish came round to us, we found,
not unnaturally, since we were the last to be served, that only a few
scraps were left. At this my man fell into the deepest dudgeon, and made
no attempt to conceal it, muttering to himself, 'Just like my ill-luck!
To be invited here just now and never before!' [4] I tried to comfort
him. 'Never mind,' I said, 'presently the servant will begin again with
us, and then you will help yourself first and you can take the biggest
piece.' Just then the third course, and, as it proved, the last, came
round, and so the poor fellow took his helping, but as he did so it
struck him that the piece he had chosen first was too small, and he put
it back, meaning to pick out another. But the carver, thinking he had
changed his mind and did not want any more, passed on to the next man
before he had time to secure his second slice. [5] At this our friend
took his loss so hard that he only made matters worse: his third course
was clean gone, and now in his rage and his bad luck he somehow managed
to overset the gravy, which was all that remained to him. The captain
next to us seeing how matters stood rubbed his hands with glee and went
into peals of laughter. And," said Hystaspas, "I took refuge in a fit
of coughing myself, for really I could not have controlled my laughter.
There, Cyrus," said he, "that is a specimen of our new comrades, as
nearly as I can draw his portrait."

[6] The description, as may be guessed, was greeted with shouts of
laughter, and then another brigadier took up the word: "Well, Cyrus,"
said he, "our friend here has certainly met with an absolute boor: my
own experience is somewhat different. You remember the admonitions you
gave us when you dismissed the regiments, and how you bade each of us
instruct his own men in the lessons we had learnt from you. Well, I,
like the rest of us, went off at once and set about instructing one of
the companies under me. I posted the captain in front with a fine young
fellow behind him, and after them the others in the order I thought
best; I took my stand facing them all, and waited, with my eyes fixed on
the captain, until I thought the right moment had come, and then I gave
the