They escorted
two of their number who had been pronounced the most skilful and
successful in cultivating the vineyards of the adjacent cotes. When they
reached the front of the estrade, the abbe pronounced a short discourse
in honor of the cultivators of the earth in general, after which he
digressed into especial eulogiums on the successful candidates, two
pleased, abashed, and unpractised peasants, who received the simple prizes
with throbbing hearts. This little ceremony observed, amid the eager and
delightful gaze of friends, and the oblique and discontented regards of
the few whose feelings were too contracted to open to the joys of others,
even on this simple and grateful festival, the trumpets sounded again, and
the cry was raised to make room.
A large group advanced from among the body of the actors to an open space,
of sufficient size and elevation, immediately in front of the stage. When
in full view of the multitude, those who composed it arranged themselves
in a prescribed and seemly order. They were the officials of Bacchus. The
high-priest, robed in a sacrificial dress, with flowing beard, and head
crowned with the vine, stood foremost, chanting in honor of the craft, of
the vine-dresser.
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