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Voltaire's Candide or Optimism, Chapter 28

Chapter 28

XXVIII WHAT HAPPENED TO CANDIDE, CUNEGONDE, PANGLOSS, MARTIN, ETC.

"I ask your pardon once more," said Candide to the Baron, "your pardon, reverend father, for having run you through the body." "Say no more about it," answered the Baron. "I was a little too hasty, I own, but since you wish to know by what fatality I came to be a galley-slave I will inform you. After I had been cured by the surgeon of the college of the wound you gave me, I was attacked and carried off by a party of Spanish troops, who confined me in prison at Buenos Ayres at the very time my sister was setting out thence. I asked leave to return to Rome to the General of my Order. I was appointed chaplain to the French Ambassador at Constantinople. I had not been eight days in this employment when one evening I met with a young Ichoglan, who was a very handsome fellow. The weather was warm. The young man wanted to bathe, and I took this opportunity of bathing also. I did not know that it was a capital crime for a Christian to[Pg 155] be found naked with a young Mussulman. A cadi ordered me a hundred blows on the soles of the feet, and condemned me to the galleys. I do not think there ever was a greater act of injustice. But I should be glad to know how my sister came to be scullion to a Transylvanian prince who has taken shelter among the Turks." "But you, my dear Pangloss," said Candide, "how can it be that I behold you again?" "It is true," said Pangloss, "that you saw me hanged. I should have been burnt, but you may remember it rained exceedingly hard when they were going to roast me; the storm was so violent that they despaired of lighting the fire, so I was hanged because they could do no better. A surgeon purchased my body, carried me home, and dissected me. He began with making a crucial incision on me from the navel to the clavicula. One could not have been worse hanged than I was. The executioner of the Holy Inquisition was a sub-deacon, and knew how to burn people marvellously well, but he was not accustomed to hanging. The cord was wet and did not slip properly, and besides it was badly tied; in short, I still drew my breath, when the crucial incision made me give such a frightful scream that my surgeon fell flat upon his back, and imagining that he had been dissecting the devil he ran away, dying with fear, and fell down the staircase[Pg 156] in his flight. His wife, hearing the noise, flew from the next room. She saw me stretched out upon the table with my crucial incision. She was seized with yet greater fear than her husband, fled, and tumbled over him. When they came to themselves a little, I heard the wife say to her husband: 'My dear, how could you take it into your head to dissect a heretic? Do you not know that these people always have the devil in their bodies? I will go and fetch a priest this minute to exorcise him.' At this proposal I shuddered, and mustering up what little courage I had still remaining I cried out aloud, 'Have mercy on me!' At length the Portuguese barber plucked up his spirits. He sewed up my wounds; his wife even nursed me. I was upon my legs at the end of fifteen days. The barber found me a place as lackey to a knight of Malta who was going to Venice, but finding that my master had no money to pay me my wages I entered the service of a Venetian merchant, and went with him to Constantinople. One day I took it into my head to step into a mosque, where I saw an old Iman and a very pretty young devotee who was saying her paternosters. Her bosom was uncovered, and between her breasts she had a beautiful bouquet of tulips, roses, anemones, ranunculus, hyacinths, and auriculas. She dropped her bouquet; I picked it up, and[Pg 157] presented it to her with a profound reverence. I was so long in delivering it that the Iman began to get angry, and seeing that I was a Christian he called out for help. They carried me before the cadi, who ordered me a hundred lashes on the soles of the feet and sent me to the galleys. I was chained to the very same galley and the same bench as the young Baron. On board this galley there were four young men from Marseilles, five Neapolitan priests, and two monks from Corfu, who told us similar adventures happened daily. The Baron maintained that he had suffered greater injustice than I, and I insisted that it was far more innocent to take up a bouquet and place it again on a woman's bosom than to be found stark naked with an Ichoglan. We were continually disputing, and received twenty lashes with a bull's pizzle when the concatenation of universal events brought you to our galley, and you were good enough to ransom us." "Well, my dear Pangloss," said Candide to him, "when you had been hanged, dissected, whipped, and were tugging at the oar, did you always think that everything happens for the best?" "I am still of my first opinion," answered Pangloss, "for I am a philosopher and I cannot[Pg 158] retract, especially as Leibnitz could never be wrong; and besides, the pre-established harmony is the finest thing in the world, and so is his plenum and materia subtilis ."

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Chapter 28 Bölüm 28

XXVIII WHAT HAPPENED TO CANDIDE, CUNEGONDE, PANGLOSS, MARTIN, ETC.

"I ask your pardon once more," said Candide to the Baron, "your pardon, reverend father, for having run you through the body." «Je vous demande pardon une fois de plus, dit Candide au baron, pardon, révérend père, de vous avoir parcouru le corps. "Say no more about it," answered the Baron. "I was a little too hasty, I own, but since you wish to know by what fatality I came to be a galley-slave I will inform you. |||||rash|||||||||||fatal accident||||||||||| «J'étais un peu trop pressé, je l'avoue, mais puisque vous voulez savoir par quelle fatalité je suis devenu un esclave de galère, je vous en informerai. After I had been cured by the surgeon of the college of the wound you gave me, I was attacked and carried off by a party of Spanish troops, who confined me in prison at Buenos Ayres at the very time my sister was setting out thence. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||setting out||from there Après avoir été guérie par le chirurgien du collège de la blessure que vous m'avez faite, j'ai été attaquée et emportée par un groupe de troupes espagnoles, qui m'ont enfermé en prison à Buenos-Ayres au moment même où ma sœur partait de là. I asked leave to return to Rome to the General of my Order. J'ai demandé la permission de retourner à Rome auprès du général de mon Ordre. I was appointed chaplain to the French Ambassador at Constantinople. |||religious advisor|||||| J'ai été nommé aumônier de l'ambassadeur de France à Constantinople. I had not been eight days in this employment when one evening I met with a young Ichoglan, who was a very handsome fellow. Je n'avais pas été depuis huit jours dans cet emploi quand un soir j'ai rencontré un jeune Ichoglan, qui était un très beau garçon. The weather was warm. The young man wanted to bathe, and I took this opportunity of bathing also. I did not know that it was a capital crime for a Christian to[Pg 155] be found naked with a young Mussulman. A cadi ordered me a hundred blows on the soles of the feet, and condemned me to the galleys. |judge||||||||||||||||| Un cadi m'ordonna cent coups sur la plante des pieds et me condamna aux galères. I do not think there ever was a greater act of injustice. But I should be glad to know how my sister came to be scullion to a Transylvanian prince who has taken shelter among the Turks." |||||||||||||kitchen servant||||||||||| Mais je serais heureux de savoir comment ma sœur est devenue marmotte d'un prince de Transylvanie qui s'est réfugié parmi les Turcs. " "But you, my dear Pangloss," said Candide, "how can it be that I behold you again?" - Mais vous, mon cher Pangloss, dit Candide, comment se fait-il que je vous revoie? "It is true," said Pangloss, "that you saw me hanged. I should have been burnt, but you may remember it rained exceedingly hard when they were going to roast me; the storm was so violent that they despaired of lighting the fire, so I was hanged because they could do no better. J'aurais dû être brûlé, mais vous vous souvenez peut-être qu'il a plu extrêmement fort lorsqu'ils allaient me rôtir; la tempête était si violente qu'ils désespéraient d'allumer le feu, alors j'ai été pendu parce qu'ils ne pouvaient pas faire mieux. A surgeon purchased my body, carried me home, and dissected me. |||||||||cut open| Un chirurgien a acheté mon corps, m'a ramené à la maison et m'a disséqué. He began with making a crucial incision on me from the navel to the clavicula. ||||||cut||||||||collarbone Il a commencé par me faire une incision cruciale du nombril à la clavicule. One could not have been worse hanged than I was. The executioner of the Holy Inquisition was a sub-deacon, and knew how to burn people marvellously well, but he was not accustomed to hanging. The cord was wet and did not slip properly, and besides it was badly tied; in short, I still drew my breath, when the crucial incision made me give such a frightful scream that my surgeon fell flat upon his back, and imagining that he had been dissecting the devil he ran away, dying with fear, and fell down the staircase[Pg 156] in his flight. Le cordon était mouillé et ne glissait pas correctement, et en plus il était mal noué; bref, je tirais encore mon souffle, quand l'incision cruciale me fit pousser un cri si affreux que mon chirurgien tomba à plat ventre, et imaginant qu'il avait disséqué le diable il s'enfuit, mourant de peur, et tomba le escalier [Pg 156] dans son vol. His wife, hearing the noise, flew from the next room. She saw me stretched out upon the table with my crucial incision. Elle m'a vu étendu sur la table avec mon incision cruciale. She was seized with yet greater fear than her husband, fled, and tumbled over him. Elle a été saisie d'une peur encore plus grande que son mari, s'est enfuie et s'est écroulée sur lui. When they came to themselves a little, I heard the wife say to her husband: 'My dear, how could you take it into your head to dissect a heretic? ||||||||||||||||||||||||||analyze||heretical person Quand ils revinrent un peu à eux-mêmes, j'entendis la femme dire à son mari: «Ma chérie, comment as-tu pu te prendre en tête de disséquer un hérétique? Do you not know that these people always have the devil in their bodies? I will go and fetch a priest this minute to exorcise him.' ||||||||||drive out| At this proposal I shuddered, and mustering up what little courage I had still remaining I cried out aloud, 'Have mercy on me!' A cette proposition, je frissonnai, et rassemblant le peu de courage qui me restait encore, je criai à haute voix: «Aie pitié de moi! At length the Portuguese barber plucked up his spirits. ||||hairdresser|||| Enfin le barbier portugais reprit ses esprits. He sewed up my wounds; his wife even nursed me. I was upon my legs at the end of fifteen days. The barber found me a place as lackey to a knight of Malta who was going to Venice, but finding that my master had no money to pay me my wages I entered the service of a Venetian merchant, and went with him to Constantinople. Le barbier me trouva une place de laquais chez un chevalier de Malte qui allait à Venise, mais, voyant que mon maître n'avait pas d'argent pour me payer mon salaire, je suis entré au service d'un marchand vénitien et je suis allé avec lui à Constantinople. One day I took it into my head to step into a mosque, where I saw an old Iman and a very pretty young devotee who was saying her paternosters. ||||||||||||||||||||||||religious follower|||||prayers or rosaries Un jour, j'ai pris l'idée d'entrer dans une mosquée, où j'ai vu un vieil Iman et une très jolie jeune fidèle qui disait ses paternosters. Her bosom was uncovered, and between her breasts she had a beautiful bouquet of tulips, roses, anemones, ranunculus, hyacinths, and auriculas. ||||||||||||||||flowers|buttercups|hyacinths||primroses Sa poitrine était découverte, et entre ses seins elle avait un beau bouquet de tulipes, de roses, d'anémones, de renoncules, de jacinthes et d'auricules. She dropped her bouquet; I picked it up, and[Pg 157] presented it to her with a profound reverence. I was so long in delivering it that the Iman began to get angry, and seeing that I was a Christian he called out for help. They carried me before the cadi, who ordered me a hundred lashes on the soles of the feet and sent me to the galleys. I was chained to the very same galley and the same bench as the young Baron. On board this galley there were four young men from Marseilles, five Neapolitan priests, and two monks from Corfu, who told us similar adventures happened daily. À bord de cette galère, il y avait quatre jeunes marseillais, cinq prêtres napolitains et deux moines de Corfou, qui nous racontaient des aventures similaires chaque jour. The Baron maintained that he had suffered greater injustice than I, and I insisted that it was far more innocent to take up a bouquet and place it again on a woman's bosom than to be found stark naked with an Ichoglan. We were continually disputing, and received twenty lashes with a bull's pizzle when the concatenation of universal events brought you to our galley, and you were good enough to ransom us." ||||||||||||||linking of events|||||||||||||||| Nous nous disputions continuellement et avons reçu vingt coups de fouet avec un piquant de taureau lorsque la concaténation d'événements universels vous a amené à notre galère, et vous avez été assez bon pour nous rançonner. "Well, my dear Pangloss," said Candide to him, "when you had been hanged, dissected, whipped, and were tugging at the oar, did you always think that everything happens for the best?" "I am still of my first opinion," answered Pangloss, "for I am a philosopher and I cannot[Pg 158] retract, especially as Leibnitz could never be wrong; and besides, the pre-established harmony is the finest thing in the world, and so is his plenum and materia subtilis ." ||||||||||||||||||take back|||||||||||||||||||||||||fullness||subtle matter|subtle matter «Je suis toujours de mon premier avis», répondit Pangloss, «car je suis philosophe et je ne peux pas me rétracter, d'autant que Leibnitz ne pourrait jamais se tromper; et d'ailleurs, l'harmonie préétablie est la plus belle chose dans le monde. monde, de même que son plénum et sa materia subtilis. "