How Pantagruel did put himself in a readiness to go to sea; and of the herb named Pantagruelion.
Within very few days after that Pantagruel had taken his leave of the good Gargantua, who devoutly1 prayed for his son’s happy voyage, he arrived at the seaport2, near to Sammalo, accompanied with Panurge, Epistemon, Friar John of the Funnels3, Abbot of Theleme, and others of the royal house, especially with Xenomanes the great traveller and thwarter of dangerous ways, who was come at the bidding and appointment of Panurge, of whose castlewick of Salmigondin he did hold some petty inheritance by the tenure4 of a mesne fee. Pantagruel, being come thither5, prepared and made ready for launching a fleet of ships, to the number of those which Ajax of Salamine had of old equipped in convoy6 of the Grecian soldiery against the Trojan state. He likewise picked out for his use so many mariners7, pilots, sailors, interpreters, artificers, officers, and soldiers, as he thought fitting, and therewithal made provision of so much victuals8 of all sorts, artillery9, munition10 of divers11 kinds, clothes, moneys, and other such luggage, stuff, baggage, chaffer, and furniture, as he deemed needful for carrying on the design of a so tedious, long, and perilous12 voyage. Amongst other things, it was observed how he caused some of his vessels13 to be fraught14 and loaded with a great quantity of an herb of his called Pantagruelion, not only of the green and raw sort of it, but of the confected also, and of that which was notably15 well befitted for present use after the fashion of conserves16. The herb Pantagruelion hath a little root somewhat hard and rough, roundish, terminating in an obtuse17 and very blunt point, and having some of its veins18, strings19, or filaments20 coloured with some spots of white, never fixeth itself into the ground above the profoundness almost of a cubit, or foot and a half. From the root thereof proceedeth the only stalk, orbicular, cane-like, green without, whitish within, and hollow like the stem of smyrnium, olus atrum, beans, and gentian, full of long threads, straight, easy to be broken, jagged, snipped21, nicked, and notched22 a little after the manner of pillars and columns, slightly furrowed23, chamfered, guttered24, and channelled, and full of fibres, or hairs like strings, in which consisteth the chief value and dignity of the herb, especially in that part thereof which is termed mesa, as he would say the mean, and in that other, which hath got the denomination25 of milasea. Its height is commonly of five or six foot. Yet sometimes it is of such a tall growth as doth surpass the length of a lance, but that is only when it meeteth with a sweet, easy, warm, wet, and well-soaked soil — as is the ground of the territory of Olone, and that of Rasea, near to Preneste in Sabinia — and that it want not for rain enough about the season of the fishers’ holidays and the estival solstice. There are many trees whose height is by it very far exceeded, and you might call it dendromalache by the authority of Theophrastus. The plant every year perisheth,— the tree neither in the trunk, root, bark, or boughs26 being durable27.
From the stalk of this Pantagruelian plant there issue forth28 several large and great branches, whose leaves have thrice as much length as breadth, always green, roughish, and rugged29 like the orcanet, or Spanish bugloss, hardish, slit30 round about like unto a sickle31, or as the saxifragum, betony, and finally ending as it were in the points of a Macedonian spear, or of such a lancet as surgeons commonly make use of in their phlebotomizing tiltings. The figure and shape of the leaves thereof is not much different from that of those of the ash-tree, or of agrimony; the herb itself being so like the Eupatorian plant that many skilful32 herbalists have called it the Domestic Eupator, and the Eupator the Wild Pantagruelion. These leaves are in equal and parallel distances spread around the stalk by the number in every rank either of five or seven, nature having so highly favoured and cherished this plant that she hath richly adorned33 it with these two odd, divine, and mysterious numbers. The smell thereof is somewhat strong, and not very pleasing to nice, tender, and delicate noses. The seed enclosed therein mounteth up to the very top of its stalk, and a little above it.
This is a numerous herb; for there is no less abundance of it than of any other whatsoever34. Some of these plants are spherical35, some rhomboid, and some of an oblong shape, and all of those either black, bright-coloured, or tawny36, rude to the touch, and mantled37 with a quickly-blasted-away coat, yet such a one as is of a delicious taste and savour to all shrill38 and sweetly-singing birds, such as linnets, goldfinches, larks39, canary birds, yellow-hammers, and others of that airy chirping40 choir41; but it would quite extinguish the natural heat and procreative virtue42 of the semence of any man who would eat much and often of it. And although that of old amongst the Greeks there was certain kinds of fritters and pancakes, buns and tarts43, made thereof, which commonly for a liquorish daintiness were presented on the table after supper to delight the palate and make the wine relish44 the better; yet is it of a difficult concoction45, and offensive to the stomach. For it engendereth bad and unwholesome blood, and with its exorbitant46 heat woundeth them with grievous, hurtful, smart, and noisome47 vapours. And, as in divers plants and trees there are two sexes, male and female, which is perceptible in laurels48, palms, cypresses49, oaks, holms, the daffodil, mandrake, fern, the agaric, mushroom, birthwort, turpentine, pennyroyal, peony, rose of the mount, and many other such like, even so in this herb there is a male which beareth no flower at all, yet it is very copious50 of and abundant in seed. There is likewise in it a female, which hath great store and plenty of whitish flowers, serviceable to little or no purpose, nor doth it carry in it seed of any worth at all, at least comparable to that of the male. It hath also a larger leaf, and much softer than that of the male, nor doth it altogether grow to so great a height. This Pantagruelion is to be sown at the first coming of the swallows, and is to be plucked out of the ground when the grasshoppers51 begin to be a little hoarse52.
1 devoutly | |
adv.虔诚地,虔敬地,衷心地 | |
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2 seaport | |
n.海港,港口,港市 | |
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3 funnels | |
漏斗( funnel的名词复数 ); (轮船,火车等的)烟囱 | |
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4 tenure | |
n.终身职位;任期;(土地)保有权,保有期 | |
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5 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
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6 convoy | |
vt.护送,护卫,护航;n.护送;护送队 | |
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7 mariners | |
海员,水手(mariner的复数形式) | |
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8 victuals | |
n.食物;食品 | |
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9 artillery | |
n.(军)火炮,大炮;炮兵(部队) | |
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10 munition | |
n.军火;军需品;v.给某部门提供军火 | |
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11 divers | |
adj.不同的;种种的 | |
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12 perilous | |
adj.危险的,冒险的 | |
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13 vessels | |
n.血管( vessel的名词复数 );船;容器;(具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的)人 | |
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14 fraught | |
adj.充满…的,伴有(危险等)的;忧虑的 | |
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15 notably | |
adv.值得注意地,显著地,尤其地,特别地 | |
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16 conserves | |
n.(含有大块或整块水果的)果酱,蜜饯( conserve的名词复数 )v.保护,保藏,保存( conserve的第三人称单数 ) | |
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17 obtuse | |
adj.钝的;愚钝的 | |
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18 veins | |
n.纹理;矿脉( vein的名词复数 );静脉;叶脉;纹理 | |
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19 strings | |
n.弦 | |
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20 filaments | |
n.(电灯泡的)灯丝( filament的名词复数 );丝极;细丝;丝状物 | |
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21 snipped | |
v.剪( snip的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22 notched | |
a.有凹口的,有缺口的 | |
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23 furrowed | |
v.犁田,开沟( furrow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24 guttered | |
vt.形成沟或槽于…(gutter的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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25 denomination | |
n.命名,取名,(度量衡、货币等的)单位 | |
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26 boughs | |
大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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27 durable | |
adj.持久的,耐久的 | |
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28 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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29 rugged | |
adj.高低不平的,粗糙的,粗壮的,强健的 | |
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30 slit | |
n.狭长的切口;裂缝;vt.切开,撕裂 | |
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31 sickle | |
n.镰刀 | |
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32 skilful | |
(=skillful)adj.灵巧的,熟练的 | |
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33 adorned | |
[计]被修饰的 | |
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34 whatsoever | |
adv.(用于否定句中以加强语气)任何;pron.无论什么 | |
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35 spherical | |
adj.球形的;球面的 | |
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36 tawny | |
adj.茶色的,黄褐色的;n.黄褐色 | |
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37 mantled | |
披着斗篷的,覆盖着的 | |
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38 shrill | |
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫 | |
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39 larks | |
n.百灵科鸟(尤指云雀)( lark的名词复数 );一大早就起床;鸡鸣即起;(因太费力而不想干时说)算了v.百灵科鸟(尤指云雀)( lark的第三人称单数 );一大早就起床;鸡鸣即起;(因太费力而不想干时说)算了 | |
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40 chirping | |
鸟叫,虫鸣( chirp的现在分词 ) | |
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41 choir | |
n.唱诗班,唱诗班的席位,合唱团,舞蹈团;v.合唱 | |
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42 virtue | |
n.德行,美德;贞操;优点;功效,效力 | |
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43 tarts | |
n.果馅饼( tart的名词复数 );轻佻的女人;妓女;小妞 | |
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44 relish | |
n.滋味,享受,爱好,调味品;vt.加调味料,享受,品味;vi.有滋味 | |
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45 concoction | |
n.调配(物);谎言 | |
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46 exorbitant | |
adj.过分的;过度的 | |
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47 noisome | |
adj.有害的,可厌的 | |
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48 laurels | |
n.桂冠,荣誉 | |
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49 cypresses | |
n.柏属植物,柏树( cypress的名词复数 ) | |
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50 copious | |
adj.丰富的,大量的 | |
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51 grasshoppers | |
n.蚱蜢( grasshopper的名词复数 );蝗虫;蚂蚱;(孩子)矮小的 | |
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52 hoarse | |
adj.嘶哑的,沙哑的 | |
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