Chapter Pandolfe to Panurge of P by Brewer's Readers Handbook

the game of catch as catch can, till the gunpowder ran out at the heel of their boots.—Foote: The Quarterly Review, xcv. 516, 517 (1854).

Panope , one of the nereids. Her “sisters” are the sea-nymphs. Panopê was invoked by sailors in storms.

Sleek Panope with all her sisters played.
   —Milton: Lycidas, 95 (1638).

Pantagruel, king of the Dipsodes , son of Gargantua, and last of the race of giants. His mothe r Badebec died in giving him birth. His paternal grandfather was named Grangousier. Pantagruel was a li neal descendant of Fierabras, the Titans, Goliath, Polypheme , and all the other giants traceable to Chalbrook, who lived in that extraordinary period noted for its “week of three Thursdays.” The word is a hybrid, compounded of the Greek panta (“all”) and the Hagarene word gruel (“thirsty”). His immortal achievement was his “quest of the oracle of the Holy Bottle.”—Rabelais: Gargantua and Pantagruel, ii. (1533).

(The romance, originally written in French, was translated into English by Urquhurt and Motteux in 1653.)

Pantagruel’s Course of Study. Pantagruel’s father, Gargantua, said in a letter to his son—

“I intend and insist that you learn all languages perfectly; first of all Greek, in Quintilian’s method; then Latin, then Hebrew, then Arabic and Chaldee. I wish you to form your style of Greek on the model of Plato, and of Latin on that of Cicero. Let there be no history you have not at your fingers’ ends, and study thoroughly cosmography and geography. Of liberal arts, such as geometry, mathematics, and music, I gave you a taste when not above five years old, and I would have you now master them fully. Study astronomy, but not divination and judicial astrology, which I consider mere vanities. As for civil law, I would have thee know the digests by heart. You should also have a perfect knowledge of the works of Nature, so that there is no sea, river, or smallest stream, which you do not know for what fish it is noted, whence it proceeds, and whither it directs its course; all fowls of the air, all shrubs and trees whether forest or orchard, all herbs and flowers, all metals and stones, should be mastered by you. Fail not at the same time most carefully to peruse the Talmudists and Cabalists, and be sure by frequent anatomies to gain a perfect knowledge of that other world called the microcosm, which is man. Master all these in your young days, and let nothing be superficial; as you grow into manhood you must learn chivalry, warfare, and field manœuvres.”—Rabelais: Pantagruel, ii. 8 (1533).

Pantagruel’s Tongue. It formed shelter for a whole army. His throat and mouth contained whole cities.

Then did they [the army] put themselves in close order, and stood as near to each other as they could, and Pantagruel put out his tongue half-way, and covered them all, as a hen doth her chickens.—Rabelais: Pantagruel, ii. 32 (1533).

Pantagruelian Lawsuit (The). This was between lord Busqueue and lord Suckfist, who pleaded their own cases. The writs, etc., were as much as four asses could carry. After the plaintiff and defendant had stated their cases, Pantagruel gave judgment, and the two suitors were both satisfied, for no one understood a word of the pleadings, or the tenor of the verdict.—Rabelais: Pantagruel, ii. (1533).

Pantagruelion, a herb (hemp), symb olical of persecution. Rabelais says Pantagruel was the inventor of a certain use for which this herb served. It was, he says, exceedingly hateful to felons, who detested it as much as strangle-weed.

The figure and shape of the leaves of pantagruelion are not much unlike those of the ash tree or the agrimony; indeed, the herb is so like the eupatorio that many herbalists have called it the domestic eupatorio, and sometimes the eupatorio is called the wild pantagruelion.—Rabelais: Pantagruel, etc., iii. 49 (1545).