the two hundred and fifteen games of cards gargantua knew how to play.—what it was he said after he had gone through the list, and what it was ponocrates remarked.
the first thing gargantua did, on rising from the dinner table, would be to call out in a cheery voice:—
"spread the carpet!"
the servants understood what that meant very well. gaily they would unroll a large carpet, stretch it free from wrinkles, and then, in a twinkling, lay a pack of cards in the very middle of it. then the giant and his friends would sit down on the carpet, and begin playing cards. there were just two hundred and fifteen of these games which gargantua knew how to play. their names would sound odd to the card-players of this day, and i give some of the oddest on the list, so that you may know what queer games were then the fashion with the giant and his friends:—
the bamboozler.
the potatoes.
scotch hoppens.
the cows.
the tables.
to steal mustard.
skin the fox.
sow the hay.
sell the hay.
the monkey.
the combs.
the coat-brush.
nine hands.
partridges.
the keys.
the birch tree.
ninepins.
i pinch thee without laughing.
figs of marseilles.
draw the spit.
each of these games took a whole day, lasting between dinner and the time to enjoy a nap. gargantua always thought it necessary to prepare for his afternoon sleep by taking a little drink. his companions must have been heavy drinkers,—regular old topers of the jolly order,—because the allowance every day called for eleven pots of wine for each man. after drinking such a quantity they would naturally feel drowsy. they would then stretch themselves on the carpet, and snore away, each snorer playing a different tune through his nose, in the midst of the cards lying loosely around, and the emptied pots,—all except gargantua, whose breathing on such occasions was always of the hurricane fashion, whether awake or asleep. he would sleep for two or three hours like a good christian, without thinking of any evil thing, and without muttering a single bad word in his dreams. on waking, he had a trick of giving his great ears a half-dozen shakes,—why, i don't know,—and then bawling out for fresh wine, which he drank down in one great gulp. then came the only study for the day, which was rather a mystery for all parties. nobody could say exactly what it was, and master ponocrates only smiled when asked about it. it lasted for a few minutes only, after which gargantua would mount, in high state, an old mule which had already served nine kings, and briskly ride away to see where the good people of paris caught their rabbits.
on his return, he had a habit of running in and out of the kitchen, with his broad nostrils swollen out like balloons, to find out what particular roast was on the spit, until the cook, already in a stew, was ready to tear his hair in despair. but cooks may be ever so vexed, the meat will roast on the spit all the same, and at last get done to a turn. all things being ready, gargantua would sit down at table. he always managed to have a large company of gentlemen present, who were only too willing, for the honor of being invited to dinner by a prince, to serve as his attendants, should he ever need their services. among those of high birth who usually dined with him at this time were the lords de fou, de gourville, de grignaut, and de marigny.
engraving
gargantua looks into the kitchen.
after supper, gargantua—being in the liveliest humor, and disposed to look on the world with a broad laugh, showing the largest and whitest of teeth—would play a little, or else pay an open-air visit to some of the many pretty young ladies living in the neighborhood,—their houses being too small for him to enter,—and, on such nights, he would not get home until midnight. sometimes, when he did not go out, he would take another little supper about eight o'clock, and still another before midnight. then he would sleep without snoring until eight o'clock next morning.
it was a great day for gargantua when he reached the end of his two hundred and fifteen games; or, rather, he intended that it should be a great day. he had said nothing to any one; but, when he woke that particular morning, he was noticed to be in a gayer mood than usual while he was dressing himself, and after he had gamboled and rolled around his bed, and stretched his limbs on it, and made his own great tent with one leg and the sheet, and given a neat turn to his long locks with his german comb, and gone through his usual gaping, coughing, spitting, groaning, sneezing, and hiccoughing. but, being in some things a very simple giant, indeed, he had not noticed that his teacher, ponocrates, had very keen eyes, and could use them too. why, ponocrates knew when the last game was to be played just as well as gargantua himself did, and he had made up his mind to be somewhere in the room when it closed. sure enough, listening in a corner of the big chamber, he heard some one say: "here we are on our last game!" to which gargantua shouted in reply: "ho! ho! the last game! don't be too sure of that. gentlemen, to-morrow we shall play just as well as to-day."
"how, prince?" asked ponocrates, softly, coming out of his corner.
"how, good master? why, by beginning our games over again."
"not so fast; not so fast, prince. to-morrow your highness will begin with me!"
