A dangerous prank by François Rabelais—or how to get to Paris for free (5 photos)

François Rabelais was considered one of the most educated people of the 16th century. It's hard to name a field in which this Frenchman did not excel. He was a writer, poet, philosopher, theologian, and physician. He also possessed a wonderful sense of humor, which he used not only in his writing but also in life. One of his remarkable jokes, albeit life-threatening, has gone down in history.





Rabelais traveled extensively and often found himself in various difficult situations. One day, during his travels, he found himself in Lyon, in eastern France. The writer had been robbed the day before and was penniless. But he urgently needed to get home to Paris. The resourceful Rabelais quickly devised a simple, but very dangerous, way to travel 400 km for free.



Rabelais took three paper bags, filled them with sugar, and wrote the following inscriptions: "Poison for the King," "Poison for the Queen," and "Poison for the Heir." He left them prominently in his room at the inn and went for a walk. A servant soon arrived to clean his room. He discovered the bags with the inscriptions and immediately reported them to the innkeeper.





Without thinking twice, he rushed to the law enforcement officers and denounced the dangerous conspirator. Soon, a bailiff arrived with heavily armed guards for François Rabelais. The writer was arrested and immediately transported to Paris in a prison carriage. The journey wasn't exactly comfortable, but the joker covered the distance to the capital very quickly.



Immediately upon arrival, he appeared before the judges, who were already rubbing their hands in anticipation of uncovering a dangerous conspiracy. But Rabelais disappointed them. He frankly admitted that extreme necessity had forced him to take this step. He also, in front of everyone, emptied the contents of three sachets into his mouth and, of course, did not die.



He was lucky that the judges turned out to be people with a sense of humor. They laughed heartily at Rabelais's prank, then acquitted him and let him go. But it must be said that the satirist was taking a huge risk, since if they had been more foolish, he could have lost his head in no time or been sent to hang out at Montfaucon. In the 16th century, even those simply suspected of conspiracy weren't treated with tact.