Chapter 26

XXVI OF A SUPPER WHICH CANDIDE AND MARTIN TOOK WITH SIX STRANGERS, AND WHO THEY WERE. XXVI D'UN SUPPER QUI CANDIDE ET MARTIN ONT EU SIX ÉTRANGERS ET QUI ILS ÉTAIENT. [34]

One evening that Candide and Martin were going to sit down to supper with some foreigners who lodged in the same inn, a man whose complexion was as black as soot, came behind Candide, and taking him by the arm, said: |||||||||||||||||stayed|||||||||||||||||||||||

"Get yourself ready to go along with us; do not fail." "Préparez-vous à nous accompagner, n'échouez pas." Upon this he turned round and saw—Cacambo! Là-dessus, il se retourna et vit: Cacambo! Nothing but the sight of Cunegonde could have astonished and delighted him more. He was on the point of going mad with joy. He embraced his dear friend.

"Cunegonde is here, without doubt; where is she? Take me to her that I may die of joy in her company." "Cunegonde is not here," said Cacambo, "she is at Constantinople." "Oh, heavens! at Constantinople! But were she in China I would fly thither; let us be off." Mais si elle était en Chine, je volerais là-bas; partons. " "We shall set out after supper," replied[Pg 143] Cacambo. "I can tell you nothing more; I am a slave, my master awaits me, I must serve him at table; speak not a word, eat, and then get ready." Candide, distracted between joy and grief, delighted at seeing his faithful agent again, astonished at finding him a slave, filled with the fresh hope of recovering his mistress, his heart palpitating, his understanding confused, sat down to table with Martin, who saw all these scenes quite unconcerned, and with six strangers who had come to spend the Carnival at Venice. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||beating rapidly||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Candide, distrait entre la joie et le chagrin, ravi de revoir son fidèle agent, étonné de le trouver esclave, rempli du nouvel espoir de retrouver sa maîtresse, le cœur palpitant, l'entendement confus, s'assit à table avec Martin, qui vit toutes ces scènes sans souci, et avec six étrangers venus passer le carnaval à Venise.

Cacambo waited at table upon one of the strangers; towards the end of the entertainment he drew near his master, and whispered in his ear: Cacambo attendait à table un des étrangers; vers la fin du divertissement, il s'approcha de son maître et lui murmura à l'oreille:

"Sire, your Majesty may start when you please, the vessel is ready." On saying these words he went out. The company in great surprise looked at one another without speaking a word, when another domestic approached his master and said to him:

"Sire, your Majesty's chaise is at Padua, and the boat is ready." |||chair|||||||| "Sire, la chaise de Votre Majesté est à Padoue, et le bateau est prêt." The master gave a nod and the servant went away. The company all stared at one another again, and their surprise redoubled. |||||||||||increased again A third valet came up to a third stranger, saying:

"Sire, believe me, your Majesty ought not to[Pg 144] stay here any longer. I am going to get everything ready." Je vais tout préparer. " And immediately he disappeared. Candide and Martin did not doubt that this was a masquerade of the Carnival. ||||||||||masquerade||| Then a fourth domestic said to a fourth master:

"Your Majesty may depart when you please." Saying this he went away like the rest. The fifth valet said the same thing to the fifth master. But the sixth valet spoke differently to the sixth stranger, who sat near Candide. He said to him:

"Faith, Sire, they will no longer give credit to your Majesty nor to me, and we may perhaps both of us be put in jail this very night. «Foi, Sire, ils ne donneront plus de crédit à Votre Majesté ni à moi, et nous pourrons peut-être nous mettre tous les deux en prison cette même nuit. Therefore I will take care of myself. Adieu." The servants being all gone, the six strangers, with Candide and Martin, remained in a profound silence. At length Candide broke it.

"Gentlemen," said he, "this is a very good joke indeed, but why should you all be kings? "Messieurs," dit-il, "c'est une très bonne blague en effet, mais pourquoi devriez-vous tous être rois? For me I own that neither Martin nor I is a king." Pour moi, je reconnais que ni Martin ni moi ne sommes un roi. " Cacambo's master then gravely answered in Italian: "I am not at all joking. My name is Achmet III. I was Grand Sultan many years. I dethroned my brother; my nephew dethroned me, my viziers were beheaded, and I am condemned to end my days in the old Seraglio. |||||||||advisors||executed|||||||||||| J'ai détrôné mon frère; mon neveu m'a détrôné, mes vizirs ont été décapités, et je suis condamné à finir mes jours dans le vieux sérail. My nephew,[Pg 145] the great Sultan Mahmoud, permits me to travel sometimes for my health, and I am come to spend the Carnival at Venice." A young man who sat next to Achmet, spoke then as follows:

"My name is Ivan. I was once Emperor of all the Russias, but was dethroned in my cradle. ||||||||||overthrown||| My parents were confined in prison and I was educated there; yet I am sometimes allowed to travel in company with persons who act as guards; and I am come to spend the Carnival at Venice." The third said:

"I am Charles Edward, King of England; my father has resigned all his legal rights to me. I have fought in defence of them; and above eight hundred of my adherents have been hanged, drawn, and quartered. |||||||||||||supporters|||||| Je me suis battu pour les défendre; et plus de huit cents de mes adhérents ont été pendus, dessinés et écartelés. I have been confined in prison; I am going to Rome, to pay a visit to the King, my father, who was dethroned as well as myself and my grandfather, and I am come to spend the Carnival at Venice." The fourth spoke thus in his turn:

"I am the King of Poland; the fortune of war has stripped me of my hereditary dominions; my father underwent the same vicissitudes; I resign myself to Providence in the same manner as Sultan Achmet, the Emperor Ivan, and King Charles Edward, whom God long preserve;[Pg 146] and I am come to the Carnival at Venice." |||||||||||||||inherited|territories|||experienced faced|||changes|||||divine will|||||||||||||||||||||||||||| «Je suis le roi de Pologne; la fortune de la guerre m'a dépouillé de mes domaines héréditaires; mon père a subi les mêmes vicissitudes; je me résigne à la Providence de la même manière que le sultan Achmet, l'empereur Ivan et le roi Charles Edward, qui Dieu conserve longtemps; [Pg 146] et je suis venu au Carnaval de Venise. " The fifth said:

"I am King of Poland also; I have been twice dethroned; but Providence has given me another country, where I have done more good than all the Sarmatian kings were ever capable of doing on the banks of the Vistula; I resign myself likewise to Providence, and am come to pass the Carnival at Venice." ||||||||||||divine guidance|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| «Je suis aussi roi de Pologne; j'ai été détrôné deux fois; mais la Providence m'a donné un autre pays, où j'ai fait plus de bien que tous les rois sarmates n'ont jamais été capables de faire sur les bords de la Vistule; je me résigne également à Providence, et je suis venu passer le carnaval de Venise. " It was now the sixth monarch's turn to speak: "Gentlemen," said he, "I am not so great a prince as any of you; however, I am a king. I am Theodore, elected King of Corsica; I had the title of Majesty, and now I am scarcely treated as a gentleman. ||||||island of Corsica||||||||||||||| I have coined money, and now am not worth a farthing; I have had two secretaries of state, and now I have scarce a valet; I have seen myself on a throne, and I have seen myself upon straw in a common jail in London. |||||||||||||||government officials||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| J'ai frappé de la monnaie, et maintenant je ne vaux pas un sou; J'ai eu deux secrétaires d'État, et maintenant je n'ai guère de valet de chambre; Je me suis vu sur un trône et je me suis vu sur de la paille dans une prison ordinaire de Londres. I am afraid that I shall meet with the same treatment here though, like your majesties, I am come to see the Carnival at Venice." |||||||||||||||royalty||||||||| The other five kings listened to this speech with generous compassion. Each of them gave twenty sequins to King Theodore to buy him clothes and linen; and Candide made him a present of a diamond worth two thousand sequins. |||||coins|||||||||||||||||||||| Chacun d'eux a donné vingt paillettes au roi Théodore pour lui acheter des vêtements et du linge; et Candide lui fit un cadeau d'un diamant valant deux mille paillettes. [Pg 147]

"Who can this private person be," said the five kings to one another, "who is able to give, and really has given, a hundred times as much as any of us?" «Qui peut être cette personne privée», se disaient les cinq rois, «qui est capable de donner, et a vraiment donné, cent fois plus que nous? Just as they rose from table, in came four Serene Highnesses, who had also been stripped of their territories by the fortune of war, and were come to spend the Carnival at Venice. Au moment où ils se levaient de table, entrèrent quatre Altesses Sérénissimes, également dépouillées de leurs territoires par la fortune de la guerre, et venues passer le Carnaval à Venise. But Candide paid no regard to these newcomers, his thoughts were entirely employed on his voyage to Constantinople, in search of his beloved Cunegonde. Mais Candide ne se souciait pas de ces nouveaux venus, ses pensées étaient entièrement employées à son voyage à Constantinople, à la recherche de sa bien-aimée Cunégonde.