noon
This done , the prisoner requested him that he would afford him some reasonable composition for his ransom . To which Pantagruel answered , that his end was not to rob nor ransom men , but to enrich them and reduce them to total liberty . Go thy way , said he , in the peace of the living God , and never follow evil company , lest some mischief befall thee . The prisoner being gone , Pantagruel said to his men , Gentlemen , I have made this prisoner believe that we have an army at sea ; as also that we will not assault them till to-morrow at noon , to the end that they , doubting of the great arrival of our men , may spend this night in providing and strengthening themselves , but in the meantime my intention is that we charge them about the hour of the first sleep . Let us leave Pantagruel here with his apostles , and speak of King Anarchus and his army . When the prisoner was come he went unto the king and told him how there was a great giant come , called Pantagruel , who had overthrown and made to be cruelly roasted all the six hundred and nine and fifty horsemen , and he alone escaped to bring the news . Besides that , he was charged by the said giant to tell him that the next day , about noon , he must make a dinner ready for him , for at that hour he was resolved to set upon him .