him from this vehement intension of the spirits, thought
fit, once in a month, upon some fair and clear day,
to go out of the city betimes in the morning, either
towards Gentilly, or Boulogne, or to Montrouge, or
Charanton bridge, or to Vanves, or St.
Clou, and there
spend all the day long in making the greatest cheer
that could be devised, sporting, making merry, drinking
healths, playing, singing, dancing, tumbling in some
fair meadow, unnestling of sparrows, taking of quails,
and fishing for frogs and crabs. But although
that day was passed without books or lecture, yet was
it not spent without profit; for in the said meadows
they usually repeated certain pleasant verses of Virgil’s
agriculture, of Hesiod and of Politian’s husbandry,
would set a-broach some witty Latin epigrams, then
immediately turned them into roundelays and songs
for dancing in the French language. In their
feasting they would sometimes separate the water from
the wine that was therewith mixed, as Cato teacheth,
De re rustica, and Pliny with an ivy cup would wash
the wine in a basinful of water, then take it out
again with a funnel as pure as ever. They made
the water go from one glass to another, and contrived
a thousand little automatory engines, that is to say,
moving of themselves.
Chapter 1.XXV.
How there was great strife and debate raised betwixt
the cake-bakers of Lerne, and those of Gargantua’s
country, whereupon were waged great wars.
At that time, which was the season of vintage, in
the beginning of harvest, when the country shepherds
were set to keep the vines, and hinder the starlings
from eating up the grapes, as some cake-bakers of Lerne
happened to pass along in the broad highway, driving
into the city ten or twelve horses loaded with cakes,
the said shepherds courteously entreated them to give
them some for their money, as the price then ruled
in the market. For here it is to be remarked,
that it is a celestial food to eat for breakfast hot
fresh cakes with grapes, especially the frail clusters,
the great red grapes, the muscadine, the verjuice
grape, and the laskard, for those that are costive
in their belly, because it will make them gush out,
and squirt the length of a hunter’s staff, like
the very tap of a barrel; and oftentimes, thinking
to let a squib, they did all-to-besquatter and conskite
themselves, whereupon they are commonly called the
vintage thinkers. The bun-sellers or cake-makers
were in nothing inclinable to their request; but,
which was worse, did injure them most outrageously,
calling them prattling gabblers, lickorous gluttons,
freckled bittors, mangy rascals, shite-a-bed scoundrels,
drunken roysters, sly knaves, drowsy loiterers, slapsauce
fellows, slabberdegullion druggels, lubberly louts,
cozening foxes, ruffian rogues, paltry customers, sycophant-varlets,
drawlatch hoydens, flouting milksops, jeering companions,
staring clowns, forlorn snakes, ninny lobcocks, scurvy
