CANDIDE AND HIS VALET ARRIVE IN THE COUNTRY OF
EL DORADO. WHAT THEY SAW HERE
When to the frontiers of the Oreillons, said Cacambo to Candide, "You see,
this hemisphere is not better than the other; now take my advice and let us
return to Europe by the shortest way possible."
"But how can we get back?" said Candide; "and whither shall we go? To my
own country? The Bulgarians and the Abares are laying that waste with fire
and sword. Or shall we go to Portugal? There I shall be burned; and if we
abide here we are every moment in danger of being spitted. But how can I
bring myself to quit that part of the world where my dear Miss Cunegonde
has her residence?"
"Let us return towards Cayenne", said Cacambo. "There we shall meet with
some Frenchmen, for you know those gentry ramble all over the world.
Perhaps they will assist us, and God will look with pity on our distress."
It was not so easy to get to Cayenne. They knew pretty nearly whereabouts
it lay; but the mountains, rivers, precipices, robbers, savages, were dreadful
obstacles in the way. Their horses died with fatigue and their provisions
were at an end. They subsisted a whole month on wild fruit, till at length they
came to a little river bordered with cocoa trees; the sight of which at once
revived their drooping spirits and furnished nourishment for their enfeebled
bodies.
Cacambo, who was always giving as good advice as the old woman herself,
said to Candide, "You see there is no holding out any longer; we have
traveled enough on foot. I spy an empty canoe near the river side; let us fill
it with cocoanuts, get into it, and go down with the stream; a river always
leads to some inhabited place. If we do not meet with agreeable things, we
shall at least meet with something new."
"Agreed", replied Candide; "let us recommend ourselves to Providence."
They rowed a few leagues down the river, the banks of which were in some
places covered with flowers; in others barren; in some parts smooth and
level, and in others steep and rugged. The stream widened as they went
further on, till at length it passed under one of the frightful rocks, whose
summits seemed to reach the clouds. Here our two travelers had the
courage to commit themselves to the stream, which, contracting in this part,
hurried them along with a dreadful noise and rapidity.
At the end of four and twenty hours they saw daylight again; but their canoe
was dashed to pieces against the rocks. They were obliged to creep along,
from rock to rock, for the space of a league, till at length a spacious plain
presented itself to their sight. This place was bounded by a chain of
inaccessible mountains. The country appeared cultivated equally for
pleasure and to produce the necessaries of life. The useful and agreeable
were here equally blended. The roads were covered, or rather adorned, with
carriages formed of glittering materials, in which were men and women of a
surprising beauty, drawn with great rapidity by red sheep of a very large
size; which far surpassed the finest coursers of Andalusian Tetuan, or
Mecquinez.
"Here is a country, however", said Candide, "preferable to Westphalia."
He and Cacambo landed near the first village they saw, at the entrance of
which they perceived some children covered with tattered garments of the
richest brocade, playing at quoits. Our two inhabitants of the other
hemisphere amused themselves greatly with what they saw. The quoits were
large, round pieces, yellow, red, and green, which cast a most glorious
luster. Our travelers picked some of them up, and they proved to be gold,
emeralds, rubies, and diamonds; the least of which would have been the
greatest ornament to the superb throne of the Great Mogul.
"Without doubt", said Cacambo, "those children must be the King's sons
that are playing at quoits."
As he was uttering these words the schoolmaster of the village appeared,
who came to call the children to school.
"There", said Candide, "is the preceptor of the royal family."
The little ragamuffins immediately quitted their diversion, leaving the quoits
on the ground with all their other playthings. Candide gathered them up, ran
to the schoolmaster, and, with a most respectful bow, presented them to
him, giving him to understand by signs that their Royal Highnesses had
forgot their gold and precious stones. The schoolmaster, with a smile, flung
them upon the ground, then examining Candide from head to foot with an air
of admiration, he turned his back and went on his way.
Our travelers took care, however, to gather up the gold, the rubies, and the
emeralds.
"Where are we?" cried Candide. "The King's children in this country must
have an excellent education, since they are taught to show such a contempt
for gold and precious stones."
Cacambo was as much surprised as his master. They then drew near the
first house in the village, which was built after the manner of a European
palace. There was a crowd of people about the door, and a still greater
number in the house. The sound of the most delightful instruments of music
was heard, and the most agreeable smell came from the kitchen. Cacambo
went up to the door and heard those within talking in the Peruvian language,
which was his mother tongue; for everyone knows that Cacambo was born
in a village of Tucuman, where no other language is spoken.
"I will be your interpreter here", said he to Candide. "Let us go in; this is an
eating house."
Immediately two waiters and two servant-girls, dressed in cloth of gold, and
their hair braided with ribbons of tissue, accosted the strangers and invited
them to sit down to the ordinary. Their dinner consisted of four dishes of
different soups, each garnished with two young paroquets, a large dish of
bouille that weighed two hundred weight, two roasted monkeys of a delicious
flavor, three hundred hummingbirds in one dish, and six hundred flybirds in
another; some excellent ragouts, delicate tarts, and the whole served up in
dishes of rock-crystal. Several sorts of liquors, extracted from the
sugarcane, were handed about by the servants who attended.
Most of the company were chapmen and wagoners, all extremely polite;
they asked Cacambo a few questions with the utmost discretion and
circumspection; and replied to his in a most obliging and satisfactory
manner.
As soon as dinner was over, both Candide and Cacambo thought they
should pay very handsomely for their entertainment by laying down two of
those large gold pieces which they had picked off the ground; but the
landlord and landlady burst into a fit of laughing and held their sides for
some time.
When the fit was over, the landlord said, "Gentlemen, I plainly perceive you
are strangers, and such we are not accustomed to charge; pardon us,
therefore, for laughing when you offered us the common pebbles of our
highways for payment of your reckoning. To be sure, you have none of the
coin of this kingdom; but there is no necessity of having any money at all to
dine in this house. All the inns, which are established for the convenience of
those who carry on the trade of this nation, are maintained by the
government. You have found but very indifferent entertainment here,
because this is only a poor village; but in almost every other of these public
houses you will meet with a reception worthy of persons of your merit."
Cacambo explained the whole of this speech of the landlord to Candide,
who listened to it with the same astonishment with which his friend
communicated it.
"What sort of a country is this", said the one to the other, "that is unknown
to all the world; and in which Nature has everywhere so different an
appearance to what she has in ours? Possibly this is that part of the globe
where everywhere is right, for there must certainly be some such place.
And, for all that Master Pangloss could say, I often perceived that things
went very ill in Westphalia."