So begins Branch X, Renart trompe Roënel le chien et Brichemer le cerf: Renart médecin [Renart Tricks Roënel the Dog and Brichemer the Stag: Renart Physician]. Particularly relevant are the next four lines, for they seem to indicate that the storytelling session which the text reflects took place in very impressive surroundings:

Although several branches of the Roman de Renart begin with prologues that seem to indicate that the story which follows was to be recited before a live audience, this is the only one which gives a clue about the setting in which that happened. It begins with an injunction for silence, typical of so many other stories and poems meant to be performed. For readers who know Noël du Fail's Propos Rustiques, it will recall the only extant account outside the Roman de Renart of a performance of some of the earliest Renart material. It is told by that jovial, fictitious character, Robin Chevet, a gentleman farmer who, one evening, tells from memory a number of tales, beginning with elements from Branch III (the part known as Renart et les anguilles [Renart and the Eels], followed by the part called La Pêche à la queue [Fishing with the Tail], and continuing with part of Branch II (Renart et Tiécelin [Renart and Tiécelin]).