drink thereof, if it please them not; but if they have a mind to it, and that the wine prove agreeable to the taste of their worshipful worships, let them drink, frankly, freely, and boldly, without paying anything, and spare it not. This is my decree. And let none fear there shall be any want of wine, as at the marriage of Cana in Galilee; for just as much as you draw forth at the faucet, so much shall I turn in at the bung. Thus shall the barrel remain inexhaustible; it hath a lively spring and perpetual current. Such was the beverage contained within the cup of Tantalus -which was figuratively represented among the Brahmin sages. Such was in Iberia the mountain of salt, so celebrated by Cato. Such was the branch of gold consecrated to the subterranean goddess, so celebrated by Virgil. It is a true cornucopia of joyousness and raillery. If at any time it seem to you to be emptied to the very lees, yet shall it not for all that be drawn wholly dry. Good hope remains there at the bottom, as in Pandora's bottle; and not despair, as in the tubs of the Danaids. PANURGE'S PRAISES OF PRODIGALITY. Pantagruel assigned to Panurge the Chatellenie of Salmigondin, which was yearly worth 6,789,106,789 royals of certain rent, besides the uncertain revenue of cockchafers and snails, amounting, one year with another, to the value of 2,435,768, or 2,435,769 French crowns of Berry. Sometimes it did amount to 1,234,554,321 seraphs, when it was a good year, and cockchafers and snails in request; but that was not every year. Now the new Chatelain ruled himself so well and prudently, that in less than fourteen days he wasted and dilapidated all the certain and uncertain revenue of his Chatellenie for three whole years. Yet did not he dilapidate it, as you might say, in founding of monasteries, building of churches, erecting of colleges and hospitals, or casting his bacon to the dogs; but spent it in a thousand little banquets and joyous festivals, keeping open house for all comers; yea, to all good fellows, young girls, and dainty maidens; felling timber, burning the great logs for the sale of the ashes, borrowing money beforehand, buying dear, selling cheap, and eating his corn in the blade. Pantagruel, being advertised of the affair, was in no way offended, angry, nor sorry; for I have already told you, and say it again, that he was the best, little, great goodman that ever girded a sword to his side. He took all things in good part, and interpreted every action to the best sense. He never disquieted himself; he was never scandalised. And he would have abandoned the divine manor of reason, if he had been grieved or afflicted. For all the goods that the heaven covereth, and that the earth containeth, in all their dimensions of height, depth, breadth, and length, are not worthy of disturbing our affections, our senses and spirits. He only drew Panurge aside, and sweetly represented to him that, if he should continue to live thus, it would prove altogether impossible, or at least difficult, at any time to make him rich. "Rich?" answered Panurge; "have you fixed your thoughts there? Have you undertaken the task to enrich me in this world? Set your mind to live merrily in the name of God and good folks. Let no other cark nor care be harboured within the sacro-sanctified domicile of your celestial brain! May the tranquillity thereof be never troubled by any clouds of imagination edged with trouble and worry. For if you live joyful, merry, jocund, and glad, I cannot be but rich enough. Everybody cries up thrift, thrift, but many speak of thrift who know not what belongs to it. "It is by me that they must be advised. From me, therefore, you shall take this advertisement, that what is imputed to me for a vice hath been done in imitation of the University and Parliament of Paris, places in which is to be found the true spring and source of the lively idea of pantheology, and all manner of justice. Heretic is he who doubteth thereof, and doth not firmly believe it. Yet they in one day eat up their bishop, or the revenue of the bishopric-is it not all one?— for a whole year; yea, sometimes for two. This is done on the day he makes his entry, and is installed. Nor is there any place for an excuse; for he cannot avoid it, unless he would be instantly stoned for his parsimony. It hath also been esteemed an act flowing from the habit of the four cardinal virtues. "Of Prudence, in borrowing money beforehand; for none knows what may fall out. Who is able to tell if the world shall last yet three years? But although it should continue longer, is there any man so foolish as to have the confidence to promise himself three years? 'Onc homme n'eust les dieux tant bien à main, "Of Commutative Justice, in buying dear, I say, upon trust, and selling cheap, that is, for ready money. What says Cato in his 'Book of Husbandry' to this purpose? The father of a family, says he, must be a perpetual seller; by which means it is impossible but that at last he shall become rich if always lasts the shop. "Of Distributive Justice it doth partake, in giving entertainment to good, yea, good and gentle fellows, whom fortune had shipwrecked, like Ulysses, on the Rock of Good Appetite without provisions; and likewise to good girls, yea, good, and young, yea, young. For according to the sentence of Hippocrates, Youth is impatient of hunger, chiefly if it be vigorous, lively, frolic, brisk, stirring, and bouncing. "Of Fortitude, by the cutting down of the great trees, like a second Milo making havoc of the dark forest, serving for shelter to wolves, wild boars, and foxes; receptacles for robbers and murderers, lurking holes for cut-throats, workshops for coiners, and retreats for heretics; laying the woods even and level with the fields and heaths, playing hautboys and bagpipes, and preparing seats for the night of judgment. "Of Temperance, in eating my corn whilst it was but grass, like a hermit feeding on salad and roots, enfranchising myself from sensual appetites, so that I might spare for the lame and suffering. "In taking this course I save the expense of weeders, who gain money; of reapers, who drink lustily, and without water; of gleaners, who will expect their cakes; of threshers, who leave no garlic, onions, or shallot in our gardens, by the authority of Thestilis in Virgil; and of the millers, who are commonly thieves; and of the bakers, who |