... Albeit, when I did dictate [these Chronicles], I thought thereof no
more than you, who possibly were drinking the whilst, as I was. For in
the composing of this lordly book I never lost nor bestowed any more,
nor any other time, than what was appointed to serve me for taking of my
bodily refection, that is, whilst I was eating and drinking. And,
indeed, that is the fittest and most proper hour, wherein to write these
high matters and deep sentences: as Homer knew very well, the paragon of
all philologues, and Ennius, the father of the Latin poets, as Horace
calls him, although a certain sneaking jobbernol alleged that his verses
smelled more of the wine than oil.--F. RABELAIS. _The Life of Gargantua
and Pantagruel. Author's Prologue._