Nothing short of incredible, Rabelais wrote a tome illustrating the lives of two giants: a father and a son, Gargantua and Pantagruel. This was my favorite book as a child (edited, obviously). I know. Explains a lot.
Check out this excerpt on the life of baby Gargantua:
“Gargantua, from three years upwards unto five, was brought up and
instructed in all convenient discipline by the commandment of his father;
and spent that time like the other little children of the country, that is,
in drinking, eating, and sleeping: in eating, sleeping, and drinking: and
in sleeping, drinking, and eating. Still he wallowed and rolled up and
down himself in the mire and dirt–he blurred and sullied his nose with
filth–he blotted and smutched his face with any kind of scurvy stuff–he
trod down his shoes in the heel–at the flies he did oftentimes yawn, and
ran very heartily after the butterflies, the empire whereof belonged to his
father. He pissed in his shoes, shit in his shirt, and wiped his nose on
his sleeve–he did let his snot and snivel fall in his pottage, and
dabbled, paddled, and slobbered everywhere.”
You can read the whole thing at Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=90155&pageno=1
The best part is Gustave Dore’s illustrations.
See lots of his amazing work at: http://www.doreillustrations.com/
