...and also celebrate the Skill of the Scythians in that Art, who sent once to Darius King of Persia an Embassador that made him a present of a Bird, a Frog, a Mouse, and five Arrows, without speaking one word; and being ask'd what those Presents meant, and if he had Commission to say any thing, answer'd that he had not; Which puzzl'd and gravell'd Darius very much; till Gobrias, one of the seven Captains that had kil'd the Magi explain'd it, saying to Darius, By these Gifts and Offerings the Scythians silently tell you, that except the Persians like Birds fly up to Heaven, like Mice hide themselves near the Centre of the Earth, or like Frogs dive to the very bottom of Ponds and Lakes, they shall be destroyed by the Power and Arrows of the Scythians.
16th-century French writer and humanist (1494–1553)
François Rabelais (ca. 1493 – April 9 1553) was a French humanist writer of satirical romances.
From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Pen Names:
Seraphin Calobarsy
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Alcofribas Nasier
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Maistre Alcofribas Nasier
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M. Alcofribas
Alternative Names:
Francois Rabelais
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Rabelais
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Françoys Rabelais
From Wikidata (CC0)
Advice to Readers
Good friends who come to read this book,
Strip yourselves first of affectation;
Do not assume a pained, shocked look,
For it contains no foul infection,
Yet teaches you no great perfection,
But lessons in the mirthful art,
The only subject for my heart.
When I see grief consume and rot
You, mirth's my theme and tears are not,
For laughter is man's proper lot.
"High and mighty guzzlers, and you, O all you precious pox-ridden — while you have the leisure and I have nothing else more important to do, let me ask you a question: why does everybody say, as if it were proverbially true, that the world is no longer flat? Understand, please, that "flat" here means "without zest, unsalted, insipid, washed-out": taking it metaphorically, it signifies "crazy, foolish, senseless, rot-brained." Would you argue, as indeed one might logically infer, that if we say that the world has been flat, now we have to say that it's become wise? What was it that made it flat? Why was it flat? Why should it be wise? What do you think ancient stupidity was? What do you think constitutes our present wisdom? What made it flat? What has made it wise? Are there more lovers of flatness or more lovers of wisdom? Just exactly when was it flat? Just exactly when was it wise? Who's responsible for that earlier flatness? Who's responsible for that later wisdom? Why did that ancient flatness end right now, and not at some other time? Why did our present wisdom begin right now, and not sooner? What harm did our earlier flatness do us? What good is this new wisdom? How did we get rid of our ancient flatness? How was our present wisdom brought about?"
Aux lecteurs:
Amis lecteurs, qui ce livre lisez,
Despouillez vous de toute affection;
Et, le lisant, ne vous scandalisez:
Il ne contient mal ne infection;
Vray est qu'icy peu de perfection
Vous apprendrez, si non en cas de rire;
Aultre argument ne peut mon cueur elire,
Voyant le dueil qui vous mine et consomme
Mieulx est de risque de larmes escripre,
Pour ce que rire est le propre de l'homme.
Gymnastes, Gargantua’ya düşmanın ardına düşmenin gerekli olup olmadığını sordu.
Gargantua şöyle karşılık verdi ona:
“Hiç gerekli değil, çünkü gerçek askerlik sanatı gereğince düşmanı umutsuzluğa düşürmemeliyiz; bıçak kemiğe dayandı mı, düşman yıpranıp tükenmekte olan gücünü ve yüreğini yeniden toparlayıverir. Hiçbir kurtuluş umudu kalmaması, bitmiş tükenmiş insanları diriltip kurtaracak olan ilaçların en iyisidir. Nice zaferler, yenenlerin elinden kaçıp yenilenlerin eline geçmiştir, çünkü yenenler hak ettikleri kadarıyla yetinmeyip her şeyi çiğneyip yok etmeye, düşmanlarını haber götürecek tek kişi bırakmamacasına öldürmeye kalkmışlardır! Düşmanlarınıza kapıları, yolları açın her zaman; hatta gümüşten bir köprü kurun onlara geçip gitmeleri için.