Aug 11, 2023
from Perec’s Life A User’s Manual. As the wiki article shows, ‘Gelon The Samartian’ might figure as a different translation, or more likely I think a deliberate misattribution (idk), but the text Perec uses is directly lifted from Rabelais’ 4th book of Pantagruel: (… “also a tarand, whom he bought of a Scythian of the Gelones’ country”.)
Rabelais includes a final statement that Perec leaves off:
“When the creature was free from any fear or affection, the colour of its hair was just such as you see that of the asses of Meung.”