WHAT THEY SAW IN THE COUNTRY OF EL DORADO
Cacambo vented all his curiosity upon his landlord by a thousand different
questions; the honest man answered him thus, "I am very ignorant, sir, but I
am contented with my ignorance; however, we have in this neighborhood an
old man retired from court, who is the most learned and communicative
person in the whole kingdom."
He then conducted Cacambo to the old man; Candide acted now only a
second character, and attended his valet. They entered a very plain house,
for the door was nothing but silver, and the ceiling was only of beaten gold,
but wrought in such elegant taste as to vie with the richest. The
antechamber, indeed, was only incrusted with rubies and emeralds; but the
order in which everything was disposed made amends for this great
simplicity.
The old man received the strangers on his sofa, which was stuffed with
hummingbirds' feathers; and ordered his servants to present them with
liquors in golden goblets, after which he satisfied their curiosity in the
following terms.
"I am now one hundred and seventy-two years old, and I learned of my late
father, who was equerry to the King, the amazing revolutions of Peru, to
which he had been an eyewitness. This kingdom is the ancient patrimony of
the Incas, who very imprudently quitted it to conquer another part of the
world, and were at length conquered and destroyed themselves by the
Spaniards.
"Those princes of their family who remained in their native country acted
more wisely. They ordained, with the consent of their whole nation, that
none of the inhabitants of our little kingdom should ever quit it; and to this
wise ordinance we owe the preservation of our innocence and happiness.
The Spaniards had some confused notion of this country, to which they
gave the name of El Dorado; and Sir Walter Raleigh, an Englishman,
actually came very near it about three hundred years ago; but the
inaccessible rocks and precipices with which our country is surrounded on
all sides, has hitherto secured us from the rapacious fury of the people of
Europe, who have an unaccountable fondness for the pebbles and dirt of
our land, for the sake of which they would murder us all to the very last
man."
The conversation lasted some time and turned chiefly on the form of
government, their manners, their women, their public diversions, and the
arts. At length, Candide, who had always had a taste for metaphysics,
asked whether the people of that country had any religion.
The old man reddened a little at this question.
"Can you doubt it?" said he; "do you take us for wretches lost to all sense of
gratitude?"
Cacambo asked in a respectful manner what was the established religion of
El Dorado. The old man blushed again and said, "Can there be two
religions, then? Ours, I apprehend, is the religion of the whole world; we
worship God from morning till night."
"Do you worship but one God?" said Cacambo, who still acted as the
interpreter of Candide's doubts.
"Certainly", said the old man; "there are not two, nor three, nor four Gods. I
must confess the people of your world ask very extraordinary questions."
However, Candide could not refrain from making many more inquiries of the
old man; he wanted to know in what manner they prayed to God in El
Dorado.
"We do not pray to Him at all", said the reverend sage; "we have nothing to
ask of Him, He has given us all we want, and we give Him thanks
incessantly."
Candide had a curiosity to see some of their priests, and desired Cacambo
to ask the old man where they were. At which he smiling said, "My friends,
we are all of us priests; the King and all the heads of families sing solemn
hymns of thanksgiving every morning, accompanied by five or six thousand
musicians."
"What!" said Cacambo, "have you no monks among you to dispute, to
govern, to intrigue, and to burn people who are not of the same opinion with
themselves?"
"Do you take us for fools?" said the old man. "Here we are all of one
opinion, and know not what you mean by your monks."
During the whole of this discourse Candide was in raptures, and he said to
himself, "What a prodigious difference is there between this place and
Westphalia; and this house and the Baron's castle. Ah, Master Pangloss!
had you ever seen El Dorado, you would no longer have maintained that the
castle of Thunder-ten-tronckh was the finest of all possible edifices; there is
nothing like seeing the world, that's certain."
This long conversation being ended, the old man ordered six sheep to be
harnessed and put to the coach, and sent twelve of his servants to escort
the travelers to court.
"Excuse me", said he, "for not waiting on you in person, my age deprives
me of that honor. The King will receive you in such a manner that you will
have no reason to complain; and doubtless you will make a proper
allowance for the customs of the country if they should not happen
altogether to please you."
Candide and Cacambo got into the coach, the six sheep flew, and, in less
than a quarter of an hour, they arrived at the King's palace, which was
situated at the further end of the capital. At the entrance was a portal two
hundred and twenty feet high and one hundred wide; but it is impossible for
words to express the materials of which it was built. The reader, however,
will readily conceive that they must have a prodigious superiority over the
pebbles and sand, which we call gold and precious stones.
Twenty beautiful young virgins in waiting received Candide and Cacambo
on their alighting from the coach, conducted them to the bath and clad them
in robes woven of the down of hummingbirds; after which they were
introduced by the great officers of the crown of both sexes to the King's
apartment, between two files of musicians, each file consisting of a
thousand, agreeable to the custom of the country.
When they drew near to the presence-chamber, Cacambo asked one of the
officers in what manner they were to pay their obeisance to His Majesty;
whether it was the custom to fall upon their knees, or to prostrate themselves
upon the ground; whether they were to put their hands upon their heads, or
behind their backs; whether they were to lick the dust off the floor; in short,
what was the ceremony usual on such occasions.
"The custom", said the great officer, "is to embrace the King and kiss him
on each cheek."
Candide and Cacambo accordingly threw their arms round His Majesty's
neck, who received them in the most gracious manner imaginable, and very
politely asked them to sup with him.
While supper was preparing, orders were given to show them the city,
where they saw public structures that reared their lofty heads to the clouds;
the marketplaces decorated with a thousand columns; fountains of spring
water, besides others of rose water, and of liquors drawn from the
sugarcane, incessantly flowing in the great squares, which were paved with
a kind of precious stones that emitted an odor like that of cloves and
cinnamon.
Candide asked to see the High Court of justice, the Parliament; but was
answered that they had none in that country, being utter strangers to
lawsuits. He then inquired if they had any prisons; they replied none. But
what gave him at once the greatest surprise and pleasure was the Palace of
Sciences, where he saw a gallery two thousand feet long, filled with the
various apparatus in mathematics and natural philosophy.
After having spent the whole afternoon in seeing only about the thousandth
part of the city, they were brought back to the King's palace. Candide sat
down at the table with His Majesty, his valet Cacambo, and several ladies of
the court. Never was entertainment more elegant, nor could any one
possibly show more wit than His Majesty displayed while they were at
supper. Cacambo explained all the King's bons mots to Candide, and,
although they were translated, they still appeared to be bons mots. Of all the
things that surprised Candide, this was not the least.
They spent a whole month in this hospitable place, during which time
Candide was continually saying to Cacambo, "I own, my friend, once more,
that the castle where I was born is a mere nothing in comparison to the
place where we now are; but still Miss Cunegonde is not here, and you
yourself have doubtless some fair one in Europe for whom you sigh. If we
remain here we shall only be as others are; whereas if we return to our own
world with only a dozen of El Dorado sheep, loaded with the pebbles of this
country, we shall be richer than all the kings in Europe; we shall no longer
need to stand in awe of the Inquisitors; and we may easily recover Miss
Cunegonde."
This speech was perfectly agreeable to Cacambo. A fondness for roving,
for making a figure in their own country, and for boasting of what they had
seen in their travels, was so powerful in our two wanderers that they
resolved to be no longer happy; and demanded permission of the King to
quit the country.
"You are about to do a rash and silly action", said the King. "I am sensible
my kingdom is an inconsiderable spot; but when people are tolerably at their
ease in any place, I should think it would be to their interest to remain there.
Most assuredly, I have no right to detain you, or any strangers, against your
wills; this is an act of tyranny to which our manners and our laws are
equally repugnant. All men are by nature free; you have therefore an
undoubted liberty to depart whenever you please, but you will have many
and great difficulties to encounter in passing the frontiers. It is impossible to
ascend that rapid river which runs under high and vaulted rocks, and by
which you were conveyed hither by a kind of miracle. The mountains by
which my kingdom are hemmed in on all sides, are ten thousand feet high,
and perfectly perpendicular; they are above ten leagues across, and the
descent from them is one continued precipice.
"However, since you are determined to leave us, I will immediately give
orders to the superintendent of my carriages to cause one to be made that
will convey you very safely. When they have conducted you to the back of
the mountains, nobody can attend you farther; for my subjects have made a
vow never to quit the kingdom, and they are too prudent to break it. Ask me
whatever else you please."
"All we shall ask of Your Majesty", said Cacambo, "is only a few sheep
laden with provisions, pebbles, and the clay of your country."
The King smiled at the request and said, "I cannot imagine what pleasure
you Europeans find in our yellow clay; but take away as much of it as you
will, and much good may it do you."
He immediately gave orders to his engineers to make a machine to hoist
these two extraordinary men out of the kingdom. Three thousand good
machinists went to work and finished it in about fifteen days, and it did not
cost more than twenty millions sterling of that country's money. Candide and
Cacambo were placed on this machine, and they took with them two large
red sheep, bridled and saddled, to ride upon, when they got on the other
side of the mountains; twenty others to serve as sumpters for carrying
provisions; thirty laden with presents of whatever was most curious in the
country, and fifty with gold, diamonds, and other precious stones. The King,
at parting with our two adventurers, embraced them with the greatest
cordiality.
It was a curious sight to behold the manner of their setting off, and the
ingenious method by which they and their sheep were hoisted to the top of
the mountains. The machinists and engineers took leave of them as soon as
they had conveyed them to a place of safety, and Candide was wholly
occupied with the thoughts of presenting his sheep to Miss Cunegonde.
"Now", cried he, "thanks to Heaven, we have more than sufficient to pay the
Governor of Buenos Ayres for Miss Cunegonde, if she is redeemable. Let
us make the best of our way to Cayenne, where we will take shipping and
then we may at leisure think of what kingdom we shall purchase with our
riches."