A Tale Of A Tub

Before the narration returns to the story of the three brothers, the narrator must expound upon the proclivities of the generous author who “finds his hero on the dunghill, from thence, by gradual steps, raises him to a throne” (98) and does not expect thanks. This, the author suggests, is what he has done for Peter, who lives in a “noble house” (98) with plenty of clothes and money. His brothers, however, are not so lucky.

The two younger brothers are in exile. They do have a copy of the will and vow to change the amendments that were made and adhere to the original letter of their father’s law. Now that they are away from Peter, they begin to develop greater differences in their personalities and appearances, as well as names—one is Martin, the other is Jack. Their coats are also in a state of disarray.

Lord Peter made them continue to add to the coats to keep up with the latest fashions, but while they were doing that, they could not take anything away. The coats are covered in layers of ribbons and lace. In fact, there are really no coats to be seen at all. Martin and Jack decide to deconstruct their coats. They have two different methods. Martin carefully removes what he can. Anything that might damage the coat if torn off, he leaves. Jack is angrier with Peter than Martin is, and he tears the lace and pins off the coat with such fervor that holes develop, which he then must repair. 

Martin urges Jack to be calmer about the deconstruction of his coat. He reasons that the coat is a singular piece and part of their father’s legacy, adding that Peter is still their brother, and they should try to treat each other with the respect for which the will advocates. However, Jack is frustrated that Martin’s coat looks so much better than his. He wants Martin to look slovenly, too, but Martin refuses. Jack goes mad and leaves their house. He goes abroad and becomes a raving lunatic. The little boys in the street call him Jack the Bald, Dutch Jack, or Tom the Beggar. It is under one of those names that he founds a sect of Aeolists, or according to Oxford English Dictionary, “[people] who pretend to speak with divine inspiration,” and that group still follows him.

Learning leans on the modern improvements of digressions. They are like a soup, except “morose, detracting, ill-bred people” (107) pretend that they cannot stand this concoction. They believe that digressions hijack a story. However, without digressions, writers would dwindle. It’s too confining not to be able to go on a tangent once in a while. The ancient Greeks and Romans had a simpler project. They could just invent new ideas and write about them. They did not have to search for things to discuss or go out on a limb to find a new way of looking at a concept. 

However, things have changed. Now books are used just for the learning of titles so that people can brag about being familiar with them. Another way to get around a lot of cumbersome reading is to only read the index. Since becoming wise is such a normal task in modern times, and all the materials for becoming more knowledgeable are at hand, writers should be plentiful, to the point where they get in each other’s ways. There are not enough new things to write about, making things more competitive. In fact, “our modern wits are not to reckon upon the infinity of matter for a constant supply” (111) of new concepts. Our only option is to compile large indices and build quotations by consulting commentators, lexicons, and critics. A writer’s head can be empty, but his book full. He should be given the freedom to digress. This compiling of his thoughts will be preserved at a bookseller’s: “Then when the fullness of time is come [it] shall undergo the trial of purgatory in order to ascend the sky” (112). Thus, the book, a cipher of the thoughts of its author, will undergo the same trials in death, but possibly pass and rise to heaven.

The narrator turns back to the adventures of the three brothers, including Jack, the originator of a sect of Aeolists. The Aeolists say that the cause of the world itself is in wind. Nature nurtured the flame, and only nature can blow it out. Wind is at the core of this anima. This is where the four winds or the four corners of the world come from. These could also be called the four cardinal points or the four directions—north, south, east, and west. A man brings a wind into the world with him, or a quinta essentia. This essence can be used toward developing any skill in life and can be grown through education. This wind should be refined and communicated outward, not bottled up. Therefore—and this is when the narrator reverts to satire—the Aeolists consider the belch “to be the noblest act of a rational creature” (115) because it allows this wind to be released out to the masses. Aeolists priests even link together for a circular belching chant or apply the bellows to their neighbors to enhance the exhalation. This is why they refer to their bodies as vessels. 

Indeed, the narrator explains, learning puffs men up to a greater size, and learning itself is wind. Therefore, most professors “deliver to their pupils all their doctrines and opinions by eructation” (116), which allows them to obtain a certain eloquence and verbal variation. The chapter continues on this humorous digression, suggesting that the best lessons occur when the lecturer belches into the student’s mouth, the more sour the belch, the better. The Aeolist priests also perform a rite that involves farting into a barrel. A priest will then breathe the scent in and belch it out to his pupils. The female priests have the best bodies for breathing the farts back into the room. The farting and belching show us that an idea always has a reverse. What comes out of our bodies can be released and be absorbed again. For example, one half of the world is always in darkness, and the devil is the antipathy to God. The Aeolists also have two deities that they were afraid of. The chameleon, who threatens inspiration, and a monster called the Moulinavent (or windmill) that was constantly at war with the Aeolist divinities. Jack devised the Aeolist system or copied it from the original at Delphos.