{"id":"01KG8AJW7YTW7YMDW9ZWEPXZ5C","cid":"bafkreiae3bko2xbylheg4qgwsqjtz7466jz7zi667eezesovxshjmxkmhy","type":"chapter","properties":{"description":"# CHAPTER LXXXV. After Dinner\n## Overview - What this is (type, form, dates, scope)\nThis is a chapter from the novel \"[Mardi: And a Voyage Thither](arke:01KG8AJA6157W2830190N652KA)\" by Herman Melville. The chapter, titled \"CHAPTER LXXXV. After Dinner,\" was extracted from the text file [mardi_vol1.txt](arke:01KG89J1HYC04JWXEK48P07WPK) as part of the [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW) collection. The chapter's text spans lines 9279 to 9348.\n\n## Context - Background and provenance from related entities\nThis chapter follows \"CHAPTER LXXXIV. Taji Sits Down To Dinner With Five-And-Twenty Kings, And A Royal Time They Have\" ([arke:01KG8AJW7Y6WFAG3FMN40GAWWT]) and precedes \"CHAPTER LXXXVI. Of Those Scamps The Plujii\" ([arke:01KG8AJW83ZNH2JQR58YXYCRR6]). The novel and its chapters were extracted by the \"structure-extraction-lambda\" tool.\n\n## Contents - What it contains, key subjects and details\nThe chapter opens with a reflective tone, with the narrator recalling a feast and the \"cool shady groves\" of Willamila. It describes the aftermath of a royal feast, with the kings slumbering. Babbalanja questions the state of the kings, and they are revived by attendants. Donjalolo is absent but soon arrives, and they all sleep together. The next day, the narrator and others prepare to leave and take leave of Donjalolo, who is in a melancholic state, lamenting his captivity and drinking wine.\n","description_generated_at":"2026-01-30T20:49:14.579Z","description_model":"gemini-2.5-flash-lite","description_title":"CHAPTER LXXXV. After Dinner","end_line":9348,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:47:39.469Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"CHAPTER LXXXV. After Dinner","source_file":"01KG89J1HYC04JWXEK48P07WPK","start_line":9279,"text":"CHAPTER LXXXV.\r\nAfter Dinner\r\n\r\n\r\nAs in dreams I behold thee again, Willamila! as in dreams, once again I\r\nstroll through thy cool shady groves, oh fairest of the vallies of\r\nMardi! the thought of that mad merry feasting steals over my soul till\r\nI faint.\r\n\r\nProstrate here and there over the bones of Donjalolo’s sires, the royal\r\nbacchanals lay slumbering till noon.\r\n\r\n“Which are the deadest?” said Babbalanja, peeping in, “the live kings,\r\nor the dead ones?”\r\n\r\nBut the former were drooping flowers sought to be revived by watering.\r\nAt intervals the sedulous attendants went to and fro, besprinkling\r\ntheir heads with the scented contents of their vases.\r\n\r\nAt length, one by one, the five-and-twenty kings lifted their ambrosial\r\ncurls; and shaking the dew therefrom, like eagles opened their right\r\nroyal eyes, and dilated their aquiline nostrils, full upon the golden\r\nrays of the sun.\r\n\r\nBut why absented himself, Donjalolo? Had he cavalierly left them to\r\nsurvive the banquet by themselves? But this apparent incivility was\r\nsoon explained by heralds, announcing to their prone majesties, that\r\nthrough the over solicitude of his slaves, their lord the king had been\r\nborne to his harem, without being a party to the act. But to make\r\namends, in his sedan, Donjalolo was even now drawing nigh. Not,\r\nhowever, again to make merry; but socially to sleep in company with his\r\nguests; for, together they had all got high, and together they must all\r\nlie low.\r\n\r\nSo at it they went: each king to his bones, and slumbered like heroes\r\ntill evening; when, availing themselves of the cool moonlight\r\napproaching, the royal guests bade adieu to their host; and summoning\r\ntheir followers, quitted the glen.\r\n\r\nEarly next day, having determined to depart for our canoes, we\r\nproceeded to the House of the Morning, to take leave of Donjalolo.\r\n\r\nAn amazing change, one night of solitude had wrought! Pale and languid,\r\nwe found him reclining: one hand on his throbbing temples.\r\n\r\nNear an overturned vessel of wine, the royal girdle lay tossed at his\r\nfeet. He had waved off his frightened attendants, who crouched out of\r\nsight.\r\n\r\nWe advanced.\r\n\r\n“Do ye too leave me? Ready enough are ye to partake of my banquetings,\r\nwhich, to such as ye, are but mad incidents in one round of more\r\ntranquil diversions. But heed me not, Media;—I am mad. Oh, ye gods! am\r\nI forever a captive?—Ay, free king of Odo, when you list, condescend to\r\nvisit the poor slave in Willamilla. I account them but charity, your\r\nvisits; would fain allure ye by sumptuous fare. Go, leave me; go, and\r\nbe rovers again throughout blooming Mardi. For, me, I am here for\r\naye.—Bring me wine, slaves! quick! that I may pledge my guests fitly.\r\nAlas, Media, at the bottom of this cup are no sparkles as at top. Oh,\r\ntreacherous, treacherous friend! full of smiles and daggers. Yet for\r\nsuch as me, oh wine, thou art e’en a prop, though it pierce the side;\r\nfor man must lean. Thou wine art the friend of the friendless, though a\r\nfoe to all. King Media, let us drink. More cups!—And now, farewell.”\r\n\r\nFalling back, he averted his face; and silently we quitted the palace.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r","title":"CHAPTER LXXXV. After Dinner"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJA6157W2830190N652KA","peer_type":"novel","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1HYC04JWXEK48P07WPK","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AJW7Y6WFAG3FMN40GAWWT","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AJW83ZNH2JQR58YXYCRR6","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"next"}],"ver":3,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:47:45.918Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:49:15.641Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF5C36SQEVDHC9CBNZZJH9K"}}