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.
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