The Poet's Eating-House.
Ragueneau's cook and pastry-shop. A large kitchen at the corner of the Rue
St. Honore and the Rue de l'Arbre Sec, which are seen in the background
through the glass door, in the gray dawn.
On the left, in the foreground, a counter, surmounted by a stand in forged
iron, on which are hung geese, ducks, and water peacocks. In great china
vases are tall bouquets of simple flowers, principally yellow sunflowers.
On the same side, farther back, an immense open fireplace, in front of which,
between monster firedogs, on each of which hangs a little saucepan; the roasts
are dripping into the pans.
On the right, foreground with door.
Farther back, staircase leading to a little room under the roof, the entrance
of which is visible through the open shutter. In this room a table is laid.
A small Flemish luster is alight. It is a place for eating and drinking. A
wooden gallery, continuing the staircase, apparently leads to other similar
little rooms.
In the middle of the shop an iron hoop is suspended from the ceiling by a
string with which it can be drawn up and down, and big game is hung around it.
The ovens in the darkness under the stairs give forth a red glow. The copper
pans shine. The spits are turning. Heaps of food formed into pyramids. Hams
suspended. It is the busy hour of the morning. Bustle and hurry of
scullions, fat cooks, and diminutive apprentices, their caps profusely
decorated with cock's feathers and wings of guinea-fowl.
On metal and wicker plates they are bringing in piles of cakes and tarts.
Tables laden with rolls and dishes of food. Other tables surrounded with
chairs are ready for the consumers.
A small table in a corner covered with papers, at which Ragueneau is seated
writing on the rising of the curtain.