Prosper Mérimée, though he was inspector of historical monuments and a senator, nonetheless continued to worship an author throughout his life who was dear to him and whose comforting figure he liked to summon. He does not mention Rabelais purely facetiously to highlight a particular bit of language, but also to discreetly commemorate the literary project and perhaps the ethics of a writer he feels, like Molière or La Fontaine, infinitely close to.
CLIL theme: 4027 -- SCIENCES HUMAINES ET SOCIALES, LETTRES -- Lettres et Sciences du langage -- Lettres -- Etudes littéraires générales et thématiques