Candide — Chapter 2 in French
By Voltaire
Ce qui advint à Candide parmi les Bulgares What Befell Candide Among the Bulgarians
Candide, chassé du paradis terrestre, marcha longtemps sans savoir où, pleurant, levant les yeux au ciel, les tournant souvent vers le plus beau des châteaux qui renfermait la plus belle des baronnettes ; il se coucha sans souper au milieu des champs entre deux sillons ; la neige tombait à gros flocons. Candide, thus driven out of this terrestrial paradise, wandered a long time, without knowing where he went; sometimes he raised his eyes, all bedewed with tears, towards heaven, and sometimes he cast a melancholy look towards the magnificent castle where dwelt the fairest of young baronesses. Il se coucha dans un sillon, le cœur brisé et sans souper. He laid himself down to sleep in a furrow, heartbroken and supperless. Candide, tout transi, se traîna le lendemain vers la ville voisine, qui s’appelle Valdberghoff-trarbk-dikdorff, n’ayant point d’argent, mourant de faim et de lassitude. The snow fell in great flakes, and, in the morning when he awoke, he was almost frozen to death; however, he made shift to crawl to the next town, which was called Waldberghoff-trarbk-dikdorff, without a penny in his pocket, and half dead with hunger and fatigue. Il s’arrêta tristement à la porte d’un cabaret. He took up his stand at the door of an inn. Deux hommes habillés de bleu le remarquèrent : « Camarade, dit l’un, voilà un jeune homme très-bien fait, et qui a la taille requise ; ils s’avancèrent vers Candide, et le prièrent à dîner très-civilement. He had not been long there, before two men dressed in blue fixed their eyes steadfastly upon him.
“Faith, comrade,” said one of them to the other, “yonder is a well-made young fellow, and of the right size.”
Thereupon they made up to Candide, and with the greatest civility and politeness invited him to dine with them.