GARGANTUA'S RIDING-LESSONS.
It was a rare sight to see all these wooden horses — bigger toys than had ever been made before—lying piled up, side by side, near Gargantua's bed, and the young Giant sleeping in their midst.
One day, Gargantua had a fine chance for having some sport of his own making.
It was on the day a noble lord came on a visit to his old friend, King Grandgousier. The Eoyal Stables proved rather small for such a number of horses as came with the noble lord. The Chief Equerry of the Lord of Breadinbag — which was the name of the great nobleman — was bothered out of his head because he could not find stable-room for all the horses brought with them. By good luck he and the Grand Steward happened to meet Gargantua at the foot of the great staircase.
"Hello, youngster, what is thy name?" " Prince Gargantua."
" Is that so ? " they cried. '' Then say, little Giant, tell us where we are to put our horses. The stables of thy Royal Father are all full."
'Yes, I know they are," said Gargantua, slily; "all you have to do is to follow me, and I will show you a beautiful stable, where there are bigger horses than ever yours can grow to be. Where have you left your horses ? "
" Out in the court-yard, little Giant."
"Follow me, then, and I will show you the stables." The Chief Equerry and
" A NOBLE LORD CAME ON A VISIT.
the Grand Steward went after him, up the great staircase of the palace, through the second hall, into a great stone gallery, by which they entered into a huge stone tower, the steps to which they mounted, along with the Prince, but breathing very heavily indeed.
" I am afraid ing at us," whis-ard, behind his Equerry. "No-
"ONLY THREE LITTLE STEPS."
that big child is laugh-pered the Grand Stew-hand, to the Chief body ever puts a stable at the top of a house." f You are wrong there," whispered back the Chief Equerry; " because I happen to know of places, in Lyons and elsewhere, where there are stables in the attic. But, to make sure, let us ask him again."
Turning to Gar-gantua, he said : —
"My little Prince, art thou sure thou art taking us right ? " "Haven't I already told you? Isn't this my father's palace, and don't I know the way to the stables of my big horses? Don't gasp, so much, gentlemen. Only three little steps and we are there ! "
Once up the steps, which made the Chief Equerry and the Grand Steward blow worse than ever, and passing through another great hall, the mischievous Prince, opening wide a door, —that of his own room,, — cried, triumphantly : —
"Here are the finest horses, gentlemen, in the world. This one next the door is my favorite riding-horse. That one near the fireplace is my pacer,— a good one, I assure you. Now, just look at that one leaning against yonder window. I rode it rather hard yesterday, and it is tired. That's my hunting-nag. I had it at a great price from Frankfort; but I am willing to make you a present of it. Don't refuse me, I beg. Once on it, you can bag all the partridges and hares you may come across for the whole winter. Now, choose ; which of you will ride my hunting-nag ? "
The Chief Equerry and the Grand Steward, knowing that all these fine names of "riding-horse," and "pacer," and "hunting-nag," were for mere blocks of wood, were, for a moment, stupefied. They looked at each other slily, and half ashamed ; but the joke was too good when they thought of the long stairs they had toiled up, and of their horses below waiting all this time to be stabled and fed. They couldn't help it ; it was too rich ; so they laughed till they were tired, and then began to laugh again till they were tired again.
" A rare bird is this young scamp," panted the Chief Equerry, as he lifted one end of the great beam which Gargantua called his hunting-nag.
"A prime joker is this young rogue, if he is a Prince," panted the Grand Steward, in echo, as he stumbled along with the other end into the hall.
There was no use in being mad at the trick young Gargantua had played on them. So they left him stroking the fastest horses in the world, while they went laughing all the way across the first hall, down the small steps, across the other halls, along the corridors, past the stone gallery, down the long stairway as far as the great arch, where they let the famous hunting-nag roll to the bottom.
When they at last reached the great dining-room, where all their friends were gathered, they made everybody laugh like a swarm of flies at the trick played on them by the little Prince with his wooden horses.
CHAPTER VI.
HOW GARGANTUA WAS TAUGHT LATIN.
Father Grandgousier had a very large body of his own; and, after the fashion of all good-natured giants that have ever lived, when he was pleased he was hugely pleased. So it happened that, when his friends caine around him to drink his good wine, and eat his rich dinners, and to tell him how bright his boy was, he shook all over with mighty laughter. "Ho ! ho ! ho ! ho ! " he shouted, till the big strong bottles that stood on his table jingled, and the very rafters of the dining-hall seemed to laugh with them.
'You say that my little Gargantua is quick? Ho! ho! Now, my good lords, Philip of Macedon had a son who was quick too. Yes, they said that he was as quick as that," snapping his fingers together so that they went cric-crac like a pistol shot. T You have heard of the lad, and that wild Bucephalus of his ? Bah ! I am sure my little brigand upstairs would never have waited to turn the head of Bucephalus to the sun before riding him, but would have mounted and ridden him before all the people, with his tail turned straight to the sun, and his shadow thrown plain before him ! You have decided me, my friends. Gargantua is already five years old. He is only a baby ; but he is a Giant's child with more wit than age, —that makes a difference. I have been thinking seriously lately; and it is high time that I should give my youngster to some wise man to make him wise according to his capacity."
And this Father Grandgousier began to do at once. He called, the very next day, upon one of his subjects, worthy Master Tubal Holofernes, a man famed for wisdom the country round, to teach Gar-gantua his A B C's. I am sorry to say that Master Holofernes seemed, from the first hour, to be just a little afraid of his small pupil, who, although only a baby, could easily have studied his alphabet on his teacher's bald pate, and had to bend his head even to do that. But Father
Grandgousier was, on the whole, well satisfied w r ith his son. Gar-gantua could, after five years and three months, actually recite his alphabet from A to Z ; then from Z to A; then catch it sharply up in the middle, bunching M and N together; naming the letters in fours, in eights, and in twelves, as quickly as you can think, forward and back again, and again, till all the old friends — whose noses, from good living, had become very red, and whose paunches were very big — swore, over their wine, that he was the smartest child often years they ever had seen. Of course, Father Grandgousier thought all this something wonderful. He ho-ho'ed and he ha-ha'ed ! with great swelling laughter, after the fashion of Giants, until he was all out of breath, and his friends had to beg him to stop for fear of choking.
But Father Grandgousier could not rest here. He declared that
TUBAL HOLOFERNES.
Gargantua must now learn Latin. The young Giant was made, not only to study Latin, but to write, besides that, his own books of study in Gothic letters, there being no printing-presses in those days.
To learn all this took him thirteen years, six months, and two weeks.