But the surprise at the end, the sagacious judgment by which the sound of a piece of money was made the price of the smoke, is the same.

Now the first dated edition of the Cento Novelle (which were frequently reprinted) appeared at Bologna in 1525, and it is certain that Rabelais had read the tales.

And there would be much else of the same kind to learn if we knew Rabelais' library.
A still stranger fact of this sort may be given to show how nothing came amiss to him.

He must have known, and even copied the Latin Chronicle of the Counts of Anjou.

It is accepted, and rightly so, as an historical document, but that is no reason for thinking that the truth may not have been manipulated and adorned.