How Goatsnose by signs maketh answer to Panurge.
Goatsnose being sent for, came the day thereafter to Pantagruel’s court; at his arrival to which Panurge gave him a fat calf1, the half of a hog2, two puncheons of wine, one load of corn, and thirty francs of small money; then, having brought him before Pantagruel, in presence of the gentlemen of the bed-chamber he made this sign unto him. He yawned a long time, and in yawning made without his mouth with the thumb of his right hand the figure of the Greek letter Tau by frequent reiterations. Afterwards he lifted up his eyes to heavenwards, then turned them in his head like a she-goat in the painful fit of an absolute birth, in doing whereof he did cough and sigh exceeding heavily. This done, after that he had made demonstration4 of the want of his codpiece, he from under his shirt took his placket-racket in a full grip, making it therewithal clack very melodiously6 betwixt his thighs7; then, no sooner had he with his body stooped a little forwards, and bowed his left knee, but that immediately thereupon holding both his arms on his breast, in a loose faint-like posture8, the one over the other, he paused awhile. Goatsnose looked wistly upon him, and having heedfully enough viewed him all over, he lifted up into the air his left hand, the whole fingers whereof he retained fistwise close together, except the thumb and the forefinger10, whose nails he softly joined and coupled to one another. I understand, quoth Pantagruel, what he meaneth by that sign. It denotes marriage, and withal the number thirty, according to the profession of the Pythagoreans. You will be married. Thanks to you, quoth Panurge, in turning himself towards Goatsnose, my little sewer11, pretty master’s mate, dainty bailie, curious sergeant-marshal, and jolly catchpole-leader. Then did he lift higher up than before his said left hand, stretching out all the five fingers thereof, and severing12 them as wide from one another as he possibly could get done. Here, says Pantagruel, doth he more amply and fully9 insinuate13 unto us, by the token which he showeth forth14 of the quinary number, that you shall be married. Yea, that you shall not only be affianced, betrothed15, wedded16, and married, but that you shall furthermore cohabit and live jollily and merrily with your wife; for Pythagoras called five the nuptial17 number, which, together with marriage, signifieth the consummation of matrimony, because it is composed of a ternary, the first of the odd, and binary18, the first of the even numbers, as of a male and female knit and united together. In very deed it was the fashion of old in the city of Rome at marriage festivals to light five wax tapers19; nor was it permitted to kindle20 any more at the magnific nuptials21 of the most potent22 and wealthy, nor yet any fewer at the penurious23 weddings of the poorest and most abject24 of the world. Moreover, in times past, the heathen or paynims implored25 the assistance of five deities26, or of one helpful, at least, in five several good offices to those that were to be married. Of this sort were the nuptial Jove, Juno, president of the feast, the fair Venus, Pitho, the goddess of eloquence27 and persuasion28, and Diana, whose aid and succour was required to the labour of child-bearing. Then shouted Panurge, O the gentle Goatsnose, I will give him a farm near Cinais, and a windmill hard by Mirebalais! Hereupon the dumb fellow sneezeth with an impetuous vehemency and huge concussion29 of the spirits of the whole body, withdrawing himself in so doing with a jerking turn towards the left hand. By the body of a fox new slain30, quoth Pantagruel, what is that? This maketh nothing for your advantage; for he betokeneth thereby31 that your marriage will be inauspicious and unfortunate. This sneezing, according to the doctrine32 of Terpsion, is the Socratic demon5. If done towards the right side, it imports and portendeth that boldly and with all assurance one may go whither he will and do what he listeth, according to what deliberation he shall be pleased to have thereupon taken; his entries in the beginning, progress in his proceedings33, and success in the events and issues will be all lucky, good, and happy. The quite contrary thereto is thereby implied and presaged34 if it be done towards the left. You, quoth Panurge, do take always the matter at the worst, and continually, like another Davus, casteth in new disturbances35 and obstructions36; nor ever yet did I know this old paltry37 Terpsion worthy38 of citation39 but in points only of cosenage and imposture40. Nevertheless, quoth Pantagruel, Cicero hath written I know not what to the same purpose in his Second Book of Divination41.
Panurge then, turning himself towards Goatsnose, made this sign unto him. He inverted42 his eyelids43 upwards44, wrenched45 his jaws46 from the right to the left side, and drew forth his tongue half out of his mouth. This done, he posited47 his left hand wholly open, the mid48-finger wholly excepted, which was perpendicularly49 placed upon the palm thereof, and set it just in the room where his codpiece had been. Then did he keep his right hand altogether shut up in a fist, save only the thumb, which he straight turned backwards50 directly under the right armpit, and settled it afterwards on that most eminent51 part of the buttocks which the Arabs call the Al-Katim. Suddenly thereafter he made this interchange: he held his right hand after the manner of the left, and posited it on the place wherein his codpiece sometime was, and retaining his left hand in the form and fashion of the right, he placed it upon his Al-Katim. This altering of hands did he reiterate52 nine several times; at the last whereof he reseated his eyelids into their own first natural position. Then doing the like also with his jaws and tongue, he did cast a squinting53 look upon Goatsnose, diddering and shivering his chaps, as apes use to do nowadays, and rabbits, whilst, almost starved with hunger, they are eating oats in the sheaf.
Then was it that Goatsnose, lifting up into the air his right hand wholly open and displayed, put the thumb thereof, even close unto its first articulation54, between the two third joints55 of the middle and ring fingers, pressing about the said thumb thereof very hard with them both, and, whilst the remanent joints were contracted and shrunk in towards the wrist, he stretched forth with as much straightness as he could the fore3 and little fingers. That hand thus framed and disposed of he laid and posited upon Panurge’s navel, moving withal continually the aforesaid thumb, and bearing up, supporting, or under-propping that hand upon the above-specified fore and little fingers, as upon two legs. Thereafter did he make in this posture his hand by little and little, and by degrees and pauses, successively to mount from athwart the belly56 to the stomach, from whence he made it to ascend57 to the breast, even upwards to Panurge’s neck, still gaining ground, till, having reached his chin, he had put within the concave of his mouth his afore-mentioned thumb; then fiercely brandishing58 the whole hand, which he made to rub and grate against his nose, he heaved it further up, and made the fashion as if with the thumb thereof he would have put out his eyes. With this Panurge grew a little angry, and went about to withdraw and rid himself from this ruggedly59 untoward60 dumb devil. But Goatsnose in the meantime, prosecuting61 the intended purpose of his prognosticatory response, touched very rudely, with the above-mentioned shaking thumb, now his eyes, then his forehead, and after that the borders and corners of his cap. At last Panurge cried out, saying, Before God, master fool, if you do not let me alone, or that you will presume to vex62 me any more, you shall receive from the best hand I have a mask wherewith to cover your rascally63 scroundrel face, you paltry shitten varlet. Then said Friar John, He is deaf, and doth not understand what thou sayest unto him. Bulliballock, make sign to him of a hail of fisticuffs upon the muzzle64.
What the devil, quoth Panurge, means this busy restless fellow? What is it that this polypragmonetic ardelion to all the fiends of hell doth aim at? He hath almost thrust out mine eyes, as if he had been to poach them in a skillet with butter and eggs. By God, da jurandi, I will feast you with flirts65 and raps on the snout, interlarded with a double row of bobs and finger-fillipings! Then did he leave him in giving him by way of salvo a volley of farts for his farewell. Goatsnose, perceiving Panurge thus to slip away from him, got before him, and, by mere66 strength enforcing him to stand, made this sign unto him. He let fall his right arm toward his knee on the same side as low as he could, and, raising all the fingers of that hand into a close fist, passed his dexter thumb betwixt the foremost and mid fingers thereto belonging. Then scrubbing and swingeing a little with his left hand alongst and upon the uppermost in the very bough67 of the elbow of the said dexter arm, the whole cubit thereof, by leisure, fair and softly, at these thumpatory warnings, did raise and elevate itself even to the elbow, and above it; on a sudden did he then let it fall down as low as before, and after that, at certain intervals68 and such spaces of time, raising and abasing69 it, he made a show thereof to Panurge. This so incensed70 Panurge that he forthwith lifted his hand to have stricken him the dumb roister and given him a sound whirret on the ear, but that the respect and reverence71 which he carried to the presence of Pantagruel restrained his choler and kept his fury within bounds and limits. Then said Pantagruel, If the bare signs now vex and trouble you, how much more grievously will you be perplexed72 and disquieted73 with the real things which by them are represented and signified! All truths agree and are consonant74 with one another. This dumb fellow prophesieth and foretelleth that you will be married, cuckolded, beaten, and robbed. As for the marriage, quoth Panurge, I yield thereto, and acknowledge the verity75 of that point of his prediction; as for the rest, I utterly76 abjure77 and deny it: and believe, sir, I beseech78 you, if it may please you so to do, that in the matter of wives and horses never any man was predestinated to a better fortune than I.
1 calf | |
n.小牛,犊,幼仔,小牛皮 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 hog | |
n.猪;馋嘴贪吃的人;vt.把…占为己有,独占 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 fore | |
adv.在前面;adj.先前的;在前部的;n.前部 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 demonstration | |
n.表明,示范,论证,示威 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 demon | |
n.魔鬼,恶魔 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 melodiously | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 thighs | |
n.股,大腿( thigh的名词复数 );食用的鸡(等的)腿 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 posture | |
n.姿势,姿态,心态,态度;v.作出某种姿势 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 forefinger | |
n.食指 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 sewer | |
n.排水沟,下水道 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 severing | |
v.切断,断绝( sever的现在分词 );断,裂 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 insinuate | |
vt.含沙射影地说,暗示 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 betrothed | |
n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 wedded | |
adj.正式结婚的;渴望…的,执著于…的v.嫁,娶,(与…)结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 nuptial | |
adj.婚姻的,婚礼的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 binary | |
adj.二,双;二进制的;n.双(体);联星 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 tapers | |
(长形物体的)逐渐变窄( taper的名词复数 ); 微弱的光; 极细的蜡烛 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 kindle | |
v.点燃,着火 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 nuptials | |
n.婚礼;婚礼( nuptial的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 potent | |
adj.强有力的,有权势的;有效力的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 penurious | |
adj.贫困的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 abject | |
adj.极可怜的,卑屈的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 implored | |
恳求或乞求(某人)( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26 deities | |
n.神,女神( deity的名词复数 );神祗;神灵;神明 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27 eloquence | |
n.雄辩;口才,修辞 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
28 persuasion | |
n.劝说;说服;持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
29 concussion | |
n.脑震荡;震动 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
30 slain | |
杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的过去分词 ); (slay的过去分词) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
31 thereby | |
adv.因此,从而 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
32 doctrine | |
n.教义;主义;学说 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
33 proceedings | |
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
34 presaged | |
v.预示,预兆( presage的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
35 disturbances | |
n.骚乱( disturbance的名词复数 );打扰;困扰;障碍 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
36 obstructions | |
n.障碍物( obstruction的名词复数 );阻碍物;阻碍;阻挠 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
37 paltry | |
adj.无价值的,微不足道的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
38 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
39 citation | |
n.引用,引证,引用文;传票 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
40 imposture | |
n.冒名顶替,欺骗 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
41 divination | |
n.占卜,预测 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
42 inverted | |
adj.反向的,倒转的v.使倒置,使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
43 eyelids | |
n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 );眼睛也不眨一下;不露声色;面不改色 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
44 upwards | |
adv.向上,在更高处...以上 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
45 wrenched | |
v.(猛力地)扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 );扭伤;使感到痛苦;使悲痛 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
46 jaws | |
n.口部;嘴 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
47 posited | |
v.假定,设想,假设( posit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
48 mid | |
adj.中央的,中间的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
49 perpendicularly | |
adv. 垂直地, 笔直地, 纵向地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
50 backwards | |
adv.往回地,向原处,倒,相反,前后倒置地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
51 eminent | |
adj.显赫的,杰出的,有名的,优良的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
52 reiterate | |
v.重申,反复地说 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
53 squinting | |
斜视( squint的现在分词 ); 眯着眼睛; 瞟; 从小孔或缝隙里看 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
54 articulation | |
n.(清楚的)发音;清晰度,咬合 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
55 joints | |
接头( joint的名词复数 ); 关节; 公共场所(尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所) (非正式); 一块烤肉 (英式英语) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
56 belly | |
n.肚子,腹部;(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分,膛 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
57 ascend | |
vi.渐渐上升,升高;vt.攀登,登上 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
58 brandishing | |
v.挥舞( brandish的现在分词 );炫耀 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
59 ruggedly | |
险峻地; 粗暴地; (面容)多皱纹地; 粗线条地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
60 untoward | |
adj.不利的,不幸的,困难重重的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
61 prosecuting | |
检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 ); 对某人提起公诉; 继续从事(某事物); 担任控方律师 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
62 vex | |
vt.使烦恼,使苦恼 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
63 rascally | |
adj. 无赖的,恶棍的 adv. 无赖地,卑鄙地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
64 muzzle | |
n.鼻口部;口套;枪(炮)口;vt.使缄默 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
65 flirts | |
v.调情,打情骂俏( flirt的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
66 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
67 bough | |
n.大树枝,主枝 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
68 intervals | |
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
69 abasing | |
使谦卑( abase的现在分词 ); 使感到羞耻; 使降低(地位、身份等); 降下 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
70 incensed | |
盛怒的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
71 reverence | |
n.敬畏,尊敬,尊严;Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称;v.尊敬,敬畏,崇敬 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
72 perplexed | |
adj.不知所措的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
73 disquieted | |
v.使不安,使忧虑,使烦恼( disquiet的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
74 consonant | |
n.辅音;adj.[音]符合的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
75 verity | |
n.真实性 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
76 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
77 abjure | |
v.发誓放弃 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
78 beseech | |
v.祈求,恳求 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |