第55章
will have judged that he could not use a wiser or juster means than the one he employed in order to assure his own tranquillity and the peace of the state； means which relieved him of committing a cruelty which policy would have represented as necessary to a monarch less conscientious and less magnanimous than Louis XIV."It seems to me， our author continues， that the more one knows of the history of those times， the more one must be struck by these assembled circumstances which are in favour of such a supposition."Philosophical Dictionary： Marriage MARRIAGE I CAME across a reasoner who said： " Engage your subjects to marry as soon as possible； let them be exempt from taxes the first year， and let their tax be distributed over those who at the same age are celibate."The more married men you have， the less crime there will be.Look at the frightful records of your registers of crime； you will find there a hundred bachelors hanged or wheeled for one father of a family."Marriage makes man wiser and more virtuous.The father of a family， near to committing a crime， is often stopped by his wife whose blood， less feverish than his， makes her gentler， more compassionate， more fearful of theft and murder， more timorous， more religious."The father of a family does not want to blush before his children.
He fears to leave them a heritage of shame."Marry your soldiers， they will not desert any more.Bound to their families， they will be bound also to their fatherland.A bachelor soldier often is nothing but a vagabond， to whom it is indifferent whether he serves the king of Naples or the king of Morocco."The Roman warriors were married； they fought for their wives and children；and they enslaved the wives and children of other nations.
A great Italian politician， who further was very learned in oriental languages， a very rare thing among our politicians， said to me in my youth ： " Caro figlio ， remember that the Jews have never had but one good institution， that of having a horror of virginity." If this little race of superstitious intermediaries had not considered marriage as the first law of man， if there had been among them convents of nuns， they were irreparably lost.
第一章"UNFORTUNATE that I am to have been born！ " said Ardassan Ougli， young page of the great Sultan of the Turks."If it were only the great Sultan on whom I am dependent； but I am subject to the chief of my oda， to the capigi pasha； and when I receive my pay， I have to bow down to one of the tefterdar's clerks who deducts half of it.Before I was seven years old I had cut off， in spite of myself， in ceremony， the end of my prepuce， and it made me ill for a fortnight.The dervish who prays for us is my master； an iman is still more my master； the mollah is still more my master than the iman.The cadi is another master； the cadi-leskier is master still more； the mufti is much more master than all these together.The grand vizier 's kaia can with a word have me thrown into the canal； and the grand vizier， finally， can have my neck wrung at his pleasure， and stuff the skin of my head， without anybody even taking notice."How many masters， great God！ even if I had as many bodies and as many souls as I have duties to accomplish， I could not attend to everything.
Oh， Allah ！ if only you had made me a screech-owl！ I should live free in my hole， and I should eat mice at my ease without masters or servants.
That assuredly is man's real destiny； only since he was perverted has he masters.No man was made to serve another man continuously.Each would have charitably aided his fellow， if things were as they should be.The man with eyes would have led the blind man， the active man would have acted as crutch to the cripple.This world would have been the paradise of Mohammed；and it is the hell which is exactly under the pointed bridge."Thus did Ardassan Ougli speak， after receiving the stirrup-leather from one of his masters.
After a few years Ardassan Ougli became pasha with three tails.He made a prodigious fortune， and he firmly believed that all men， excepting the Great Turk and the Grand Vizier， were born to serve him， and all women to give him pleasure in accordance with his caprice.
SECTION II
How has it been possible for one man to become another man s master， and by what species of incomprehensible magic has he been able to become the master of many other men？ On this phenomenon a great number of good volumes have been written； but I give the preference to an Indian fable， because it is short， and because the fables have said everything.
Adimo， the father of all the Indians， had two sons and two daughters by his wife Procriti.The elder son was a giant， the younger was a little hunchback， the two daughters were pretty.As soon as the giant was conscious of his strength， he lay with his two sisters， and made the little hunchback serve him.Of his two sisters， one was his cook， the other his gardener.
When the giant wanted to sleep， he started by chaining his little hunchback brother to a tree； and when the brother escaped， he caught him in four strides， and gave him twenty strokes with a length of ox sinew.
The hunchback became submissive and the best subject in the world.The giant， satisfied to see him fulfilling his duties as subject， permitted him to lie with one of his sisters for whom he himself had taken a distaste.
The children who came of this marriage were not entirely hunchbacked； but they had sufficiently misshapen forms.They were reared in fear of God and the giant.They received an excellent education； they were taught that their great uncle was giant by divine right， that he could do with his family as pleased him； that if he had a pretty niece or great-niece， she was for him alone without a doubt， and that no one could lie with her until he wanted her no longer.