Satirical Portrayal of Clergy Hypocrisy

Extract

[...] And you can also hear how strong the prayers are that your brother is pronouncing. I am praying myself for this practice to bear fruit and for my wife to be soon freed from her convulsions. While the old abbot's lights enlightened the young wife, as he knew how deeply the evil one had lodged in her, and as he had the grace to undo her from it, and she knew what her ancestor Eve had known, the young man also had a brief revelation: the work of the evil one is everywhere and to outwit evil, it takes equal cunning. [...]

[...] He saw through the window of his sweetheart that the light was extinguished, concluded that the ruse was on the right track and presented himself at the door of the stall and addressed the husband: - My son, he said to the merchant who was finishing his practice, your wife sent me to say a prayer and to bring the light of the Lord to her. - Father, you are returned quite late. Another abbot has already presented himself and is attending to the soul of my wife. - What? [...]

[...] It is ahead of its time the figure of Don Juan who takes on the features of the pilgrim and veils himself, as Tirso de Molina, Molière, and many others will remember, with the mask of religious hypocrisy. This passage gives rise to a ribald criticism of the clergy. The figure of the hermit, who is so absolutely turned towards God and the spirit that it claims a total break with men, is in fact inhabited by carnal inclinations that it will satisfy thanks to the ruses of the mask. [...]

[...] The abbot thought she was delirious and made the sign of the cross. - Of what are you suffering, my daughter? the abbot asked. - I have convulsions quite often when I think of an image I saw at church, and tickling in several places on my body (she pointed to her breasts and groin). Our sacristan, in the darkness, saw little more than the lady laughing inwardly at the sweet invitation she was making to love. As for the beautiful woman, the evening arrival of a man in a habit in her home and the dim light that hid his face was enough of a passport for her to kiss the cleric. [...]

[...] A well-dressed young knight sitting in the nave caught her eye, and the young man was not slow to respond to the glances that the beauty with golden hair discreetly cast at him. The affair was done without a word, and as they left the office, the knight followed the wife to find out where she lived. Soon, he found an expedient: love is like water, it seeps into the smallest cracks. There was a modest opening at the back of the shop, in a room leading to the lady's quarters, through which the servants threw out the household waste. [...]