A continuation of Shrovetide’s countenance1.
’Tis a wonderful thing, continued Xenomanes, to hear and see the state of Shrovetide.
If he chanced to spit, it was whole When he trembled, it was large
basketsful of goldfinches. venison pasties.
If he blowed his nose, it was When he did sweat, it was old
pickled grigs. ling with butter sauce.
When he wept, it was ducks with When he belched2, it was bushels
onion sauce. of oysters3.
When he sneezed, it was whole When he muttered, it was lawyers’
tubfuls of mustard. revels4.
When he coughed, it was boxes When he hopped5 about, it was
of marmalade. letters of licence and protec-
When he sobbed6, it was water-tions.
cresses. When he stepped back, it was
When he yawned, it was potfuls sea cockle-shells.
of pickled peas. When he slabbered, it was com-
When he sighed, it was dried mon ovens.
neats’ tongues. When he was hoarse7, it was an
When he whistled, it was a whole entry of morrice-dancers.
scuttleful of green apes. When he broke wind, it was dun
When he snored, it was a whole cows’ leather spatterdashes.
panful of fried beans. When he funked, it was washed-
When he frowned, it was soused leather boots.
hogs’ feet. When he scratched himself, it
When he spoke8, it was coarse was new proclamations.
brown russet cloth; so little When he sung, it was peas in
it was like crimson9 silk, with cods10.
which Parisatis desired that When he evacuated11, it was mush-
the words of such as spoke to rooms and morilles.
her son Cyrus, King of Persia, When he puffed12, it was cabbages
should be interwoven. with oil, alias13 caules amb’olif.
When he blowed, it was indulg-When he talked, it was the last
ence money-boxes. year’s snow.
When he winked14, it was buttered When he dreamt, it was of a
buns. cock and a bull.
When he grumbled15, it was March When he gave nothing, so much
cats. for the bearer.
When he nodded, it was iron-If he thought to himself, it was
bound waggons16. whimsies17 and maggots.
When he made mouths, it was If he dozed18, it was leases of lands.
broken staves.
What is yet more strange, he used to work doing nothing, and did nothing though he worked; caroused19 sleeping, and slept carousing20, with his eyes open, like the hares in our country, for fear of being taken napping by the Chitterlings, his inveterate21 enemies; biting he laughed, and laughing bit; eat nothing fasting, and fasted eating nothing; mumbled22 upon suspicion, drank by imagination, swam on the tops of high steeples, dried his clothes in ponds and rivers, fished in the air, and there used to catch decumane lobsters23; hunted at the bottom of the herring-pond, and caught there ibexes, stamboucs, chamois, and other wild goats; used to put out the eyes of all the crows which he took sneakingly; feared nothing but his own shadow and the cries of fat kids; used to gad24 abroad some days, like a truant25 schoolboy; played with the ropes of bells on festival days of saints; made a mallet26 of his fist, and writ27 on hairy parchment prognostications and almanacks with his huge pin-case.
Is that the gentleman? said Friar John. He is my man; this is the very fellow I looked for. I will send him a challenge immediately. This is, said Pantagruel, a strange and monstrous28 sort of man, if I may call him a man. You put me in mind of the form and looks of Amodunt and Dissonance. How were they made? said Friar John. May I be peeled like a raw onion if ever I heard a word of them. I’ll tell you what I read of them in some ancient apologues, replied Pantagruel.
Physis — that is to say, Nature — at her first burthen begat Beauty and Harmony without carnal copulation, being of herself very fruitful and prolific29. Antiphysis, who ever was the counter part of Nature, immediately, out of a malicious30 spite against her for her beautiful and honourable31 productions, in opposition32 begot33 Amodunt and Dissonance by copulation with Tellumon. Their heads were round like a football, and not gently flatted on both sides, like the common shape of men. Their ears stood pricked34 up like those of asses35; their eyes, as hard as those of crabs36, and without brows, stared out of their heads, fixed37 on bones like those of our heels; their feet were round like tennis-balls; their arms and hands turned backwards38 towards their shoulders; and they walked on their heads, continually turning round like a ball, topsy-turvy, heels over head.
Yet — as you know that apes esteem39 their young the handsomest in the world — Antiphysis extolled40 her offspring, and strove to prove that their shape was handsomer and neater than that of the children of Physis, saying that thus to have spherical41 heads and feet, and walk in a circular manner, wheeling round, had something in it of the perfection of the divine power, which makes all beings eternally turn in that fashion; and that to have our feet uppermost, and the head below them, was to imitate the Creator of the universe; the hair being like the roots, and the legs like the branches of man; for trees are better planted by their roots than they could be by their branches. By this demonstration42 she implied that her children were much more to be praised for being like a standing43 tree, than those of Physis, that made a figure of a tree upside down. As for the arms and hands, she pretended to prove that they were more justly turned towards the shoulders, because that part of body ought not to be without defence, while the forepart is duly fenced with teeth, which a man cannot only use to chew, but also to defend himself against those things that offend him. Thus, by the testimony44 and astipulation of the brute45 beasts, she drew all the witless herd46 and mob of fools into her opinion, and was admired by all brainless and nonsensical people.
Since that, she begot the hypocritical tribes of eavesdropping47 dissemblers, superstitious48 pope-mongers, and priest-ridden bigots, the frantic49 Pistolets, (the demoniacal Calvins, impostors of Geneva,) the scrapers of benefices, apparitors with the devil in them, and other grinders and squeezers of livings, herb-stinking hermits50, gulligutted dunces of the cowl, church vermin, false zealots, devourers of the substance of men, and many more other deformed51 and ill-favoured monsters, made in spite of nature.
1 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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2 belched | |
v.打嗝( belch的过去式和过去分词 );喷出,吐出;打(嗝);嗳(气) | |
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3 oysters | |
牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 ) | |
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4 revels | |
n.作乐( revel的名词复数 );狂欢;着迷;陶醉v.作乐( revel的第三人称单数 );狂欢;着迷;陶醉 | |
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5 hopped | |
跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 ); 单足蹦跳; 齐足(或双足)跳行; 摘葎草花 | |
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6 sobbed | |
哭泣,啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 ); 哭诉,呜咽地说 | |
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7 hoarse | |
adj.嘶哑的,沙哑的 | |
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8 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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9 crimson | |
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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10 cods | |
n.鳕鱼(cod的复数形式)v.哄骗,愚弄(cod的第三人称单数形式) | |
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11 evacuated | |
撤退者的 | |
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12 puffed | |
adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 );喷着汽(或烟)移动;吹嘘;吹捧 | |
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13 alias | |
n.化名;别名;adv.又名 | |
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14 winked | |
v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 );递眼色(表示友好或高兴等);(指光)闪烁;闪亮 | |
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15 grumbled | |
抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 发牢骚; 咕哝; 发哼声 | |
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16 waggons | |
四轮的运货马车( waggon的名词复数 ); 铁路货车; 小手推车 | |
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17 whimsies | |
n.怪念头( whimsy的名词复数 );异想天开;怪脾气;与众不同的幽默感 | |
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18 dozed | |
v.打盹儿,打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19 caroused | |
v.痛饮,闹饮欢宴( carouse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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20 carousing | |
v.痛饮,闹饮欢宴( carouse的现在分词 ) | |
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21 inveterate | |
adj.积习已深的,根深蒂固的 | |
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22 mumbled | |
含糊地说某事,叽咕,咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23 lobsters | |
龙虾( lobster的名词复数 ); 龙虾肉 | |
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24 gad | |
n.闲逛;v.闲逛 | |
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25 truant | |
n.懒惰鬼,旷课者;adj.偷懒的,旷课的,游荡的;v.偷懒,旷课 | |
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26 mallet | |
n.槌棒 | |
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27 writ | |
n.命令状,书面命令 | |
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28 monstrous | |
adj.巨大的;恐怖的;可耻的,丢脸的 | |
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29 prolific | |
adj.丰富的,大量的;多产的,富有创造力的 | |
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30 malicious | |
adj.有恶意的,心怀恶意的 | |
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31 honourable | |
adj.可敬的;荣誉的,光荣的 | |
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32 opposition | |
n.反对,敌对 | |
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33 begot | |
v.为…之生父( beget的过去式 );产生,引起 | |
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34 pricked | |
刺,扎,戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 ); 刺伤; 刺痛; 使剧痛 | |
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35 asses | |
n. 驴,愚蠢的人,臀部 adv. (常用作后置)用于贬损或骂人 | |
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36 crabs | |
n.蟹( crab的名词复数 );阴虱寄生病;蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 ) | |
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37 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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38 backwards | |
adv.往回地,向原处,倒,相反,前后倒置地 | |
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39 esteem | |
n.尊敬,尊重;vt.尊重,敬重;把…看作 | |
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40 extolled | |
v.赞颂,赞扬,赞美( extol的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41 spherical | |
adj.球形的;球面的 | |
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42 demonstration | |
n.表明,示范,论证,示威 | |
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43 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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44 testimony | |
n.证词;见证,证明 | |
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45 brute | |
n.野兽,兽性 | |
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46 herd | |
n.兽群,牧群;vt.使集中,把…赶在一起 | |
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47 eavesdropping | |
n. 偷听 | |
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48 superstitious | |
adj.迷信的 | |
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49 frantic | |
adj.狂乱的,错乱的,激昂的 | |
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50 hermits | |
(尤指早期基督教的)隐居修道士,隐士,遁世者( hermit的名词复数 ) | |
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51 deformed | |
adj.畸形的;变形的;丑的,破相了的 | |
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