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Gargantua and Pantagruel #4
Le Quart Livre
"Soubdain, je ne sçay comment, le cas feut subit, je ne eu loisir le consyderer, Panurge, sans aultre chose dire jette en pleine mer son mouton criant et bellant. Tous les aultres moutons criant et bellans en pareille intonation comencerent soy jecter et saulter en mer après, à la file. La foulle estoit à qui premier y saulteroit après leur compaignon. Possible n'estoit les en guarder. Comme vous sçavez estre du mouton le naturel, tous jours suyvre le premier, quelque part qu'il aille... Le marchant tout effrayé de ce que davant ses yeulx perir voyoit et noyer ses moutons, s'efforçoit les empescher et retenir tout de son pouvoir. Mais c'estoit en vain. Tous à la file saultoient dedans la mer, et perissoient. Finablement il en print un grand et fort par la toison sus le tillac de la neuf, cuydant ainsi le retenir, et saulver le reste aussi consequemmeent. Le mouton feut si puissant qu'il emporta en mer avecques soy le marchant, et feut noyé en pareille forme que les moutons de Polyphemus le borgne Cyclope emporterent hors la caverne Ulyxes et ses compaignons."
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1552
About the author
François Rabelais
1,146 books427 followersFrench humanist François Rabelais wrote satirical attacks, most notably
Pantagruel
(1532) and
Gargantua
(1534), on medieval scholasticism and superstition.
People historically regarded this major Renaissance doctor of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, bawdy jokes, and songs. Considered of the great of world literature, he created modern Europe. He also published under the names Alcofribas Nasier and Séraphin Calobarsy.
François Rabelais était un des grand écrivains de la Renaissance française, médecin et humaniste. Il a toujours été considéré comme un écrivain de fantaisie, de satire, de grotesque et à la fois de blagues et de chansons de débauche. Rabelais est considéré comme l'un des grands écrivains de la littérature mondiale et parmi les créateurs de l'écriture européenne moderne. Il a également publié sous les noms Alcofribas Nasier et Séraphin Calobarsy.
People historically regarded this major Renaissance doctor of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, bawdy jokes, and songs. Considered of the great of world literature, he created modern Europe. He also published under the names Alcofribas Nasier and Séraphin Calobarsy.
François Rabelais était un des grand écrivains de la Renaissance française, médecin et humaniste. Il a toujours été considéré comme un écrivain de fantaisie, de satire, de grotesque et à la fois de blagues et de chansons de débauche. Rabelais est considéré comme l'un des grands écrivains de la littérature mondiale et parmi les créateurs de l'écriture européenne moderne. Il a également publié sous les noms Alcofribas Nasier et Séraphin Calobarsy.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
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August 23, 2023There’s a wonderful scene towards the end of this narrative (which mostly takes place onboard ship during the course of a long sea journey) that caused me as a reader to sit up and take notice of the reading journey I myself was on. Up until then, I had been simply turning the pages in a somewhat automatic fashion as is easy to do in a book that contains a series of stories within stories, anecdotes that propel us onwards at speed from one tall tale to the next so that we scarcely pay attention to the main characters anymore - who are all familiar in any case from the earlier books in the series.
So my reading experience had been a rollicking one perfectly in tune with the stormy weather and the stormier adventures that were being recounted.
But then the ship that Pantagruel and his friends are on is becalmed and Rabelais takes time to do something he rarely does: he pauses the story to describe in detail what each character is doing during the lull before the wind rises to send both the ship and the story on their way again. The scene he sketches is a simple one but as in a typical Renaissance painting there are a lot of little details we might miss if we didn't pay attention:
Pantagruel is lying half asleep in a hammock, an adventure story by a Greek author in his hand; he is reading the story in his memory rather than actually reading it (people often memorized books in those days in order to have something to read even when books were unavailable—though in this case the book is available).
Epistémon is using his astrolabe to trace the ship’s position in relation to the North pole (the ship was in sight of an island they recognised so he must have known their coordinates already).
Panurge, a hollow stem of pantagrélion grass (canabis) in his mouth, is idly blowing bubbles and making gurgling noises.
Gymnaste is carving tooth picks out of mastic twigs (which are already toothpicks in their natural state).
Ponocrates is muttering to himself in a dream-like way (il radotait en radotant) while tickling himself and scratching his head at the same time.
Eusthène is running his fingers up and down the barrel of a gun as if it were a one-stringed instrument.
Rhizotome is making a purse out of a tortoise shell which he is then covering in velvet.
Carpalim is making a tiny windmill out of a walnut and some slivers of alder wood.
Frère Jean is in the ship’s galley trying to figure out what time it is based on how the cooking of the spit-roasts and the fricassées is progressing.
The characters are all at a loose end one way or another, all occupied at fairly pointless things (and it’s interesting to note that the phrase 'to be at a loose end' comes from sailors having been required to twist the loose ends of ropes back into shape any time their ship happened to be lying becalmed. But such ‘loose end’ work did have a point since ropes on ships needed to be always in perfect condition).
Rabelais’ ‘loose ends’ scene has a point too, and it’s interesting that his point leads us to what is the predominant image used throughout the book: food.
Almost everything in the book is described in terms of food whether the subject is religion or philosophy or geography or anthropology. The inhabitants of the exotic islands the ship visits have names relating to the foods they most resemble. One tribe is called after types of pork products, for example. Another has a governor called M. Gaster, and there are pages and pages consisting entirely of lists of gastronomical delights. When the crew of Pantagruel’s ship are attacked by a hostile population, his army of cooks get involved in the fight armed with pots and pans.
But to pick up on the ‘loose ends’ scene I described earlier: when Frère Jean emerges from the galley after checking the time in his own idiosyncratic fashion, he initiates an absurd game. He poses a quandary: Manière de faire lever le temps (how to raise a wind). Then each in turn takes up the game, offering a series of equally absurd quandaries. Panurge asks for a remedy against being in a bad humour, Epistémon asks how you urinate when you have no desire to urinate. Ponocrates asks how to not sleep like a dog, i. e. hungry, and in the full sun. Rhizome asks for a remedy against yawning, and the spasms that accompany yawning. Carpal asks how many physiological changes occur in the body before hunger announces itself. Eusthéne wants to know why a hungry man bitten by a hungry snake suffers more than a well-fed man bitten by a well-fed snake.
Of course their wise friend Pantagruel has an answer to all the quandaries posed by his friends - though his answer requires no words. It is the simplest answer in the world and reminds us most eloquently of the major theme of the book: he simply rings the bell for dinner!
So my reading experience had been a rollicking one perfectly in tune with the stormy weather and the stormier adventures that were being recounted.
But then the ship that Pantagruel and his friends are on is becalmed and Rabelais takes time to do something he rarely does: he pauses the story to describe in detail what each character is doing during the lull before the wind rises to send both the ship and the story on their way again. The scene he sketches is a simple one but as in a typical Renaissance painting there are a lot of little details we might miss if we didn't pay attention:
Pantagruel is lying half asleep in a hammock, an adventure story by a Greek author in his hand; he is reading the story in his memory rather than actually reading it (people often memorized books in those days in order to have something to read even when books were unavailable—though in this case the book is available).
Epistémon is using his astrolabe to trace the ship’s position in relation to the North pole (the ship was in sight of an island they recognised so he must have known their coordinates already).
Panurge, a hollow stem of pantagrélion grass (canabis) in his mouth, is idly blowing bubbles and making gurgling noises.
Gymnaste is carving tooth picks out of mastic twigs (which are already toothpicks in their natural state).
Ponocrates is muttering to himself in a dream-like way (il radotait en radotant) while tickling himself and scratching his head at the same time.
Eusthène is running his fingers up and down the barrel of a gun as if it were a one-stringed instrument.
Rhizotome is making a purse out of a tortoise shell which he is then covering in velvet.
Carpalim is making a tiny windmill out of a walnut and some slivers of alder wood.
Frère Jean is in the ship’s galley trying to figure out what time it is based on how the cooking of the spit-roasts and the fricassées is progressing.
The characters are all at a loose end one way or another, all occupied at fairly pointless things (and it’s interesting to note that the phrase 'to be at a loose end' comes from sailors having been required to twist the loose ends of ropes back into shape any time their ship happened to be lying becalmed. But such ‘loose end’ work did have a point since ropes on ships needed to be always in perfect condition).
Rabelais’ ‘loose ends’ scene has a point too, and it’s interesting that his point leads us to what is the predominant image used throughout the book: food.
Almost everything in the book is described in terms of food whether the subject is religion or philosophy or geography or anthropology. The inhabitants of the exotic islands the ship visits have names relating to the foods they most resemble. One tribe is called after types of pork products, for example. Another has a governor called M. Gaster, and there are pages and pages consisting entirely of lists of gastronomical delights. When the crew of Pantagruel’s ship are attacked by a hostile population, his army of cooks get involved in the fight armed with pots and pans.
But to pick up on the ‘loose ends’ scene I described earlier: when Frère Jean emerges from the galley after checking the time in his own idiosyncratic fashion, he initiates an absurd game. He poses a quandary: Manière de faire lever le temps (how to raise a wind). Then each in turn takes up the game, offering a series of equally absurd quandaries. Panurge asks for a remedy against being in a bad humour, Epistémon asks how you urinate when you have no desire to urinate. Ponocrates asks how to not sleep like a dog, i. e. hungry, and in the full sun. Rhizome asks for a remedy against yawning, and the spasms that accompany yawning. Carpal asks how many physiological changes occur in the body before hunger announces itself. Eusthéne wants to know why a hungry man bitten by a hungry snake suffers more than a well-fed man bitten by a well-fed snake.
Of course their wise friend Pantagruel has an answer to all the quandaries posed by his friends - though his answer requires no words. It is the simplest answer in the world and reminds us most eloquently of the major theme of the book: he simply rings the bell for dinner!
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December 18, 2023Third book of the Pantagruel-series, this is dedicated to the woman. Many mythological references, which makes it rather difficult reading.
Fourth book: search for the Divine Bottle; the character of Panurge develops from rascal to frightened guy, a cheated deceiver. This contains mainly travel stories; exoticism at the top, but not so enjoyable.
The main characteristic of the work of Rabelais is unrestrainedness and exuberance.
Fourth book: search for the Divine Bottle; the character of Panurge develops from rascal to frightened guy, a cheated deceiver. This contains mainly travel stories; exoticism at the top, but not so enjoyable.
The main characteristic of the work of Rabelais is unrestrainedness and exuberance.
September 25, 2023
je déteste Rabelais
October 7, 2024
Never. Again.
Really not a big fan of Rabelais' writing, to my litterature teacher's detriment
Really not a big fan of Rabelais' writing, to my litterature teacher's detriment
March 21, 2016
Ei mielestäni yhtä eheä kokonaisuus kuin Pantagruelin kolmas kirja, joka pysyy suosikkinani tästä "sarjasta". Tyylillisesti neljännen kirjan matkakertomus vaikuttaa lähestyvän Pantagruelia, siis ensimmäistä, mutta naureskelu kohdistuu pierujen yms. lisäksi uskonnon harjoittamisen muotoihin.
Tekopyhyyden kritisoiminen toimii myös nykyaikana. Mieleeni jäi erään omalaatuisen saarelaisen suustaan päästämä lausahdus, että lähimmäistään pitää rakastaa, paitsi jos tämä on kerettiläinen.
Pantagruelin laivue matkaa oudolta saarelta toiselle ja tutustuu niiden asukkaisiin, kuten makkaroihin ja (paavia palvoviin) papimaneihin. Mikään ei varsinaisesti selviä, eikä matka pääty ainakaan vielä tämän kirjan aikana, mutta tutkimusretkeä on hauska seurata. Esipuhe ja loppuun koostetut viitteet taustoittavat teosta nykyajan lukijan näkökulmasta.
Tekopyhyyden kritisoiminen toimii myös nykyaikana. Mieleeni jäi erään omalaatuisen saarelaisen suustaan päästämä lausahdus, että lähimmäistään pitää rakastaa, paitsi jos tämä on kerettiläinen.
Pantagruelin laivue matkaa oudolta saarelta toiselle ja tutustuu niiden asukkaisiin, kuten makkaroihin ja (paavia palvoviin) papimaneihin. Mikään ei varsinaisesti selviä, eikä matka pääty ainakaan vielä tämän kirjan aikana, mutta tutkimusretkeä on hauska seurata. Esipuhe ja loppuun koostetut viitteet taustoittavat teosta nykyajan lukijan näkökulmasta.
July 28, 2024
Le vieux français c’est pas fun radio mais sinon c’est un peu cool même si j’aime pas leur humour de merde mais Rabelais se moque de tout un chacun alors c’est funky
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews