CHAPTER I. HOW THE FIRST GIANTS CAME INTO THE WORLD.

 At the beginning of the world the pure blood of Abel, shed by his wicked brother Cain, made the soil very rich. Every fruit seemed to grow that year to a dozen times its usual size. But the fruit that seemed to thrive best, and to taste most toothsome, and to be most eaten, was the medlar. So much of that fruit was eaten at that particular time that the year came to be called the "Year of Medlars."

Now, in this "Year of Medlars," the good men and women who lived then happened to eat a little too much of this fine fruit. It was all very nice while it was being eaten; but, somehow, after a little time it was found that terrible swellings, but not all in the same place, came out on those who had shown themselves too fond of the fruit.

Some grew big and twisted in their shoulders, and became what were afterwards called Hunch-backs.

Some found themselves with longer legs than others, which, being quite as thin and bony as they were long, made malicious¹ people, who had not eaten of the fruit, shout, "Crane! Crane! Long-legged Crane!" whenever one of the poor people showed himself.

Some there were who could boast of a nose as red as it was long and knotty², which made evil-tongued men say they had been more among the grapes than among the medlars. But this was, after all, the fault of the medlars. There was no doubt of that.

Others, having a special love for picking out everybody's secrets, found their medlars running into big ears, which grew so long that they soon hung down to their breasts. And those who once had the Big Ear lost, after that, all desire for other people's secrets, because their ears were so large they caught everything bad their neighbors were always saying about them.

Others—and now, listen—grew long in legs, but not longer in legs than they grew stout³ in body, and it was from these people that the Giants sprang. When those who grew so long in legs and so stout in body began to walk on the earth, the neighbors did their best to please them. You may be sure there was no talk about medlars then.

The first who became known as a giant was called Chalbroth.

engraving⁴

THE GIANT CHALBROTH.

Chalbroth was the father of all the Giants, and the great-grandfather of Hurtali, who reigned⁵ in the time of the Deluge⁶, and who was lucky enough not to be drowned in the deep waters.

Doubtless, the eyes of some of my young readers are twinkling, and they are ready to cry out very positively⁷: "Oh, no! There was no Giant in Noah's Ark, you know. How could there be? Only Noah and his family were in the Ark. The Bible says that!"

There was one Wise Man, however, who lived a long time after the first Giant had appeared, and after many great ones had been noticed, and who had seen some with his own eyes. This Wise Man had thought, in a quiet way, a great deal about the Big People, and, through much study, had found out why it was they were not all drowned.

This Wise Man makes himself very clear on this point. He says that Hurtali—the great-grandson of Chalbroth, the first Giant—escaped the Deluge, not by getting into the Ark,—it was altogether too small for that,—but by getting outside of it. In other words, he used it as a man strides a horse, riding on top of it, with one huge leg hanging over the right side and the other over the left. If Hurtali was very heavy, the Blessed Ark was very stout. He got so used to his seat after a while, that, being on the outside, and able to see everything around him, he made his long legs do for the Ark just what the rudder of a ship does for her. He must have saved it from many and many a rough shock against jutting⁸ mountains and sharp rocks as the waters were rising, and as, after covering the earth, they began to sink lower and lower; but it may be relied on—since the Wise Man says so—that, during the forty days and nights, Giant Hurtali was on the best of terms with Noah and all his family. This might look strange; but it appears that there was on the top of the Ark a chimney, and it was through this chimney that Hurtali could always, for the asking, have his share of his favorite pottage handed up to him.

engraving

THE GIANT HURTALI ON THE ARK.

It would really be of no use to tell the names of all the Giants who came between Hurtali and our merry old King Grandgousier. Some of them you already know. Long after Hurtali came Goliath, the Giant, whom young David slew⁹ with his sling¹⁰ and stone; Briareus, the Greek Giant of a hundred hands; King Porus, the Indian Giant, who fought with Alexander, and was defeated by him; and the famous Giant Bruyer, slain¹¹ by Ogier the Dane, Peer of France. There are so many of them that I would soon grow tired of giving, and you of hearing, even their names. All that we care about knowing is that, in a straight line from Hurtali, the Giant who rode on the Blessed Ark, the fifty-fourth was Grandgousier, who was the father of Gargantua, who, in his turn, was the father of Pantagruel.

These are the three Giants whose story I am about to tell, two of whom will prove more wonderful heroes than are to be read of either in ancient or modern history.

1 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

2 knotty   

adj.有结的，多节的，多瘤的，棘手的

参考例句：

• Under his leadership,many knotty problems were smoothly solved.在他的领导下，许多伤脑筋的问题都迎刃而解。
• She met with a lot of knotty problems.她碰上了许多棘手的问题。

4 engraving   

n.版画；雕刻（作品）；雕刻艺术；镌版术v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的现在分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中）

参考例句：

• He collected an old engraving of London Bridge. 他收藏了一张古老的伦敦桥版画。 来自辞典例句
• Some writing has the precision of a steel engraving. 有的字体严谨如同钢刻。 来自辞典例句

5 reigned   

vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式）

参考例句：

• Silence reigned in the hall. 全场肃静。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Night was deep and dead silence reigned everywhere. 夜深人静，一片死寂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 deluge   

n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥

参考例句：

• This little stream can become a deluge when it rains heavily.雨大的时候，这条小溪能变作洪流。
• I got caught in the deluge on the way home.我在回家的路上遇到倾盆大雨。

7 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

8 jutting   

v.（使）突出( jut的现在分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出

参考例句：

• The climbers rested on a sheltered ledge jutting out from the cliff. 登山者在悬崖的岩棚上休息。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldier saw a gun jutting out of some bushes. 那士兵看见丛林中有一枝枪伸出来。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 slew   

v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多

参考例句：

• He slewed the car against the side of the building.他的车滑到了大楼的一侧，抵住了。
• They dealt with a slew of other issues.他们处理了大量的其他问题。

10 sling   

vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓

参考例句：

• The boy discharged a stone from a sling.这个男孩用弹弓射石头。
• By using a hoist the movers were able to sling the piano to the third floor.搬运工人用吊车才把钢琴吊到3楼。

11 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。