Les Quat'z'arts Magazine
'Memories Without Regrets'
Paris during the Prussian war, without bread, without potatoes. In the cafés, once bright, people lit candles. The jewellers of the Palais-Royal put on display (under a globe) BUTTER!! Twenty francs a pound, moreover.
At the Halles market, they sold—dearly—horse legs with their feet still shod.
We had the good fortune to come across a servant as resourceful as she was honest. From time to time, she asked my mother for permission to take a half-day. She went to the outposts, provided, naturally, with the necessary money, and never returned empty-handed.
Once at the height of hostilities, she returned triumphant, bringing a beautiful piece of meat that weighed at least two pounds.
Strange thing: no skin, no trace of fat. We were astonished; but, having declared that it smelled good and looked good, we cooked the mystery.
It could not be veal,
Nor pork,
Nor donkey,
Nor platypus,
Nor horse.
The mystery, once cooked, was declared succulent.
The next day, we had the good fortune to have Dr. Cros at lunch. He was served the same meat.
He brought the dish back to examine it. Scrutinizing the fibrils, examining especially the sauce which, similar to goose fat, had not set:
"I know what it is," he cried triumphantly, "it's human flesh." Then, very gently, to my mother, "Madam, I'll ask you for more."
My fiancée, with her heart not yet hardened, left the table.
I confess, to my shame, that I continued to eat with much more interest.
Charles de Sivry, 1898