Every guest had a yard of bread,
and two saucers placed in front of him; one containing honey, the
other shelled walnuts. We dipped the walnuts in the honey, and ate
them with the bread, and excellent they were. In the place of
coffee, which was forbidden, we had hot milk boiled with borage to
flavour it, quite a pleasant beverage. The washing arrangements
being primitive, I waited until every one was safely occupied in
Chapel for an hour and a half, and then had a swim in the
reservoir which supplied the monastery with water, and can only
trust that I did not dirty it much. I was greatly disappointed
with the singing in the severe, unadorned Chapel; it was
plainsong, without any organ or instrument. The effect of so great
a body of voices might have been imposing had not the intonation
(as kindly critics say at times of a debutante) been a little
uncertain. As Trappists never speak, one could understand their
losing their voices, but it seems curious that they should have
lost their ears as well, though possibly it was only the visitors
who sang so terribly out of tune.
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