Alchemie of Rablais

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TheAlhemy of Rabelais'sMarrowBone

Mary Farrell

I have a piece of Jason's leece too,Whichwas no otherthan a book of alchemy,Writ n large sheepskin,a good fat ram-vellum.Such was Pythagoras'high,Pandora'sub;Andall thatfable of Medea'scharmsThe mannerof our work: the bulls,ourfurnace,Stillbreathingfire;ourargent-vive, he dragon;The dragon's eeth,mercurysublimate,Thatkeeps the whiteness,hardness,and the biting;Andthey aregathered ntoJason'shelm,Th'alembic,andthen sowed in Marshis field,And thence sublimedso often, till they arefixed.Boththis,th'Hesperiangarden,Cadmus'story,Jove'sshower,the boon of Midas,Argus'eyes,Boccacehis Demogorgon,thousandsmore,All abstractriddlesof our stone-How now!'

Sir Epicure Mammon, in this speech from Jonson's Alchemist,

poses-however foolishly-the possibility of alchemical interpretationsof common myths, principally that of Jason and the Golden Fleece. In

examining the marrow bone image central to the prologue of Rabelais's

Gargantua, I hope to demonstrate that it, too, can be seen as "an abstract

riddle of our stone": the philosopher's stone, quintessence, or elixir as it

was variously called. The stone, firstof all, is the culmination of a series of

transformations-or, more precisely, the final stage in an evolutionary

process-a perfect substance beyond the purity of ordinarygold. Its mainvirtue is its power, even in tiny quantities, to transform baser forms ofmatter into gold. For the purposes of this paper, the principal characteris-tic of the quintessence will be its perfection, its status as the product of a

long process of purification, of refinement, of perfectionnement. As such,it presents definite similarities with Rabelais's marrow, whose purveyor,Maitre Alcofribas, is himself an alchemist: "abstracteur de quinte es-

sence." These similaritieswill emerge from a comparison of the Prologuewith a more explicitly alchemical passage in the Third Book's praise of

debts.The Prologue to Gargantuaconsists of three parts: a longish com-

parison of Socrates and a Silenus box, a shorter description of a dogextractingthe marrow from a bone, and a comic condemnation of allegor-ical reading. The first two explicitly create metaphors for Gargantua tself,whose title page reads, La Vie tresHorrificque du GrandGargantua,Perede Pantagruel,Jadis compos6e par M. Alcofribas, Abstracteurde QuinteEssence: Livre plein de Pantagruelisme. The reader is instructed to lookbeneath the surface for a meaning different in value from what the title

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leadshimtoexpect:"Lors ongnoistrezqueladroguededanscontenueestbien d'aultre valeur que ne promettoitla boite, c'est-a-direque lesmatieresicy traict6es ne sont tant folastres comme le titre au-dessus

pretendoit."2This straightforward nnouncement ausesno confusionuntil t is set

againsthefinal

portionof the

Prologue,whichridicules he

readingof allegories nto texts like the Iliad, the Odyssey,and Ovid'sMetamorphoses.No "buts"or "howevers" often the initialblow; theturnabout eginswithout ransitionndseemsmorethanacautionagainstexcess.3Thenarratorlatlycontradictshimselfandurgesus to drinkup,be merry, dine on his proferred frivolities, and-apparently-takenothingtoo seriously, eastof allhisbook.Thejuxtapositionalechniquecreatesanambiguityablytreatedby FloydGray n hisarticle,"Ambiguityand Pointof View inthePrologue o Gargantua,"nd RichardLanham's

brilliantchapteron Rabelaisestablishesbeyond anydoubtthe

constantinterplayof allegoryand rhetoric n Rabelais'swork as a whole.4This

study will focus ratheron the marrowbone image in the alchemicalcontextof thenarration ndwillexplore tsramificationsorthePrologueas a whole.

Although he Socrates-Silenusmageseems moreprofound ncon-tent because of its Platonicand Erasmianorigins5 hanthat of a doggnawing a bone, the two are actually quite similar.6Both, of course,aremetaphors or Rabelais'sbook. Both are containermages,contrast-

ingthe exteriorandtheinterior,heliteraland thesymbolic("la ustanti-ficque mouelle-c'est a dire ce que j'entendspar ces symbolesPhtha-

goricques-"; pp. 7-8), the comic and the serious.Furthermore, efer-ences to Plato inkthe two: the Silenusmagederives romtheSymposiumand, Alcofribastells us as he introducesthe dog-bone analogy,Platoconsideredthe dog the mostphilosophicalof beasts:"Mais eistes vous

oncqueschienrecontrant uelqueosmedulare?C'estcommedietPlaton,lib. ij de Rep.,labestedumondeplus philosophe" p.7).7Alessapparentsimilarity s that between the two contenus:the Silenusbox contains

precious drugs, the marrow bone preciousfood, "alimentelabour6aperfectionde nature"p.7). Sincediet andnutritionwerebasic concernsof both classicaland Renaissancephysicians, ood anddrugscontribute

equallyto the body'shealth.8The Prologuecomesto us not fromRabelaishimselfbut fromthe

mouthof Alcofribas, ictionalnarrator, artcarnivalbarker,partphilos-opher,partscholar,partbon vivant.Does his choice of imagesreveal

anythingabouthimself?Is it relatedto hisprofessionof alchemy?Oncethe marrowbone passagehas been examinedandthencomparedto the

alchemicaldescriptionof digestionin the praiseof debts (TiersLivre,ch. 4), it should be possibleto answerthesequestionsand to determinewhetherAlcofribasas narrator ffers the readerany serioussubstance,andto whatextentthe Prologueunderminestself.

Thepassagebeginsabruptlywith two questionsaddressed o the

reader: Didyoueveropenbottles?Didyoueversee adogencounteringmarrowbone? (p.7). Thesequestionsnotonlysetup a parallelbetweenthe readerand the dog, they alsolinkdrinkingandeating,and both of

these with reading.Alcofribasthen adds Phato'sstatementabout the

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philosophical nature of dogs; by implication, then, the reader, too, is orshould be philosophical in approaching the text. Returning to the dog in

question, the narratordescribes how highly the dog values the bone, howhe guards it, loves it, opens it, and extracts the marrow:

Siveu l'avez,vous avez peunoterde quelledevotion il le guette,de quelsoing il le guarde, de quel ferveur il le tient, de quelle prudence il1'entomme, e quelleaffection l le brise,et de quelle diligence l le sugee.

(p. 7)

The bone as container is different from the marrow within it, but it

presents merely an obstacle for the dog, not misleading appearances suchas the "figures joyeuses et frivoles" painted on the Silenus box or the

laughable appearance of Socrates (pp. 5-6).

The narrator askswhat the dog is looking for: "Quelest l'espoirdeson estude?" Nothing more than a bit of marrow, but this is a precioussubstance: "Vray est que ce peu plus est delicieux que le beaucoup detoutes aultres,pour ce que la mouelle est aliment elaboure a perfection de

nature,comme diet Galen,iij Facu. natural., t xj De usuparti" p. 7).Marrow is nature's perfect food in highly concentrated form, and hasbeen "elaborated"by some unspecified process.

Alcofribas knows his Galen and cites him accurately. Although theGreek physician says little about marrow and seems unaware of its con-

nection with the red corpuscles of the blood, he does identify it as food: "Ihave shown in my commentaries On the Natural Faculties that marrow isthe proper nutriment of the bones."9Rabelais incorporates the notion ofmarrow as food for the bones, but extends it to food for the dog and

finally food for thought.In the next paragraph the parallel between dog and reader

becomes explicit advice on how to find the nourishment within the text:

A l'exempled'icelluy[le chien]vous convientestresaiges,pourfleurer,sentiret estimerces beaulxlivres de haultegresse,legiersauprochazethardizh la recontre;puis, par curieuse le,on et meditationfrequente,rompre l'os et sugcer la sustantificquemouelle-c'est a dire ce quej'entendspar ces symboles Pythagoricques-avecques espoir certaind'etrefaictzescorset preuxa ladicte ecture...

(pp.7-8)

Wisdom becomes a matter of the senses, reading a matter of sniffing andtastingaswell as of study and meditation. The image unites the most basic

activity of life-eating-with the most abstract and mystical intellectualinterest-Pythagorean symbolism. So does the Symposium itself, andRabelais's evocation of it at the beginning of the Prologue: the philos-ophers, after all, are gathered at the dinner table. Both Symposium anddog's bone represent a complete union of body and soul.

Furthermore, the knowledge offered to the reader extends to allareas of man'sbeing: intellectual, moral, and physical. The marrow of thebook furnishes "doctrine plus absconce, laquelle vous revelera de treshaultz sacremens et mysteres horrificques, tant en ce que concere nostre

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hardly abound,'2 the praise of debts in the Tiers Livre does contain, in its

description of the functioning of the microcosm, an extended alchemical

metaphor. In digesting food, the body is comparable to a forge whichtransmutes bread and wine into blood, or alchemical gold:

Lorsquellejoyepensezvousestreentrecesofficiers,quand lz ont veuceruisseaud'or [le sang], qui est leur seul restaurant?Plusgranden'estla

joye des Alchymistes, quand apres longs travaulx,grand soing et de-spense, ilz voyent les metaulxtransmuezdedans leursfourneaulx.

(T.L.,4, pp. 422-23)

Rabelais associates the body's digestive process with the "doctrine ab-sconce" of alchemy by making the former's end product, blood,analogous to that of alchemy, the philosopher's stone, perfect gold, or

"quinteessence."The initial transformation is followed by a process of perfection-

nement. After producing blood, the body continues to refine and purify it:

Puysesttransporte nuneautreofficinepourmieulxestreaffin6,c'est ecoeur.Lequelparsesmouvemensdiastolicques t systolicques e subtilieet enflambe,tellementque parle ventriculedextre e meeta perfection,et parles venes l'envoyea tousles membres.Chascunmembrel'attireasoy, et s'enalimentea sa guise:pieds,mains,oeilz,tous...

(p. 423)

The blood which results from the digestive process is a perfect, naturalfood which nourishesthe entirebody. In other words, "alimentelaboure a

perfection de nature,"in the terms used to describe the marrow. Rabelaisas physician may have been unaware of the connection between bloodand marrow, but he describes them in strikinglysimilar terms. And on thelevel of metaphor, there is no appreciable difference between the nourish-

ing alchemical blood and the richly nutritionalbone marrow. The "quinte

essence" and the "sustantifiquemouelle" are identical. And since, accord-ing to Panurge, "Sang est le siege de l'fme" (p. 422), indeed the linkbetween body and soul, blood and marrow nourish the soul as well as the

body. The physical and the spiritual, though different, are connected andinterrelated. Similarly, literal and metaphorical levels of meaning meetand interact within the text.

If the marrow bone image has an alchemical dimension, does itadd to or detract from its seriousness? Is Alcofribas any more reliable asnarrator? While it is appropriate that he creates an image with alchemical

overtones, the value of alchemy itself, and of its fictional practitioner,remains ambivalent. On the one hand, the secret and marvelous quality ofalchemical transformation lends a sense of awe and delight to the con-

templation of nature'sperfection. Moreover, alchemy concerns itself withboth the physical and the spiritualand sees constant analogies between thetwo. On the other hand, alchemists areoften charlatans; heirexperimentsusually fail. The alchemist narratorprovides a nutritionalquintessence,but he also throws the reader a bone.

By the end of the Silenus box and marrow bone passages, the

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intellectual and the physical, the serious and the comic, the metaphoricaland the literal have been thoroughly intertwined. Although the reader

may receive a general impression of seriousness, of being alerted to"hidden meanings," he is also confronted with the curious spectacle of

philosophers wining and dining, a hungry dog waxing philosophical, andreaders devouring juicy books ("cesbeaulx livres de haulte gresse"; p. 7).If the "hidden meaning" is partly occult in the modern sense of the term, it

may also be fraudulent. Alcofribas's sudden denunciation of finding

improbable allegories may plunge the reader, already off balance, intototal confusion. His colloquial and hearty exhortations to eat, drink, and

be merry appear to undercut everything he has justsaid. In fact, however,

they are merely earthierversions of what has gone before.13Still addressing the reader directly, Alcofribas begins his dis-

claimer of seriousnesswith anabrupt question:

Doyou honestly

think that

Homer ever thought of the allegories with which Plutarch, Heraclides,etc. have padded his work? If you think so, you are nowhere near my

opinion (p. 8). He also cites the example of interpreters who attribute

Christian meanings to Ovid's Metamorphoses. The latter case is, of

course, an extreme one; Alcofribas could merely be warning againstexcessive, farfetched interpretations. But the narrator maintains that he

thought no more about such things than the reader himself:

Sinelecroiez,quelle

causeestpourquoy

autantn'enferezde cesjoyeuseset nouvelleschronicques,combienque, les dictans,n'ypensasseen plus

que vous,quiparadventurebeviezcommemoy?(pp. 8-9)

Furthermore, he spent no more time writing than he spent eating and

drinking. This statement is usually taken as an indication of frivolousness.

However, Alcofribas continues by telling us how much he likes to drink;once we have read Gargantua with all its feasting and revelry, we know

thathe spends a great deal of time eating and drinking.More importantly,the Prologue's own treatment of these activities so far (the philosopher's

banquet and the dog gnawing his bone) has established them as highly

significant ones connected to reading and thinking.'4Although he does it

in a lighthearted way, Alcofribas is really extending the festive metaphorto include himself as writer:writing is another way to partakeof the feast.

In the end, Alcofribas does not condemn all interpretation; he

merely reminds the reader not to become solemn about it, but to enjoyhimself:

Pourtant, interpreteztous mes faictz et mes dictz en la perfectissimepartie;ayez en reverence le cerveau caseiformequi vous paist de cesbellesbillesvezees, et,Bvostrepovoir,tenezmoy tousjoursoyeux.(p.9)

And, although the metaphorical level of eating and drinking does not

disappear entirely from the Prologue'sconclusion-"la perfectissime par-tie"recalls the inner meanings of the first two sections-Alcofribas rein-

troduces the literal and the physical with both genuine good cheer and

mock threats:

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Mais escoutez, vietz d'azes,-que le maulubecvous trousque!-voussoubviennede boyre h my pourla pareille,et je vousplegeraytoutares

metys.(p. 9)

The laughter which is "lepropre de l'homme" does not undermine seriousreading and writing but completes and informs them, saving the readerfrom becoming pretentious or morose.15

Duality, then, pervades all three parts of the Prologue to Gargan-tua. The comic and the literal, "figures joyeuses et frivoles," add spice tothe Platonic seriousness of the two main images, while the metaphoricalaspects of eating and drinking underlie the lightheartedness of the finalsection. Though the contrasts between them may be initiallyunsettling tothe reader, their ultimate balance is essential to good health and goodsense. There can be no contents without a container, no soul without abody. They areequally necessary and equally valid. As host of the reader's

banquet, Alcofribas both serves and partakes of the "sustantificquemouelle." As alchemist, he creates a closed system of constanttransforma-tion wherein, by a sort of reversible chemical equation, the serious tends

always toward the comic and the comic toward the serious.

Weston, Connecticut

NOTES

1. BenJonson,TheAlchemist,ActII, Sc. I, 89-104.Alvin B. Kernan'sdition,for the Yale BenJonsonseries (New Haven:YaleUniversityPress,1974),with its introduction, notes, and glossary of alchemical terms, gives a

remarkablycompleteand convenient ntroduction o alchemy.2. FrancoisRabelais,Oeuvrescompletes (Paris:GarnierFreres,1962),I, p. 7.

Allquotations

romRabelaisare takenfromthefirstvolumeof thisedition,and all subsequentreferenceswill appearin the text.

3. G. MallaryMasters llustratesoverinterpretationf Ovid in "OnLearnedIgnorance,or How to Read Rabelais:PartI, Theory,"RomanceNotes, 19

(1978-79),pp. 127-32.He alsogives (p. 130)the sourceof the marrowbone

image as Filippo Beroaldo,SymbolaPythagorae . . moraliterexplicata(Bologna, 1503).

4. Gray,in RomanticReview, 56 (1965),pp. 12-29.RichardA. Lanham,TheMotivesof Eloquence:LiteraryRhetoric n the Renaissance New Haven:Yale University Press, 1976), pp. 165-89. See also ch. 1, "Humanist

Comedy," of M.A. Screech'sRabelais(Ithaca:Cornell UniversityPress,1979).5. DesideriusErasmus,"SileniAlcibiadis,"nMargaretMannPhillips,Erasmus

on his Times:A shortenedversionof the 'Adages'of Erasmus(London:CambridgeUniversityPress,1976),pp. 77-96.

6. MichelCharlespointsoutsomeimportantdifferencesbetweenthem inthesecond chapter,"UneRhapsodiehermeneutique,"f his Rhetorique de laLecture(Paris:Editionsdu Seuil,1977),pp. 36-37.Histext,particularly p.46-47,also deals with the alternationof comic and serious,thoughin lessdynamictermsthan Lanham.

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7. Plato, The Republic, II, 375A-376E.8. Rabelais reveals his medical concerns by replacing the originalhidden content

of Plato's Silents image-the statue of a god-with precious drugs.His "hidden meaning" is medical in nature rather than religious:

... mais au dedans l'on reservoit les fines drogues comme baulme,ambre gris, amomon, musc, zivette, pierreries et aultres choses

precieuses. (p. 5)9. Galen, On the Usefulness of the Partsof the Body: De Usu partium, 2 vols.,

trans. Margaret Tallmadge May (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1968), II,

p. 543 (Box XI, "The Face," II, 171-74).10. Rabelais intensifies the confusion between container and conatined in the

Prologue to the Tiers Livre. The traditional image of the philosopher Diog-enes, the principal figure of the Prologue, places him living inside a tub.Rabelais takes him out of his barrel and involves him in a series of assaultson

his own "container." Later in the Prologue the barrel becomes anotherimage for the book itself, a wine keg constantly refilled by the author and

impossible to empty. The two barrelsestablish a parallel between Diogenessomewhat questionable wisdom and Rabelais's.

11. Cf. Alice Fiola Berry, "Apollo vs. Bacchus: The Dynamics of Inspiration,"PMLA, 90 (January, 1975), p. 90:"And thus we must see the ambiguity of the

prologue to Gargantua as an affirmation."12. See Masters, Rabelaisian Dialectic and the Platonic-Hermetic Tradition

(Albany: State University of New YorkPress, 1969), particularly his chapteron "The Black

Arts," pp. 76-79,and

Mary Farrell,"Mentors and

Magiin

Ariosto and Rabelais," Diss. Yale 1976, pp. 169-76.13. Berry, p. 90.14. Lanham, p. 170. See also Charles, p. 49, discussing the final opposition,

between wine and oil, at the end of the Prologue: "Ce vin n'est pas celui quebuvait Socrate au debut du prologue. II est celeste comme le Socrate

'interieur'et delicieux comme la moelle." Either there is a different, "serious"wine at the end of the Prologue, or the frivolity and laughter of theexterior have become the essence of the interior.

15. Lanham, p. 178:"Rabelais defends pleasure from a purpose always moving

in on it,"

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