in and out between his leers as he strode along; the street. At first, Gargantua took the crowd good-naturedly enough. By and by, he began to think that all this
GARGANTUA ENTERS PARIS.
squeezing and tickling were getting just a little tiresome. He looked around in a helpless sort of way, until, by good luck, his eyes fell on the tall towers of Notre Dame Cathedral, near by. ' Ha ! ha ! that's the very place for me,' he cried, and, without further ado, resting one hand on the top of the roof to steady himself, he went whizzing with a great leap past the statues of Adam and Eve, that looked wonderingly out from their stony niches. The idle crowd was afraid to follow Gar-gantua; but it stood packed up close together in the open space which surrounded the old church, gazing at him as he went through the air, and wondering all the time what the Giant was going to do with their famous towers. It was not long before they found out. No sooner was he on the roof than Gargantua caught sight of the great tanks filled with water which were then to be found there. Chuckling to himself, he cried : ' Xow for some fun ! I shall pledge this good people of Paris in a glass of wine.' Up he caught one of the tanks, poised it for a moment in the air, and then shouting out: ' To your health, good folks!' tipped it just a bit. Down poured its water in a full stream. Then he threw the tank after it. Quick, before one could think or breathe, the others followed. So sudden was the down-pour of water that the people thought a tremendous water-spout, in passing over their city, had burst upon them. Two hundred and sixty thousand, four hundred and eighteen persons were drowned on that day by the water, or crushed by the tanks, or killed by being run over by those seeking to escape. Those who were lucky got away as fast as they could. In less than three minutes the square was empty, for the water, as it rolled out into the streets, washed all the dead away.
Garsrantua, who was a good-hearted Giant, little knew what mischief he had done. After he had emptied all the tanks, and thrown them away, he ceased to think about the people. He had only gone on the roof to rid himself of the buzzing and nudging of the crowd; and, not hearing any more from them, he set about amusing himself. When he caught sight of the great bells of Notre Dame, a happy idea struck him. He would set them to ringing and pealing ! Ah, how he was charmed J their notes were so soft, so rich, so mellow, so tender, so golden ! He wanted to have the bells about him all the time. Just then he thought: ' These Parisians deserve a lesson for their bad manners, and
I am going to revenge myself.' So he at once began to pick up the bells, one after the other, as if they were so many buckets. When he had gathered them all, he leaped down from the roof and strode across the city in the direction of his hotel. Once there, a merry thought came to him, which made him drop the bells and clap
THE CITY WAS EXCITED
his thighs with a sound that brought all the good wives of Paris — or those that remained after the affair of the tanks — to their windows.
'' Ho ! ho ! ho ! I have it now ! I shall keep my beautiful bells to please my father, and pay the Parisians, all at the same time. I send my mare home to-morrow. Every little donkey nowadays wears a collar with jingling bells. My Mare shall carry at her neck the bells of Notre Dame ! '
Gargantua went straight to the stable where his Mare had already found her fodder, and, with great care, while Gymnaste, his squire, held the candle, placed the bells of Notre Dame, one by one, around her neck. The city was greatly excited at the loss of the bells ; and, the next day, there came a long line of grave, black-robed men who proved to him in learned speeches that the holy church of Notre Dame had a right to her own bells. Gargantua, now that all the excitement had passed, felt that he had done a very silly thing, and could only say that the bells were not lost; but that if their worships would go to the stable, they would find them still hanging from the neck of his great Mare. After further talk, and much good drinking, the grave, black-robed men — who, if the whole truth were to be told, were not a little afraid of the Giant—picked up heart to say : ' Give us back our bells, and we shall bind ourselves to give your Mare free grazing in the forest of Biere, so long as Your Highness honors us with your presence.'
Gargantua was very willing to accept this offer. The bells were taken back in great state to Notre Dame, where — God bless them ! — they may be seen, and heard too, when the sun shines and when the rain falls, to this very day.
CHAPTER X.
PONOCRATES, THE NEW TEACHER, DESIRES GARGANTUA TO SHOW HIM HOW HE USED TO STUDY WITH OLD MASTER HOLOFERNES.
GARGANTUA was a good son, as we have already seen. He knew that he had been sent to Paris to learn Latin. So, after a few days of pleasure, he dutifully offered to begin a course of study with his new teacher, Po- nocrates. But Ponocrates himself was just a little curious to know how old Master Holofernes had managed to teach his big pupil so as to leave him, after fifty-three years, ten months, and ten days, just as much a booby as he had found him. 'Let Your Highness,' Ponocrates said, ' do precisely as you used to do with your old master.' And Gargantua, greatly relieved, as you may imagine, began to live in Paris the very life he used to live at home. And this is the way he lived. He woke up between eight and nine o'clock every morning, whether it was light or not. The first thing he did after waking was to make a tent of the sheets of the bed, raising one of his tall legs as the centre-pole and watching how the big sheet fell on either side. After the tent was brought down, Gargantua would begin to gambol and roll around in his bed, to stand on his head, to twist his huge limbs in every sort of twirl, and to turn any number of somersaults, single, double, treble, and quadruple, in a way that would make one of our modern acrobats turn green with envy. After that he would rise and dress himself according to the season. But, in the old home days, he generally wore a large robe of rough cloth, lined with fox-skins, and so he brought out of his trunk the very garment itself, looking rather worn and shabby. The next thing was to comb his head with a ' German comb,' which was the name given in those days to the easiest way of combing, since it meant a comb made by the four fingers and the thumb. For old Master Holofernes had always enjoined this habit on him, saying that it _._. was a waste of time for him to smooth his hair in any other way, and with any better co
Being now dressed, Gargantua went through a series of performances which — considering that they came from a Giant — must have been very startling, indeed. He gaped, stretched, coughed, spit, groaned, sneezed, hiccoughed, and then, with a broad smile, declared himself ready to breakfast on fried tripe, grilled steaks, colossal hams, magnificent roast, and a noble soup. All this feast was made hot with mustard, shovelled down his throat by four of his servants.
Master Ponocrates, one day, thought it his duty, as the teacher charged with the education of his royal pupil, to suggest that it was hardly right for him to eat so heavy a breakfast without having already taken some exercise. Gargantua was ready with his answer.
'How can you say so, Master?' he asked ; 'have I not exercised
GARGANTUA GETS UP.
enough ? Have I not stretched myself on the bed in all sorts of ways until my muscles are sore ? Isn't that enough? Pope Alexander the V. used to do the same, by the advice of his Jewish doctor, and he lived, as you know, until he died. I feel very well from my break-fast, and am already
GARGANTUA BREAKFASTS.
beginning to think of my dinner.'
- Ponocrates must have been satisfied with this little speech of his pupil; for, after grumbling a bit under his breath, all that he did was to stroke his long beard in deep thought, while he asked himself in wonder: 'How did the
