Drinking and the Dive Bouteille in the work Panurge by Antonine MailletIn her work Les drôlatiques, horrifiques et épouvantables aventures de Panurge, ami de Pantagruel d' après Rabelais, Antonine Maillet wonderfully recreates the fantastic and incredible atmosphere present in Rabelais' original works. Cut and paste together the best-known and most exceptional selections from Rabelais' original text and create a new story, adding along the way some finishing touches that give the work its Acadien content. One of the prevalent themes in the original works is that of drinking and the insatiable pantagruelist thirst. Maillet retains this distinctly Rabelaisian characteristic in his play and also uses the plot of the search for the Dive Bouteille, the Holy Bottle, the subject of Rabelais's Le Tiers Livre, Le Quart Livre and especially Le Cinquième Livre. In Rabelais' second novel, Gargantua, the author begins the text with a Prologue in which he clearly states that his writing is intended specifically for drinkers and free lovers, "Buveurs très illustres et vous, vérolés très précieux (c'est à see you, to other people who have written these words)". His works are for those who drink much and much, for those who are thirsty. The drink, however, is not limited to alcohol, superficially highly praised, but is also an elixir containing knowledge; since, in Rabelais' works, nothing is as it seems. Rabelais challenges his readers to "break the os et sucer la substantifique moelle" of his texts. One could therefore conclude that his buveurs très illustres are actually …… half of paper …… saying that the filter of the bottle is the eternal youth of an ancient civilization. He means that the Acadien people protect the bottles of wine with their young and free spirit. Throughout the rest of Maillet's work, the characters participate in spontaneous outbursts of drinking and partying, thus maintaining the tone of cheerfulness and joie de vivre present throughout Rabelais. ' five original novels. According to Rabelais, the way to the truth of the substantial marrow of his works and the marrow of life is through a river of wine. In her play Panurge, ami de Pantagruel, Antonine Maillet preserves this very important premise that dominates the original works of Rabelais from which she draws inspiration. This element gives the show its distinctly Rabelaisian feel and contributes to the overall feeling of lightheartedness that is prevalent throughout the show..