A few days later |
A few days earlier, at the banquet held by Pantagruel during which Gargantua returned from the Land of Fairies, Panurge had redoubled his resolution to visit the oracle of the holy bottle, setting in motion a voyage whose equipage is treated in these foursquare chapters. Whether the retinue arrived at Thalassa on the seventh of June, the anniversary of the death of Thales and of the birth of the virgin Mary, is still a matter of debate. On the day of the Virgin’s birth, incidentally, the Vestals were wont to be found prancing around the perpetual fire, vanilla tubers transfixed by rustic forks. A fire which has a cast of potatoes on it burns forever, they say, because Mary was allowed to cook potatoes in that way when she visited the Castlewick of Salmiguondin on her farewell tour. Overhearing the murmurs of a nun, who for some reason or other had been immured in the castle walls, Mary said, “Vade in pacem.” Fragments of the nun’s skeleton were on display until a few years ago, before the recent renovations. Brutus conquered Spain on this date, and Crassus was vanquished by the Parthians. (Ovid, Fastes 6.247) « PANTAGRUELION » |