Gargantua And Pantagruel

In the manner of great historians and of Saint Matthew who wrote a book of the Bible, the narrator must recount the antecedents of Pantagruel. It all began when the spilled blood of Abel (murdered by his brother Cain) made the land breed “fat medlars” (medlar is a pun on meddler, as well as a reference to a fruit resembling female genitalia). People ate the medlars, which made them bulge out in “monstrous” shapes, some becoming long in body. From this line came the giants, and from 60 generations of them came Pantagruel, son of Gargantua.

When Gargantua was 4,844 years old, he and his wife Badebec begat Pantagruel. Badebec died in childbirth, since Pantagruel was so large he suffocated his mother. The baby was named “Pantagruel,” or all-thirst, because he was born during a terrible drought. During this period, thirsty people would rush to churches for holy water, but the wise holy fathers or priests made sure no one had more than one sip at a time.

Meanwhile, when Badebec was in her labor, Pantagruel was preceded by muleteers leading mules laden with salt, and camels and wagons laden with food and drink. This, and the fact that Pantagruel was born covered with hair, heralded that he would go on to do great deeds.

Gargantua is torn between grief at his wife’s death and joy at his son’s birth. Then, he remembers Pantagruel and begins to laugh, grateful to God for giving him such a fine son.

If the reader wants to know about the wonderful infancy narratives of great creatures, they can turn to Book 7 of Pliny’s Natural History, but none of the narratives would surpass the tale of Pantagruel’s childhood. Even in his cradle, Pantagruel performed great deeds that would outdo Hercules, killing snakes in his crib. Once, Pantagruel grew so hungry that he turned from suckling on a cow’s teats to eating her belly down to her liver and kidneys.

Gargantua sent Pantagruel to the universities when he became a youth. At Poitiers, Pantagruel placed a large boulder atop four pillars in the middle of a field, creating a space where the students could feast and drink. This structure exists to this day and is known as the Pierre-Levée (a tourist attraction in 21st-century France).

On a stroll to Paris with his friends, Pantagruel meets a dapper student who speaks in affected French peppered with long-winded Latin terms. Pantagruel is so aggrieved by the affectations of the young man from Limoges that he grabs him by the throat and bids him to stop. The youth defecates out of fear and begins to speak in his natural manner.

After finishing his studies at Orleans, Pantagruel decides to go to the University of Paris. Before leaving Orleans, he lifts an enormous bell that has littered the university compound for three centuries and takes it to its intended belfry, or steeple of a bell-tower. He rings the bell, and the accompanying noise causes all of the wines of Orleans to sour.

In Paris, people stare at Pantagruel’s size in amazement. After spending some time in the city, Pantagruel concludes Paris is “nice to live in but not to die in” (39). He discovers the library of St. Victor and the narrator lists several of the many titles Pantagruel finds there.

In Paris, Pantagruel receives a letter from Gargantua. Much as Pantagruel resembles his father in body, Gargantua wants his son to resemble him in noble soul as well and, in fact, surpass him in virtue. Gargantua wants Pantagruel to improve himself through the study of the Gospels, ancient languages like Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Arabic, as well as the works of ancient philosophers like Plato and Athaneus. Once Pantagruel has completed his education, he should return home so Gargantua can bless him before dying. The letter so inspires Pantagruel that he doubles down on his studies.

Outside Paris, Pantagruel spots a handsome man who is in a bedraggled state. Pantagruel asks the man for his story, and the man replies in a Germanic tongue. When Pantagruel protests he cannot understand, the man switches to the language of Sir Thomas More’s Utopia—with Utopia being Pantagruel’s homeland—and then Scots. Finally, Pantagruel asks the man if he can speak French and the man begins to talk intelligibly. Panurge is his name, and he will tell Pantagruel of his great adventures once he has had food to eat.

Wanting to make a show of his education, Pantagruel posts across town 9,764 theses on all subjects, dealing with all great epistemological debates. He defends his positions to various scholars for many months and upstages them, winning great fame.

Around the same time, a lawsuit between Sieur de Bumkis and Sieur de Slurp-ffart cannot be settled, and the counsel of Pantagruel is sought. Pantagruel has all documents related to the case burnt to hear the testimony fresh. Sieur de Bumkis and Sieur de Slurp-ffart state their sides, which are convoluted. Pantagruel settles the case to the satisfaction of both parties, and the lawyers swoon in ecstasy over his wisdom.

Pantagruel’s judgment is so appreciated that people compare him to Solomon the Wise from the Bible. Meanwhile, Panurge finally relays the story of his escape from the “Turks.” The “Turks” had Panurge skewered and basted to roast him alive when he managed to use his mouth to grab the unlit side of some smoldering coals and throw them at his captors. A fire broke out, burning the “Turks” and soon consumed the entire town. In the commotion, Panurge freed himself and fled.

Panurge contemplates the walls of Paris and pronounces them so weak they can be knocked over by the single fart of a cow. He proposes the city’s walls be built using the private parts of women and men. Panurge then relates a bawdy tale called “On the Compotations of the Mendicant Friars” in which Renard uses his tongue to clean what he thinks is a wound between an old woman’s legs (a bawdy reference to women’s genitalia).

The narrator describes the many qualities of Panurge. He is “the nicest young lad in the world” (86), but with one malady. He is always short of silver or money. He has 63 ways of getting silver and 214 of spending it all. His pranks are often bawdy, such as when he secretly pins together the clothes of people in a crowd. When they move apart, the clothes tear and fall off.