Tristram Shandy: Book 7: Chapters 15-21 Summary & Analysis

Chapter 15. Tristram and the postilion continue through Ailly au clochers, where they do not hear the famous church bells, which are out of order, a common problem throughout France. They keep going to Amiens, about which Tristram only adds that Janatone went to school there.

Chapter 16. Tristram describes one of his greatest annoyances while traveling: that, despite the beautiful scenery, he is constantly falling asleep; worse still, he is constantly being woken up to pay for new horses. Tristram cannot pay ahead for them in order to sleep, as the French are constantly demanding more money for a drink, a missed bill, or an invalid coin. Exasperated, Tristram disembarks and sightsees in Chantilly out of spite, scorning the artifacts stored in the town’s famous abbey.

Chapter 17. Tristram arrives in Paris, which he finds dirty, smelly, and overcrowded. He is shocked by the fact that streetlamps are left unlit all summer, by the incredibly narrow streets, and by the excessive number of restaurants and barbershops.

Chapter 18. Tristram declares that France is often misunderstood, but he is unsure if that is their own fault for not explaining themselves, or if the English are to blame. Tristram does dispute the saying that “they who have seen Paris, have seen every thing,” suggesting that it must be about Paris in daylight. Tristram then comically mistranslates the motto on the portico of the Louvre, noting that the French have a “gay” way of approaching serious subjects.

Chapter 19. The word “gay” reminds Tristram of “spleen.” Tristram argues that authors must contribute to understanding among words like politicians do among people and adds an epigram that reads “SPLEEN.” Spleen, Tristram argues, is good for traveling on, helping him speed along through France even as it ruins his digestion. He continues to the Garonne River, refusing to describe the people is this region of France, though he feels qualified to do so after his stay. He continues onward to Fontainebleau.

Chapter 20. Tristram scorns the typical English complaint that carriages in France are much slower than in England; considering the amount of baggage and the small size of French horses, he is amazed that French carriages move at all. He bemoans the suffering of French horses, saying that there are only two words that incite them to move, but he does not dare to tell the reader what they are. He will, however, tell the story of how the Abbess of Andoüillets and her novice Margarita solved this problem.

Chapter 21. The Abbess of Andoüillets, suffering from knee pain which she was unable to cure with domestic or religious remedies, resolves to travel to the hot baths of Bourbon. She brings a with her a novice named Margarita with a swollen finger, and they set out in a carriage drawn by two mules and guided by the abbey’s gardener. The gardener, whom Tristram now refers to as the muleteer, drinks wine as they travel, and is soon tempted to take a nap in an inn on the side of the road. He cracks the whip behind the mules and sneaks off to sleep, leaving the abbess and the novice unawares as their carriage continues up a hill. The muleteer gets caught up in conversation in the inn and completely forgets his duty. Meanwhile, halfway up the hill, the mules realize the muleteer has disappeared and suddenly stop.