The Black Captain and Scarmentado: Tyrant and Fool?

The Black Captain
and Scarmentado:
Tyrant and Fool?
Roy S. Wolper
The good reader--.
Johnson called him the common reader-is
not usually ... a professional critic.'
G. B. Hanison
C
ommentaries on the Histoire des voyages de Scarmentado have provided several examples of the misreading of a first-rate tale. To
critics who mark off biographical signposts Scarmentado is Voltaire's
preliminary sketch of Candide: "Les linbaments de I'oeuvre prochaine
y apparaisseint. Pour l'btude de ce phtnombne mystkrieux qui s'appelle
l'tlaboration littbraire, c'est un document prtcieux. Le lecteur fait de luimeme les rapprochements. I1 dbcouvre B I'ttat sommaire et comme naissant quelques-uns des bpisodes. ..."2 No reader would deny the parallels
between characters (in both, victims of the Inquisition had married "leurs
commbres"), landscapes (many of the same countries are visited), and incidents (Barneveldt's execution shocks Scarmentado as Admiral Byng's
horrifies Candide). Measured against the more famous Candide, Scarmentado inevitably is found wanting. The earlier tale misses, for'Jean
Fournier, "un docteur Pangloss et un Martin pour ... encadrer [Scarmentado]"; for George R. Havens, "the important thrusts at Optimism
1 Profession of English (New York: Harcout, Brace and World, 1962). p. 25.
2 Jacqucs Bainville, d.,Romns er eonter & Voltaire (Paris. 1930). 1, ivi. See dso, for example,
Piem Gdmal, ed., Ln Princesre & Bdylonc cl autrer conre (Puis: Armand Colin. 1963). p. 3 1;
Rur Gay, d.,Condide (New York: St. Martin's R s s . 1963), p. xix; An& Bellesson. Essni sur
Volroire (Paris: P a i n , 1925). p. 252; 1. H. Brumfin and M. I. Gerard Davis, eds., "L'lngdnu"
and "Himire & Jenni" (Oxford: Basil BlaeLwell. 1960). p. I; Re& lasins)rr, Histoire de lo
linkrnturc fronpise (Paris: Baivin. 19471, 11, 189.
I20 E I G H T E E N T H - C E N T U R Y F I C T I O N
and Providence"; for Lester Crocker, "sparks of brilliance"; for Christopher Thacker, an active hero ("le d6faut principal de Scarmentado" is
"une passivit6 qui continuerait jusqu'B l'infini").' Scarmentado, however,
does not need a Pangloss or a Martin (or a Cacambo or anyone else). It
does not need to make sallies against optimism any more than it needs
an active hero (incidentally, Scarmentado is not the passive character
that he has been depicted to be). To see Scarmentado as a "little Candide" (Havens's phrase) is to hide the tale's brilliance behind ill-fitting
clothes. The reader should try to see what is in Scarmentado itself.
Even a full analysis, such as Jacques Van den Heuvel's which develops themes-"l'horreur, le meurtre, le feu, la fuite, la cupiditi universelle,
la nicessit6 de l'argent et du silence, la solitude, la separation des consciences, 1'6tat nature1 de guerre entre les hommes"-misses
the tale's
centre because of its biographical orientation. "Scarmentado nous livre,
B peine transposbe dans un contexte historique, toute la mythologie personnelle de Voltaire au printemps de I'annbe 1754."4 This biographical
certainty led Van den Heuvel to see Voltaire behind the black captain
and Scarmentado, thus blurring both characters.
This is a common blindness in much of the criticism of Voltaire's fiction, where scholars see the contes, in Theodore Besterman's words,
as "Voltaire's ... interior biography."' For example, Candide's "il faut
cultiver notre jardin" becomes "Voltaire's solution" or "Voltaire's ...
message to man."6 In Zadig, "Zadig is, of course, Voltaire h i m ~ e l f . ' ~
3 See respcclwely Fourn~er.ed.. Romunr er ' o n w ~b)
. Voltarc (Pa": Les Nallnnalcs. 1Y48). p. 91.
Havens. cd.. ConJadP (Ncx York: Henry Holl. 19341. p. xlv~.Crockcr. d.Candtde llondon.
Unwen~t)of London h s q . 19581. p. 13: Thackcr. ed Condddr (Genive h u z . 19681,p. 211.
.
4 Voltoire &m ses comes: de "Micromdgos" d "L'lngdnu" (Paris: Armand Colin, 1967). pp. 230.
226.
5 Voltoire (New York: Harcoun, Brace and World, 1969). p. 418. See also Ruth P. Thamas,
'"The Theme of the Voyage in Voltaire's Contes Philosophiques." Kentucky Romnce Qunrterly.
16 (1969). 387, and John Charpentier. Voltoire (Paris: lules Tallandier, 1938). p. 223. See
also Norman Tomy, The Spirit of Voltaire (New York: Columbia University h s s , 1938). p.
50, and "Candide's Garden and the Lord's Vineyard." Studies on Voltoire and the Eighteenth
Century (henafter SVEC), 27 (1963). 1661 and 1665 esp.; Peter Gay. The Enlightenment: An
Interpretation (New York: Knopf, 1966). 1, 200; and William F. Boniglia. "Voltaire's Condide:
Analysis of a Classic," SVEC. 7A (2nd ed.. 19-54). 120.
6 See respectively Radoslav A. Tsanoff. The Nature of Evil (New Yak: Macmillan, 1931). p. 151;
Morris Bishop, ed., Condide and Other Philosophical Tales (New YorL: Scribner's. 1929), p.
iiv-the italics in both quotations are mine. See also Emile Faguet, Voltoire (Paris. 1895). p.
193.
7 Martha Pike Conant. The Oriental Tale in Englond in the Eighteenth Century (New York:
Columbia Univenity Press, 1908). p. 135.
T H E BLACK C A P T A I N A N D S C A R M E N T A D O 121
In Le Monde comme il va, "Babouc B Pers6polis. c'est Voltaire a
Paris."8 Though some recent scholarship on the tales has focused on
Voltaire's l a n g ~ a g e ,most
~
of it has not been able to distance itself
from Voltaire's hovering presence.I0 The reader's concern should be
with Scarmentado's narrative, not with speculative biography, such as
"Voltaire-Scarmentado."'
Scarmentado also suffers from the capsule judgments so prevalent in
readings of the contes, judgments such as "man [is] ... superstitious and
cruel" or "cruelty and intolerance [are] prevalent on this earth."" The
search for Voltaire's idea is another chase after false lights. Separating
his fiction into a vehicle and a philosophical nugget,') critics ransack each
conte for its idea (or ideas), its lesson (or lessons), its thesis (or theses),
its message (or messages), its point, or its moral.I4 While they are trying
to locate an illusory "idke," the come itself disappears. Just as the "Ode
9 See. for example, Jack Undank. "The Status of Fiction in Voltaire's Contes." D& Second:
6 llulv
1982). 6- -5 4~~.
8 : Caml Sheman. Readin.~"Voltoire's Contes:
Studie.~in Frmrh I.itmzrure
.,.
,..~,
A Semiotics of Philosophical Norrotion (Chapel Hill: Nonh ~aroiina,1985); Theodore E. D.
Braun. Rlicia Sturrer. and Manine Darmon Meyer. "Teaching Condide-A Debate." French
Review (hereafter FR). 61 (March 1986). 569-77. especially the comments by SNner.
~~~
~~~
~~~
~
~
~
~
~~~
~
"Voltaire always makes a point in his tales, and chooses a character to do it for him. or
different characters at different points in the story," Lester G. Crocker, "Pmfessor Wolper's
Interpretation of Candide," Eighteenth-Century Studies, 5 (Fall 1971). 146: "It is very difficult
not to be reminded of the diaiecticd discussions between Pangloss, Mmin and Candide who
are coneeived'by their author at that time and not to yield to the belief that Voltaire is present
in his tale somehow and that his personal life had a large share in the formation of fiction,"
H.A. Stauan, "Are Voltaire's Tales Narrative Fantasies? A Reply to Wolper," SVEC. 215 (1982).
284; "the parameters within which Voltaire's characters function ... are a natural consequence
of Voltaire's intentions." Manine D m o n Meyer, in Braun, Stuner, and Meyer, p. 575.
I I R e d Pomeau, Lo Religion de Voltaim (Paris: Niret, 1969). p. 287.
I2 See respectively H.W. Preston. ed., Contes de Voltoire (Oxfwd: Clarendon. 1912). p. xi, and
Henry Noel Brailsford. Voltaire (London: Thomton Buttenvorth. 1935). p. 165.
13 See, for example, Raymond Naves, Voltoire, 6th ed. (Paris: Hatier, 1958).p. 140, Dorothy Madelaine McGhee, Voltnrinn Narrative Devices as Considered in the Author's Contes Philosophiques
(Menasha, Wis.: Gearge Banta, 1933). pp. 3118 esp.; Vivieme Mylnc, "Literary Techniques and
Methods in Voltaire's Contes Philosophiques," SVEC, 57 (1967), 1055-80; Yvon Belaval, "Le
Come philosophique," in The Age of Enlightenment, ed. W.H. Barber et al. (Edinburgh and London: Oliver and Boyd, 1967). pp. 31&12 esp.; Jacqueline Hellegouarc'h. "Gedse d'un come
de Valtaire." SVEC. 176 (1979). 20.
14 For this vocabulary, see, for example. Bernard Heller, ed.. Zadig (Strasbourg: Heitz et Mundci.
".d.). p. 7; Gustave Lanson, ed.. Contes choisis. by Voltaire (Paris: J.M. Dent, ".d.), p. vii;
L. Crousl.4. Lo Vie et les oeuvres de Voltaim (Paris, 1899). 11, 157: Haydn Mason, Voltoire
(London: Hutchinson, 1975). p. 57; Jean Sareil. "La RCp4tition dans les 'Contes' de Valtaire."
FR. 35 (1961), 146; Georges Chopmyanov, Essoi sur Condide (Skopie: Kraynitchanetz, 1943).
p. 17; Jean Sareil. Anatole France et Voltaire (Genhe: Dmz. 1961). p. 194; Nancy Senior, "The
122 E I G H T E E N T H - C E N T U R Y FICTION
on a Grecian Urn" cannot be reduced to its concluding couplet, so a tale
cannot be simplified to "il faut cultiver notre jardin" or "si tout n'est pas
bien, tout est passable," important as these ideas are. The tale is all of
its characters, all of its incidents, all of its dialogue, all of its narrative
descriptions and reflections.
Scarmentado has not failed to have its followers. Frederic Grimm saw
it as one of the tales where "l'auteur s'est approchC de la perfection"; S.
G. Tallentyre, as one of Voltaire's "miniature masterpiece^."'^ When it
is not merely lumped with other contes and praised as one of them, its
riches are overlooked.
Scarmentado, I think, has been distorted by critics who have searched
for a moral and by those who have measured it in relation to Candide. Distancing himself from didactic notions of the conte and from
the biography of Voltaire, the reader sees that Scarmentado is not one
of Voltaire's so-called heroes, but a fool who has come full circle from
a bogus religious descent to an empty fixation on narrowed gods. The
reader sees the black captain as one more petty oppressor, similar to other
tyrants; that Dulness's factions are not just Voltaire's immediate targets,
but kin; and that metaphors of slicing and patterns of hyperbole are as important to Scarmentado as its speeches. And it is the reader only who
comes to see Voltaire's subtle awareness of both silence and language.
Looked at in this way, Scarmentado's contours begin to emerge.
Perhaps the best way to begin Scarmentado is with its climax, the narrator's trip to Africa. It is his last voyage, and the black captain's speech is
twice as long as anyone else's in the conte. The narrator, the vessel's master, and all who listen seem to accept the philosophy. "On n'avait rien
B repliquer B un discours si sage" (p. 95).16 It also leads to the narrator's longest and most severe captivity. The passage thus needs to be
quoted in its entirety:
Smctwe of Zodig," SVEC, 135 (1975). 135; Gustave Lanson, Volroire (Paris: Hachene, 1910).
p. 151; Rent Porneau. ed., Candide (Paris: Nizet. 1959). p. 73.
15 See respectively "Condide," in Volroirr er lo Cririque, ed. 1. Sareil (Englewaod Cliffs, N.J.:
Rentice-Hall, 1966). p. 109, and The Life of Vohaire. 3rd ed. (New York: G.P. Pumm's Sons,
1905). p. 166.
16 W e text for all quotations is Romons er conres, ed. Hemi B h a c
(Pans:Gamier Fr&res, 1960).
T H E B L A C K C A P T A I N A N D S C A R M E N T A D O 123
Le capitaine nkgre lui dpondit: "Vous avez le nez long, et nous I'avons plat; vos
cheveux sont tout droits, et notre laine est frisee; vous avez la peau de couleur
de cendre, et nous de couleur d'tbkne; par constquent nous devons, par les lois
sacrks de la nature, Sue toujours ennemis. Vous nous achetez aux foires de la
cBte de Guinte, comme des Stes de somme, pour nous faire travailler B je ne
sais quel emploi aussi phible que ridicule. Vous nous faites fouiller B coups de
nerfs de boeuf dans des montagnes pour en tirer une espl.ce de terre jaune qui
par elle-meme n'est bonne B rien, et qui ne vaut pas, B beaucoup p&s, un bon
oignon d ' ~ ~ ~aussi
~ t quand
e ; nous vous rencontrons, et que nous sommes les
plus forts, nous vous faisons esclaves, nous vous faisons labourer nos champs,
ou nous vous coupons le nez et les oreilles."
On n'avait rien B ripliquer B un discours si sage. J'allai labourer le champ
d'une vieille ntgresse, pour conserver mes oreilles et mon nez. (p. 95)
What strikes the reader, but not Scannentado, is the captain's easy
dichotomy-black versus white, a long nose versus a flat one, straight
versus curly hair. The captain concludes: "par consCquent nous devons,
par les lois sacrCes de la nature, Etre toujours ennemis." Scannentado describes the speech as "sage," and some critics believe that he speaks for
Voltaire: " le discours du 'capitaine nkgre' ... reprisente sans doute, dans
sa logique disespirante, la pensCe intime de l'auteur B cette Cpoque.""
The opposite of a "nez long," however, is not one that is "plat." More
importantly, the differences in themselves do not necessarily lead to enmity. Whateyer "les lois sacries de la nature" are-and isn't "sacries" a
nake appeal to religious feeling?-this is not one of them.
The history of white tyranny that the black captain recounts ("Vous
nous achetez aux foires. ... Vous nous faites fouiller B coups de nerfs
de hoeuf ...") may be true. And his conclusion does describe what happens: "quand nous vous rencontrons, et que nous sommes les plus forts,
nous vous faisons esclaves, nous vous faisons labourer nos champs, ou
nous vous coupons le nez et les oreilles" (p. 95). Scarmentado, thus, is
sentenced because he is white. Scarmentado himself has never bought
a slave. He has never been a field boss. He has never whipped a black
back. Yet he is pressed into slavery. ("J'allai labourer le champ d'une
vieille nigresse, pour conserver mes oreilles et mon nez".) The reader despises the black captain's stupidity and tyranny as much as those who
force blacks to dig "B coups de nerfs de boeuf." Another of Dulness's
sons, the black captain is a burlesque of white oppressors.
17 Van den Heuvel, p. 230. Such phrases as "sans doute" are rhetorical masks of weak argument.
124 E I G H T E E N T H - C E N T U R Y FICTION
More importantly, his way of thinking is what Scarmentado has encountered in many of his voyages. Though people divide themselves
into opposing camps, the two factions in reality are more similar than
different. In Constantinople, for example, the Greek and Latin Christians are "ennemis mortels": "ces esclaves se persicutaient les uns les
autres, comme des chiens qui se mordent dans la rue, et B qui leurs
maitres donnent des coups de batons pour les siparer" (p. 93). In Persia, the factions of White Sheep and Black Sheep divide the country. In
China, Jesuits and Dominicans "se perskcutaient les uns les autres tour
B tour; ils icrivaient B Rome des volumes de calomnies; ils se traitaient
d'infidbles et de privaricateurs pour une h e . I1 y avait surtout une horrible querelle entre eux sur la manibre de faire la rkvkrence" (p. 94).
Less clearly distinct, groups in Spain are nonetheless polarized: on one
side, the powerful Roman Catholic church; on the other, the disenfranchised (like Jews and sundry, nonzealous Christians). In these countries,
though factions fight to the death for what separates them, they are essentially alike in their petty blindness. Perhaps no better illustration of this
simplistic antithesis is the "horrible querelle" between Jesuits and Dominicans concerning the way to bow: "Les jisuites voulaient que les
Chinois saluassent leurs pbres et leurs mbres a la mode de la Chine, et
les dominicains voulaient qu'on les saluit A la mode de Rome" (p. 94).18
The black captain's rash judgment of Scarmentado is no more informed
than that of stupid fanatics. The Greek hierarchy in Turkey, thinking him
friendly to their rivals, orders him whipped; the rival Latin Christians
consider him a Greek sympathizer and also punish him. Such hurried
and simple-minded categorization is not confined to Scarmentado. The
Indian Emperor kills the French interpreter, guilty only of translating his
superior's message. This way of thinking-those not for us are against
us-is no less illogical in Africa than it is in Turkey, in China, or in
India.
The reader believes the blacks have been flogged, as the captain says.
By then at the least the reader knows that whips have cut undeserving
flesh. For an innocent remark, Scarmentado is lashed by the Spaniards; for
nothing more than eating a supper, he is sentenced by Greek patriarchs
"a cent coups de latte sur la plante des pieds" (p. 93). Yet the black
captain's threat, "nous vous faisons labourer nos champs, ou nous vous
18 For a parady of this simplistic antithesis, see the two lovers of Signora Fatelo. CavRed by '%[S]
r6v&rend[s] &$S]"
Poignardini and Aconiti (p. 89). she grants her charms to Scarmentado,
aptly satirizing both priests.
T H E B L A C K C A P T A I N A N D S C A R M E N T A D O 125
coupons le nez et les orei1les"-no more fai-is a reminder of earlier
unjust and severe blades. The Dutch decapitate a good prime minister;
Aureng-Zeb cuts the throat of his brother; Muley-Ismael, after prayers
every Friday, severs heads; and the French roast Marshal d'Ancre and
sell him in slices. Through the metonymy of the blade, the reader sees
the black captain as just one more who intimidates and enslaves.
No more well drawn than the Inquisitor or Aureng-Zeb, the black
captain-like them-is an emblem of power. He states his position
plainly: "quand nous vous rencontrons, et que nous sommes les plus forts,
nous vous faisons esclaves." This seems little different from the practice
of leaders and institutions within the countries Scarmentado visits. Leaders who can act wilfully and arbitrarily often do so: Aureng-Zeb murders
scores of officials; Muley-Ismael, "la sacrie majestt du sCrtnissime empereur de Maroc" (p. 94). kills weekly; the Spanish royal family approves
slow bumings; Queen Mary puts to death five hundred of her subjects.
Perhaps one reason for the lack of particularization of the leaders is
that they control willing hands. According to Scarmentado, "Le conseil supr8me chargea un premier mandarin, qui ordonna B un sergent,
qui commanda B quatre sbires du pays de m'arreter" (p. 94). No sign
points to the inextricable connection between the crown and its coterie
more clearly than the courtiers' attitude at the death of the interpreter,
who only transmitted what his master said. He was executed at a public square, h d "tous les courtisans avoukrent sans flatterie que sa mort
Ctait t r b juste" (p. 95).
Scarmentado, like the black captain, has also been seen as an image
of his author. Refemng to Scannentado's being cuckolded, Foumier observed, "I1 serait choquant que Voltaire l'ait Ccrit au moment oh il risquait
d'etre victime du meme sort, ou alors il l'eiit comgt avant sa publication; au lieu que consolt longtemps aprks de l'aventure, il est habile d'en
rire comme faisait M0li8re."'~ P.-G. Castex's criticism also drifted from
the tale to its author: "Tel est bien 1'6tat d'esprit de Voltaire dans sa
soixanti8me am&. Le dCsir impCrieux lui est venu d'une retraite paisible, a p k s tant d'ambitions dC~ues,d'une retraite oh ne viendront plus
I'tbranler les agitations humaines et oh il pourra cultiver B loisir un domaine bien B h i . C'est ce bonheur relatif qu'il cherche aux Dtlices et
... pour que cette sagesse s'exprime dam sa plinitude, il faudra la l e ~ o n
126 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FICTION
d'ipreuves nouvelles, qui seront celles des annCes 1755-1758 et qui
restent B dC~rire."~O
Obviously, Voltaire is not Scarmentado, bom "dans la ville de Candie,"
son of the "gouvemeur" (p. 89). Though one can imagine Scarmentado
as a monologue and Voltaire's performing in the salon with mockseriousness, fatherly straightforwardness, rapier-like savagery, ironic
asides, agile parody, seeing the narrator as Voltaire has led to biographic
speculation-where is Voltaire's shadow?-rather than to the experience
of literature. What helps to make the tale so difficult is Scarmentado's
complexity. Asked by the Grand Inquisitor what he thinks of "sa petite Ete," Scarmentado, knowing when it is politic to lie, answers, "Je
lui dis que cela Ctait dClicieuxn (p. 92). He becomes aware of how thinskinned rulers are. After his French companion praises those "trhs pieux
souverains qui gouvemaient bien leurs Etats sans couper les Gtes de
leurs sujets, " Scarmentado, anticipating the revenge of his hosts, wryly
notes, "je fis vite seller mes chameaux" (p. 95). He is aware of a nation's history (the church had caused strife in France for "plus de soixante
ans"[p. 901) as well as its artifacts (the broom used to sweep "la maison
sainte, le Caaba, le Beth Alla" "est le symbole qui balaye toutes les ordures de l ' h e " [p. 941). Yet, l i e many of Voltaire's principal characters,
he is also the butt of satire. His early innocence-"j'anivai
[in Rome]
dans l'espirance d'apprendre toutes les vCritCs" (p. 89)s-i
perhaps excusable; his later d i v e d , since he has seen suffering in India and China
as well as in Europe, much less so: "I1 me restait de voir l'Afrique, pour
jouir de toutes les douceurs de notre continent" (the naYvetC is heightened by "toutes les douceurs") (p. 95). After his taking sacramental words
for love-language has almost resulted in circumcision, Scarmentado resolves to avoid Turkish churches and never to cry, "Alla, Nla, Alla, dans
un rendez-vous." But since, as he says, "Je m'enfuis vite en Perse" (p.
93), his resolution is worthless.
Even more troubling is his sporadic sensitivity. "Touch6 de pitit" (p.
90) at the death of Bameveldt, as is the reader, he surprisingly shows no
response as he comes across the cannibalized body of Marshal d ' h c r e .
With no more feeling than if it were a mutton chop, he notes only that it
was sold "B fort bon compte" (p. 90). Describing Aureng-Zeb's cruelty,
he writes: "I1 est vrai qu'il avait CgorgC un de ses frhres et empoisonnC
son phre. Vingt rayas et autant d'omras Ctaient morts dans les supplices;
...
20 P,-G. Castex, d..Volmire: Microrndgos. Condide. L'lngdnu (Paris:Centre de documentation
universitak. 1961). p. 101.
T H E B L A C K C A P T A I N A N D S C A R M E N T A D O 127
mais cela n'ttait rien, et on ne parlait que de sa dbvotion" (p. 94). Though
the remark "cela n'btait rien" may be little more than a description of the
indifference felt by the emperor's subjects, it is hardly necessary since
both the deaths and the statement "on ne parlait que de sa dbvotion"
reveal that. The remark "cela n'ttait rien" also ambiguously points to
Scarmentado's uncaring.
At the conte's end, Scarmentado concludes, "J'avais vu tout ce qu'il
y de beau, de bon et d'admirable sur la terre" (p. 95). The architectural
monuments of St. Peter's, the natural beauties of Spain, and the "beaux
climats" (p. 90) of France give him pleasure. The Dutch Barneveldt is
both "bon" and "admirable." But is France's beauty confined to climes?
Does England have nothing? What of China? The reader is less than
certain of Scarmentado's summary. Scannentado's subsequent resolution,
moreover, is a foolish non sequitur: "je dsolus de ne plus voir que mes
pbnates" (p. 95). If anything is clear, it is that the gods ("Penates," I
think, means more than just home or the place where one lives, but
bears a religious connotation), wherever their location or whatever their
names, have not helped mankind. Gods invoked in France, England,
Spain, Turkey, Persia, China, and India are responsible for repression and
bloodshed. By returning to his final gods, Scarmentado himself has made
a full circle from a bogus beginning to a blind end. At the beginning he
is given a divine pedigree, though the confused line--is he a descendant
from Minos or from Pasiphae and her lover?- marks its uncertainty. At
the end, ~ c k n e n t a d ofixes his eyes on the penates, seeing and doing
nothing.
Nor can the reader believe Scarmentado's final joking superlative: "Je
me mariai chez moi: je fus cocu, et je vis que c'btait 1'Ctat le plus doux de
la vie" (p. 95). Scarmentado's earlier description of Barneveldt, "qui avait
le mieux merit6 de la ripublique" (p. 90), lets us know that superlatives
can be apt. But in the conte superlatives more often deflate. The public
burnings in Spain take place "dans la plus belle saison de l'annte" (p.
91). Scarmentado's Cucassian friend is "la personne la plus tendre dam
le tete-Lt6te. et la plus devote 1la mosqube" (p. 93). "L'homme le plus
pieux de tout 1'Indoustan." Aureng-Zeb "avait Cgorgt un de ses fr&reset
empoisonnb son +re'' (p. 94). Scarmentado's final superlative, "l'ttat le
plus doux de la vie," reminds the reader of these ironies.
Seeing Scarmentado as a sometimes gull allows a richer irony to become clear. Pointedly, the story was "tcrite par lui-m6me" (p. 89). Even
though Scarmentado gives the impression of what might be called writing to the moment, he is certain of the tale's ending even as he begins
I28 E I G H T E E N T H - C E N T U R Y FICTION
the first sentence. He tips the reader off that he knows more than what
is immediately taking place. Describing the Grand Vizier's successor,
Scarmentado tells us he was "Ctranglt ... un mois apr5s" (p. 93). Another example is to be found in his affirmation: "J'ai su depuis ..."
(p. 95). Because of the early "J'Ctais dans un 2ge oh ..." (p. 89). the
reader assumes that Scarmentado has subsequently matured. His conclusion, "les voyages m'avaient f o r m e (p. 9 3 , is often believed, and
his resolution to maintain silence taken as an exemplar of this wisdom.
Scarmentado says explicitly, "Je ne disais mot" (p. 95) and keeps his
skin in India and Africa. But his French host who "s'avisa de dire trks
indiscrktement qu'il y avait en Europe de trks pieux souverains qui gouvernaient bien leurs ~ t a t set qui frCquentaient m&me les Cglises, sans
pourtant tuer leurs pkres et leurs frkres, et sans couper les t&es de leurs
sujets" (p. 95) also keeps his. Scarmentado's silence neither stops the
bumings in Spain, nor the processions, exorcisms, and pillages in Italy.
Silence is undermined by Scarmentado himself. Arriving in Turkey, he
says: "Je me proposai bien de ne plus dire mon avis sur les f&tes que
je verrais" (p. 92). Later he cautions his companions, "Gardons le silence quand nous serons chez les mahomCtans." But he soon breaks the
silence, exclaiming, "Les bonnes gens que les Turcs!" (p. 92). (Pertinently, he is wrong.) Later on he talks again, this time to the Circassian
woman. His "Alla, Illa, Alla" (p. 93) is also foolish since he does not
know what the words mean. There is one more grim sign of silence's inefficacy: officials of the Inquisition imprison Scarmentado, as he says,
"sans me due un seul mot" (p. 92). If Scarmentado really believed in silence he would not have written the tale. The conte itself is proof that
he has abandoned silence.
Scarmentado's travels do not form him. He acts in much the same way
throughout. His money buys him out of punishment in Asia as it has in
Europe. After seeing many countries, he reasons as naively as he did
earlier. Because of the infighting and suspiciousness between Greek and
Latin Christians in Turkey, he writes, "Je fus dans la triste nCcessit6 de
ne plus Mquenter ni I'Cglise grecque ni la latine." Since Scarmentado
is never seen in church and since both sects are called "esclaves," this
sudden consternation is queer. When his religious impulse is thwarted, he
observes, "Pour m'en consoler, je pris B loyer une fort belle Circassienne"
(p. 93), a rather unreligious consolation. Nor does Scarmentado, who has
frequently been a victim, ever think that he might be victimizing the girl.
Though silence-Scarmentado's or anyone else's-is not one of the
conte's values, neither is its antithesis, language. Words are instrumental
T H E B L A C K C A P T A I N A N D S C A R M E N T A D O 129
in augmenting disorder and in sanctifying murder. "Deux pages de controverse" (p. 90) help feed civil wars; "des volumes de calomnies" (p. 94)
contribute to the discord between clashing Dominicans and Jesuits. Before the public bumings in a slow fire prayers are sung, and the Grand
Inquisitor "Wnit le roi et le peuple" (p. 91). Most of those who confide in Scarmentado offer stupidities. Barneveldt's crime is much worse
than betrayal of the Dutch state; a black-cloaked preacher tells Scarmentado: "Vous sentez bien que, si de telles opinions [such as the importance
of good works] ~'Btablissaient,une republique ne pourrait subsister, et
qu'il faut des lois sbvbres pour reprimer de si scandaleuses horreurs" (pp.
90-91). According to a "profond" political theorist, "le fond de son caractbre [that of the Dutch] est port6 au dogme abominable de la tolerance
(p. 91). An Irish priest assures Scarmentado that the massacre of five
hundred English was "une trbs borne action: premibrement, parce que
ceux qu'on avait brill6s 6taient Anglais; en second lieu, parce qu'ils ne
prenaient jamais d'eau Wnite, et qu'ils ne croyaient pas au trou de St.
Patrice" (p. 90). The reader remembers the first words spoken to Scarmentado as he entered France: "La premibre chose qu'on me demanda, ce
fut si je voulais B mon dejeuner un petit morceau du m k c h a l d'Ancre"
(P. 90).
Language-though often nayve, stupid, self-serving, and cruel-is all
that Voltaire (or any writer) has to work with. Scarmentado, at his best,
has a skilful command of voices. Sometimes he is the alert critic ("je
quittai bien vite un pays [Holland] oii la dv6rite n'6tait adoucie par
aucun agr6mentn [p. 91]), sometimes the joker (asked whether he was
for the Black or White Sheep, Scarmentado answers, "cela m'ttait fort
indiffirent, pourvu qu'il fiit tendre" [p. 931). sometimes the satirist (after
describing the devastation in France, Scarmentado observes, "C'etaient
11 les libertes de 1 ' ~ ~ l i sGallicane"
e
[p. 901). He is a deft rhetorician,
using simile (the Greek and Latin Christians are "comme des chiens qui
se mordent dans la rue, et B qui leurs mahes donnent des coups de
bitons pour les sepmer" [p. 931). metaphor (France's civil war is "ce
feu, lant6t couvert et tant6t souffl6 avec violence" [p. !W]), synecdoche
(Scarmentado tills a field "pour conserver [ses] oreilles et [son] nez" [p.
95]), metonymy ("il m'en coiita encore grand nombre de sequins pour me
dibarrasser des moutons" [p. 93]), exclamation ("Heureux le temps oh
il [the people of France] ne fera que plaisanter!" [p. 901). repetition r u n
pobte mediocre ... n'etait pas mediocrement dur" [p. 89]), irony ("il ne
m'appartenait pas de decider entre ces deux augustes souverains [AurengZeb and Muley-Ismael]" [p. 951). A deft storyteller, he lingers over the
..."
130 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FICTION
execution in Seville, describing the alley of orange and lemon trees, the
covered stands, the seating for the royal family and the Inquisitor, the
procession, and the victims' apparel ("[des] sacs sur lesquels on avait
peint des diables et des flammes" [p. 911); yet he hurtles through weeks:
"Je restai 11 six semaines, au bout desquelles ..." (p. 92). But even his gift
of language cannot make Scarmentado aware, caring, mature, open. The
conte's irony is that the most capable user of language ends up stupid
and insensitive.
In Scarmentado there are countries with good climate and rulers "qui
gouvemaient bien leurs Etats et qui friquentaient meme les 6glises sans
pourtant tuer leurs p&reset leurs frBres" (p. 95). The most admirable person is Bameveldt, who believes in "les bonnes oeuvres" (p. 90). Critics
who believe that in the contes "Life [of the "heroes"] is always preferred
to deatY2' have got it all wrong. More important than life or death
is the manner in which a life is lived. The reader admires Barneveldt
for believing in good works. The commitment itself, not the outcome,
is the victory. Those who live selfishly and grandly (like the Inquisitor or Muley-Ismael) or those who live inanely (like Scarmentado in his
house) represent other-and poorer-possibilities.
"Apart from Candide, how much of Voltaire is actually read today except
by a small academic minority?" J.H. Bmmfitt asked.22Though he posed
the question almost a quarter of a century ago, it is probably still true that
much of Voltaire's fiction is passed over. But Voltaire's contes would be
more popular, I suspect, if teachers stressed, not Voltaire's moral or message (which often is not there), but his narrative fantasy. Even short tales,
such as Scarmentado, are wonderfully challenging. Because of Voltaire's
consistent manipulation of character, each scene in the contes is as treacherous as a minefield. Characters quickly change voices and values. Images
and metaphors curl backwards, revealing vivid (sometimes disconcerting)
21 H.T. Mason, ed., Zodig and Orher Srorles (London: Oxford University Press, 1971). p. 13. The
reader, though, judges a minor character as he does a central one. Tke reader does not admire the
dishonourable sailor whom Jacques rescues in Condide, nor docs he despise Jacques for dying.
The death of an innocent man may provide an example of man's cruelty, God's indiffennce, or
the fates' malevolence. but, whatever the case may be, the reader is less concerned with his fate
than with the way he has lived.
22 "The Present State of Voltaire Studies," F o r m for Modern Longwrge Studies. 1 (19651, 239.
T H E B L A C K CAPTAIN AND SCARMENTADO 131
parallels. Simple affirmations are turned into unsettling paradox. If Scarmentado can be viewed independently, away from Candide's shadow
(Scarmentado "lacks focus, it has no point, no ideas, no coordinating
the reader will see
principle. It begins nowhere and ends no~here"),~'
that it, no less than many of Voltaire's other tales, is shot through (to use
Lester Crocker's phrase) with "sparks of brillian~e."~
Voltaire's complex
contes-and Scarmentado is a typical example-are wondrous voyages.
The reader's joy is the intense and rewarding demands that Voltaire's
fiction impels.
Temple University
23 Ira 0. Wade, Voltoire ond Condide (Princeton: Rinceton University Press, 1959), p. 89.
24 For Scormentado's closeness to other tales by Voltaire which, though also affirming man's
intelligence and caring, depict the triumph of Dulness and self-interest in societies, see my
essay. "Voltaire's Contes: A Reconsideration." Forum. 16 (1978). 7G79.