7

iv rwv \p6vtav ! Nondum ad nos venit. Metis constitit, ut audio, inde enim nos salutavit. Adero ipsi quibuscunque rebus potero cum ad nos venerit. .... Ad Tabernas Alsatiae (Saverne) vigesima octava Martii." Our Doctor then was installed as physician to the hospital at Metz in the years 1546-7. From the Prologue to the Fourth Book of 1548 we learn that he was approached by some courtiers from Paris declaring their appreciation of his Third Book and begging him to continue his writing. This no doubt was the origin of the Fourth Book. In the present instalment we find a far more sparing use of books, especially classical books. Ovid's Fasti, Virgil, Homer's Odyssey (no longer the Iliad), Pliny, Gellius, Suetonius, INTRODUCTION ix Diogenes Laertius, Valerius Maximus, complete the tale of his classical sources. In this we must except the ioth and last long chapter — the nth is but a fragment — which in 1552 was augmented and expanded so as to correspond to chapters 20-24 of Fezandat's edition (B). This chapter derives from some other sources, and may, therefore, have been partly written, as well as the Prologue, at Lyons, while the other chapters were being printed. Rabelais, we know, reached Rome about the middle of 1548 and most likely stopped at Lyons on the way, in order to see this new book through the press. Afterwards, while in attendance on Cardinal du Bellay in Rome till the end of 1550, and at Meudon from the beginning of 155 1, he had plenty of books and leisure to elaborate and enlarge the eleven chapters which he had written in exile at Metz with the aid of his scanty library. Of other books employed in this part the most consider- able use is made of the macaronic poem of " Baldus " by Merlin Cocai (Theophilo Folengo), from which much had been taken in Pantagruel and somewhat in the Third Book. From this book are derived the episodes of the Sheep- dealer and Panurge, and of the Storm, altered, however, and amplified with excellent effect. In the seventh chapter (the 17 th in B) are taken a couple of instances from a book by Baptista Fulgosus, or Fregoso, who was Doge of Venice (147 8- 1 483) and a considerable author. The work in question was De dictis factisque memorabilibus, Mis exceptis quae x INTRODUCTION Valerius Maximus edidit, reprinted by Galliot du Pre* (Paris, 15 18). Book IX, chap. 12 of this treatise supplies matter for this seventh chapter, and also later for the 33rd chapter of the completed Fourth Book. In the seventh chapter also occurs the death of Bringuenarilles the Giant (an account continued later in c. 44). This is borrowed from Le Disciple de Pantagruel a small fabliau of very small merit, from which two or three episodes in the Fourth and Fifth Books are taken. Rabelais must also have consulted some book on the circumnavigation of Africa by the Portuguese, to which he had alluded before in Gargantua. These voyages and the explorations of the New World and the Canary Islands had engaged his attention several times in his book. One or two stories seem to come from the Apophthegmata of Erasmus, which was also at times a fruitful source for him. The general impression produced by these few chapters is that when Rabelais is left more to his own resources and with fewer books, his style is, if possible, more fresh and crisp than at other times ; at all events, the episodes of les moutons de Panurge and of the Storm, seem to be more widely appreciated than most of the other parts of his writings. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE FOURTH BOOK. Editions printed with Rabelais' Authority. A. 1548. Issued at Lyons without the printer's name, but probably from the press of P. de Tours, the successor of Francois Juste. B. 1552. Printed by Michael Fezandat, Paris. A contains the Ancien Prologue (as it was called when superseded by the Prologue of the completed book), and eleven chapters. B contains an Epistle of Dedication to the Cardinal of Chatillon and a New Prologue, both of which derive some- thing from the Ancien Prologue. The eleven chapters of A are added to and amplified so as to extend to twenty- five chapters, while some few omissions in this part are made in B, mostly from prudential motives, to avoid offence to the Theological faculty. The completed book extends to sixty-seven chapters. In the last nine leaves of B are a number of explanatory notes, entitled Briefve declaration oVaucunes dictions plus obscures contenues on quatriesme liure des faicts & diets Heroicques de PantagrueL EXPLANATION OF REFERENCES. A. P. F. = Anciennes Poesies Pranfaises du xvemc et xvibme siecle, par A. de Montaiglon. 9R = Roman de la Rose ed. Francisque Michel. References are given to Garg. and Pant, instead of to books i. and ii., because it appears certain that the book Pantagruel was written before Gargantua. LETTER TO THE CARDINAL DU BELLAY.1 My Lord, If M. de Saint-Ay, on coming here lately, had had the Advantage of taking Leave of you at his Departure, I should not now be in so great Necessity and Anxiety, as he will be able to explain to you more at large. For he assured me that you were well minded to give me some Alms, provided that he could find a trusty Man coming from your parts. Indeed, my Lord, unless you take Pity on me, I know not what I am to do, unless in the Extremity of Despair I take Service with some one about here, to the Detriment and evident Loss to my Studies. It is not possible to live more frugally than I do, and you cannot make me so small a Gift from the abundance of i M. des Marets, who gives this d'un an, c'est a scavoir a la Saint- letter (preserved in MS. at Mont- Remy 60 livres, a Pasques darien pellier, among the Latin and passe 60 livres, comme plus c'on French letters to and from Car- lui ont p. le quart d'an de Saint dinal du Bellay) has been at pains Jean 30 livres." to look for other correspondence M. de Saini-Ay is mentioned between Rabelais and this Car- elsewhere as one of the gentlemen dinal, but with a negative result. attached to the Seigneur deLangey. He also gives an extract taken His name was Orson Lorens. from the library at Metz : " 1547 iv. 27. paye a Mre. Rabellet p. ses gages 2 LETTER Goods that God hath placed in your Hands but that I can manage by living from Hand to Mouth, and maintain myself honourably, as I have done up to the present, for the Honour of the House from which I came on my Departure from France. My Lord, I commend myself very humbly to your kind Favour, and pray Our Lord to grant you a very happy and long Life with perfect Health. Your very humble Servant, Francis Rabelais, Physician. From Metz this 6th of February (1546). THE FOURTH BOOK OF THE HEROIC DEEDS AND SAYINGS OF THE NOBLE PANTAGRUEL COMPOSED BY MASTER FRANCIS RABELAIS DOCTOR IN MEDICINE AND CALLOIER OF THE ISLES OF HYERES AT LYONS THE YEAR ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND FORTY-EIGHT PROLOGUE1 OF THE FOURTH BOOK. Drinkers very illustrious, and you, gouty Tasters2 very precious, I have seen, received, heard and understood the Ambassador3 whom the Lordship of your Lordships hath despatched towards my Paternity, and he hath appeared to me a very good and eloquent Orator. The Summary of his Proposition I reduce to three Words, which are of so great Importance that formerly among the Romans by these three Words4 the Praetor made Answer to all Requests set before him in Judgment ; by these three Words he decided all Controversies, all Complaints, Processes and Differences ; and those Days were styled unlucky and nefasti? on which the Praetor did not use those three Words ; fasti and lucky, on which he was wont to use them. You give, you say, you adjudge. O good People, (I cannot see you ! 6) may the worthy Powers of God be to you, and not less to me, eternally for a Help ! So then, from God be it ; never let us do anything, that His most holy Name be not first praised. i This Prologue was suppressed makes Panurge drink out of a in the Paris edition of 1552, and in similar book (v. 46). its stead appeared the " Epistle 4 Do, dico, addico Do (ac- dedicatory" to the Cardinal of tionem), dico (tutorem pupillo), Chatillon, and the New Prologue, addico (bonorum possessionem), which contained parts of this, 5 Hie nefastus erit per quern tria „ . , . verba silentur : 2 Fr, goutteurs an equivoque be- Fastus erft { tween gouter and goutteux, Hcebit agi. 3 The Ambassador refers to the Ovid, Fast, i. 47. gentleman who was sent by several 6 I cannot see you, Cf. Pant. 3, courtiers to present to Rabelais a iv, N, Prol. M. Heulhard, who silver wine-flask in the form of a interprets the " Lordship of your breviary (Cf. Garg. 5. 41) addressed Lordships" to be the King him- possibly with some phrase like an self, takes the expression " I can- oes reverend Pe're, etc, . . , d. d, d, not see you " here quite literally, etc,, accompanied by some appre- to the effect that Rabelais, being ciative remarks on his former at Metz, could not see the cour- writings. The priestess Bacbuc tiers who were in Paris. 6 PROLOGUE You give me. What ? A fine and ample Breviary. In very Sooth, I thank you for it ; this will be the least of my greatest Efforts.1 What kind of Breviary it was, certainly I did not think, as I looked upon the Book-marks, the Rose, the Clasps, the Binding and the Covering, in which I have not omitted to consider the Hooks and the Pies2 painted thereupon and placed in mighty fine Array ; by which, as though they were hieroglyphic Letters, you tell me plainly that there is no Work like that of Masters, nor Courage like that of Lick-spigots. To lick the Spigot signifieth a certain Jollity, metaphori- cally extracted from the Prodigy which came to pass in Brittany a short time before the Battle that was fought near St. Aubin du Cormier.3 Our Fathers have told it us ; it is right that our Successors should not be ignorant of it. It was the Year of the good Vintage ;4 a Quart of good and dainty Wine was sold for a one-tagged Point. From the Countries of the East flew thither a great Number of Jays on one side, and a great Number of Pies5 on the other, all making for the West \ and they went alongside one another in such Order, that towards the Evening the Jays retreated to the left — understand here l cicdcDiv.ii. the alucky Side in Augury — and the Pies to the right, near ad verg Ael'. enough to one another. Through whatever Region they 11. 693. passed, there remained no Pie which did not ally itself to the Pies, nor Jay that did not join the Camp of the Jays. So they went on and on flying, till they passed over Angers, 1 Fr. le moins de mon plus (iii, 4 We learn from the Contes 5). Cotgrave translates this : d'Eutrapel, c. 23, that there was a " The most I can, the least I great vintage in Anjou about this should." time, when wine was practically 2 Fr. crocs et pies = hooks and given away. magpies, so forming crocquer pie 5 A combat between jays and by a rebus. pies is recorded by Poggio in his 3 St, Aubin du Cormier. A Facetiae (No. 234) under the title battle took place here, July 28, Pugna Picarum et Graculorum, on 1488, between King Charles VIII. the confines of Brittany in April and the Duke of Orleans, after- 145 j. This one has been placed wards Louis XII , who was taken in 1488 just before St. Aubin du prisoner. Cf. Garg. 50. Cormier. PROLOGUE 7 a Town in France that bordered on Brittany, in Numbers so much multiplied, that in their Flight they put out the Brightness of the Sun from the Lands subjacent.1 In Angers at that time was an old Gaffer, Lord of Saint- George, named Frapin ;2 he it was who made and composed the fair and joyous Carols in Poitevin Language. He had a Jay, a great Favourite by reason of his Chatter, by whose means he invited all Visitors to drink ; he never sang of anything but Drink, and he called him his Chatterbox ; this Jay in martial Fury broke out of his Cage, and joined the other Jays as they went by. A neighbouring Barber, named Gapechat, had a female Pie of his own, a very gay Bird ; she by her Presence increased the Number of the Pies, and followed them to the Combat. Here be Matters mighty and paradoxical, true notwithstanding, witnessed and avouched. Note well everything. What came of it ? What was the End ? What came of it, good People ? A marvellous Result ! Near the Cross of Malchara8 took place the Battle, so furious that it is horrible only to think of it. The End was that the Pies lost the Battle, and on the Field were cruelly slain to the number of 2,589,362,109, besides b b Matt. xiv. 21. Women and little Children, that is, besides Females and little Pies : that you understand. The Jays remained Victors, not however without Loss of several of their good Soldiers, whereby there was very great Damage throughout the Country. 1 This expression seems to be i860), Frapin and Frappart (iv. 15), borrowed from the report brought being sobriquets of monks. to Leonidas at Thermopylae, that the arrows of the Persian host were 3 Malchara. This allusion has so numerous that they obscured not been explained fully. There the sun, when he replied : " All is a Hosanna Cross at St. Maixent the better; we shall fight in the in Poitou mentioned in iv. 13, n. shade," Plut. Ap. Lacon. 225 B., 12 ; and in the Contes d'Eutrapel, Val. Max, iii. 7, 8. c. 19 {ad fin.), there is mention of 2 Frapin. M. des Marets " la journee de Marhara . . . une acutely suggests that this may brave composition entre les pies et mean Lucas Le Moyne, the author les geais, qui s'y pelauderent tant of some Noels in 1520 (reprinted brusquement." 8 PROLOGUE The Bretons are a brave Folk,1 as you know ; but if they had understood the Prodigy, they would easily have recog- nised that Ill-luck would be on their side ; for the Tails of the Pies are in Shape like their Ermines,2 while the Jays have in their Plumage some Resemblance to the Arms of France.3 To our Subject. Chatterbox returned three Days later, quite woebegone and wearied out with these Wars, having one Eye knocked out ; however, a few Hours after he had fed at his old Commons he recovered his good Spirits. The fashionable Folk, the People, and the Scholars of Angers ran together in Crowds, to see Chatterbox the one- eyed thus accoutred. Chatterbox invited them to drink, as was his wont, adding at the End of each Invitatorium .A " Eat Pie." I take it for granted that that was the Watch- word on the Day of the Battle ; all did their Duty therein. The Pie of Gapechat never returned ; she had been eaten. From this arose the proverbial Saying that to "Drink Healths and with great Draughts " is verily To eat the Pie.5 With such Figures, for a perpetual Memorial,6 Frapin had his Dining-Hall and lower Hall painted ; you may see them at Angers on the Terrace7 of Saint-Lawrence.8 i Fr. gens, with an equivoque occurs in the Nef de sante (Paris on gents. 1507). and in the old Farces and A Delleveu bretons sont gens, Sotties. Mais il y en a de dou pere. Galans, allons croquer la pie ; Les menus propos, 1. 415, Je n'en puis plus si je ne pie A.P.F. xi. p. 383. Quelquepianche bonne etfreche. 2 Ermines, the arms of Brittany. 6 Papal bulls often concluded 3 Arms of France. Jays have their first sentence with the words : in their plumage blue and white, ad Putnam ret memonam the azure and argent of the French 7 fr tartre = modern tertre. arms The tertre Saint Laurent still exists 4 Invitatorium, the refrain of * ^There is a story of a raven in the mvitatory 94th Psalm Venite the time of Tiberius something like exultemus at Matins, in the Bre- thigj in piinyj x ^ § 6o> and of a viary« still more wonderful bird in Plu- 5 Fr. crocquer la pie has been tarch, de Soil. An. c. 19, 973 C-E. variously explained. Pie seems to cf> also petronius c. 28, fin. super be akin to piot, and connected with limen cavea pendebat aurea in qua 7TLVtiv. The expression itself pica varia intrantes salubatat. PROLOGUE 9 This Figure engraved on your Breviary made me think that there was somewhat more than a Breviary. Moreover, with what Purpose should you make me a Present of a Breviary ? I have, thanks to God and you, some old ones, aye and new ones too. Upon this Doubt, on opening the said Breviary I perceived that it was a Breviary made by mirinc Invention, and the Book-marks all to the point, with appropriate Inscriptions. Therefore your Wish is that at Prime I should drink white1 Wine, and also at Tierce, Sext and Nones; at Vespers and Compline Claret (red) Wine. That you call Eat the Pie; verily never were youc hatched by an evil Pie. c cf. v. 6. I will therein grant your Request. You say. What? That in no Respect have I galled you in all my Books heretofore printed. If on this Subject I quote for you the Sentence of an old Pantagruelist, still less shall I gall you : It is (he says) no common Praise To have the Art the Court to please.2 Moreover, you say that the Wine of the Third Book hath been to your Taste, and that it is good. True it is, there was but little of it, and what is commonly said : " A little and good" is not to your liking ; more to your liking is what the good Evispan of Verron3 used to say : "Much and good" Over and above this, you invite me to the Con- tinuation of the Pantagrueline History, alleging the Utility and Enjoyment derived from the Reading of it among all worthy People, and excusing yourselves for not having been i White wine, etc.. with refer- Quoted by Erasmus, Adag. i. 4, 1. ence to the proverb : Rouge le soir, blanc le matin 3 Evispan of Verron. Verron C'est la journee du pelerin. was a tract of land near Chinon. 2 Principibus placuisse viris Cf. " Multi bonique" Erasm. Ad. non ultima laus est. i. 6, 31. Hor. Epp. i. 17, 35. io PROLOGUE obedient to my Prayer,1 containing the Request that you should reserve your Laughter till the seventy-eighth Book. This I pardon you with all my Heart : I am not so churlish or implacable as you would think ; what I was saying to you was not for your Hurt ; and by way of Answer I speak to you in the Vein of Hector's Speech put forth by Naevius, that 'Tis a fi?ie Thing to be praised by praiseworthy Folk} By a reciprocal Declaration I say and maintain, as far as to the Fire exclusively3 — understand this and for a Reason — that you are fine honest People, all descended from good Fathers and good Mothers ; at the same time promising you on the Word of a Foot-traveller,4 that if ever I meet you in Mesopotamia, I will use my Influence with the little Count George6 of Lower Egypt that he shall make a Present to each of you of a fine Nile Crocodile and a Nightmare6 from the Euphrates. You adjudge. What ? To whom ? All the old Quarters of the Moon to the Cowl-pates, Vermin, Ape-faces, Booted Monks, Hypocrites, Frieze Coats, Hairy-paws, Mumping Pardoners, Sham-saints. These be fear-inspiring names,7 only in hearing the Sound of them \ at the pronouncing i Prayer, in allusion to the Paris, mentioned by Pasquier in request at the foot of the title-page his Recherches, iv. 19. He speaks of the Third Book : L'autheur sus- of " douze penitenciers qui vinrent diet supplie les lecteurs benevoles a Paris le 17 aout 1427, e'est a soy reserver d rire au soixante et savoir, un due, un comte et dix dixhuytiesme livre. hommes, lesquels etaient de la 2 The line is from the Hector Basse Egypte, et qui devaient par Proficiscens of Naevius : penitence aller sept ans parmi le Laetus sum laudari me abs te, monde." pater, a laudato viro, 6 Fr. Cauquemare, properly and it is quoted three times by night-mare ; here and in iv. 64 it Cicero (Tusc. Disp. iv. § 67, ad Fam. is used of a fabulous animal. Pant. v. 12, §7; xv. 6). Prol. 6. 3 Fr. jusqu'aufeu exclusivement. 7 Cowl-pates, etc. These names Cf. Pant. Prologue. of abuse for the monks and friars 4 Fr. foy de pieton, a parody of may be found in i. 54, ii. 34, iv. 32 foy de chevalier. and 64. Pant. Prog. 5. 5 Count George probably refers Nomina sunt ipso paene timenda to a visit of some " Bohemians" to sono. — Ovid, Her. xiii. 54. PROLOGUE n thereof I have seen the Hair of your noble Ambassador stand on End on his Head. I have only understood the High Dutch of this, and I know not what sort of Beasts you comprise in these Denominations. Having made diligent Research in divers Countries, I have not found a Soul who acknowledged them, or who endured to be thus named or designated. I take for granted that it was some monstrous Kind of barbarous Animal in the time of the tall Bonnets;1 now it has died out in Nature, just as all sublunary Things have their End and Period, and we know not what is the Definition thereof; for you know that when the Subject is lost its Denomination also is easily lost. If by these Terms you understand the Calumniators of my Writings, more aptly you may call them Devils, for in Greek Calumny is called diabole. See how detestable before God and the Angels is this Vice styled Calumny — that is, when a man impugns good Action, when he speaks ill of good Things — for it is after this and not after any other Vice (though several might seem more enormous) that the Devils of Hell are named and called. These Persons are not, properly speaking, Devils of Hell; they are their Apparitors and Ministers; I style them Devils, black and white, Devils private, Devils domestic ; and what they have done towards my Books they will do, if they are permitted, towards all others. But it is none of their Invention. I say this, to the end that they may not here- after glorify themselves with the Surname of the old Cato the Censor. Have you ever heard what is meant by "spitting in a Bason"?2 Formerly the Predecessors of these private Devils, Architects of Sensuality, Subverters of Decency (like a i Fr. les Hants Bonnets. Ridi- sion of those who contribute un- culous head-gear temp. Louis xi. willingly under stress of public 2 Fr. cracker au bassin (Garg. opinion, etc. Rabelais here takes ii, Pant. 12), a proverbial expres- it literally. 12 PROLOGUE Philoxenus1 or a Gnatho and others of a like Kidney) in the Wine-shops and Taverns, in which Places they ordi- narily kept their Schools, seeing the Guests served with some good Meats and delicate Morsels, would villainously spit in the Dishes, so that the Guests, disgusted at their infamous Spittings and Snivellings, might abstain from eating the Meats set before them, and the Whole might be left to these villainous Spitters and Snivellers. Almost like, not however so abominable, is the Story2 we are told of the fresh-water Physician, Nephew of the Advocate, the late Amer, who said that the Wing of a fat Capon was bad, the Rump doubtful, the Neck good enough, provided the Skin had been taken away ; to the end that the Patients should not eat thereof, but that all should be reserved for his own Mouth. Thus have done these new Devils in Frocks. Seeing all this World in eager Appetite to see and read my Writings, on account of the preceding Books, they have spit in the Bason ; that is to say, they have by their Handling be- wrayed, decried and calumniated them all ; with this Inten- i Philoxenus is the glutton engross the mess, he would preven- mentioned by Athenaeus (viii. 26, tively deliver his nostrils in the p. 341 a) and Aristotle (Eth. Nic. dish " (Pseud. Ep. vii. 15). iii. 10, 10; Eud. iii. 2, 12) as wish- 2 This story, as well as the ing for a neck longer than a crane. preceding one, is repeated in v. so as to get more taste from his Prol., the doctor's precept being food. given in a mock hexameter : Gnatho is the parasite in Ala mala, cropion dubium, Terence's Eunuchus, whence the collum bonum pelle remota. name is generic. Amer, physician of sweet water. Rabelais has in his mind the Confusion is purposely introduced passage in Plutarch, Mor. 1128 A, in this passage in order to contrast where he relates that Philoxenus amer (bitter) with doulce (sweet), and Gnatho were so greedy that a real " salt " with a fresh-water they thrust their noses into dishes, sailor, and eau douce with urine, that they might eat the whole which was much regarded as a test themselves, by disgusting other by physicians, and in order to bring guests. Sir T. Browne, in a grave in the allusion from Patelin (745). discussion on Philoxenus, quaintly Je retourneray, qui qu'en grousse puts it that this second Philoxenus Ckeuz cest avocat d'eaue douce "was so uncivilly greedy, that to (i.e., briefless). PROLOGUE 13 tion, that none should heed them, none should read them,1 save their own Poltroonities. I have seen this with my own Eyes — it was not with my Ears ; — nay, they go so far as to preserve them religiously during their Offices at Night, and employ them like Breviaries for use by day ; they have taken them from the Sick, the Gouty and the Unfortunate, to cheer whom, in their Discomfort, I had made and composed them. If I could take under my Care all those who fall into Infirmity and Sickness, there would now be no Need to publish and to print such Books. Hippocrates has made a Book for this Purpose, which he has entitled, On the State of the Perfect Physician12, — Galen has illustrated it with learned d Commentaries — in which he orders that there be a xvii. t>. 145 k. nothing in the Physician (he even goes so far as to par- ticularise the Nails) which can offend the Patient. Every- thing that is in the Physician, Gestures, Face, Clothing, Words, Looks, Touch, is to please and delight the Sick man. For my Part and in my homely Fashion, I do strain and strive to do this as regards those whom I take under my Care. So do also my Companions on their part ; where- fore, perchance, we are called Parabolani3 with the long 1 Fr, ne les eust, ne les leust, practice of recklessly (like enfans fors leurs Poiltronitez, used in perdus, irapaBoka, Plin. Epp. contradistinction to ma Paternite ix. 26, § 4) tending patients afflicted above. with every kind of disease. They 2 There are two such treatises, are mentioned in Justinian's Code which have been attributed to i. tit. 3, 1. 18, de episc. et cleric, as Hippocrates and which practically numbering more than 600 in Alex- form one, IW 'Irirpov and andria in Egypt (Cf. Gibbon, c. 47, n \i7' , / «. A „ _ n. x.) Accursius in his Gloss on UepiEvarxnfxoo-vvi^. The pas- Dig/ xxviiM following the gram- sage, however, occurs in Hipp. marian Modestinus, seems to have Epidem. vi. (Kuhn, vol. iii. pp. 603, given a definition parabolani sunt 624. This is repeated in the medici which greatly offends our Epist. Ded. of this book in B. Doctor. Cf. Cael. Rhod. xxix. 11. 3 Parabolani were a kind of nurse-doctors, so called from their i4 PROLOGUE Sleeve1 and the large Elbow,2 according to the Opinion of two Scavengers, as foolish in Interpretation as it was dull in Invention. There is a further Point. On a Passage of the Sixth Book of the Epidemics of the said Father Hippocrates, we labour in Disputation, not if the Countenance of the Physician when moping, sour, morose, disagreeable, down- hearted, depresses the Patient, and the Countenance of the Physician when joyful, serene, pleasant, smiling, open, elates the Patient — that is all proved and certain — but whether such Depressions and Elations proceed from Apprehension of the Sick man, on contemplating these Qualities, or whether it is by Transfusion of the Spirits, serene or gloomy, joyous or sad, from the Physician to the Patient, as is the Opinion of the Platonists and the Averroists. Since, then, it is impossible that I can be called in by all the Patients, that I can take all Sick folk in my Charge, how envious it is to take from those who are languishing and sick the Pleasure and joyous Pastime — without Offence, be it said, to God, the King, or any other — which they find in my Absence in listening to the Reading of these joyous Books! So then, since by your Adjudication and Decree these Slanderers and Calumniators are seised and possessed of the old Quarters of the Moon, I forgive them. There will be no laughing hereafter for all, when we shall see these lunatic Fools, some Lepers, others Bul- garians, others a Cross between Lepers and Bulgarians, Dashing and smashing and gnashing their Teeth, Breaking the Windows all about Town, Hang themselves, drown themselves, fling themselves down, i Fr. focile, the greater of the ancient robe of the physicians, two bones between the elbow and Cf. Ep. ded. It had four sleeves, the wrist. two of which reached to the hands, 2 Fr. code, with a poor pun on and the other two hung from below code and coude, the elbow. Rabe- the. elbow, lais is alluding to the philonium or PROLOGUE 15 208. Erasm. Apoph. v. (Timon, 11), and speeding full Gallop to all the Devils, according to the Energy, Faculty and Virtue of the Quarters which they shall have in their Noddles, be they waxing, beginning, gibbous,1 horned2 or waning. Only, towards their Maligni- ties and Impostures I will employ the Offer which Timon the Misanthrope did to his ungrateful Athenians. e Timon, angered at the Ingratitude of the Athenian e piut. Anton, c, people towards him, came one day into the Public Tmo«,havkeT Assembly of the City, requesting an Audience to be given him for a certain Business concerning the public Good. At his Request Silence was made, in expectation of hearing things of Importance, seeing that he had come to the Assembly, who so many Years before had absented himself from all Company and lived in his own Privacy. Then he said to them : " Outside my private Garden, under the Wall, is a spreading, fine and remarkable Fig-tree, on which you Gentlemen of Athens when in despair, Men and Women, Young men and Maidens, are accustomed to go aside and hang and strangle yourselves. I give you Notice that, for the Convenience of my House, I am purposed within a Week to destroy the said Fig-tree. Wherefore, whoever of you and of all the City wishes to hang himself, let him make all Haste to do so. When the aforesaid Term has expired, they will have no Place so fitting, and no Tree so convenient." Following his Example, I announce to these diabolical Calumniators that they have all to hang themselves within the last Quarter of this Moon ; I will furnish them with Halters ; I assign to them for a Hanging-ground the Place 1 Fr. amphicyrces should be amphicyrtes (duL(f)LKvpTOs)» This refers to the shape of the moon on her 1 ith and 19th day. Cf. Macrob. in Som. Sc. i. 6, § 55. 2 Fr. brisants. According to Menage, this is the shape of the moon on her 4th and her 26th day. Cf. v. 23. i6 PROLOGUE between Mid-day and Faverolles.1 After the New Moon they will not be taken in there so cheaply, and will be obliged, themselves, at their own Expense to buy Cords, and to choose a Tree for their Hanging, as did Mistress Leontium, the Calumniator of the most learned and eloquent Theophrastus.2 i Mid-day, etc. A grotesque jumbling of time and place. There are several places in France named Fevrolles (cf. v. 26, n. 2). 2 " Adversus Theophrastum, hominem in eloquentia tantum ut nomen divinum inde invenerit, scripsisse etiam feminam, et pro- verbium inde natum suspendio arborem eligendi." Plin. Prae/at. § 27 (Sillig). Cf. Cic. de Nat. Deor. i. 33, §93- Rabelais is in error explaining the somewhat confused statement of Pliny. Erasmus puts it cor- rectly : " In re vehementer indigna neque ullo pacto toleranda, veteres arborem suspendio deligendam esse dicebant. Inde natum quod olim in Theophrastum philoso- phum praecipuum meretricula nomine Leontium ausa sit scri- bere." (A dag. i. 10, 21). Corn. Agrippa de van. sclent, c. 63. Gael. Rhod. Ant. Led. x. 8. Cf. ravra 8t)t ovk dy\6vrj ; (Arist. Ach. 125). Quamobrem elegit suspen- dium anima mea, et mortem ossa mea. — Job. vii. 15. CHAPTER I How Pantagruel put to Sea to visit the Oracle of the Holy Bacbuc.1 In the Month of Tune, on the Day of the a Feast of a qv. Fast. . . ▼*• 247-50. Vesta2 — the very Day on whichb Brutus conquered Spain b Id vi ^ and subjugated the Spaniards, on which also0 Crassus the c id. vi. 465-6. covetous was defeated and conquered by the Parthians — Pantagruel taking leave of the good Gargantua his Father (the latter praying devoutly for the prosperous Voyage of his Son and all his Company), put to Sea at the Port of Thalassa, accompanied by Panurge, Friar John of the Trencherites, Epistemon, Carpalim, Gymnast, Ponocrates,8 Rhizotomus and others, his Servants, Domestics and Old friends, together with Xenomanes, 4 the great Traveller and Traverser of perilous Ways, who had arrived certain Days beforehand, at thed Summons of Panurge. d m. 49. The Number of the Ships was such as I have set forth to you in the Third Book,5 well rigged, caulked and stored, and well furnished with great abundance of Pantagruelion. 1 Bacbuc is a Chaldaean word, 4 Xenomanes is identified with signifying Bottle. It occurs several Jean Bouchet, a friend and corres- times in the O.T. pondent of Rabelais, by a volume 2 The qth of Tune of Poems published by him under y J the title Opuscules du Traverseur 3 In B Ponocrates is omitted, desvoiesperilleuses{4°,]a.c. Bouchet, probably by accident, as he Pictavii, 1526). appears in iv. 9, 22, 63 of that 5 We'are told in iii. 49 that they edition. He appears in Garg. but were twelve in number, like the not in Pant. contingent of Ajax at Troy. 2 1 8 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 4-1 The Meeting-place of all the Officers, Interpreters, Pilots, Skippers, Midshipmen, Rowers and Sailors, was on board the Thelamane;1 for that was the Name of Pantagruel's great Flagship; and she had on her Stern for Ensign a large and capacious Bottle, half of Silver, smooth and polished ; the other Half was of Gold, enamelled with crimson Colours ; whereby it was easy to determine that White and Claret were the Colours of the noble Travellers, and that they were going to get the Word of the Bottle. On the Stern of the Second was carried aloft a Lantern of antique Shape ingeniously made of speculary Stone,2 to denote that they would pass by Lantern-land. The Third for its Device had a fine deep Ewer of Porcelain j The Fourth a golden Jar with two Handles, as though it were an antique Urn ; The Fifth a famous Tankard of Sperm of Emerald ;8 a Gare.sfin ^he Sixth a monkish Drinking-horn made of thea four Metals ; The Seventh a Funnel of Ebony embossed all over with Gold in enamel Work ; The Eighth a Goblet of Ivy, very precious, damascened with beaten Gold ; The Ninth a Wine cup of rich refined Gold ; The Tenth of aromatic Agalloch (you call it Wood of Aloes) purfled with Cyprus Gold of Persian work ; i Thelamane is superseded in B 2 Lapis specularis = talc. Plin. by Thalamege, which was the name xxxvi., 22, § 45. of the Egyptian galley on board 3 Pliny's smaragdus Cyprius which Cleopatra took Julius Caesar (xxxvii. 5, §17) is the smaragdo on a trip to Aethiopia. Cf. Suet., prase, or plasma di smeraldo of the i. 52. Italians. (Italis Prasma, Emeraude brute. Ducange). PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 19 The Eleventh a golden Vintage-basket made in Mosaic- work ; The Twelfth a Runlet of dead Gold, covered with a scroll of small Indian Pearls in arabesque Work. In such wise was it that there was no one, however sad, sour or melancholy, nay, had it been Heraclitus the Weeper, who did not feel unwonted Delight and smile with lightened Spleen,1 as he looked upon this noble Convoy of Ships and their Devices ; who did not say that the Travellers were all honest Topers and jolly good Fellows, and who did not judge with sure Prognostication that the Journey both in going and returning would be performed in Mirth and perfect Health. In the Telamonie then was the general Meeting. There Pantagruel made them a brief and pious Exhortation, wholly backed by Authorities taken from Holy Writ, on the Subject of Navigation. When this was ended, common Prayer was made to God in high and clear Tones in the Hearing and Understanding of all the Burgesses and Citizens of Thalassa,'2 who had flocked to the Mole to see their Embarkation. After the Prayer there was melodiously chanted the a Ps. cxiv. a Psalm of David, which begins : When Israel went forth out of Egypt, &c. When the Psalm was finished, the Tables were spread on the Deck, and Meats speedily served. The Thalassians, 1 Cor sapit et pulmo loquitur, 2 Thalassa (#aAao"o~a) Sea, is fel commovet iras ; spien ridere chosen as the name of the port facit, cogit amare jecur. Ebrard fr0m which the fleet starts. Graecismus, c. xix. 106. 20 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 4— i who likewise had chanted the aforesaid Psalm, had Store of Victuals and Wine1 brought out of their Houses. All drank to them ; they drank to all. This was the Reason why not one of the Assembly was sick from the Rolling of the Sea, nor was troubled at all in Head or Stomach ; which Inconveniences they would not so comfortably have prevented by drinking Water some days before, either salt or fresh, or mixed with Wine ; or by taking Pulp of Quinces, or Lemon-peel, or Juice of sour-sweet Pomegranates ; or by keeping a long Fast ; or by covering their Stomach with Paper,2 or by using other Remedies which foolish Physicians prescribe for those who put to Sea. After often renewing their Tipplings, everyone retired to his own Ship, and in good Time they set sail to the Greek Wind8 as it got up, to which Point the chief Pilot had shaped their Course and set the Needles of all their Compasses. For his Advice, and also that of Xenomanes, was — seeing that the Oracle of the Holy Bottle was near Cathay in upper India — not to take the ordinary Route of the Portu- guese, 4 who, sailing through the Torrid Zone and the Cape of Bonasperanza at the south Point of Africa, beyond the Equinoctial Line, and losing the Sight and Guidance of the i A : vinaigre, B : vinage. This 4 Portuguese. From the time of must be a misprint in A. Prince Henry the Navigator, the 2 Against sea-sickness the Ger- Portuguese had gone on tenta- man Emperor advised a strong tively coasting round Africa. In bouillon " such as the English 1487 Bartholomew Diaz rounded love," and firm bandages round the the Cape of Good Hope; in 1498 stomach. (Sept. 1897). Vasco da Gama sailed round Africa 3 Fr. vent Grec (vento Greco), as far as Melinda (Garg. 5) and N.E. wind. from there crossed over to India. (Cf. Pant. 24). 4-i PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 21 Arctic Pole, make an enormously long Voyage ; but to follow, as near as possible, the Parallel of the aforesaid India and to tack to the westward of that Pole, * so that, winding under the North, they might be in the same Latitude as the Port of Olonne, 2 without coming nearer it, for fear of coming into and being shut up in the Frozen sea. And following this regular Turn by the same Parallel they might have the Eastward on their Right, which at their Departure was on the Left. Now this turned out to their incredible Advantage \ for without Shipwreck, without Danger or Loss of Men, in great Calm, they made the Voyage to Upper India in less than four Months, which the Portuguese could scarcely do in three years, with Dangers innumerable. And I am of this Opinion, that some such Route was perhaps followed by the Indians who sailed to Germany and were honourably treated by the King of the Swedes at the time when Q. Metellus Celer was Pro-consul in Gaul, as hath been described to us by Cor. Nepos and Pliny after him.3 1 Follow the Parallel, cS>c. This proconsuli Indos a rege Suevorum refers to the famous North-West dono datos . . . Nepos tradit, qui passage. ex India commerci causa navi- 2 Olonne is the sea-port of Tal- gantes tempestatibus essent in mont in Poitou (Garg. 16). Germaniam abrepti. Plin. ii. 3 Q. Metello Celeri . . . Galliae 67, § 67. CHAPTER II How Pantagruel met a Ship with Travellers RETURNING FROM LANTERN-LAND. That Day, and for the two Days following, they neither sighted Land nor saw anything new, for they had formerly ploughed the Main on this Route. On the fourth Day1, as we were already beginning by degrees to wind about the Pole, going farther from the Equinoctial, we discovered a Merchant-vessel making sail towards us on the port Side. The Joy was not small on our part as well as on that of the Merchants; with us, in getting News from the Sea; with them, in getting News from Terra firma. As we came in with them, we discovered that they were Frenchmen from Saintonge. While we discoursed and reasoned together, Pantagruel learned that they came from Lantern-land, whereat he found a new Accession of Joy ; as did also the whole Fleet, especially when we enquired as to the Condition of the Country and the Manners of the People of Lantern-land, and being advertised that at the End of the following July2 was fixed the Meeting of the Chapter-general of the Lanterns, and that great Prepara- tions were being made as though they intended to lanternise there profoundly. i B c. 5 has "On the fifth Day." of Trent was appointed to be held 2 The sixth session of the Council on the 29th of July, 1546. 4-2 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 23 While we were hearing this News, Panurge got up a Quarrel with a Merchant of Taillebourg,1 named Dindenault, who had on board the Vessel a great Number of Sheep. The Occasion of the Quarrel was on this wise. This vain-glorious Dindenault, seeing Panurge a without a Cod- a cf. iii., 7- piece and wearing Spectacles on his Bonnet, said to his Companions concerning him : " See there a fine Figure for a Cuckold." Panurge, by reason of his Spectacles,2 heard more clearly with his Ears than usual. So then, hearing this Remark, he asked the Dealer: "How the Devil could I be a Cuckold, who am not yet married, as thou art, as I can discern by thy ill-favoured Phiz ? "Yea, verily," answered the Dealer, "that am I, and would not be otherwise for all the Cod-pieces in Asia and Africa ; for I have in marriage one of the prettiest, gentlest, honestest Women in all the Country of Saintonge, with the good Leave of all the others ; and I am bringing to her from my Travels a fine eleven-inch Branch of Coral as a Christmas-box. What hast thou to do with it ? Wherein wouldest thou be meddling ? Who art thou ? Whence art thou? Thou Spectacle-wearer of Antichrist, answer, if thou art of God." 1 Taillebourg a smalltown on the quarrel resembling this episode in Charente in Saintonge 6 miles N. of many points. Samtes. 2 Cf. iii. 35, and Hudibras iii. The celebrated story of "Panurge OJ' and the Sheep " is taken from Mer- s'ets ' communities of senses lin Cocai ; in the 1 ith 1 book of the To ch and ch intelligences ; macaronic poem oi Baldus is an As Rosicrucian virtuoSos account of BaldusCingar (the pro- Can see with and hear witb to type of Panurge), and Lonardus noses getting on board a vessel in the cf shaks mds^ N^ m Adriatic at Chioggia with some |v y Aescn> Ticmese sheep-dealers, with one 01 p V 21 S c. T. ioq. whom Cingar has a deal and a 24 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 4-2 " I demand of thee," said Panurge, " if with the Consent of all the Elements I had biscoted thy Wife in such wise that the stiff God of the Gardens, Pnapus, who dwelleth here in free Quarters, all Subjection to Cod-pieces being removed, had remained in her Body in such Disaster that he would never come out, but remain there for ever, unless thou shouldest draw him out with thy Teeth, what wouldst thou do? Answer, thou Cod-piece-wearer of Mahomet, since thou art of the Devil's Gang." "I would give thee," answered the Dealer, "a Sword- stroke on this spectacled Lug of thine, and would slay thee like a Ram." As he said this, he was drawing his Sword ; but it stuck in the Scabbard, for you know that at sea all Harness easily takes Rust by reason of excessive Moisture. Panurge ran off to Pantagruel for Help. Friar John put his Hand to his Cutlass and would have slain the Dealer outright with it, had it not been that the Master of the Ship and some of the Passengers besought Pantagruel that an Outrage might not be committed aboard his Vessel,1 whereupon all their Difference was settled, and Panurge and the Dealer shook Hands and pledged each other b Cf. in., 41 heartily in Drink in token of b perfect Reconciliation. 1 Baldus ut audivit bravamina Desine vindictam scoriat ensem, Nam sibi displicuit villanos esse Baldus ei paret, fodroque recon- superbos. didit ensem. Cingar eum tenuit dicens : mihi, Merl. Coc. xi. 1 16-122. deprecor, istam CHAPTER III How Panurge caused the Sheep to be drowned AND the Man who was in charge of them. The Quarrel being quite appeased, Panurge said secretly1 to Pantagruel and Friar John : " Withdraw yourselves here a little out of the way and pass your Time merrily in what you shall see. There will be rare Sport, if the Rope do not break."2 Then he addressed himself to the Dealer and drank to him over again a full Cup of good Lantern Wine ; the Dealer pledged him gaily in all Courtesy and Honesty. That done, Panurge besought him earnestly of his Good- ness to consent to sell him one of his Sheep.3 The Dealer answered him : " Alas, alas, my Friend, my Neighbour, how well you know how to put your Tricks upon poor Folk. Verily, you are a rare Customer. Oh, you mighty Sheep-buyer ! In good sooth you have the Cut, not a bit of a Sheep-buyer, but rather of a Cutter of Purses. By St. Nick, what a rare Thing it would be to carry a full Purse in your Neighbourhood at a Tripe-house in a Thaw 4 ! i Cingar eum tenuit dicens : 3 Fraudifer ergo loquit pastorem mihi, deprecor, istam Cingar ad unum : Desine vindictam ; nunc nunc Vis, compagne, mihi castronem miranda videbis : vendere grassum ? Est villanorum toleranda su- Merl. Coc. xi. 130-1. perbia nunquam. 4 In a tripe-house in a thaw, Altri ridebunt, altri sed forte tripe would be sold very cheap, piangent. and cutpurses would make a rare Merl. Coc. xi. 118-121. harvest in the crowd of would-be purchasers, cf. Winter's Tale iv. 4, 2 i.e. unlessmy plot falls through. 616. Et vont a Saint-Marcel as A metaphor from a swing. tripes, £R 5774. 26 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 4-3 Ha, ha ! how you would get over any one who did not know you ! But haw, haw ! only look, good People, how he has the Cut of an Historiographer."1 "Patience," said Panurge. "But to the point; as a special Favour sell me one of your Sheep. How much ? " 11 What do you mean, my Friend, my Neighbour ? " answered the Dealer. " These be — Sheep of the long-woolled kind2 — Jason took from them the Golden Fleece ; the Order of the House of Burgundy 3 was derived from them — Sheep of the East, Sheep of high Breed, Sheep of high Feed." " I believe you," said Panurge ; " but prithee sell me one, and for a Reason, if I pay you well and on the Nail, in Money of the West, of low Breed and of low Feed. How much ? " 11 My Friend," answered the Dealer, "my Neighbour, of the Fleece of these Sheep will be made the fine Cloths of Rouen ; the fine Cloths made from the Bales of Limester,4 in comparison with it, are mere Flock. Of their Skin will i Historiographer \ a royal chroni- gundy in 1429, with the idea of the cler or literary person provided achievement of the Golden Fleece with a pension. Probably a jeer- by Jason. ing reference to the long brown 4 Lt7jiester(prob. = Leominster), toga and spectacles of Panurge. Cf. Friar Bacon and Friar Bun- Cf. iii. 7. gay (Dodsley viii. p. 220) : 2 Long-woolled sheep Fr. moutons Yielding forth fleeces stapled a lagrande laine {Garg. 8, 53 ; iii. 2) with such wool were old gold coins bearing the As Lempster cannot yield more figure of Christ as the Agnus Dei, finer stuff, worth about 16 fr. They dated and from the time of St. Louis. far more 3 i.e. the Toison d'or, instituted Soft than the finest Lemster ore. by Philip the Good, Duke of Bur- Herrick Hesperides, 443. 4-3 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 27 be made fine Morocco Leather, which will be sold for Morocco from Turkey, or from Montelimart, or from Spain at the worst. Of the Guts men will make Violin and Harp Strings, which will be sold as dear as if they were Strings from Monaco. What think you ? " "If you please," said Panurge, "you will sell me one ; I shall thereby be very much beholden to you, even to the Knocker1 of your Door. See here is Money down. How much ? " This he said showing his Purse full of new Henricuses.2 "My Friend," answered the Dealer, "my Neighbour, they be Meat for none but Kings and Princes. Their Flesh is so delicate, so savoury and so dainty, that it is like Balm. I bring them from a Country in which the Hogs (God be with us !) eat nothing but Myrobalans, and the Sows are fed only with Orange-flowers." " But," said Panurge, " sell me one of them, and I will pay you like a King, on the Word of a Pawn."3 " My Friend," answered the Dealer, " our Neighbour, these be Sheep bred from the very Race of the Ram that carried Helle over the Sea called Hellespont. Over all the 1 Ev en to the Knocker, probably Jan. 31, 1548 (Heulhard). They referring to some feudal service, were douzains (duodenarii.) On but there are traces of it in Greek one side the shield of France be- literature. Cf. Eur. Ion. 1612. tvveen two crescents with the vvv Se /cat po7rrp(DV Yepas imperial crown over them and with <£/ 3 'a \ the inscription Henricus II., &c. ^ecos €KKfyrifivapccr8a kcu Qn the 0?her side was a cross 7rpo(T€VV€7r(i) 7rv\as. made of 8 crescents ending in Also Lysias in Andoc. dcreBdas ^urs de ^ *nd two H's between I v „ r7 ' the arms of the cross, with the m- p. 103. Xen. Hellen. vi. 4, 36. SCription Sit NomenDei benedictum 2 New Henricuses. Henry II. rnUcaneel had recently come to the throne. v 5 ;' These coins were put into circula- 3 Fr. foy de pieton ( =pion foot- tion by an order bearing date soldier) opposed to foy de chevalier. 28 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 4-3 Fields where they pass, the Corn grows as if the Lord had passed there ; there needs no other Tillage or Manure. Be- sides this, from their Urine the Quintessential extract the best Saltpetre in the World ; with their Dung (so please you) the Physicians of our Country heal seventy-eight kinds of Diseases, the least of which is the Evil of St. Eutropius of Xaintes,1 from which God save us and keep us. What think you, our Neighbour, my Friend ? Also they cost me a good Price." "Muck, muck," said the Master of the Ship to the Dealer ; " there is too much Haggling here. Sell him one if thou wishest ; if thou dost not wish, do not play the Fool with him." 11 1 will do so," answered the Dealer, " for Love of you ; but he shall pay me three Livres of Tours for each,2 taking his Choice." " 'Tis a great deal," said Panurge ; " in our Country I could have five, nay six, for such a Sum of Money. See whether it be not too much. You are not the first Man I have known who in wishing to become rich too soon and to make his way, has fallen backwards, nay sometimes broken his Neck.8 Well, hold, there is your Money." Panurge, having paid the Dealer, chose out of the whole Flock a fine big Sheep, and carried him off crying and i Evil of St. Eutropius = dropsy. Progenies, et quo petit altius, icta Cf. Garg. 45. Igni sacro medetur ruinam oesypum. Plin. xxx. 12. Deterius capit, ac proprio fert 2 Sum contentus ego, vendam, damna flagello. pegorarius inquit : Merl. Coc. xviii. 14-16. Da mihi quinque tronos (7 fr. Semper ero .... contrarius am- 50 c.) si vis, aut quattuor ad bitiosis plus. Qui possint utinam medium sibi Merl. Coc. xi. 133-4. rumpere collum. 3 ruit in se magna frequenter Id. xii. 269-70. 4-3 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 29 bleating, all the others seeing and hearing and bleating in concert, and staring to see which way their Companion was being led. Meantime the Dealer was saying to his Shepherds : "Ah! how well my Customer knew how to choose ; the Whoreson has skill in Cattle. Honestly, truly and honestly, I was reserving that one for the Lord of Candale,1 well knowing his Disposition ; for by Nature he is quite merry and over- joyed when he holds a good-sized, tempting Shoulder of Mutton in one Hand, like a left-handed Racquet, and with a good sharp Carver in the other, God knows what a Knife and Fork he plays." All at once, I know not how, the Affair was so sudden that I had not Time to consider it, Panurge, without saying another Word, throws his Sheep crying, and bleating into the Middle of the Sea.2 All the other Sheep, crying and bleating in like Tone, began to throw themselves and leap into the Sea after him in a String. There was a great Crush as to which should leap first after their Leader. It was impossible to keep them from it; for you know that it is the Nature of the Sheep always to follow his Leader, wherever he may go. The Dealer, quite scared at seeing his Sheep perish and 1 Candale, a misprint in A for Omnis grex sequitur, praeceps- Cancale (B). Cancale is a seaport que nodare caminat in Brittany, three leagues E. of St. Postque caporalem certatim Malo celebrated for oysters and mandra ruinat, good cheer. Immo gaudenti cantabant car- 2 Cingar per binas castronem mine be be. brancat orecchias Merl. Coc. xi. 143-148. Quern buttat in medio cernen- Qf Dante ... Cq^ tibus aequora cunctis. . £ J Ad in i, 95. Illico (nam mos est ovium ' yj seguitare priorem) 30 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 4-3 drown before his Eyes, strove to keep them back with all his Might ; but in vain. They all leaped into the Sea one after another and perished. At last he laid hold on a great, strong one by the Fleece on the Deck of the Ship, thinking thus to hold him back, and so to save the rest also. The Sheep was so powerful that he carried the Dealer into the Sea with him, so that Horn. Od. ix. he was drowned, in the same Manner as the Sheep of 425. Polyphemus, the one-eyed Cyclops, carried a Ulysses and his Companions out of the Cave. So did the other Shepherds and Sheep-drivers, taking the Sheep, some by the Horns, others by the Legs, others by the Fleece; and they were all likewise carried into the Sea and drowned miserably. Panurge beside . the Cook-room, holding an Oar in his Hand, not to help the Sheep-drivers, but to keep them from climbing on the Ship and escape drowning,1 preached to them eloquently, as though he had been a little Friar Oliver Maillard or a second Friar John Burgess,2 pointing out to them by Common-places of Rhetoric the Miseries of this World,8 the Blessings and Felicity of the other Life, affirming that the Departed are far happier than those living in this Vale of Misery, and promising to each of them to erect a fair Cenotaph and a Sepulchre in his 1 Cingar nil ridet sed vellejutare preachers in the reigns of Louis XI. videtur Charles VIII. and Louis XII. Atque trabuccanti pecudi sue- 3 Cf. Liber de contemptu mundi, currere fingit, sive de miseria humanae conditionis Sed magis in fluctus buttans ab Innocentis Papa tevtio (Coloniae quoque clamitat oh, oh ! 1496). Cf. also Garg. 42, de con- Merl. Coc. xi. 165-7. temptu mundi et fuga saeculi. The treatise of Innocent III. is much 2 Olivier Maillard and Jean employed in Chaucer's Man of Bourgeois were celebrated Law^s Tale. 4-3 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book, 31 honour on the highest Point of Mount Cenis1 at his Return from Lantern-land ; nevertheless — in case they were not yet weary of living among Men, and so Drowning were not to their Taste — wishing them Good-fortune and that they might meet with some Whale, which on the third Day after- wards might set them ashore safe and sound in some Land of Satin,2 after the Example of Jonah. The Ship being cleared of the Dealer and his Sheep, Panurge said : " Remaineth there here no other sheepish Soul? I know nought therein. 'Tis a Trick of the old War. What thinkest thou thereof, Friar John ? " " Right well of you," said Friar John ; " I find no Fault therein, save methinks that, as was formerly the Custom in War on the Day of Battle or Assault on a strong Place to promise the Soldiers double Pay for that Day — if they gained the Battle there would be Plenty to pay them with ; if they lost, it would have been shameful to ask for it,8 as the runaway Gruyers did after the Battle of Serizolles 4 — so likewise you ought to have reserved your Payment till the End, and the Money would have remained with you." "'Twas well cacked for my Money," said Panurge." By 1 Rabelais in his journeys to petias ducenta talenta rogantibus] and from Rome and Turin would eo quod si vicissent reddituri go over Mont Cenis where tombs fuerint, non de suo sed de bonis were to be seen in memory of hostium : sin victi fuissent, jam travellers who had been lost in the non fore a quibus peteretur nee snow. quipeterent. Plutarch, Cato. M ajor 2 Land of Satin, i.e. some un- c. 10, 341 F. real country represented only on 4 Gruyers. The Swiss mer- tapestry like the story of Jonah cenaries at Ceresolles in Piedmont, and the whale. The land of Satin under the Due d'Enghien, April 11, is described in v. 30, 31. 1544, ran away without a blow. 3 Erasm. Apoph. lib. V. {Cato. The Imperialists under the Mar- 24). Dixit Romanos errare [quod quis de Guast were defeated, nollent accipere a Celtiberis sup- Brantome, I. 8 § 23. 32 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 4_3 the Powers, I have had Sport worth more than fifty thousand Francs. Let us be gone now ; the Wind is fair. " Friar John, listen here. Never did man do me a Good turn without a Recompense or at least an Acknowledg- ment. I am not ungrateful, never was and never will be. Never did man do me an 111 turn without repenting it, either in this World or in the other.1 I am not such a Fool as that." i This sentiment seems to be praeteritimpunitum.nullumbonum derived from Pope Innocent, de inremuneratum." Cf.Jean Nevizan cont. mund. iii. 15. "Ipse est Silv Nupt. iv. § 124, Piers Plow- judex Justus qui nullum malum man, C. v. 140, and Skeat's note. CHAPTER IV How Pantagruel arrived at the Island of Ennasin,1 and of the strange Relationships in that Land. Zephyrus continued blowing for us in conjunction with a little of the Wind called Garbin,2 and we had a Day pass without discovering Land. On the third Day at the Flies' Dawn3 there came in Sight a triangular Island bearing a very strong resemblance to Sicily in Form and Situation ; it was called the Island of Alliances. The Men and Women are like the red-faced Poitevins, except that they all, Men, Women and little Children alike, have their Nose in the Shape of an Ace of Clubs ; for this reason the ancient Name of the Island was Ennasin ; and all the People were kindred and related together, as they boasted ; and the Magistrate of the Place told us frankly : " You People of the other World hold it as an admirable Thing thata from one Roman Family (it was the Fabii) on a Ov. Fasti, a, one Day (it was the thirteenth of the Month of February) I05"242, i This chapter seems intended to be compared with Swift's "Polite satirize the forced puns, rebuses Conversation." and common proverbs which do 2 Garbino in Italian and Spanish dutyfor conversation among certain = S.W. wind ; in conjunction with "ennased " or noseless (i.e., silly, Zephyrus it would make WSW. senseless people.) It carries on the 3 The Flies' Dawn, the begin- idea started in Garg. 9, and may ning of the afternoon when the flies are busy. 3 34 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book, 4-4 1 from one Gate (it was the Porta Carmentalis, since called | the Porta Scelerata) there went forth against certain | Enemies of the Romans (they were the Venetians)1 three! hundred and six Men of War, all related. Now from this Land of ours, in case of Need, more than three hundred thousand could march forth, all Relations and of one Family." Their Kinships and Alliances were of a Fashion veryl strange; for being thus all Relations and allied to one! another, we found that no one of them was Father or Mother, Brother or Sister, Uncle or Aunt, Cousin or Nephew, Son-in-law or Daughter-in-law, God-father or God-I mother, to any other, except indeed a tall noseless Old man, who, as I saw, called a little Girl three or four years old Father ; while the little Girl called him Daughter. The Relationship and Alliance between them was such that one Man called a Woman my Stock-fish ; the Woman called him my Porpoise. " Those two," said Friar John, " ought to feel their Tide well, when they rub their Bacon together." One called another, my Mattress ; she called him, my Coverlet. Indeed he had some Marks of a Colin Clout (rough Blanket). One called another my Crumb ; she called him, my Crust. One called another his Shovel ; she called him her Poker. One called another his Shoe; she called him her Slipper. One named another my Boot ; she called him her Sandal. i Venetians. This mistake of A Veientes Hetrusques, people of is corrected in B, which reads Veii in Etruria. 4-4 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book, 35 One named another his Mitten; she named him, my Glove ; the Mitten has just brought in the Boot. One named another his Rind ; she called him her Bacon, and between them was begotten a Hog's leaf. In like Kinship one called his Mate, Omelette; she named him my Egg, and they were akin, like an Omelette of Eggs. In the same way another called his Lady-love, my Tripe; she called him her Faggot, and as yet I can never discover what Kindred, Alliance, Affinity or Consanguinity there was between them, with reference to our ordinary Usage, except that they told us that she was a Tripe of this Faggot.1 Another saluting a Friend of his, said : " Your Health my Shell" ; she answered : " The same to you my Oyster" " That," said Carpalim, " is an a Oyster in a Shell." a iv. 25, 32, 55. Another in the same way saluted a Friend of his thus : I Good Life to you, my Rod"; she answered : " A long one to you, sweet Pea" " That," said Gymnast, "is a Pea in a Pod." Another called his Friend, my Sow; she called him ner Hay. Thereupon it came into my Thoughts that this Sow willingly turned to this Hay.2 I saw a little hunch-backed Gallant some little distance from us salute a Relation of his, saying : " Adieu, my Hole"; she in the same style returned the Salute : " Heaven guard ; you, my Peg!" Friar John said : " I believe she is all Hole and he like- 1 Fr. tripe de fagot. The mean- = to speak beside the question ing is uncertain. An explanation (Garg. u). "II come a gauche, has been given that tripe is the De alliis loquenti de coepis mihi smallest stick in a faggot. respondet." Mat. Cordier de cor- 2 From tourner la truye au foin rupt. serm. emend. 51, 12. 3—2 36 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 4-4 wise all Peg ; now it is a Question to know whether this Hole can be totally stopped by that Peg." Another saluted his Friend with the Words : " Good-bye my Coop" ; she answered : " Good-day my Gosling." " I believe," said Ponocrates, " that this Gosling is often in the Coop." A Groom talking with a young frisky Wench, said to her: "Remember, Fizzle." "I will not fail F— 1\ answered she. Pantagruel said to the Magistrate : " Do you call those two Relations ? I think they must be Enemies, and not akin to each other; for he called her Fizzle. In our Country you could not insult a Woman more than by so styling her." " Good People of the other World," answered the Magistrate, " you have few such Relations and so near as are F — t and Fizzle here ; they proceeded invisibly both together out of one Hole in an Instant." "Then the Wind of Galerne,"1 said Panurge, "had a yirg Georg., Manternized their Mother." in., 273. " What Mother do you mean ? " said the Magistrate ; "that is a Relationship of your World; these have neither Father nor Mother. That is for People on the other side of the Water, for Folk booted with Wisps of Hay."2 The good Pantagruel saw and heard all ; but at this Talk he was well-nigh put out of countenance. After having very carefully considered the Situation of the Island, and the Manners of the Ennased People, we went into a Tavern to refresh ourselves somewhat. There 1 Galerne = N.W. 2 Fr. bottes de foin, i.e., rough - uncultivated folk. 4-4 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 37 >they were keeping a Wedding after the manner of the Country ; bating that, there was rare good Cheer. While we were there, a jovial Marriage was made between a Fear, a Woman who was pretty gamesome, as we thought, (however, those who had tasted her said she was flabby) and a young Cheese with downy Hair, a little reddish. I had formerly heard the Talk about it, and elsewhere several such Marriages had taken place ; they still say in our b Cow-country that never was such a Marriage as is that a Pant./v. iv. 18. between the Pear and the Cheese.1 In another Room I saw them marrying an old Boot to a young, supple Buskin, and Pantagruel was told that the young Buskin took the old Boot to Wife because she was Ea comely Dame, fat and well-liking, and a Credit to her House-keeping, were it even for a Fisherman.2 In another lower Room I saw a young Fump marry an old Slipper, and we were told it was not for her Beauty or igood Grace, but from Avarice and Covetousness, to get hold of the Crowns with which she was quilted. 1 Fr. entre la poire et lefromage, seems to be a double allusion (1) a proverbial expression = at des- to a great fat housewife ; (2) to the sert, when wine is drunk merrily. huge boots required by a fisher- 2 For a Fisherman. There man. CHAPTER V How Pantagruel went ashore on the Island of Cheli in which Panigon reigned. The South-west (Garbin) was blowing astern for us when, leaving these unpleasant Alliancers1 with their Ace-of-Club Snouts, we put out into the open Sea. About sundown we disembarked at the Island of Cheli,8 which was extensive, fertile, rich and populous ; over it reigned the good King Panigon,3 who, accompanied by his Children and the Princes of his Court, had come close down to the Harbour to receive Pantagruel ; and he led him to his Castle. At the Gate of the Donjon-Keep the Queen presented herself accompanied by her Daughters and the Ladies of her Court. Panigon desired her and all her Suite to kiss Pantagruel and his Men. Such was the courteous Custom of the Country.4 This was done in every case except Friar John, who absented himself and stood apart among the i. Fr. Allianciers (sc. de mots) 4 This is noted by Erasmus as i.e., persons guilty of mauvaises the custom in England : Sunt hie piaisanteries. nymphae divinis vultibus, blandae, „*_. , , , , . faciles, et mos numquam satis 2 Cheh probably derived from laudatus ; quo venias omnium XeiArj, lips, lip-courtesy, com- osculis excipieris, sive discedas pliments, &c. osculis dimitteris, redis redduntur suavia, disceditur dividuntur basia; 3 Panigon has been explained qUocumque te moveas suaviorum as 7rav ctKWV, " easy-yielding." simt omnia plena. 4-5 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 39 i King's Officers. Panigon tried by every possible Entreaty to keep Pantagruel with him for this Day and the next. Pantagruel founded his Excuse on the Calmness of the Weather and the Favourableness of the Wind, which is more often wished for than met with by Travellers, and the Necessity of using it when it comes, for it does not come always, nor as often as one wishes for it.1 On this Plea, after we had drunk five-and-twenty or thirty times each, Panigon let us go. Pantagruel, returning to the Port and not seeing Friar John, asked whereabouts he was and why he was not with the Company. Panurge knew not how to excuse him, and wanted to return to the Castle to summon him, when Friar John ran up quite joyous and cried out in mighty Gaiety of Heart, saying : " Long live the noble Panigon ! By the Death of the wooden Ox, hea revels in the Kitchen. That is where I Garg.,u. come from ; everything there goes by Bucketfuls. I was in good Hopes to have stuffed the Mould of my Frock2 for my Use and Profit as a Monk should." " So, my Friend," said Pantagruel ; " always in these Kitchens?" "Pullet's Body," answered Friar John, "I know the Customs and Ceremonies there better than to fiddle-faddle with these Women. Magny, magna, fiddle-faddle, Cringes, double Honours, the Embrace, beso las manos de vuestra Merced, of your Majesty, of your Excellence, be most 1 Talia sunt ut optata magis mottle de bonnet in Garg. 9. Le quam inventa videantur. Cic. molle de noz chapperons. Moralite N. Deor. i. § 19. d'ung empereur. (Ancien Theatre 2 The Mould of my Frock, i.e., Francais, iii. p. 144). stomach. So the head is called 40 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 4-5 . Pa«*.i2,iii.36. welcome, b Tarabin, tarabas. Rot! that is 'Muck' at Rouen, with all this cringing and faddling about ! Bah ! I do not say that I do not sometimes take a Pull above the Dregs in my homely Fashion, so as to allow me to put in my Nomination;1 but this Rubbish of bowing and scraping vexes me more than a young Devil — I meant to say a double Fast.2 In that St. Benedict never lied."3 By the Powers, why do we not betake our Humanities into some fair Kitchen of God, and there contemplate the Rattling and Harmony of the Spits, the Temperature of the Soups, the Preparations for the Dessert, the Order of the Wine-service?4 Beati itnmaculati in via. 'Tis in the Breviary."5 " That," said Epistemon, " is spoken like a true Monk ; I say like a monking Monk, I do not say a bemonked Monk. Indeed you bring back to my Recollection what I saw and heard in Florence twelve years ago.6 "We were a goodly Company of Studious folk eager to see the Antiquities and Curiosities of Italy; and at that time we were carefully considering the Situation and i Cf. Arret ds 'Amours, No. 52. 4 Fr. Vordre du service du vin De l'heure que I'homme est marie for service divin as in Garg. 27. il ne luy est loisible de faire Cf. also v. 46, Vhomme de vin divin l'amoureux n'insinuer sa nomina- devient. tion sur une autre que sa femme 5 Breviary. Ps. cxviii. is sung . . . pour ce que pluralite de tels on Fridays, and other times at benefices est reprouvee de droit Prime. naturel et positif d'amours. Cf. 6 Twelve years ago. This would Garg. 5. refer to Rabelais' journey to Rome 2 An untranslatable pun on in 1535, supposing this to have Jeune Diable and Jeune double. been written in 1547. It could 3 Brother John, as a Benedic- scarcely have taken place in the tine, must needs maintain his hurried departure from Rome in patron's veracity. He here limits it 1536. B (published in 1552) sub- to the point concerning the double stitutes " about twenty years." fast. . _ 4-5 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 41 Beauty of Florence, the Structure of the Duomo, the Sumptousness of the Temples and magnificent Palaces, and striving to outdo one another as to which should most fittingly extol them with Praises according to their Merits, when a Monk of Amiens, named Bernard Lardon, as though quite vexed, said to us : "'I don't know what the Deuce you find so much to praise here. I have had my Eyes about me as well as you, and I am not blind any more than you are. Now after all what is it ? These be fine Houses ; that's all. But God and my Master Saint Bernard, our good Patron, be with us ! In the whole of this City as yet I have not seen a single Cook-shop. " Now in Amiens in four times less walking than we have had in our Contemplations I could shew you more than fourteen Cook-shops. I don't know what Pleasure you have taken in seeing the Lions and Africans1 — so methinks you styled, or perhaps it was Libystian Bears, what people call Tigers — near the Belfry,2 likewise in seeing the Porcupines and Ostriches in the Palace of the Lord Philip Storzy.3 By my Faith, my Sons, I would like better to see a good fat Gosling on a Spit. "This Porphyry and these Marbles are fine; I say nothing against them ; but the Tartlets of Amiens are 1 Servius on A en. v. 37, pelle Vecchio, at the north corner of Libystidis ursae raises a doubt which there is a marble lion, whether it was the skin, " re vera 3 Filippo Strozzi, a rich Floren- ursae, aut ferae Africanae, id est tine merchant, who had married leonis aut pardi." Tigers are Clarice, the aunt of Catharine de' called Africanae by Cicero, Livy Medici, and was father of Pierre and Pliny. Strozzi, the French marshal. His 2 The Belfry refers to the high magnificent palace built byCronaca slender tower on the Palazzo still exists. 42 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. better. These ancient Statues are beautifully made, I am willing to believe it; but by Saint Ferreol1 of Abbeville the young Wenches of our Country are a thousand times more attractive ? ' " 11 What doth it signify and what is the Meaning," asked Friar John, "that in Kitchens you always find Monks, never do you find Kings, Popes or Emperors. Is there some latent Virtue and specific Property hidden in the Kettles and Racks, which attracts Monks thither, as the Loadstone draweth to itself the Iron,2 but doth not attract Popes, Emperors or Kings; or is it a natural Inclination attaching to Frocks, which of itself leads and impels those good Religious men into the Kitchen, even though they had not elected or resolved to go thither?" " It means," auswered Epistemon, " Forms following Matter ; so doth Averroes call them."3 "Yea verily, verily,"4 quoth Friar John. " I will tell you," answered Pantagruel, " without giving an Answer to the Problem set before us. For it is some- what ticklish, and you can hardly handle it without pricking plut- Ab°Ph' yourself. I remember to have read that aAntigonus, King of Macedonia, going one day into the Kitchen of his Tents and there coming upon the Poet Antagoras, who was frying Congers and himself holding the Pan, asked him : * Was Homer frying Congers when he was describing the Prowess of Agamemnon ? ' " i Ferreol. " Les uns disent que dictum est quod femina appetit saint Feriol est le plus habile a virum et turpe appetit bonum, garder les oyes." (H. Estienne, sicut materia appetit formam. Apol. p. Herod, c. xxxviii.) (Transl. of Th. Gaza). Cf. Phys. 2 Comme la pierre de l'aiment, i. g, 192a, 16-26. Trait a soi le fer soutilment. 4 Fr. voire, voire. Cf. " vero, frR 1 165. vero," inquit Habinnas. Petron. 3 In primo physicae (Aristotelis) c".*72. 4-5 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 43 " Antagoras answered : * 0 King, thinkest thou that Agamemnon when he was performing his mighty Deeds was curious to know if anyone in his Camp was frying Congers ? ' " The King found it ill that Poets should be found in his Kitchen ; the Poet pointed out to him that it was a Matter far more indecent to meet with Kings there." With this Gossip they came down to their Ships and made no longer Stay in the Island of Cheli. CHAPTER VI How Pantagruel passed Procuration and of the Strange Manner of living among the Catchpoles. Filled and crammed with the good Treatment of King Panigon we continued our Course. The following Day we passed Procuration,1 which is a Country all blotted.2 I could make nothing of it. There we saw Pettifoggers3 and Catchpoles, Folk with their Hair on.4 They invited us neither to eat nor drink, they only told us that they were at our Service — if we paid them. One of our Interpreters related to Pantagruel how this People gained their Living in a Fashion very strange and diametrically opposite to that of the Dwellers in Rome.5 At Rome an infinite Number of people gain their Liveli- hood by poisoning, killing and beating; the Catchpoles gain theirs by being beaten, so that if they were long with- i Passed Procuration has two procultoux, " tramplers on all." meanings, (i) passed by the Island Procutouroccurs in Chaucer Frere's Procuration, and (2) passed through Tale, D. 1596 cf. Skeat, vol. v. the Court by means of Attorneys. p. 329. Cf. Pant. 17. 4 Fr. d tout (= avec) le poll (cf. 2 Blotted with the erasures and Pant. 2 fin) folks who will stick at ink of the Pettifogers. nothing. 3 Fr. Procultoux, should pro- 5 Fr. Romicoles, i.e., the spa- perly be procureurs, which in dassins and assassins. See the Life common parlance became pro- of Benvenuto Cellini passim, culous. It is here changed into _.» 4-6 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 45 out being beaten they would die of downright Starvation, they, their Wives and their Children.1 " This," said Panurge, " is like those who according to the Relation of CI. Galen cannot erect their cavernous Nervea towards the Equatorial Circle if they be not a Paw'- 26- thoroughly well whipped. By St. Thibaut,2 whoso should whip me would make me quite contrariwise dismount, in the Name of all the Devils.*' "The Method," said the Pilot, "is in this way: When a Priest, a Usurer, or an Advocate wishes ill to some Gentle- man of his Country he sends to him one of these Catch- poles. Catchpole will summon him, serve a Writ on him, abuse him and affront him impudently in pursuance of his Record and Instruction, insomuch that the Gentleman, if he be not paralysed in his Senses and more stupid than a gyrineb Frog (Tadpole), will be constrained to give him b Plat. Theatt, Bastinadoes and Sword-strokes on the Head, or to have Ad. a', i. 34. him thrown from the Battlements or Windows of his Castle. "This done, you have your Catchpole rich for four Months, as though Blows from a Stick were his real Harvest. For he will have a thoroughly good Salary from the Priest or the Advocate, and Reparation from the Gentleman, sometimes so great that the Gentleman will thereby lose all that he has, besides being in danger of rotting in Prison miserably, as though he had struck the King." " I remember," said Pantagruel, "on this Subject a c Story c Geii. xx. 1 § 13. of a Roman Gentleman named L. Neratius. He was of a 1 Frappez, j'ai quatre enfants a ' 2 St. Thibaut of Champagne in nourrir, the nth century was a great fla- L'lntime in Les Plaideurs, ii. 4. gellant. Racine has caught his inspiration from this chapter. 46 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 4-6 noble Family and rich in his time; but he had such a tyrannical Complexion that as he set forth from his Palace, he caused the Purse and Pouch of his Servants to be filled with gold and silver Coin; and as he met in the Streets some conceited Dandies who were better dressed than ordinary, without Provocation from them, in mere Wantonness he would give them heavy Blows in the Face with his Fist. Immediately after, to appease them and prevent them from laying a Plaint in a Court of Justice, he would give them of his Money as a Sauce to his Fisticuffs, so that he made them contented and satisfied according to the Ordinance of a Law of the Twelve Tables.1 Thus he expended his Revenue, beating the People for the Price of his Money." Friar John of the Trencherites said : " By the holy Boot of St. Benet2 I will know the Truth of it at once." Accordingly he put his Hand to his Fob and drew out ten Sun-crowns ; then he said in a loud Voice in the hearing of a large Crowd of the Catchpole people : " Who wishes to earn ten Sun-crowns for being beaten like the Devil?" "Io, Io, Io,"s they all answered; and they ran up in a Crowd to see who should be first in date to be beaten at so good a Price. Friar John chose out of the whole Troop a Catchpole with a red Muzzle, who wore on the Thumb of his Right hand a thick broad Silver Ring. i The Law of the XII. Tables Benet was a large tun of the ran thus : SI INIVRIAM alteri Benedictines at Bologna. Cf. faxsit viginti qvinqve aeris Gdvg. 39, and v. 47. For the pun, POENAE SVNTO. cf. iv. 43. 2 The holy Boot (Botta) of St. 3.J0, Italian for " I," 4-6 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 47 When he had picked him out I saw that all the People murmured ; it was from Jealousy, and I heard a tall, young Catchpole, who was a skilful and good Scholar and, as common Report went, an honest Man in the Eccle- siastical Court, complaining and saying that Red-muzzle took from them all their Practice, and that if there were only thirty Blows of a Cudgel to earn in all the Land he always pocketed eight-and-twenty and a half of them.1 Friar John belaboured him so much, Back and Belly, Arms and Legs, Head and all, with mighty Blows from his Cudgel, that I took him to be beaten to death; then he gave him the ten Crowns, and behold the Rascal was on his Legs as pleased as a Couple of Kings. The others said to Friar John : " Sir, Sir, Brother Devil, if it please you again to beat some of us, we are all at your Service." They made the same Offer to Panurge and to Gymnast and others ; but no one would listen to them. Afterwards, as we were seeking fresh Water for the Ships' Crews, we found two old She-catchpoles of the Place, who were miserably weeping and lamenting together. Panta- gruel, suspecting they were related to the Catchpole who had received the Bastinado, asked them the Reasons for such Grief. They replied that they had a very good Reason for weeping, seeing that at that very Hour two of the honestest 1 L'Intime. Mon pere, pour sa part, en em- Et si dans la province boursoit dix-neuf. II se donnoit en tout vingt coups Racine, Les Plaideurs, i. 5. de nerf de bceuf, 48 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 4-6 People in all Catchpole-land had been led to the Gibbet to be hanged. When they were questioned as to the Reasons for this Hanging they answered that they had stolen the Instruments of the Mass.1 i The " tradition (or porrection) tion. St. Thomas affirms it to of the Instruments," or giving of belong to the form of the sacra- the paten and the chalice to the ment. (Xn. and Eccl. Rome, pt. ii., newly ordained, now forms part of p. 172). the essentials of western ordina- CHAPTER VII How Pantagruel passed the Islands of Tohu and BOHU, AND OF THE STRANGE DEATH OF NOSE-SLITTER THE SWALLOWER OF WINDMILLS That same day Pantagruel passed the two Islands of Tohu and Bohu1 in which we found nothing to fry.2 Nose-slitter,3 the great Giant, in default of Windmills which were his ordinary Diet, had swallowed up all the Pots and Pans, Kettles, Skillets and Saucepans in the Country. Whence it had come about that a little before Daybreak, about the Hour of his Digestion, he had fallen ill of a grievous Malady, from a certain Crudity of Stomach caused, as the Physicians of the Place said, by the Fact that the concocting Faculty of his Stomach, naturally dis- posed to digest Mills, had not been able perfectly to digest the Pots and Skillets ; the Kettles and Saucepans he had pretty well digested, as they said they knew by the Sedi- ments and Eneoremes4 of three Tuns of Urine which he had passed that Morning. i Tohu and Bohu are two Hebrew els "Everov Bao-tXfia Bporcov words signifying " solitude " and s \ / / I void." Cf. Genesis, i. 2. Et erat „ fyA^ova Travrwv, terra solitudo {tohu) et inanitas OS K awb plva rdfirjo'L /ecu (bohu). Vulg. 0«aTa V7)Xk'C xaXKy. 2 Iln'aquefrire Nullam habet Some of the notions in 'this chap- rem familiarem. Cordier, 58, 17. ter, and iv. 44, are borrowed from 3 Fr. Bringuenarilles = fendeur f e. D^ciple de Pantagruel, cc. de nez, from German brechen. (Le iv-ix. Duchat). Cf. Horn. Od. xviii. 84. 4 De hypostasi urinae et ejus tt^co cr' Ji7reip6v8e 8a\t>v signification's • • • supernatat *Vr , \ / eneorema. Averroes Colhget, iv. 24. ev vrji fxeAatvy, Hippocr. Epid. i. 2 (p. 983, Kiihn). 4 50 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 4_7 To relieve him they employed divers Remedies in accordance with their Art. But the Disease was stronger than the Remedies, and the noble Nose-slitter had died that Morning in a Manner so strange that you should no longer wonder at the Death of Aeschylus. — It had been told him, in accordance with the Fates, that on a certain Day he should die by the Coming-down of something that should fall upon him. On that predestined Day he had removed himself from all Houses, Trees, Rocks and other Things which could fall and by their Falling hurt him ; and he remained in a great Meadow, trusting himself to the Faith of the free and open Sky in well-assured Security, as he thought ; unless indeed the Sky should fall, which he believed to be impossible. Nevertheless it is said that the Larks dread it ;* for if the Sky should fall they would all be taken. So also formerly did the Gymnosophists of India fear this,2 who when asked by Alexander the Great what it was they feared most in this World, answered that they feared nothing save the Sky falling. a Xa8 Max' ix" Notwithstanding all this,a Aeschylus died by the Coming- down and Fall of a Tortoise-shell which, falling on his Head from the Claws of an Eagle high in Air, dashed out his Brains. Nor need you wonder at the Death of Anacreon the Poetb who died choked by a Grape-stone ; b V.M. ix., 12, Pr^fk E. 8. i Larks dread the sky falling. 2 In B this is attributed to the This is a proverb found in other Celts living near the Rhine, that is languages (cf. Garg. 11.) Instances the French, in a passage translated in our old dramatists. Cf. Dods- from Arrian Anab. i. 4, 7-8. ley's Old Plays, ix. p. 166, xii. P- 353- — 4-7 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 51 Nor at that of cFabius the Roman Praetor, who was c piin.vii.7, Is- choked by a Goat's Hair, as he was eating a Bowl of Milk ; Nor at that of the d bashful Man who, in default of letting d Suet< v. 32, go an unpleasant Odour, died in the Presence of the Emperor Claudius ; Nor at that of him who is buried near the Flaminian. Gate at Rome, who in his Epitaph1 complains that his Death was caused by the Bite of a Cat on his little Finger ; Nor at that of Guignemauld, a Norman Physician, a great Swallower of grey Peas and a very distinguished Gambler, who died suddenly from not having paid his Debts, and from having taken a Worm out of his Hand side-ways with a Pen-knife ; Nor at that of Spurius Saufeius who died supping a soft- boiled Egg as he came out of the Bath ;* Nor of any others you are told of, whether by Verrius, or Pliny, or Valerius, or Baptista Fulgosus or Bacabery the elder or e Maul-Chitterling. e cf. iv. 37. The good Nose-slitter died (alas !) choked through eating a Lump of fresh Butter at the Mouth of a hot Oven by the Order of his Physicians. Moreover we were told that the King of Cullan 3 in Bohu had defeated the Satraps of King Mechloth4 and sacked the Fortresses of Belima.5 1 Epitaph. It is on the floor on Plin.vii. § 54). Saufeius interiitcum the left side of the nave, in the balneum egressus ovum sorberet. Church of S. Maria del Popolo Baptista Fulgosus, de inusitatis (sometimes called in documents of mortis generibus, ix. c. 12. Saec. xv. S.M. ad Flaminiam) just CuUan is unknown> p0ssibly inside the gate on the via Flammia; intended for Cologne. Hospes, disce novum mortis genus ; __ _ . ,. , - , J,xi improba felis 4 Mechloth probably metathesis Dum trahitur, digitum mordet et c. allu- ding to the rights to wreckage which formerly existed (Lacroix). Cf. Martial vi. 62, 4 : Cujus vulturis hoc erit cadaver ? 3 Astrophil (Gr.) = star -lover, i.e., pilot. CHAPTER IX What Countenances Panurge and Friar John kept during the storm Pantagruel by the Pilot's Advice held the Mast tight and firm ;* Friar John had stripped himself to his Doublet to help the Seamen; so had Epistemon, Ponocrates and the others. Panurge remained squatting on the Deck, weeping and lamenting. Friar John perceived him, as he was going on the Quarter-deck, and said to him : Pardy ! Panurge the Calf, Panurge the Weeper, Panurge the Wailer, thou wouldest do much better to help us here than to blubber away there like a Cow, squatted on thy Cods like a Baboon." " Be, be, be, bous, bous, bous ! " answered Panurge ; "Friar John, my Friend, my good Father, I drown, I drown, my Friend, I am drowning. I am clean done for, my ghostly Father, my Friend, I am clean gone; your Cutlass could not save me from this.2 "Iarus ! Iarus ! we are above the E la, entirely above the Scale. Be, be, be, bous, bous ! Iarus ! now we are below the Gamma ut? I am drowning ! i Talia dum Cingar trepido sub Nunc sbalzata ratis summum pectore volvit toccabat olympum, Nunc subit infernam unda sba- Baldus firma stetit veluti ve- dacchiante paludem. chissima quercus. — M.C. xii. io-ii. — M.C. xii. 97-101. Deque ci sol fa ut modulando 2 As it did from the Sheep-dealer surgit ad ela" at the end of c. 2. 3 E la is the h the lowest in the old musical scale. M.C. xx. 155-167. Pollicis exterius nodos trapassat 3 E la is the highest, as Ut is in ut re. 58 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 4-9 "Ah ! my Father, my Uncle, my All, the Water has got into my Shoes by my Shirt-collar. Bous, bous, bous, paisch ; hu, hu, hu, hu, ha, ha, ha ! Hu, hu, hu, hu, hu, hu ! Bebe, bous, bous, bobous, bobous, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho ! Iarus, Iarus ! Just now I am rarely playing the forked Tree, with my Feet in the Air and my Head below. "Would to God I were at this moment in the Ship of those good and blessed Concilipetous Fathers whom we met this Morning, who were so godly, so fat, so merry, and so gracious I1 " Holos, holos, holos ! Iarus ! this Wave of all the Devils — (mea culpa, Deus) I mean this Wave of God — will break up our Ship. Iarus ! Friar John, my Father, my Friend, " Confession " ! See me here on my Knees. Confiteor ; your holy Blessing ! " " Come, thou devilish Hang-dog," said Friar John, come hither and help us ; by thirty Legions of Devils come ! Art coming ? " " Let us not swear at all at this time," said Panurge, " my Father, my Friend. To-morrow as much as you will." " Holos, holos, Iarus ! Our Ship lets Water, I drown. Iarus ! Iarus ! Be, be, be be be, bous, bous, bous, good People, bous ! Now we are at the Bottom. Iarus ! Iarus ! I will give eighteen hundred thousand Crowns a year to the Man who will put me ashore, all bewrayed and bedaubed as I am, as much as any man ever was in my Country of Pickle. Confiteor. Iarus ! " " May a thousand Devils jump on the Body of this 1 Heu! cur non potius monachi Vel mage eremitae placuit sacra vel norma severi, cellula nobis ? "— M.C. xii. 42-3. 4_9 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 59 Cuckold ! " said Friar John. " By the Powers, art thou talking of Confession at this Time while we are in Danger, and while we ought to bestir ourselves, now or never ? Ho, wilt thou come, Devil ? " Boatswain, my hearty ! O the rare Lieutenant ! This side, Gymnast, on the Poop. " Boy there ! by all the Devils mind the Pump. Hast hurt thyself ? Zounds, fasten it to one of these Blocks ; here, on that Side, i' the Devil's Name. Ha ! so, my Boy." " Ah ! Friar John," said Panurs;e, " my ghostly Father, my Friend, let us not swear ; you do sin. Iarus ! Iarus ! Bebebe, bous, bous ! I drown, I am dying, my Friends. I am in Charity with all the World. Farewell ! Iarus ! In manus! Bous, bous bouououous ! "St. Michael of Aure!1 St. Nicholas!2 Help at this time, now or never ! I make you here a solemn Vow, and to Our Lord, that if, as at this time, you are my Helpers — I mean that you put me ashore out of this Danger — I will build you a fine grand little Chapel or two Where 'twixt Quande and Monsoreau There shall feed nor Calf nor Cow.3 Iarus ! Iarus ! more than eighteen Bucketfuls or two have got into my Mouth. Bous, bous, bous ! How salt and bitter it is ! " "By the Powers," said Friar John, "of the Blood, the Flesh, the Belly, the Head, if I hear thee again howling, 1 St. Michael of Aure. Possibly 2 St. Nicho las is the patron saint St. Michael ad auras cf. Pant. of sailors. Legenda Aurea, iii. 3. 17. Churches dedicated to this saint were often on high cliffs by 3 Cande and Montsoreau [Garg. the sea. He was specially St. 47) are adjoining, and therefore Michael au peril de la mer. nothing could feed between them. 60 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 4-J thou devilish Cuckold, I will maul thee like any Sea-wolf. By the Powers why don't we throw him to the Bottom of the Sea? 11 Jack, there, my honest Fellow ; so my Lad, so. Hold fast there above. "Verily there is a rare lot of Lightning and Thundering ! I believe all the Devils have broken loose to-day, or that Proserpine is in Labour. All the Devils are dancing a Horn-pipe." " Ah ! " said Panurge, " you sin, Friar John, my former Friend. It goes against my Heart to tell you so ; for I believe that it does you great Good to swear thus. Never- theless you do sin my sweet Friend." "A thousand," said Friar John, "nay, hundreds of millions of Devils, seize the hornified devilish Cuckold. Just help us here, Bougre, Lubber1 of all the Devils, znculri, succubi and all that ever are. Come on here, on the Port side. 'Ods Head full of Relics !2 What Ape's Paternoster is it thou art muttering there between thy Teeth ? This Devil of a Sea-calf is the Cause of the Storm, and he is the only one who does not help the Crew, and yet he worries us with his Cries. I swear, if I go thither, I will chastise you like any Sea Devil. Here, Mate, my Lad, hold this tight while I tie a Greek Knot. O the brave Boy ! I would to God thou wert Abbot of Tale- mont,8 and that he who is there now were Guardian of le Croullay!4 i Fr. bredasse ou bredache = 3 Talemont is an abbey in etourdi, ecervele (Becherelle's Touraine. In B. Talemouse ( — Dictionary.) In B. Tigre is sub- cheese-cake), is substituted to fur- stituted for this violent sentence. nish a pun on mousse = boy. 2 A favourite oath of the Seig- - _ „ „ _«. neur de la Roche du Maine **« CrouUay, near Chinon, {Brief ve declaration). where was a Franciscan convent. 4-9 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 61 " Brother Ponocrates, you will hurt yourself there. " Epistemon, keep clear of the Hatchway ; I saw a Thunder-bolt fall there just now. " Haul away, up there ! — " Right you are " " Haul, haul, haul ! Clear the Long-boat ; haul away ! "By the Powers, what is that? The Ship's-head is knocked to pieces. Hang that Wave. I swear it almost swept me away into the Current. I believe all the Devils are holding their Provincial Chapter here. 11 Port there ! " — Port it is, Sir.—" Mind your Noddle, Boy, in the Devil's name ! Port ! Port ! " " Bebebebous, bous, bous," said Panurge, " bous, bous, bous, I am drowning. I see neither Heaven nor Earth- Iarus ! Would that it had pleased the worthy Goodness of God that at this very hour I were within the a Close at a Garg. 27. Seuille, or at Innocent's the Pastry-cook, opposite the Painted Wine-vault1 at Chinon, under penalty of stripping to my Doublet and cooking my little Pasties myself. " My good Man, couldn't you throw me ashore ? I will give you all that I have, if you will throw me ashore. Iarus ! Iarus ! "Ah! my fair Friends, since we cannot make a good Harbour, let us come to anchor in some Road, I know not where. Drop all your Anchors; let us be out of this Danger, I beseech you. " My Friend, heave the Line and the Lead, an't please you. Let us know how many Fathom we are in. Take a 1 La Cave peincte was a depen- sort of cellar in the rock. Garg. dance of the house (La Lamproie) 12, v. 35. of Rabelais' father at Chinon, a 62 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 4—9 Sounding, my Friend, in the Lord's name. Let us know if a man could easily drink here bolt upright ; I believe he could and without stooping." " On this Side ho ! " cried Friar John ; " in all the Devils' name. Wait a bit ! Draw forth, my Friend ; so, by the Powers ! Here is rare hailing and thundering, in good sooth. Hold hard above there, please." "Alas!" said Panurge, "Friar John is damning himself rarely on credit. O what a good Friend I am losing in him ! " Iarus ! Iarus ! here it comes worse than ever : we are going from Scylla to Chary bdis,1 holos ! I am drowning. Confiteor. Just one Word by way of a Will, Friar John, my Father, good Mr. Abstractor,2 my Friend, my Achates,3 Xenomanes, my All. Alas, I am drowning. Two Words of a Will. Hold here, here on this Stool. i " Incidis in Scyllam cupiens vitare Charybdin " occurs in the A lexandrei s of Philippe Gaultier (Book v., line 301). The notion is, of course, from Horn. Od. xii. 85- 110. Cf. Erasm. Adag. i. 5, 4. 2 Abstractor, i.e., of Quintes- sence— Rabelais himself, cf. Title- page to Gargantua, and v. 20. 3 Achates, cf. Pant. 9, iii. 47. CHAPTER X Continuation of the Storm and of the Sayings of Friar John and Panurge. " To make a Will," said Epistemon, "at this time when we ought to be bestirring ourselves and helping our Crew, under penalty of being shipwrecked, seems to me an Act as unseasonable and unfitting as that of the Subalterns and Minions of a Caesar as he was coming into Gaul. They a b g. l 3 busied themselves with making Wills and Codicils, be- moaned their Fate, bewailed the Absence of their Wives and Friends in Rome, when of necessity they ought to have run to Arms and exerted themselves against their Enemy Ariovistus. "It is a Folly like that of the Carter who, when his Waggon was upset in a Stubble-field,1 on his Knees im- plored the Help of Hercules, instead of goading his Oxen and using his Hands to help up the Wheels. " Wherein will it serve you to make a Will here ? For either we shall escape this Danger or we shall be drowned. " If we escape it will be of no Service to you. Wills are lof no Value or Authority except by the Death of the Testators.2 i The Fable of the Carter and 2 Cf. Heb. ix., 17. Testamentum Hercules is included in the Aesopi enim in mortuis confirmatum est, Fabulae of the Autores Octo alioquin nondum valet dum vivit Morales, cf. Garg. 14 It is No. 20 qui testatus est. Also the legal of the collection of Babrius, and is maxim : Omne testamentum morte given in Suidas. consummatum est. 64 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 4-io " If we are drowned, will it not drown likewise ? Who will bear it to the Executors ? " "Some kind Wave," answered Panurge, "will throw it b od. v. 425, vi. ashore as one did bUlysses ; and some Daughter of a King going to sport in the fresh Air will find it, and then will have it carefully executed, and will have some magnificent Cenotaph erected in my Memory near the Shore, c Acn.iv.A57. cas Tjjd0 did to her Husband Sichaeus ; d id. vi. 5o5, dAeneas to Deiphobus on the Trojan Shore near Rhoete ; e id. iii. 302. eAndromache to Hector in the City of Buthrotum ; f Diog. l. v. 1 8. f Aristotle to Hermeias and Eubulus ; g Suet. v. 1. the Romans to gDrusus in Germany and to h Lamp. Ai.Sev. hAlexander Severus their Emperor in Gaul ; i Carm. no. ^Catullus to his Brother ; j suv. v. 3. jStatius to his Father ; Germain de Brie to Herve the Breton Captain."1 " Art thou doting ? " said Friar John. " Help here, help, by five hundred thousand millions of Cartloads of Devils ! May the Pox seize on thy Moustaches, and three Rows of Botches, to make thee a Pair of Breeches and a new Cod-piece ! " Is our Ship on a Sandbank ? By the Powers, how shall we float her again ? What an all-devilish Sea is 1 Germain de Brie (Germanus England, so that they both sank Brixius) composed a poem Herveii together with their crews. Sir T. Cenotaphium on the brave conduct More made fun of this poem in of Herve de Porzmoguer, who in some epigrams, and Brixius replied an engagement with the English in a bitter elegiac poem of 400 off St. Matthieu, Aug. 10, 15 13, lines entitled Anti-Morus to which finding his ship la Cordeliere fired More did not condescend to reply. past saving, grappled with his . Menagiana, i. 131. English opponent The Regent of "•'-— - 4-io PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book, 65 running here ! We shall never escape or I give myself to all the Devils." Panurge said : " God and the blessed Virgin be with us 1 Holos, holos ! I am drowning. Iarus ! In manus. Gracious Heaven, send me some kDolphin to carry me safe k Ov. f. a. 83- ashore like a pretty little Amphion.1 I will play well on "6" the Harp if it be not unstrung." " I give myself to the Devil," said Friar John — "God be with us," said Panurge between his Teeth — "if the Close at Seuille2 had not been lost in this way, if I had done nothing but ! chant contra hostium tnsidias, as did 1 Garg. 27- the other Devils of Monks, instead of succouring the Vine against the Marauders of Lerne." " Land ! Land ! " cried Pantagruel ; " I see Land.3 Only a Sheep's Courage, my Lads ; we are not far from Harbour. I see the Sky beginning to clear up on the Tramontane side. Look out for the Scirocco ! " "Courage, my Hearties," said the Pilot, "the Sea is abated. Hands aloft to the Fore-top! Helm a-weather!" " Haul up your Mizzen-topsails ! " said Friar John. "Heave aho, my Lads, with all your Might. Heave, heave, heave away ! " 'Tis well said. Methinks the Storm is abating. Our Devils are beginning to scamper to the right-about." " O," cried Epistemon, " I bid you all be of Good cheer. I see there Castor4 on the Right." 1 Amphion, a mistake for Arion, 4 Castor. This is known as corrected in B. St. Elmo's fire. St. Erasmus 2 // the close at Seuille, &c. This (Ermo, Elmo)was martyrized about passage is transposed in B. to a 304 at Formies. He was buried at later place in c. 23. Gaeta, and was supposed to send 3 Suggested by a remark of the double lights which were pro- Diogenes at a recitation of a long pitious in a storm. Castor and book, when he saw at last a blank Pollux represented the twin-lights, page, Oappelre, avSpes^yrjv opw. and Helen the single one which D. Laert. vi; 2, 38. Terrain video was feared- . cf- Plin- "• § 37- Hor. Erasm. Ad. iv. 8. 18. 0d- »• 3. *J *• 12, 27-32. 66 PANTAGRUEL Fourth Book. 4_IO " Be, be, bous, bous, bous," said Panurge, "I am mightily afraid it is Helen." m !£%$'. Gr' 4