Christa Giles

easons, by far the greater part of what was
said and done at this supper must remain
unrecorded and even unsuggested.
Venus allowed most of the dishes to
pass untasted, she was so engaged with the
beauty of Tannhauser. She laid her head
many times on his robe, kissing him
passionately; and his skin, at once firm and
yielding, seemed to those exquisite little teeth
of hers, the most incomparable pasture. Her
upper lip curled and trembled with
excitement, showing the gums. Tannhauser,
on his side, was no less devoted. He adored
her all over and all the things she had on, and
buried his face in the folds and flounces of her
linen, and ravished away a score of frills in
his excess. He found her exasperating, and
crushed her in his arms, and slaked his
parched lips at her mouth. He caressed her
eyelids softly with his finger tips, and pushed
aside the curls from her forehead, and did a
thousand gracious things, tuning her body as
a violinist tunes his instrument before he
plays upon it.
Priapusa snorted like an old war horse
at the sniff of powder, and tickled
Tannhauser and Venus by turns, and slipped
her tongue down their throats, and refused to
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