Ludwig had little consideration for the feelings of others; and I remember hearing a story about a clever actor, Joseph Kainz, who had been commanded to recite to him. Herr Kainz declaimed various pieces, but as the hours went by he began to feel hungry, and at last the sight of the King at dinner nearly drove him frantic.
Ludwig, who was blissfully unconscious of his ravenous subject, only heard the actor's sonorous voice reciting the poems he loved, and he was not prepared for what followed the arrival of a dish of cutlets.
Kainz stopped reciting, and hurried to where the King was seated. "For the love of Heaven give me a cutlet, Majestät," pleaded the actor in tragic accents -- "I'm absolutely starving."
The King jumped up without saying a word and fled from the room. I do not know whether Herr Kainz profited by his absence and devoured the cutlets, but I do know that he was never asked to recite at the Residenz again.
Countess Marie Larisch, My Past
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Detail of Ichnographia Ottopia
1999
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