Panurge is one of the principal characters in the Pantagruel (especially the third and fourth books) of Rabelais, an exceedingly crafty knave, a libertine, and a coward. At some point, he shows he can speak several languages, including some of the first examples of a constructed language. In French, he appears in the set phrase mouton de Panurge, after a story in which he buys a sheep from the merchant Dindenault and then, for revenge, makes the sheep jump off a cliff. The rest of the sheep in the herd stupidly jump after it in spite of the shepherd.
Other uses
- Panurge is also the title of an opera by Jules Massenet.
- Panurge is the name of a Canadian pop band.
- The Advent of Panurge is a song by Gentle Giant.
References
- Project Gutenberg: This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.
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