=Pantagruelian Lawsuit= (_The_). This was between Lord Busqueue and Lord Suckfist, who pleaded their own cases. The writs, etc., were as much as four asses could carry. After the plaintiff had stated his case, and the defendant had made his reply, Pantagruel gave judgment, and the two suitors were both satisfied, for no one understood a word of the pleadings, or the tenor of the verdict.--Rabelais, _Pantagruel_, ii. (1533). =Pantaloon.= In the Italian comedy, _Il Pantalo´ne_ is a thin, emaciated, old man, and the only character that acts in slippers. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slippered Pantaloon. Shakespeare, _As You Like It_, act ii. sc. 7 (1600). =Panther= (_The_), symbol of pleasure. When Dantê began the ascent of fame, this beast met him, and tried to stop his further progress. Scarce the ascent Began, when lo! a panther, nimble, light, And covered with a speckled skin, appeared, ... and strove to check my onward going. Dantê, _Hell_, i. (1300). _Panther_ (_The Spotted_), the Church of England. The “milk-white doe” is the Church of Rome. The panther, sure the noblest next the hind, The fairest creature of the spotted kind; Oh, could her inborn stains be washed away, She were too good to be a beast of prey. Dryden, _The Hind and the Panther_, i. (1687). =Panthino=, servant of Antonio (the father of Protheus, one of the two heroes of the play).--Shakespeare, _Two Gentlemen of Verona_ (1594). =Panton=, a celebrated punster in the reign of Charles II. And Panton, waging harmless war with words. Dryden, _MacFlecknoe_, (1682). =Panurge=, a young man, handsome and of good stature, but in very ragged apparel when Pantag´ruel first met him on the road leading from Charenton Bridge. Pantagruel, pleased with his person, and moved with pity at his distress, accosted him, when Panurge replied, first in German, then in Arabic, then in Italian, then in Biscayan, then in Bas-Breton, then in Low Dutch, then in Spanish. Finding that Pantagruel knew none of these languages, Panurge tried Danish, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, with no better success. “Friend,” said the prince, “can you speak French?” “Right well,” answered Panurge, “for I was born in Touraine, the garden of France.” Pantagruel then asked him if he would join his suite, which Panurge most gladly consented to do, and became the fast friend of Pantagruel. His great _forte_ was practical jokes. Rabelais describes him as of middle stature, with an aquiline nose, very handsome, and always moneyless. Pantagruel made him governor of Salmygondin.--Rabelais, _Pantagruel_, iii. 2 (1545).