Half dead of that inconceivable anguish1 which the rolling of a ship produces, one-half of the passengers were not even sensible of the danger. The other half shrieked2 and prayed. The sheets were rent, the masts broken, the vessel3 gaped4. Work who would, no one heard, no one commanded. The Anabaptist being upon deck bore a hand; when a brutish sailor struck him roughly and laid him sprawling5; but with the violence of the blow he himself tumbled head foremost overboard, and stuck upon a piece of the broken mast. Honest James ran to his assistance, hauled him up, and from the effort he made was precipitated6 into the sea in sight of the sailor, who left him to perish, without deigning7 to look at him. Candide drew near and saw his benefactor8, who rose above the water one moment and was then swallowed up for ever. He was just going to jump after him, but was prevented by the philosopher Pangloss, who demonstrated to him that the Bay of Lisbon had been made on purpose for the Anabaptist to be drowned. While he was proving this _a priori_, the ship foundered9; all perished except Pangloss, Candide, and that brutal10 sailor who had drowned the good Anabaptist. The villain11 swam safely to the shore, while Pangloss and Candide were borne thither12 upon a plank13.
As soon as they recovered themselves a little they walked toward Lisbon. They had some money left, with which they hoped to save themselves from starving, after they had escaped drowning. Scarcely had they reached the city, lamenting14 the death of their benefactor, when they felt the earth tremble under their feet. The sea swelled15 and foamed16 in the harbour, and beat to pieces the vessels17 riding at anchor. Whirlwinds of fire and ashes covered the streets and public places; houses fell, roofs were flung upon the pavements, and the pavements were scattered18. Thirty thousand inhabitants of all ages and sexes were crushed under the ruins.[4] The sailor, whistling and swearing, said there was booty to be gained here.
FOOTNOTE:
[4] P. 19. The great earthquake of Lisbon
happened on the first of November, 1755.
"What can be the _sufficient reason_ of this phenomenon?" said Pangloss.
"This is the Last Day!" cried Candide.
The sailor ran among the ruins, facing death to find money; finding it, he took it, got drunk, and having slept himself sober, purchased the favours of the first good-natured wench whom he met on the ruins of the destroyed houses, and in the midst of the dying and the dead. Pangloss pulled him by the sleeve.
"My friend," said he, "this is not right. You sin against the _universal reason_; you choose your time badly."
"S'blood and fury!" answered the other; "I am a sailor and born at Batavia. Four times have I trampled20 upon the crucifix in four voyages to Japan[5]; a fig21 for thy universal reason."
FOOTNOTE:
[5] P. 20. Such was the aversion of the Japanese to the
Christian22 faith that they compelled Europeans trading
with their islands to trample19 on the cross, renounce23
all marks of Christianity, and swear that it was not
their religion. See chap. xi. of the voyage to Laputa
in Swift's _Gulliver's Travels_.
Some falling stones had wounded Candide. He lay stretched in the street covered with rubbish.
"Alas24!" said he to Pangloss, "get me a little wine and oil; I am dying."
"This concussion25 of the earth is no new thing," answered Pangloss. "The city of Lima, in America, experienced the same convulsions last year; the same cause, the same effects; there is certainly a train of sulphur under ground from Lima to Lisbon."
"Nothing more probable," said Candide; "but for the love of God a little oil and wine."
"How, probable?" replied the philosopher. "I maintain that the point is capable of being demonstrated."
Candide fainted away, and Pangloss fetched him some water from a neighbouring fountain. The following day they rummaged26 among the ruins and found provisions, with which they repaired their exhausted27 strength. After this they joined with others in relieving those inhabitants who had escaped death. Some, whom they had succoured, gave them as good a dinner as they could in such disastrous28 circumstances; true, the repast was mournful, and the company moistened their bread with tears; but Pangloss consoled them, assuring them that things could not be otherwise.
"For," said he, "all that is is for the best. If there is a volcano at Lisbon it cannot be elsewhere. It is impossible that things should be other than they are; for everything is right."
A little man dressed in black, Familiar of the Inquisition, who sat by him, politely took up his word and said:
"Apparently29, then, sir, you do not believe in original sin; for if all is for the best there has then been neither Fall nor punishment."
"I humbly30 ask your Excellency's pardon," answered Pangloss, still more politely; "for the Fall and curse of man necessarily entered into the system of the best of worlds."
"Sir," said the Familiar, "you do not then believe in liberty?"
"Your Excellency will excuse me," said Pangloss; "liberty is consistent with absolute necessity, for it was necessary we should be free; for, in short, the determinate will----"
Pangloss was in the middle of his sentence, when the Familiar beckoned31 to his footman, who gave him a glass of wine from Porto or Opporto.
1 anguish | |
n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦,烦恼 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 shrieked | |
v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 vessel | |
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 gaped | |
v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的过去式和过去分词 );张开,张大 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 sprawling | |
adj.蔓生的,不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 );蔓延;杂乱无序地拓展;四肢伸展坐着(或躺着) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 precipitated | |
v.(突如其来地)使发生( precipitate的过去式和过去分词 );促成;猛然摔下;使沉淀 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 deigning | |
v.屈尊,俯就( deign的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 benefactor | |
n. 恩人,行善的人,捐助人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 foundered | |
v.创始人( founder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 brutal | |
adj.残忍的,野蛮的,不讲理的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 villain | |
n.反派演员,反面人物;恶棍;问题的起因 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 plank | |
n.板条,木板,政策要点,政纲条目 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 lamenting | |
adj.悲伤的,悲哀的v.(为…)哀悼,痛哭,悲伤( lament的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 swelled | |
增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 ); 肿胀; (使)凸出; 充满(激情) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 foamed | |
泡沫的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 vessels | |
n.血管( vessel的名词复数 );船;容器;(具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的)人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 scattered | |
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 trample | |
vt.踩,践踏;无视,伤害,侵犯 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 trampled | |
踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 ); 践踏; 无视; 侵犯 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 fig | |
n.无花果(树) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 renounce | |
v.放弃;拒绝承认,宣布与…断绝关系 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 alas | |
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 concussion | |
n.脑震荡;震动 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26 rummaged | |
翻找,搜寻( rummage的过去式和过去分词 ); 已经海关检查 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27 exhausted | |
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
28 disastrous | |
adj.灾难性的,造成灾害的;极坏的,很糟的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
29 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
30 humbly | |
adv. 恭顺地,谦卑地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
31 beckoned | |
v.(用头或手的动作)示意,召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |