"Will, sire, with regard to sweet dishes I only recognize pastry, and
even that should be rather solid; all these frothy substances swell the
stomach, and occupy a space which seems to me to be too precious to be so
badly tenanted."

"Ah! gentlemen," said the king, indicating Porthos by a gesture, "here is
indeed a model of gastronomy. It was in such a manner that our fathers,
who so well knew what good living was, used to _eat_, while we," added
his majesty, "do nothing but tantalize with our stomachs." And as he
spoke, he took the breast of a chicken with ham, while Porthos attacked a
dish of partridges and quails. The cup-bearer filled his majesty's
glass. "Give M. du Vallon some of my wine," said the king. This was one
of the greatest honors of the royal table. D'Artagnan pressed his
friend's knee. "If you could only manage to swallow the half of that
boar's head I see yonder," said he to Porthos, "I shall believe you will
be a duke and peer within the next twelvemonth."

"Presently," said Porthos, phlegmatically; "I shall come to that by and
by."

In fact it was not long before it came to the boar's turn, for the king
seemed to take pleasure in urging on his guest; he did not pass any of
the dishes to Porthos until he had tasted them himself, and he
accordingly took some of the boar's head. Porthos showed that he could
keep pace with his sovereign; and, instead of eating the half, as
D'Artagnan had told him, he ate three-fourths of it. "It is impossible,"
said the king in an undertone, "that a gentleman who eats so good a
supper every day, and who has such beautiful teeth, can be otherwise than
the most straightforward, upright man in my kingdom."