Straightway upon his landing he applied to the Dutch magistrate;
being transported with passion he thundered at the door, which being
opened, he went in, told his case, and talked a little louder than was
necessary. The magistrate began with fining him ten thousand
piastres for his petulance, and then listened very patiently to what
he had to say, promised to examine into the affair on the skipper's
return, and ordered him to pay ten thousand piastres more for the fees
of the court.
This treatment put Candide out of all patience; it is true, he had
suffered misfortunes a thousand times more grievous, but the cool
insolence of the judge, and the villainy of the skipper raised his
choler and threw him into a deep melancholy. The villainy of mankind
presented itself to his mind in all its deformity, and his soul was
a prey to the most gloomy ideas. After some time, hearing that the
captain of a French ship was ready to set sail for Bordeaux, as he had
no more sheep loaded with diamonds to put on board, he hired the cabin
at the usual price; and made it known in the town that he would pay
the passage and board of any honest man who would give him his company
during the voyage; besides making him a present of ten thousand
piastres, on condition that such person was the most dissatisfied with
his condition, and the most unfortunate in the whole province.
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