Candide — Chapter 1 in Spanish
By Voltaire
Cómo fué criado Candido en un hermoso castillo, y cómo fué arrojado de él How Candide Was Brought Up in a Magnificent Castle,and How He Was Driven from Thence
En la quinta del Señor baron de Tunderten-tronck, título de la Vesfalia, vivia un mancebo que habia dotado de la índole mas apacible naturaleza. In the country of Westphalia, in the castle of the most noble Baron of Thunder-ten-tronckh, lived a youth whom nature had endowed with a most sweet disposition. Su rostro era el verdadero índice de su mente. His face was the true index of his mind. Víase en su fisonomía su alma: tenia bastante sano juicio, y alma muy sensible; y por eso creo que le llamaban Candido. He had a solid judgment joined to the most unaffected simplicity; and hence, I presume, he had his name of Candide. Sospechaban los criados antiguos de la casa, que era hijo de la hermana del señor baron, y de un honrado hidalgo, vecino suyo, con quien jamas consintió en casarse la doncella, visto que no podia probar arriba de setenta y un quarteles, porque la injuria de los tiempos habia acabado con el resto de su árbol genealógico. The old servants of the house suspected him to have been the son of the Baron’s sister, by a mighty good sort of a gentleman of the neighbourhood, whom that young lady refused to marry, because he could produce no more than threescore and eleven quarterings in his arms; the rest of the genealogical tree belonging to the family having been lost through the injuries of time.
Era el señor baron uno de los caballeros mas poderosos de la Vesfalia; su quinta tenia puerta y ventanas, y en la sala estrado habia una colgadura. The Baron was one of the most powerful lords in Westphalia; for his castle had not only a gate, but even windows; and his great hall was hung with tapestry. Los perros de su casa componian una xauria quando era menester; los mozos de su caballeriza eran sus picadores, y el teniente-cura del lugar su primer capellan: todos le daban señoría, y se echaban á reir quando decia algun chiste. He used to hunt with his mastiffs and spaniels instead of greyhounds; his groom served him for huntsman; and the parson of the parish officiated as grand almoner. He was called “My Lord” by all his people, and he never told a story but every one laughed at it.
La señora baronesa que pesaba unas catorce arrobas, se habia grangeado por esta prenda universal respeto, y recibia las visitas con una dignidad que la hacia aun mas respetable. My lady Baroness weighed three hundred and fifty pounds, consequently was a person of no small consideration; and then she did the honours of the house with a dignity that commanded universal respect. Cunegunda, su hija, doncella de diez y siete años, era rolliza, sana, de buen color, y muy apetitosa muchacha; y el hijo del baron en nada desdecia de su padre. Her daughter Cunegund was about seventeen years of age, fresh coloured, comely, plump, and desirable. The Baron’s son seemed to be a youth in every respect worthy of his father. El oráculo de la casa era el preceptor Panglós, y el chicuelo Candido escuchaba sus lecciones con toda la docilidad propia de su edad y su carácter. Pangloss the preceptor was the oracle of the family, and little Candide listened to his instructions with all the simplicity natural to his age and disposition.