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Voltaire's Candide or Optimism, Chapter 16

Chapter 16

XVI ADVENTURES OF THE TWO TRAVELLERS, WITH TWO GIRLS, TWO MONKEYS, AND THE SAVAGES CALLED OREILLONS.

Candide and his valet had got beyond the barrier, before it was known in the camp that the German Jesuit was dead. The wary Cacambo had taken care to fill his wallet with bread, chocolate, bacon, fruit, and a few bottles of wine. With their Andalusian horses they penetrated into an unknown country, where they perceived no beaten track. At length they came to a beautiful meadow intersected with purling rills. Here our two adventurers fed their horses. Cacambo proposed to his master to take some food, and he set him an example.

"How can you ask me to eat ham," said Candide, "after killing the Baron's son, and being doomed never more to see the beautiful Cunegonde? What will it avail me to spin out my wretched days and drag them far from her in remorse and despair? And what will the Journal of Trevoux [17] say?" While he was thus lamenting his fate, he[Pg 69] went on eating. The sun went down. The two wanderers heard some little cries which seemed to be uttered by women. They did not know whether they were cries of pain or joy; but they started up precipitately with that inquietude and alarm which every little thing inspires in an unknown country. The noise was made by two naked girls, who tripped along the mead, while two monkeys were pursuing them and biting their buttocks. Candide was moved with pity; he had learned to fire a gun in the Bulgarian service, and he was so clever at it, that he could hit a filbert in a hedge without touching a leaf of the tree. He took up his double-barrelled Spanish fusil, let it off, and killed the two monkeys.

"God be praised! My dear Cacambo, I have rescued those two poor creatures from a most perilous situation. If I have committed a sin in killing an Inquisitor and a Jesuit, I have made ample amends by saving the lives of these girls. Perhaps they are young ladies of family; and this adventure may procure us great advantages in this country." He was continuing, but stopped short when he saw the two girls tenderly embracing the monkeys, bathing their bodies in tears, and rending the air with the most dismal lamentations.

"Little did I expect to see such good-nature,"[Pg 70] said he at length to Cacambo; who made answer: "Master, you have done a fine thing now; you have slain the sweethearts of those two young ladies." "The sweethearts! Is it possible? You are jesting, Cacambo, I can never believe it!" "Dear master," replied Cacambo; "you are surprised at everything. Why should you think it so strange that in some countries there are monkeys which insinuate themselves into the good graces of the ladies; they are a fourth part human, as I am a fourth part Spaniard." "Alas!" replied Candide, "I remember to have heard Master Pangloss say, that formerly such accidents used to happen; that these mixtures were productive of Centaurs, Fauns, and Satyrs; and that many of the ancients had seen such monsters, but I looked upon the whole as fabulous." "You ought now to be convinced," said Cacambo, "that it is the truth, and you see what use is made of those creatures, by persons that have not had a proper education; all I fear is that those ladies will play us some ugly trick." These sound reflections induced Candide to leave the meadow and to plunge into a wood. He supped there with Cacambo; and after cursing the Portuguese inquisitor, the Governor of Buenos Ayres, and the Baron, they fell asleep[Pg 71] on moss. On awaking they felt that they could not move; for during the night the Oreillons, who inhabited that country, and to whom the ladies had denounced them, had bound them with cords made of the bark of trees. They were encompassed by fifty naked Oreillons, armed with bows and arrows, with clubs and flint hatchets. Some were making a large cauldron boil, others were preparing spits, and all cried:

"A Jesuit! a Jesuit! we shall be revenged, we shall have excellent cheer, let us eat the Jesuit, let us eat him up!" "I told you, my dear master," cried Cacambo sadly, "that those two girls would play us some ugly trick." Candide seeing the cauldron and the spits, cried:

"We are certainly going to be either roasted or boiled. Ah! what would Master Pangloss say, were he to see how pure nature is formed? Everything is right, may be, but I declare it is very hard to have lost Miss Cunegonde and to be put upon a spit by Oreillons." Cacambo never lost his head.

"Do not despair," said he to the disconsolate Candide, "I understand a little of the jargon of these people, I will speak to them." "Be sure," said Candide, "to represent to them[Pg 72] how frightfully inhuman it is to cook men, and how very un-Christian." "Gentlemen," said Cacambo, "you reckon you are to-day going to feast upon a Jesuit. It is all very well, nothing is more unjust than thus to treat your enemies. Indeed, the law of nature teaches us to kill our neighbour, and such is the practice all over the world. If we do not accustom ourselves to eating them, it is because we have better fare. But you have not the same resources as we; certainly it is much better to devour your enemies than to resign to the crows and rooks the fruits of your victory. But, gentlemen, surely you would not choose to eat your friends. You believe that you are going to spit a Jesuit, and he is your defender. It is the enemy of your enemies that you are going to roast. As for myself, I was born in your country; this gentleman is my master, and, far from being a Jesuit, he has just killed one, whose spoils he wears; and thence comes your mistake. To convince you of the truth of what I say, take his habit and carry it to the first barrier of the Jesuit kingdom, and inform yourselves whether my master did not kill a Jesuit officer. It will not take you long, and you can always eat us if you find that I have lied to you. But I have told you the truth. You are too well acquainted[Pg 73] with the principles of public law, humanity, and justice not to pardon us." The Oreillons found this speech very reasonable. They deputed two of their principal people with all expedition to inquire into the truth of the matter; these executed their commission like men of sense, and soon returned with good news. The Oreillons untied their prisoners, showed them all sorts of civilities, offered them girls, gave them refreshment, and reconducted them to the confines of their territories, proclaiming with great joy:

"He is no Jesuit! He is no Jesuit!" Candide could not help being surprised at the cause of his deliverance.

"What people!" said he; "what men! what manners! If I had not been so lucky as to run Miss Cunegonde's brother through the body, I should have been devoured without redemption. But, after all, pure nature is good, since these people, instead of feasting upon my flesh, have shown me a thousand civilities, when then I was not a Jesuit."

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Chapter 16

XVI ADVENTURES OF THE TWO TRAVELLERS, WITH TWO GIRLS, TWO MONKEYS, AND THE SAVAGES CALLED OREILLONS. |||||||||||||||Oreillons tribe XVI AVENTURES DES DEUX VOYAGEURS, AVEC DEUX FILLES, DEUX SINGES ET LES SAUVAGES APPELÉS OREILLONS.

Candide and his valet had got beyond the barrier, before it was known in the camp that the German Jesuit was dead. |||servant|||||||||||||||||| Candide et son valet avaient franchi la barrière, avant qu'on ne sache dans le camp que le jésuite allemand était mort. The wary Cacambo had taken care to fill his wallet with bread, chocolate, bacon, fruit, and a few bottles of wine. |cautious||||||||||||||||||| Le prudent Cacambo avait pris soin de remplir son portefeuille de pain, de chocolat, de bacon, de fruits et de quelques bouteilles de vin. With their Andalusian horses they penetrated into an unknown country, where they perceived no beaten track. Avec leurs chevaux andalous, ils pénétrèrent dans un pays inconnu, où ils n'aperçurent pas de sentiers battus. At length they came to a beautiful meadow intersected with purling rills. ||||||||||bubbling|small streams Ils arrivèrent enfin à une magnifique prairie entrecoupée de rigoles de purling. Here our two adventurers fed their horses. |||adventurers||| Cacambo proposed to his master to take some food, and he set him an example. Cacambo a proposé à son maître de prendre de la nourriture, et il lui a donné l'exemple.

"How can you ask me to eat ham," said Candide, "after killing the Baron’s son, and being doomed never more to see the beautiful Cunegonde? What will it avail me to spin out my wretched days and drag them far from her in remorse and despair? |||benefit help||||||||||||||in|regret||desperation À quoi cela me servira-t-il de passer mes jours misérables et de les entraîner loin d'elle dans le remords et le désespoir? And what will the  Journal of Trevoux [17] say?" ||||journal||Trevoux| Et que dira le Journal de Trevoux [17]? " While he was thus lamenting his fate, he[Pg 69] went on eating. ||||mourning||||||| The sun went down. The two wanderers heard some little cries which seemed to be uttered by women. They did not know whether they were cries of pain or joy; but they started up precipitately with that inquietude and alarm which every little thing inspires in an unknown country. ||||||||||||||||suddenly and hastily|||unease||||||||||| The noise was made by two naked girls, who tripped along the mead, while two monkeys were pursuing them and biting their buttocks. |||||||||ran playfully||||||||||||| Le bruit a été fait par deux filles nues, qui ont trébuché le long de l'hydromel, tandis que deux singes les poursuivaient et se mordaient les fesses. Candide was moved with pity; he had learned to fire a gun in the Bulgarian service, and he was so clever at it, that he could hit a filbert in a hedge without touching a leaf of the tree. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||hazelnut|||||||||| Candide était ému de pitié; il avait appris à tirer avec un fusil dans le service bulgare, et il était si habile à cela, qu'il pouvait frapper un aveline dans une haie sans toucher une feuille de l'arbre. He took up his double-barrelled Spanish fusil, let it off, and killed the two monkeys. ||||double|double-barreled||rifle|||||||| Il prit son fusil espagnol à double canon, le lâcha et tua les deux singes.

"God be praised! My dear Cacambo, I have rescued those two poor creatures from a most perilous situation. If I have committed a sin in killing an Inquisitor and a Jesuit, I have made ample amends by saving the lives of these girls. |||||||||||||||created||||||||| Si j'ai commis un péché en tuant un inquisiteur et un jésuite, je me suis largement indemnisé en sauvant la vie de ces filles. Perhaps they are young ladies of family; and this adventure may procure us great advantages in this country." He was continuing, but stopped short when he saw the two girls tenderly embracing the monkeys, bathing their bodies in tears, and rending the air with the most dismal lamentations. ||||||||||||||||||||||tearing|||||||sorrowful cries Il continuait, mais s'arrêta net quand il vit les deux filles embrassant tendrement les singes, baignant leurs corps de larmes et déchirant l'air avec les lamentations les plus lamentables.

"Little did I expect to see such good-nature,"[Pg 70] said he at length to Cacambo; who made answer: |||||||good nature||||||||||| «Je ne m'attendais pas à voir une telle bonne nature», dit-il enfin à Cacambo; qui a répondu: "Master, you have done a fine thing now; you have slain the sweethearts of those two young ladies." «Maître, vous avez fait une belle chose maintenant; vous avez tué les amoureux de ces deux jeunes filles. "The sweethearts! Is it possible? You are jesting, Cacambo, I can never believe it!" "Dear master," replied Cacambo; "you are surprised at everything. «Cher maître,» répondit Cacambo; "vous êtes surpris de tout. Why should you think it so strange that in some countries there are monkeys which insinuate themselves into the good graces of the ladies; they are a fourth part human, as I am a fourth part Spaniard." |||||||||||||||suggest||||||||||||||||||||| Pourquoi devriez-vous trouver si étrange que dans certains pays il y ait des singes qui s'insinuent dans les bonnes grâces des dames; ils sont une quatrième partie humaine, comme je suis une quatrième partie espagnole. " "Alas!" replied Candide, "I remember to have heard Master Pangloss say, that formerly such accidents used to happen; that these mixtures were productive of Centaurs, Fauns, and Satyrs; and that many of the ancients had seen such monsters, but I looked upon the whole as fabulous." |||||||||||||||||||||caused the creation|||mythical creatures||mythical creatures|||||||||||||||||| répondit Candide, je me souviens avoir entendu Maître Pangloss dire que jadis, de tels accidents se produisaient; que ces mélanges produisaient des centaures, des faunes et des satyres; et que beaucoup d'anciens avaient vu de tels monstres, mais je regardais les tout aussi fabuleux. " "You ought now to be convinced," said Cacambo, "that it is the truth, and you see what use is made of those creatures, by persons that have not had a proper education; all I fear is that those ladies will play us some ugly trick." «Vous devez maintenant être convaincu,» a dit Cacambo, «que c'est la vérité, et vous voyez quel usage est fait de ces créatures, par des personnes qui n'ont pas eu une éducation convenable; tout ce que je crains, c'est que ces dames nous joueront. un truc laid. " These sound reflections induced Candide to leave the meadow and to plunge into a wood. Ces réflexions sonores ont amené Candide à quitter la prairie et à plonger dans un bois. He supped there with Cacambo; and after cursing the Portuguese inquisitor, the Governor of Buenos Ayres, and the Baron, they fell asleep[Pg 71] on moss. Il y soupa avec Cacambo; et après avoir maudit l'inquisiteur portugais, le gouverneur de Buenos Ayres et le baron, ils s'endormirent [Pg 71] sur de la mousse. On awaking they felt that they could not move; for during the night the Oreillons, who inhabited that country, and to whom the ladies had denounced them, had bound them with cords made of the bark of trees. |||||||||||||||||||||||||informed|||||||||||| Au réveil, ils ont senti qu'ils ne pouvaient pas bouger; car pendant la nuit les Oreillons, qui habitaient ce pays, et à qui les dames les avaient dénoncés, les avaient liés avec des cordes faites d'écorce d'arbres. They were encompassed by fifty naked Oreillons, armed with bows and arrows, with clubs and flint hatchets. ||surrounded|||||||||||||| Ils étaient entourés de cinquante Oreillons nus, armés d'arcs et de flèches, de gourdins et de haches en silex. Some were making a large cauldron boil, others were preparing spits, and all cried: ||||||||||spits||| Certains faisaient bouillir un grand chaudron, d'autres préparaient des broche, et tous pleuraient:

"A Jesuit! a Jesuit! we shall be revenged, we shall have excellent cheer, let us eat the Jesuit, let us eat him up!" nous serons vengés, nous aurons une excellente joie, mangeons le jésuite, mangeons-le! " "I told you, my dear master," cried Cacambo sadly, "that those two girls would play us some ugly trick." Candide seeing the cauldron and the spits, cried:

"We are certainly going to be either roasted or boiled. Ah! what would Master Pangloss say, were he to see how pure nature is formed? que dirait Maître Pangloss, s'il voyait comment la nature pure se forme? Everything is right, may be, but I declare it is very hard to have lost Miss Cunegonde and to be put upon a spit by Oreillons." Tout va bien, peut-être, mais je déclare qu'il est très difficile d'avoir perdu Miss Cunégonde et d'être mis à la broche par les Oreillons. Cacambo never lost his head.

"Do not despair," said he to the disconsolate Candide, "I understand a little of the jargon of these people, I will speak to them." perform act|||||||sad hopeless|||||||||||||||| «Ne désespérez pas, dit-il à l'inconsolable Candide, je comprends un peu le jargon de ces gens, je leur parlerai. "Be sure," said Candide, "to represent to them[Pg 72] how frightfully inhuman it is to cook men, and how very un-Christian." «Soyez sûr,» a dit Candide, «de leur représenter [Pg 72] combien il est terriblement inhumain de cuisiner des hommes, et combien très peu chrétien. "Gentlemen," said Cacambo, "you reckon you are to-day going to feast upon a Jesuit. «Messieurs, dit Cacambo, vous pensez que vous allez aujourd'hui vous régaler d'un jésuite. It is all very well, nothing is more unjust than thus to treat your enemies. C'est très bien, rien n'est plus injuste que de traiter ainsi ses ennemis. Indeed, the law of nature teaches us to kill our neighbour, and such is the practice all over the world. If we do not accustom ourselves to eating them, it is because we have better fare. ||||get used||||||||||| Si nous ne nous habituons pas à les manger, c'est parce que nous avons de meilleurs tarifs. But you have not the same resources as we; certainly it is much better to devour your enemies than to resign to the crows and rooks the fruits of your victory. |||||||||||||||||||||||crows||||||| Mais vous n'avez pas les mêmes ressources que nous; certainement il vaut mieux dévorer vos ennemis que de résigner aux corbeaux et aux tours les fruits de votre victoire. But, gentlemen, surely you would not choose to eat your friends. You believe that you are going to spit a Jesuit, and he is your defender. It is the enemy of your enemies that you are going to roast. As for myself, I was born in your country; this gentleman is my master, and, far from being a Jesuit, he has just killed one, whose spoils he wears; and thence comes your mistake. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||trophies or loot||||||| To convince you of the truth of what I say, take his habit and carry it to the first barrier of the Jesuit kingdom, and inform yourselves whether my master did not kill a Jesuit officer. Pour vous convaincre de la vérité de ce que je dis, prenez son habit et portez-le à la première barrière du royaume jésuite, et informez-vous si mon maître n'a pas tué un officier jésuite. It will not take you long, and you can always eat us if you find that I have lied to you. But I have told you the truth. You are too well acquainted[Pg 73] with the principles of public law, humanity, and justice not to pardon us." Vous connaissez trop bien [Pg 73] les principes du droit public, de l'humanité et de la justice pour ne pas nous pardonner. " The Oreillons found this speech very reasonable. They deputed two of their principal people with all expedition to inquire into the truth of the matter; these executed their commission like men of sense, and soon returned with good news. |assigned|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Ils ont délégué deux de leurs principaux hommes avec toute expédition pour enquêter sur la vérité de l'affaire; ceux-ci exécutèrent leur commission comme des hommes de sens, et revinrent bientôt avec de bonnes nouvelles. The Oreillons untied their prisoners, showed them all sorts of civilities, offered them girls, gave them refreshment, and reconducted them to the confines of their territories, proclaiming with great joy: ||||||||||courtesies||||||||escorted back||||||||||| Les Oreillons déliaient leurs prisonniers, leur montraient toutes sortes de civilités, leur offraient des filles, les rafraîchissaient et les reconduisaient aux confins de leurs territoires en proclamant avec une grande joie:

"He is no Jesuit! He is no Jesuit!" Candide could not help being surprised at the cause of his deliverance. |||||||||||rescue Candide ne pouvait s'empêcher d'être surpris de la cause de sa délivrance.

"What people!" said he; "what men! what manners! If I had not been so lucky as to run Miss Cunegonde’s brother through the body, I should have been devoured without redemption. ||||||||||||||||||||eaten alive|| Si je n'avais pas eu la chance de faire courir le frère de miss Cunégonde à travers le corps, j'aurais été dévoré sans rédemption. But, after all, pure nature is good, since these people, instead of feasting upon my flesh, have shown me a thousand civilities, when then I was not a Jesuit." Mais, après tout, la nature pure est bonne, puisque ces gens, au lieu de se régaler de ma chair, m'ont montré mille politesse, alors que je n'étais pas jésuite. "