monday word: fardel

[ersatz-read.livejournal.com]

fardel (fär′dl), noun
1. A pack or bundle.
2. A burden.

Etymology:  Old French, diminutive of farde, package.

"I was by at the opening of the fardel, heard the old shepherd deliver the manner how he found it:  whereupon, after a little amazedness, we were all commanded out of the chamber:  only this, methought, I heard the shepherd say, he found the child."
- Shakespeare, "The Winter's Tale"