dinner. Nothing could be finer than the feasting of this good people ; but Pantagruel, anxious to catch the good wind which was then springing up, only stayed for this grand dinner. Before leaving, he had his men to bring on shore nine pieces of cloth of gold, which he presented to
THE MAYOR RODE UP.
his entertainers; filled the poor-box of the church with gold; scattered sweetmeats among the children; and ordered much money to be given to the servants who had waited on them at table.
Out at sea once more, they sailed on for several days without incident. One day, however, when they were at table eating, drinking, and telling stories, Pantagruel went on deck to look at the sea. After looking out a while, he began to turn his great ears towards the sky, and it was then he called out, 'Do you hear nothing, gentlemen?
It seems to me some people are talking above us, yet I can see no one. Listen ! ' So the whole company got up from the table, ran on deck,
ENTERING THE FROZEN SEA.
and set to cocking up their eyes and clapping their hands to their ears; but all would not do ; they could neither see nor hear anything. Pantagruel, standing with his eyes still looking up, continued to hear the voices. At last some sharp-eared fellow cried, 'I think I hear something.' Then, all at once, every man on board began to cry out that he could plainly hear voices of men and neighing of horses; but, as nothing could be seen, everybody was mightily frightened, and Panurge worse than all. Nothing would do him but to beg Friar John to stay by him, saying that they were all undone, and that there was no fooling with the devil. ' We are undone,' he whimpered. ' Just listen to those guns. Let's flee ! There are our sails and oars ; why can't we use them ? I never was brave at sea; not that I am afraid ! Oh, no ! for I fear nothing but danger, that I don't! We are all dead men; get off! get off!'
Pantagruel, hearing all this noise, called out, without turning
A SHOWER OF FROZEN WORDS.
about, 'Who talks of fleeing? Let us see, rather, who these people may be; they may be friends. I can discover nothing, though I can see, with my eyes, a hundred miles around.' Just then, James Brayer
LANDING ON THE ROCKS.
came up, as if he had something important on his mind, and said, ' Have no fear, my lord ; I can make all this clear. 'We are on the confines of the Frozen Sea. At the beginning of last winter, a great and bloody battle was fought not far from here. Then the words and shouts of the men; the hacking and clashing of battle-axes ; the jostling of armor; the neighing of horses, and all the noise and din. of battle, froze in the air; and now, the winter being over, and the summer having come, all these sounds have melted, and we can hear them.'
Pantagruel, who at first had thought it to be witchcraft, which he hated above all things, of a sudden cried out,
'Why, sure enough, here are some tumbling down that are not yet thawed ! '
He then threw on deck a handful of what seemed to be rough sugar-plums, but which were, in fact, frozen words. Everybody —
MASTER OASTER.
even Panurge, who, by this time had plucked up heart, on hearing what James Brayer had said — ran here and there, picking up the sugar-plums. Pantagruel was sure that he had never seen, in all his travels, anything quite so odd as these sugar-plums; for many of them melted almost before he could throw them down, leaving his hand all wet with water; while his ears were stunned from below by the awful shouts and groans of men, the whistling of bullets, the heavy boom of cannon, and the wild, shrill neighing of war-horses, which all came out as those queer sugar-plums melted on deck.
The next day Pantagruel went ashore on a rugged, craggy, barren island, where cocks are never heard to crow, and where lived Gaster, the first Master of Arts in the world. Being himself a scholar, he wanted to make the acquaintance of the First Master of Arts. He found him a most wonderful and despotic old king, who talked with every one by signs, for he could not hear, having been born without ears. Gaster never bothered himself for anybody's comfort or convenience but his own, and Pautagruel soon noticed that no one ever tried to reason with him. At his smallest sign, all present, whether courtiers or foreigners, anxiously inquired what was his will, and hurried off, running themselves out of breath, and knocking each other over in their hurry to do what he wanted. Pantagruel watched Master Gaster very closely, in order to see if he deserved his great name for learning. He was not long in finding out that the old o-lutton, being a great lover of corn, had invented machines for cultivating it, and many mills for grinding it fine and white ; also recipes for baking it into delicious loaves and cakes, for Master Gaster made signs that nothing put him into a greater passion than heavy bread. He also had a knowledge of many curious arts that he had studied out for the preservation of his beloved corn, — such as keeping the rain up in the air, and how to coax it down just at the time it was wanted ; also a way to destroy the hail, and prevent the winds from blowing, and to crush the storms, and a thousand other wonderful things.
Master Epistemon was greatly interested in all these fine inventions, and prevailed upon Pantagruel to stay much longer than he wished, for this First Master of Arts, with all his wisdom, had very rude manners. Pantagruel, not being very skilful, as we already know, in talking by signs, got so tired after a while that he couldn't put up with it any longer ; so he turned his broad back upon the greedy old man, and gave the order to go on board.
Not long after they were under way the wind fell, so that there was not a capful in all the sails of the fleet. Pantagruel's ship could
THE ISLE OF GAUABIM.
hardly get along, although James Brayer kept tacking all the time. Everybody was put out of sorts by this accident, and moped about,
SHARP ISLAND
John marched might be doing.
scarcely speaking a word to each other. Pantagruel nodded over his book on the quarter-deck; Panurge idly played with a piece of rope, pulling it about with his teeth ; while Friar off to the pantry, to see what the cook After two or three hours in the galley, John, puffing and blowing, to Pantagruel, here came Friar upstairs. Finding him awake, he asked : —
'Will Your Highness be so kind as to tell us how a man can kill time and raise a good wind at sea ?'
Pantagruel gave a yawn, and said, half-laughing, ' A good dinner will kill time quicker than anything else, as you, my good Friar John, better than most men, know. Have dinner served ! Maybe the wind will come with the dinner.'
Friar John needed no second hint. It was the good Friar's boast that he knew and loved the ceremonies of the kitchen much better than he did those of the court. So, at these words, he hurried downstairs, and soon marched in at the head of the stewards, cup-bearers, and carvers, who bore four stately meat-pasties. At the sight of these fine viands all the mouths began to water, and they were soon deep in feasting and drinking.
While they were thus passing their time merrily, and making up riddles for Pantagruel to guess, the dull weather also passed away ; and, the breeze having freshened, with full sails set, they were soon making up for the time they had lost. Not long after, they came in sight of a high land, which Pantagruel, first discovering, pointed out to Xeno-manes, and asked him : —
'What is that high rock yonder, with two tops ? ' ' That, Your Highness, is the Island of Ganabim. The people
