THE SCENE: Withering contempt for the lower class is clearly communicated in this medieval French poem in which two peasants come across a beautifully serene field in the country.
THE TEXT:
Two peasants then came barging in.
From market they were coming back
With spades and threshers on their backs.
When they had sat down in the pleasance
They started speaking just like peasants:
“Hey Fouchier, from the look of it
This is the perfect place to shit.
Let’s take a dump right now, old pal.”
“Upon my soul, we may as well.”
Then each of them squats down and strains.
This story patently explains
That there’s nothing on earth as pleasant
As taking a shit for a peasant,
And therefore a peasant befouls
The fairest spots and moves his bowels
There for delight and recreation,
So in light of my obligation
To those good folk, what I propose is
That peasants go shit through their noses.
– The Three Estates, 13th Century AD
