In a suggestive depiction of the originary moment of the Essais, Montaigne describes in “De l’oisiveté” (I, 8, 32-3) his plan for his retirement. He was determined, he says, to devote himself as far as he could to spending what little life he had left quietly and privately; he intended to leave his mind in total idleness, caring for itself, concerned only with itself, calmly thinking of itself.1 But betraying that intention, his mind bolted off like a runaway horse and gave birth to so many fantastic monsters and chimeras that in order to contemplate their strangeness, he tells us, he began to keep a record of them, that is, to write essays.