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The giant Gargantua is born from his mother's ear crying 'Drink! Drink!', and grows up to wage a comic war against a neighbouring king over some cakes, after…
Catalogue details
Author
François Rabelais
Category
Novels & Stories
Language
English
Source
Project Gutenberg
About this book
The giant Gargantua is born from his mother's ear crying 'Drink! Drink!', and grows up to wage a comic war against a neighbouring king over some cakes, after which he founds the Abbey of Thélème for his friend Friar John, an abbey whose only rule is 'Do what you will'. His son Pantagruel, another giant, studies in Paris, befriends the witty, cowardly rogue Panurge, and sets out on a long voyage to consult the Oracle of the Holy Bottle on whether Panurge should marry.
Context and significance
François Rabelais (about 1494–1553), a French monk, physician and humanist, published the books between 1532 and 1564, the last after his death, and the theologians of the Sorbonne condemned them for their mockery of the Church and the schools. Bursting with bawdy jokes, lists, invented words and learning, the work gave English the word 'gargantuan'. This is the classic seventeenth-century translation by Sir Thomas Urquhart and Peter Motteux, with illustrations by Gustave Doré. Compare Don Quixote.