God takes care of them, and so let us make the best
of our way."
"But whither wilt thou carry me? where can we go? what can we do
without Cunegund?" cried the disconsolate Candide.
"By St. James of Compostella," said Cacambo, "you were going to
fight against the Jesuits of Paraguay; now let us go and fight for
them; I know the road perfectly well; I'll conduct you to their
kingdom; they will be delighted with a captain that understands the
Bulgarian drill; you will certainly make a prodigious fortune. If we
cannot succeed in this world we may in another. It is a great pleasure
to see new objects and perform new exploits."
"Then you have been in Paraguay?" asked Candide.
"Ay, marry, I have," replied Cacambo. "I was a scout in the
College of the Assumption, and am as well acquainted with the new
government of the Los Padres as I am with the streets of Cadiz. Oh, it
is an admirable government, that is most certain! The kingdom is at
present upwards of three hundred leagues in diameter, and divided into
thirty provinces; the fathers there are masters of everything, and the
people have no money at all; this you must allow is the masterpiece of
justice and reason. For my part, I see nothing so divine as the good
fathers, who wage war in this part of the world against the troops
of Spain and Portugal, at the same time that they hear the confessions
of those very princes in Europe; who kill Spaniards in America and
send them to Heaven at Madrid.
Pages:
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63