Criticism of people, customs or institutions through ridicule, exaggeration or irony.
In Paradise
they cover their palfreys with their cloaks, so that two beasts go under one skin: O patience, you who bear so much!
The prelate is so heavy that the cloak covers the horse too, and "two beasts go under one skin". The criticism of the shepherds is made through the ridicule of the body, without a named accusation, and the bitter laugh condemns more than a list of faults.