Part 5 Chapter 46

How Panurge and the rest rhymed with poetic¹ fury.

What a pox ails² the fellow? quoth Friar John. Stark³ staring mad, or bewitched, o’ my word! Do but hear the chiming dotterel gabble in rhyme. What o’ devil has he swallowed? His eyes roll in his loggerhead just for the world like a dying goat’s. Will the addle-pated wight have the grace to sheer off? Will he rid us of his damned company, to go shite out his nasty rhyming balderdash in some bog-house? Will nobody be so kind as to cram⁴ some dog’s-bur down the poor cur’s gullet? or will he, monk⁵-like, run his fist up to the elbow into his throat to his very maw, to scour⁶ and clear his flanks? Will he take a hair of the same dog?

Pantagruel chid⁷ Friar John, and said:

Bold monk, forbear! this, I’ll assure ye,

Proceeds all from poetic fury;

Warmed by the god, inspired with wine,

His human soul is made divine.

For without jest,

His hallowed breast,

With wine possessed⁸,

Could have no rest

Till he’d expressed

Some thoughts at least

Of his great guest.

Then straight he flies

Above the skies,

And mortifies⁹,

With prophecies,

Our miseries¹⁰.

And since divinely he’s inspired,

Adore the soul by wine acquired,

And let the tosspot be admired.

How, quoth the friar, the fit rhyming is upon you too? Is’t come to that? Then we are all peppered, or the devil pepper me. What will I not give to have Gargantua see us while we are in this maggotty crambo-vein! Now may I be cursed with living on that damned empty food, if I can tell whether I shall scape the catching¹¹ distemper. The devil a bit do I understand which way to go about it; however, the spirit of fustian¹² possesses us all, I find. Well, by St. John, I’ll poetize, since everybody does; I find it coming. Stay, and pray pardon me if I don’t rhyme in crimson¹³; ’tis my first essay.

Thou, who canst water turn to wine,

Transform my bum¹⁴, by power divine,

Into a lantern, that may light

My neighbour in the darkest night.

Panurge then proceeds in his rapture¹⁵, and says:

From Pythian Tripos ne’er were heard

More truths, nor more to be revered¹⁶.

I think from Delphos to this spring

Some wizard brought that conjuring¹⁷ thing.

Had honest Plutarch here been toping,

He then so long had ne’er been groping

To find, according to his wishes,

Why oracles¹⁸ are mute as fishes

At Delphos. Now the reason’s clear;

No more at Delphos they’re, but here.

Here is the tripos, out of which

Is spoke¹⁹ the doom²⁰ of poor and rich.

For Athenaeus does relate

This Bottle is the Womb of Fate;

Prolific²¹ of mysterious wine,

And big with prescience divine,

It brings the truth with pleasure forth²²;

Besides you ha’t a pennyworth.

So, Friar John, I must exhort²³ you

To wait a word that may import you,

And to inquire, while here we tarry,

If it shall be your luck to marry.

Friar John answers him in a rage, and says:

How, marry! By St. Bennet’s boot,

And his gambadoes, I’ll never do’t.

No man that knows me e’er shall judge

I mean to make myself a drudge²⁴;

Or that pilgarlic e’er will dote

Upon a paltry²⁵ petticoat.

I’ll ne’er my liberty betray

All for a little leapfrog play;

And ever after wear a clog²⁶

Like monkey or like mastiff-dog.

No, I’d not have, upon my life,

Great Alexander for my wife,

Nor Pompey, nor his dad-in-law,

Who did each other clapperclaw.

Not the best he that wears a head

Shall win me to his truckle-bed.

Panurge, pulling off his gaberdine and mystical accoutrements, replied:

Wherefore thou shalt, thou filthy²⁷ beast,

Be damned twelve fathoms²⁸ deep at least;

While I shall reign²⁹ in Paradise,

Whence on thy loggerhead I’ll piss.

Now when that dreadful hour is come,

That thou in hell receiv’st thy doom,

E’en there, I know, thou’lt play some trick,

And Proserpine shan’t scape a prick³⁰

Of the long pin within thy breeches.

But when thou’rt using these capriches,

And caterwauling in her cavern³¹,

Send Pluto³² to the farthest tavern³³

For the best wine that’s to be had,

Lest he should see, and run horn-mad.

She’s kind, and ever did admire

A well-fed monk or well-hung friar.

Go to, quoth Friar John, thou old noddy, thou doddipolled ninny, go to the devil thou’rt prating³⁴ of. I’ve done with rhyming; the rheum gripes me at the gullet. Let’s talk of paying and going; come.

1 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

2 ails   

v.生病( ail的第三人称单数 )；感到不舒服；处境困难；境况不佳

参考例句：

• He will not concede what anything ails his business. 他不允许任何事情来干扰他的工作。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Measles ails the little girl. 麻疹折磨着这个小女孩。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

4 cram   

v.填塞，塞满，临时抱佛脚，为考试而学习

参考例句：

• There was such a cram in the church.教堂里拥挤得要命。
• The room's full,we can't cram any more people in.屋里满满的，再也挤不进去人了。

5 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

6 scour   

v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷

参考例句：

• Mother made me scour the family silver.母亲让我擦洗家里的银器。
• We scoured the telephone directory for clues.我们仔细查阅电话簿以寻找线索。

7 chid   

v.责骂，责备( chide的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The nurse chid the little girl for soiling her dress. 保姆温和地责怪了那个小女孩，因为她把自己的衣裙弄脏了。 来自《用法词典》
• My refusing to eat flesh occasioned an inconvenience, and I was frequently chid for my singularity. 我不吃肉，带来种种不便，于是常因这种怪癖受到责备。 来自辞典例句

8 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

9 mortifies   

v.使受辱( mortify的第三人称单数 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等）

参考例句：

10 miseries   

n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 )；痛苦的事；穷困；常发牢骚的人

参考例句：

• They forgot all their fears and all their miseries in an instant. 他们马上忘记了一切恐惧和痛苦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• I'm suffering the miseries of unemployment. 我正为失业而痛苦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

12 fustian   

n.浮夸的；厚粗棉布

参考例句：

• Fustian can't disguise the author's meager plot.浮夸的文章掩饰不住这个作者的贫乏情节。
• His fustian shirt,sanguineflowered,trembles its Spanish tassels at his secrets.他身上穿的是件印有血红色大花的粗斜纹布衬衫，每当他吐露秘密时，西班牙式的流苏就颤悠。

13 crimson   

n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色

参考例句：

• She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
• Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。

14 bum   

n.臀部；流浪汉，乞丐；vt.乞求，乞讨

参考例句：

• A man pinched her bum on the train so she hit him.在火车上有人捏她屁股，她打了那人。
• The penniless man had to bum a ride home.那个身无分文的人只好乞求搭车回家。

15 rapture   

n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜

参考例句：

• His speech was received with rapture by his supporters.他的演说受到支持者们的热烈欢迎。
• In the midst of his rapture,he was interrupted by his father.他正欢天喜地，被他父亲打断了。

16 revered   

v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of institutions revered and respected in earlier times have become Aunt Sally for the present generation. 一些早年受到尊崇的惯例，现在已经成了这代人嘲弄的对象了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Chinese revered corn as a gift from heaven. 中国人将谷物奉为上天的恩赐。 来自辞典例句

17 conjuring   

n.魔术

参考例句：

• Paul's very good at conjuring. 保罗很会变戏法。
• The entertainer didn't fool us with his conjuring. 那个艺人变的戏法没有骗到我们。

18 oracles   

神示所( oracle的名词复数 )； 神谕； 圣贤； 哲人

参考例句：

• Do all oracles tell the truth? 是否所有的神谕都揭示真理？ 来自哲学部分
• The ancient oracles were often vague and equivocal. 古代的神谕常是意义模糊和模棱两可的。

19 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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

20 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

21 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。

22 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

23 exhort   

v.规劝，告诫

参考例句：

• The opposition can only question and exhort.反对党只能提出质问和告诫。
• This is why people exhort each other not to step into stock market.这就是为什么许多人互相告诫，不要涉足股市的原因。

24 drudge   

n.劳碌的人；v.做苦工，操劳

参考例句：

• I feel like a real drudge--I've done nothing but clean all day!我觉得自己像个做苦工的--整天都在做清洁工作！
• I'm a poor,miserable,forlorn drudge;I shall only drag you down with me.我是一个贫穷，倒运，走投无路的苦力，只会拖累你。

25 paltry   

adj.无价值的，微不足道的

参考例句：

• The parents had little interest in paltry domestic concerns.那些家长对家里鸡毛蒜皮的小事没什么兴趣。
• I'm getting angry;and if you don't command that paltry spirit of yours.我要生气了，如果你不能振作你那点元气。

26 clog   

vt.塞满，阻塞；n.[常pl.]木屐

参考例句：

• In cotton and wool processing,short length fibers may clog sewers.在棉毛生产中，短纤维可能堵塞下水管道。
• These streets often clog during the rush hour.这几条大街在交通高峰时间常常发生交通堵塞。

27 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。

28 fathoms   

英寻( fathom的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The harbour is four fathoms deep. 港深为四英寻。
• One bait was down forty fathoms. 有个鱼饵下沉到四十英寻的深处。

29 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

30 prick   

v.刺伤，刺痛，刺孔；n.刺伤，刺痛

参考例句：

• He felt a sharp prick when he stepped on an upturned nail.当他踩在一个尖朝上的钉子上时，他感到剧烈的疼痛。
• He burst the balloon with a prick of the pin.他用针一戳，气球就爆了。

31 cavern   

n.洞穴，大山洞

参考例句：

• The cavern walls echoed his cries.大山洞的四壁回响着他的喊声。
• It suddenly began to shower,and we took refuge in the cavern.天突然下起雨来，我们在一个山洞里避雨。

32 Pluto   

n.冥王星

参考例句：

• Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun.冥王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Pluto has an elliptic orbit.冥王星的轨道是椭圆形的。

33 tavern   

n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店

参考例句：

• There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。
• Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。

34 prating   

v.（古时用语）唠叨，啰唆( prate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Listen to him prating on about nothing. 听他瞎唠叨。 来自辞典例句
• He is always prating about her wealthy relations, if anybody cared. 他总是对别人炫耀她的阔亲戚，好像别人对此感兴趣似的。 来自互联网