"
[154] _Festueum_, the split straw so used in the Middle Ages.
[155] See Meon's edition of Barbazan's _Fabliaux et Contes_,
ed. 1808, tome ii, p. 442, and a prose _extrait_ in Le
Grand d'Aussy's collection, ed. 1781, tome iv, p. 101,
"Du Pretre qui dit la Passion."
* * * * *
They were bold fellows, those Trouveres. Not content with making the
ignorance and the gross vices of the clerical orders the subjects of
their _fabliaux_, they did not scruple to ridicule their superstitious
teachings, as witness the satire on saint-worship, entitled "Du vilain
[i.e., peasant] qui conquist Paradis par plait," the substance of which
is as follows: A poor peasant dies suddenly, and his soul escapes at a
moment when neither angel nor demon was on the watch, so that, unclaimed
and left to his own discretion, the peasant follows St. Peter, who
happened to be on his way to Paradise, and enters the gate with him
unperceived. When the saint finds that the soul of such a low person has
found its way into Paradise he is angry, and rudely orders the peasant
out. But the latter accuses St. Peter of denying his Saviour, and,
conscience-stricken, the gate-keeper of heaven applies to St. Thomas,
who undertakes to drive away the intruder.
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