Chapter 25 Capítulo 25

XXV THE VISIT TO LORD POCOCURANTE, A NOBLE VENETIAN. XXV LA VISITE À SEIGNEUR POCOCURANTE, UN NOBLE VÉNITIEN.

Candide and Martin went in a gondola on the Brenta, and arrived at the palace of the noble Signor Pococurante. The gardens, laid out with taste, were adorned with fine marble statues. Les jardins, aménagés avec goût, étaient ornés de belles statues de marbre. The palace was beautifully built. The master of the house was a man of sixty, and very rich. He received the two travellers with polite indifference, which put Candide a little out of countenance, but was not at all disagreeable to Martin. Il reçut les deux voyageurs avec une indifférence polie, ce qui mit Candide un peu hors de contenance, mais ne fut pas du tout désagréable pour Martin.

First, two pretty girls, very neatly dressed, served them with chocolate, which was frothed exceedingly well. Candide could not refrain from commending their beauty, grace, and address. Candide ne pouvait s'empêcher de saluer leur beauté, leur grâce et leur adresse.

"They are good enough creatures," said the Senator. "I make them lie with me sometimes, for I am very tired of the ladies of the town, of their coquetries, of their jealousies, of their quarrels, of their humours, of their pettinesses, of their prides, of their follies, and of the sonnets[Pg 134] which one must make, or have made, for them. «Je les fais coucher avec moi quelquefois, car je suis très fatigué des dames de la ville, de leurs coquetteries, de leurs jalousies, de leurs querelles, de leurs humeurs, de leurs mesquineries, de leurs orgueil, de leurs folies, et des sonnets [Pg 134] que l'on doit faire ou faire fabriquer pour eux. But after all, these two girls begin to weary me." After breakfast, Candide walking into a long gallery was surprised by the beautiful pictures. He asked, by what master were the two first. Il a demandé, par quel maître étaient les deux premiers.

"They are by Raphael," said the Senator. "I bought them at a great price, out of vanity, some years ago. «Je les ai achetés à un prix très intéressant, par vanité, il y a quelques années. They are said to be the finest things in Italy, but they do not please me at all. The colours are too dark, the figures are not sufficiently rounded, nor in good relief; the draperies in no way resemble stuffs. Les couleurs sont trop sombres, les figures ne sont pas suffisamment arrondies, ni en bon relief; les draperies ne ressemblent en rien à des étoffes. In a word, whatever may be said, I do not find there a true imitation of nature. I only care for a picture when I think I see nature itself; and there are none of this sort. I have a great many pictures, but I prize them very little." While they were waiting for dinner Pococurante ordered a concert. Candide found the music delicious.

"This noise," said the Senator, "may amuse one for half an hour; but if it were to last longer it would grow tiresome to everybody, though they durst not own it. «Ce bruit,» a dit le sénateur, «peut amuser un pendant une demi-heure, mais s'il devait durer plus longtemps il deviendrait ennuyeux pour tout le monde, bien qu'ils n'osaient pas le posséder. Music, to-day, is only the art of executing difficult things, and that which is only difficult cannot please long. Perhaps I should be fonder of the opera if they had not found the secret of making of it a monster[Pg 135] which shocks me. Peut-être devrais-je aimer l'opéra s'ils n'avaient pas trouvé le secret d'en faire un monstre [Pg 135] qui me choque. Let who will go to see bad tragedies set to music, where the scenes are contrived for no other end than to introduce two or three songs ridiculously out of place, to show off an actress's voice. Laissons qui ira voir de mauvaises tragédies mises en musique, où les scènes ne sont faites que pour introduire deux ou trois chansons ridiculement déplacées, pour montrer la voix d'une actrice. Let who will, or who can, die away with pleasure at the sight of an eunuch quavering the rôle of Cæsar, or of Cato, and strutting awkwardly upon the stage. Que qui veut ou qui peut mourir de plaisir à la vue d'un eunuque tremblant le rôle de César ou de Caton, et se pavanant maladroitement sur la scène. For my part I have long since renounced those paltry entertainments which constitute the glory of modern Italy, and are purchased so dearly by sovereigns." Pour ma part, j'ai renoncé depuis longtemps à ces dérisoires qui font la gloire de l'Italie moderne et sont si chèrement achetées par les souverains. Candide disputed the point a little, but with discretion. Martin was entirely of the Senator's opinion. Martin était entièrement de l'avis du sénateur. They sat down to table, and after an excellent dinner they went into the library. Candide, seeing a Homer magnificently bound, commended the virtuoso on his good taste. Candide, voyant un Homère magnifiquement lié, félicita le virtuose de son bon goût.

"There," said he, "is a book that was once the delight of the great Pangloss, the best philosopher in Germany." "It is not mine," answered Pococurante coolly. "They used at one time to make me believe that I took a pleasure in reading him. But that continual repetition of battles, so extremely like one another; those gods that are always active without doing anything decisive; that Helen who is the cause of the war, and who yet scarcely appears[Pg 136] in the piece; that Troy, so long besieged without being taken; all these together caused me great weariness. Mais cette répétition continuelle de batailles, si fort semblables les unes aux autres; ces dieux qui sont toujours actifs sans rien faire de décisif; cette Hélène qui est la cause de la guerre, et qui apparaît encore à peine [Pg 136] dans la pièce; cette Troie, si longtemps assiégée sans être prise; tout cela ensemble me causait une grande lassitude. I have sometimes asked learned men whether they were not as weary as I of that work. Those who were sincere have owned to me that the poem made them fall asleep; yet it was necessary to have it in their library as a monument of antiquity, or like those rusty medals which are no longer of use in commerce." Ceux qui étaient sincères m'ont avoué que le poème les faisait s'endormir; pourtant il fallait l'avoir dans leur bibliothèque comme monument de l'Antiquité, ou comme ces médailles rouillées qui ne sont plus utilisées dans le commerce. " "But your Excellency does not think thus of Virgil?" said Candide.

"I grant," said the Senator, "that the second, fourth, and sixth books of his Æneid are excellent, but as for his pious Æneas, his strong Cloanthus, his friend Achates, his little Ascanius, his silly King Latinus, his bourgeois Amata, his insipid Lavinia, I think there can be nothing more flat and disagreeable. «J'accorde, dit le sénateur, que les deuxième, quatrième et sixième livres de son Æneid sont excellents, mais quant à ses pieux Æneas, son fort Cloanthus, son ami Achates, son petit Ascanius, son idiot Roi Latinus, son le bourgeois Amata, sa fade Lavinia, je pense qu'il n'y a rien de plus plat et de plus désagréable. I prefer Tasso a good deal, or even the soporific tales of Ariosto." "May I presume to ask you, sir," said Candide, "whether you do not receive a great deal of pleasure from reading Horace?" - Puis-je prétendre vous demander, monsieur, dit Candide, si vous ne recevez pas beaucoup de plaisir à lire Horace? "There are maxims in this writer," answered Pococurante, "from which a man of the world may reap great benefit, and being written in energetic verse they are more easily impressed upon the memory. «Il y a des maximes dans cet écrivain», répondit Pococurante, «dont un homme du monde peut tirer un grand profit, et étant écrites en vers énergiques, elles s'impriment plus facilement dans la mémoire. But I care little for his journey to Brundusium, and his account of a bad[Pg 137] dinner, or of his low quarrel between one Rupilius whose words he says were full of poisonous filth, and another whose language was imbued with vinegar. Mais je me soucie peu de son voyage à Brundusium, et de son récit d'un mauvais dîner, ou de sa faible querelle entre un Rupilius dont il dit que les paroles étaient pleines de saletés venimeuses, et un autre dont la langue était imprégnée de vinaigre. I have read with much distaste his indelicate verses against old women and witches; nor do I see any merit in telling his friend Mæcenas that if he will but rank him in the choir of lyric poets, his lofty head shall touch the stars. J'ai lu avec beaucoup de dégoût ses vers indélicats contre les vieilles et les sorcières; et je ne vois aucun mérite à dire à son ami Mæcenas que s'il veut le classer dans le chœur des poètes lyriques, sa haute tête touchera les étoiles. Fools admire everything in an author of reputation. For my part, I read only to please myself. I like only that which serves my purpose." Je n'aime que ce qui sert mon but. " Candide, having been educated never to judge for himself, was much surprised at what he heard. Martin found there was a good deal of reason in Pococurante's remarks. "Oh! here is Cicero," said Candide. "Here is the great man whom I fancy you are never tired of reading." «Voici le grand homme que je pense que vous ne vous lassez jamais de lire. "I never read him," replied the Venetian. "What is it to me whether he pleads for Rabirius or Cluentius? «Qu'est-ce que ça me fait qu'il plaide pour Rabirius ou Cluentius? I try causes enough myself; his philosophical works seem to me better, but when I found that he doubted of everything, I concluded that I knew as much as he, and that I had no need of a guide to learn ignorance." J'essaye assez de causes moi-même; ses œuvres philosophiques me paraissent meilleures, mais quand j'ai constaté qu'il doutait de tout, j'ai conclu que j'en savais autant que lui et que je n'avais pas besoin d'un guide pour apprendre l'ignorance. " "Ha! here are four-score volumes of the Academy of Sciences," cried Martin. "Perhaps there is something valuable in this collection. "[Pg 138] "There might be," said Pococurante, "if only one of those rakers of rubbish had shown how to make pins; but in all these volumes there is nothing but chimerical systems, and not a single useful thing." «Il pourrait y en avoir, dit Pococurante, si un seul de ces ramasseurs de déchets avait montré comment fabriquer des épingles; mais dans tous ces volumes il n'y a que des systèmes chimériques, et pas une seule chose utile. "And what dramatic works I see here," said Candide, "in Italian, Spanish, and French." "Yes," replied the Senator, "there are three thousand, and not three dozen of them good for anything. As to those collections of sermons, which altogether are not worth a single page of Seneca, and those huge volumes of theology, you may well imagine that neither I nor any one else ever opens them." Quant à ces recueils de sermons, qui en tout ne valent pas une seule page de Sénèque, et à ces énormes volumes de théologie, vous pouvez bien imaginer que ni moi ni personne d'autre ne les ouvre jamais. " Martin saw some shelves filled with English books.

"I have a notion," said he, "that a Republican must be greatly pleased with most of these books, which are written with a spirit of freedom." "J'ai une idée," dit-il, "qu'un républicain doit être très satisfait de la plupart de ces livres, qui sont écrits avec un esprit de liberté." "Yes," answered Pococurante, "it is noble to write as one thinks; this is the privilege of humanity. - Oui, répondit Pococurante, il est noble d'écrire comme on pense, c'est le privilège de l'humanité. In all our Italy we write only what we do not think; those who inhabit the country of the Cæsars and the Antoninuses dare not acquire a single idea without the permission of a Dominican friar. Dans toute notre Italie, nous n'écrivons que ce que nous ne pensons pas; ceux qui habitent le pays des Césars et des Antoninus n'osent acquérir une seule idée sans la permission d'un frère dominicain. I should be pleased with the liberty which inspires the English genius if passion and party spirit did not corrupt all that is estimable in this precious liberty. Je serais heureux de la liberté qui inspire le génie anglais si la passion et l'esprit de parti ne corrompaient tout ce qui est estimable dans cette précieuse liberté. "[Pg 139] Candide, observing a Milton, asked whether he did not look upon this author as a great man.

"Who?" said Pococurante, "that barbarian, who writes a long commentary in ten books of harsh verse on the first chapter of Genesis; that coarse imitator of the Greeks, who disfigures the Creation, and who, while Moses represents the Eternal producing the world by a word, makes the Messiah take a great pair of compasses from the armoury of heaven to circumscribe His work? dit Pococurante, «ce barbare, qui écrit un long commentaire en dix livres de vers durs sur le premier chapitre de la Genèse; cet imitateur grossier des Grecs, qui défigure la Création, et qui, tandis que Moïse représente l'Éternel produisant le monde par un mot, fait que le Messie prenne une grande paire de boussoles de l'armurerie du ciel pour circonscrire son œuvre? How can I have any esteem for a writer who has spoiled Tasso's hell and the devil, who transforms Lucifer sometimes into a toad and other times into a pigmy, who makes him repeat the same things a hundred times, who makes him dispute on theology, who, by a serious imitation of Ariosto's comic invention of firearms, represents the devils cannonading in heaven? Comment puis-je avoir de l'estime pour un écrivain qui a gâté l'enfer et le diable de Tasso, qui transforme parfois Lucifer en crapaud et d'autres fois en pygmée, qui lui fait répéter cent fois les mêmes choses, qui le fait se disputer sur la théologie, qui, par une imitation sérieuse de l'invention comique des armes à feu par l'Arioste, représente les démons qui canonnent dans le ciel? Neither I nor any man in Italy could take pleasure in those melancholy extravagances; and the marriage of Sin and Death, and the snakes brought forth by Sin, are enough to turn the stomach of any one with the least taste, [and his long description of a pest-house is good only for a grave-digger]. Ni moi ni aucun homme en Italie ne pouvions prendre plaisir à ces mélancoliques extravagances; et le mariage du péché et de la mort, et les serpents engendrés par le péché, suffisent à tourmenter l'estomac de celui qui a le moins de goût, [et sa longue description d'un ravageur n'est bonne que pour un fossoyeur]. This obscure, whimsical, and disagreeable poem was despised upon its first publication, and I only treat it now as it was treated in its own country by contemporaries. Ce poème obscur, fantasque et désagréable a été méprisé dès sa première publication, et je ne le traite maintenant que comme il a été traité dans son propre pays par les contemporains. For the matter of[Pg 140] that I say what I think, and I care very little whether others think as I do." Candide was grieved at this speech, for he had a respect for Homer and was fond of Milton.

"Alas!" said he softly to Martin, "I am afraid that this man holds our German poets in very great contempt." "There would not be much harm in that," said Martin. "Oh! what a superior man," said Candide below his breath. quel homme supérieur, dit Candide en bas de son souffle. "What a great genius is this Pococurante! Nothing can please him." After their survey of the library they went down into the garden, where Candide praised its several beauties.

"I know of nothing in so bad a taste," said the master. "All you see here is merely trifling. «Tout ce que vous voyez ici est simplement insignifiant. After to-morrow I will have it planted with a nobler design." Après demain, je la ferai planter avec un dessin plus noble. "Well," said Candide to Martin when they had taken their leave, "you will agree that this is the happiest of mortals, for he is above everything he possesses." «Eh bien, dit Candide à Martin lorsqu'ils furent partis, vous conviendrez que c'est le plus heureux des mortels, car il est au-dessus de tout ce qu'il possède. "But do you not see," answered Martin, "that he is disgusted with all he possesses? Plato observed a long while ago that those stomachs are not the best that reject all sorts of food." Platon a observé il y a longtemps que ces estomacs ne sont pas les meilleurs qui rejettent toutes sortes de nourriture. " "But is there not a pleasure," said Candide,[Pg 141] "in criticising everything, in pointing out faults where others see nothing but beauties?" "That is to say," replied Martin, "that there is some pleasure in having no pleasure." «C'est-à-dire,» répondit Martin, «qu'il y a quelque plaisir à n'avoir aucun plaisir. "Well, well," said Candide, "I find that I shall be the only happy man when I am blessed with the sight of my dear Cunegonde." - Eh bien, dit Candide, je trouve que je serai le seul homme heureux lorsque je serai béni de la vue de ma chère Cunégonde. "It is always well to hope," said Martin. However, the days and the weeks passed. Cacambo did not come, and Candide was so overwhelmed with grief that he did not even reflect that Paquette and Friar Giroflée did not return to thank him. Cacambo ne vint pas, et Candide était si accablé de chagrin qu'il ne réfléchit même pas que Paquette et frère Giroflée ne revinrent pas le remercier. [Pg 142]