La Princesse de Babylone

by Voltaire

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Genres: Classics, France, Philosophy, Fiction, 18th Century, Satire, Novels

158 pages, cloth

First published January 1, 1768

About the author

Complete works (1880) : https://archive.org/details/oeuvresco...

In 1694, Age of Enlightenment leader Francois-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire, was born in Paris. Jesuit-educated, he began writing clever verses by the age of 12. He launched a lifelong, successful playwriting career in 1718, interrupted by imprisonment in the Bastille. Upon a second imprisonment, in which Francois adopted the pen name Voltaire, he was released after agreeing to move to London. There he wrote Lettres philosophiques (1733), which galvanized French reform. The book also satirized the religious teachings of Rene Descartes and Blaise Pascal, including Pascal's famed "wager" on God. Voltaire wrote: "The interest I have in believing a thing is not a proof of the existence of that thing." Voltaire's French publisher was sent to the Bastille and Voltaire had to escape from Paris again, as judges sentenced the book to be "torn and burned in the Palace." Voltaire spent a calm 16 years with his deistic mistress, Madame du Chatelet, in Lorraine. He met the 27 year old married mother when he was 39. In his memoirs, he wrote: "I found, in 1733, a young woman who thought as I did, and decided to spend several years in the country, cultivating her mind." He dedicated Traite de metaphysique to her. In it the Deist candidly rejected immortality and questioned belief in God. It was not published until the 1780s. Voltaire continued writing amusing but meaty philosophical plays and histories. After the earthquake that leveled Lisbon in 1755, in which 15,000 people perished and another 15,000 were wounded, Voltaire wrote Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne (Poem on the Lisbon Disaster): "But how conceive a God supremely good/ Who heaps his favours on the sons he loves,/ Yet scatters evil with as large a hand?"

Voltaire purchased a chateau in Geneva, where, among other works, he wrote Candide (1759). To avoid Calvinist persecution, Voltaire moved across the border to Ferney, where the wealthy writer lived for 18 years until his death. Voltaire began to openly challenge Christianity, calling it "the infamous thing." He wrote Frederick the Great: "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd, and bloody religion that has ever infected the world." Voltaire ended every letter to friends with "Ecrasez l'infame" (crush the infamy — the Christian religion). His pamphlet, The Sermon on the Fifty (1762) went after transubstantiation, miracles, biblical contradictions, the Jewish religion, and the Christian God. Voltaire wrote that a true god "surely cannot have been born of a girl, nor died on the gibbet, nor be eaten in a piece of dough," or inspired "books, filled with contradictions, madness, and horror." He also published excerpts of Testament of the Abbe Meslier, by an atheist priest, in Holland, which advanced the Enlightenment. Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary was published in 1764 without his name. Although the first edition immediately sold out, Geneva officials, followed by Dutch and Parisian, had the books burned. It was published in 1769 as two large volumes. Voltaire campaigned fiercely against civil atrocities in the name of religion, writing pamphlets and commentaries about the barbaric execution of a Huguenot trader, who was first broken at the wheel, then burned at the stake, in 1762. Voltaire's campaign for justice and restitution ended with a posthumous retrial in 1765, during which 40 Parisian judges declared the defendant innocent. Voltaire urgently tried to save the life of Chevalier de la Barre, a 19 year old sentenced to death for blasphemy for failing to remove his hat during a religious procession. In 1766, Chevalier was beheaded after being tortured, then his body was burned, along with a copy of Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary. Voltaire's statue at the Pantheon was melted down during Nazi occupation. D. 1778.

Voltaire (1694-1778), pseudónimo de François-

Reviews

[Anna Carina · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 Sterne

Dieses Buch kann ich nur subjektiv bewerten, weil es mein Herz gestohlen hat, es mich Tränen hat lachen lassen und ich mit dem kleinen Arschloch und Inge Koschmidder, nackt über Blumenwiesen fliegen möchte, wie ein Kind, albern durch die Welt tollen.
Voltaire wirkt so befreiend.

Welches Machwerk ist in der Lage, mich in derartige Zustände zu versetzen?
Ein unerhörtes, plumpes, dreistes Buch mit Protagonisten deren Schönheit alles übertrifft, das wir jemals gesehen haben. Eine Satire, in die lauter Miniabenteuer gepackt sind, eine schicksalhafte Geschichte, deren Motiv am Ende subversiv in ein Happy End umgekehrt wird, um parodistisch die Absurdität zu unterstreichen. Völlig übertrieben, rasant erzählt.
Einhörner!!
Ein Phönix der sprechen kann und halb zu Tode geküsst wird.
Ahhh--- Liebe!!!!

So und jetzt Rationalität an!

Dies war meine erste Begegnung mit Voltaire. Ja, ich habe einen Narren an ihm gefressen.
Sprachlich ist das Buch ein Feuerwerk. Übertriebene Gesten, Formulierungen, Handlungen. Ich habe aktuell eine Vorliebe für diese ausladende, üppige, verspielte Sprache.
Mit dieser Sprachbutterceme ummantelt er gekonnt, die plumpen Anspielungen und Verweise, die sich keiner Interpretation entziehen. Ein bisschen was verändern, was erfinden, aber jeder weiß, was er oder wen er meint. Es ist völlig egal. Stumpf ist Trumpf. Er gießt nämlich noch einen Liter köstlichste Satiresauce darüber und erlaubt sich die Dreistigkeit, da noch Chiliflocken, in Form von Behauptungen in den Raum zu stellen, die nach Empörung schreien.
Das Buch trifft auf voller Linie meinen Humor.
Natürlich haben wir hier kein Märchen, geiler Typ erobert noch schärfere Prinzessin.
Voltaire frickelt in dieses kurze Buch mal eben sämtliche Themen rein, zu denen er Gesellschaft abwatschen möchte. Allem voran Religionskritik. Die Orakelszene dazu, göttlich!
Des weiteren: Vegetarismus vs. Fleischesser, das Verhältnis Mensch zur Natur und seine Entfremdung, Klassismus, Wisschenschaft, Kriegswahnsinn/Macht, kulturelle/nationale Unterschiede (Stereotype), Zivilisation vs. Barbaren, Degenerierte Literatur, Medienkritik, die Verdrängung von Leuten die es drauf haben durch selbsternannte Experten (verdammt zeitgeistig), die Folgen von vermeintlicher Wahrheit, der Begrenzung von dem was wir wissen können, wie es zu Urteilsbildung kommt und die Liebe.

Bei der Liebe muss man jetzt ganz klar sagen, dass wir hier eine höfische Liebe vorfinden, ohne Selbstreferenz. Da zählt nur schön, stark und dem Stande angemessen. Dass Amazan auch noch klug ist und einen moralischen Kompass hat, der nur kurzfristig wegnickt 😆, ist Voltaire’s Amarena Kirsche oben drauf. Man sieht sich und zack, klingeln die Hochzeitsglocken. Na, oder auch nicht, im Falle Fermosante’s und Amazan’s, da die beiden noch die Welt durchreisen, aneinander vorbei reisen und sich gegenseitig etwas verzeihen müssen, bevor das klappt.

Ganz rational betrachtet würde das Buch 3 Sterne von mir bekommen.
Bei der Themenfülle ist das Buch zu kurz. Er rast mit einem durch die Szenen und Episödchen, wie ein Wahnsinniger. Natürlich kann das gesetzte Thema, nur ganz kurz, aber pointiert durch den Kakao gezogen werden. Es wird viel bereist. Das birgt dann bei etwas mehr als der Hälfte eine gewisse Redundanz.
Das Ende handelt er ganz fix und ohne schnick und schnack ab. Da bekommt man den Eindruck, dass ihm das jetzt egal ist. Seine Themen ist er ja los geworden...hrhrhrhr….

Aber ganz irrational, aus Freude an dieser Literatur, die mich in der nächsten düsteren Stimmung erneut erheitern darf, wird fett aufgewertet.

[A. Raca · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Konuşmak için düşünmek veya buna yakın bir şey yapmak gerekir."

Mitolojik dünya turu...
Çok keyifli...
🌟

[Anabela Mestre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantástica esta novela de Voltaire. Ao ler esta obra percorremos os sítios mais conhecidos da antiguidade, devido ao constante desencontro entre dois amantes. Mergulhe neste livro e saia deslumbrado.

[Ehsan'Shokraie' · Rating 3 out of 5]

صفحه اخر این اثر(ترجمه شاهزاده خانم بابل,ناصح ناطق)توسط مترجم حذف شده.
در پی نوشت امده:صفحه اخر این داستان به علت اینکه چیز مفیدی برای خواننده ایرانی نداشت حذف شد :)

[Mehmet]

Candide veya Zadig kadar parlak bir eser olmasa da; Voltaire ile yine mitolojiden tarihe pek çok bereketli pınardan beslenen büyülü bir yolculuğa çıkacaksınız.

[Rudi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Voltaires märchenhafter Roman ist voller Wunder, Witz und Weisheit. Ein Plädoyer für die Vernunft, erzählt im Gewand fantastischer und ganz und gar unglaublicher Erlebnisse seiner Titelheldin Formosante und ihres Geliebten Amazan. Mit Happy End.

[Armin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Voltaires Märchen fungiert in Stendhals Rot und Schwarz als Folie für die Liebesgeschichten zwischen Julien Sorel und Mathilde de La Mole, denn der arme Sekretär aus der Provinz erweist sich als ähnlicher Wunderknabe wie der Hirte in der Prinzessin von Babylon, der die reichen Bewerber aus Ägypten, Indien und Skythien in allen Disziplinen in die Schranken weist. Da sich die Liebenden immer wieder verfehlen oder aneinander irre werden, folgt eine Weltreise zueinander.
Diese bildet die eigentliche Attraktion für das ursprüngliche Zielpublikum, da die Verfolgungsjagd der Liebenden rund um den Globus zahlreiche Gelegenheiten gibt, das Kaiserreich, England, die venezianische Republik und den Papst aufs Korn zu nehmen. Da die Handlung nominell in grauer Vorzeit spielt, kann es sich ja nicht um die Gegenwart handeln. Leider langweilt dieser doch sehr zeitgebundene Witz je länger, desto mehr, auch wenn die Rettung der Prinzessin vom Scheiterhaufen der Inquisition und die Befreiung des Königs aus der Geiselhaft durch die Schwarzkutten, so etwas wie die Umsetzung von Écrasez l'infame in Romanform ist, zumal die professionellen Jäger von Hexen und Andersdenkenden auf den frisch für die Prinzessin und die Juden geschichteten Scheiterhaufen landen.
Alles in allem ein Porno für Kirchenkritiker und Gegner des Absolutismus, der auch schon die deutsche Kleinstaaterei aufs Korn nimmt. Leuten, die lediglich die Liebeshandlung von Rot und Schwarz besser verstehen wollen, sind mit den ersten beiden Kapiteln schon gut bedient.

[Sara Jesus · Rating 4 out of 5]

O génio de Voltaire produziu mais uma maravilhosa novela. Nesta o filósofo crítica as grandes civilizações e os seus monarcas. Relata a história da princesa da Babilónia que devido a sua formosura possui muitos pretendentes. Para desposa-la eles tem de prestar uma série de provas. Só que nenhum deles saí vencedor. Apenas um jovem pastor é corajoso o suficiente para ganhar o coração da princesa.
A donzela parte em busca do seu amado pelos vários países do mundo. É através dessa viagem que Voltaire crítica a civilização, honrando o amo puro e a fidelidade. Os desafortunados são aqueles que inspiram compaixão no autor. E são eles que merecem ser recompensados.

[Metin Yılmaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Masal tadında bir Voltaire kitabı daha. Fakat bu kez sonu oldukça tuhaf bir hızla bitiyor.

[হামিম কামাল · Rating 4 out of 5]

বড়দের রূপকথা।
বলা যায়, বাংলার রাজপুত্রের সঙ্গে ব্যাবিলনের রাজকন্যার প্রেমকল্প।
বিশ্লেষণে ও সমাপ্তির স্বাতন্ত্রে বরাবরই অনন্য ভলতেয়ার। লেখা রাজারাণীর কথা, অলক্ষ্যে সাধারণের সঙ্গে করেন সমতাবিধান।
তার অপরিসর কোনো লেখাও মহাবিশ্ব, কমপক্ষে অর্ধেক পৃথিবী ঘুরিয়ে আনে। এখানে পুরো পৃথিবী ঘুরেছি।
ভালোবাসি ভলতেয়ারকে। আশ্চর্য আনন্দ উপহার দিয়েছেন।
ভালোবাসা সুনীলকুমার ঘোষ। অনবদ্য অনুবাদ।

[Ivva Tadiashvili · Rating 4 out of 5]

საკაიფო ზღაპრები აქვს ვოლტერს. თითქოს უბრალო ზღაპრებით სხვადასხვა ერებს დისავს და ძაან ბევრ ფილოსოფიურ თემას ეხება.

[Melis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ooo mitoloji mi severim.. Sonu biraz çabuk oldu bittiye gelmiş gibi ama olsun güzeldi yine.

[Gustavo Iván · Rating 5 out of 5]

Voltaire a une manière particulièrement irrésistible de conduire le lecteur dans les histoires les plus fantastiques. Sa plume résiste les changements du temps et nous pouvons noter la éloquence de ses textes. Avec la Princesse de Babylone, je me suis retrouvé dans le mysticisme et le romantisme de une époque que valorise les traits les plus exquis. Cette livre reste une narrative fascinante et nécessaire pour les intéressés dans les Lumières.

[Max Heimowitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ce qu’il y avait de plus admirable à Babylone, ce qui éclipsait tout le reste, était la fille unique du roi, nommée Formosante. [...] Elle avait dix-huit ans : il lui fallait un époux digne d’elle, mais où le trouver ?

I had been dreading reading this story, and probably would not have done so had I not written my final paper for my French class on it, but little did I know that this was quite a gem of a tale. Formosante, the beautiful princess, is in search of a prince worthy of her love. Three suitors show up to pass a test of might and strength, and all fail. Then the unknown Amazan shows up, wows everyone, captures Formosante's fragile heart, and leaves. Formosante, heartbroken, leaves the Babylonian court in search of Amazan. Thus ensues a cat and mouse search, essentially, as they each visit the same places, missing each other (quite literally, as their boats ross paths and yet they don't see one another), until they finally cross paths.

Talking birds, beautiful people, and temptation abound. And Formosante, while fragile at the tale's start, is anything but at the end. Finding Amazan in bed with a beautiful woman, she vows to never see him again. Her talking bird eventually convinces her otherwise, but she is steadfast in her resolve. She's strong, knows what she wants, and leads her life as she pleases, defying custom. A welcome change of pace in the Voltairien canon of contes philosophiques.

[Jesús De la Jara · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Los habitantes de Galia son los niños, y me gusta jugar con ellos"
La princesa de Babilonia es un cuento fantástico, un poco simple e infantil que narra las desventuras de Formosanta, princesa de Babilonia en busca de su amado Amazan.
Es un cuento corto y sencillo de entender y entretenido cuyo objetivo principal es la crítica de la sociedad europea moderna. El viaje sirve para describir las costumbres, sobre todo sociales y políticas de cada país de Europa como Francia, España, Alemania, Inglaterra y un largo etcétera.
En esa descripción crítica la monarquia y muchas organizaciones como la justicia, los representantes del pueblo, la iglesia, Etc.
Es una obra importante en la creación del pensamiento de la época, en el cual la libertad de cultos, de las ideas en sí misma era amenazada por la gran represion monarquica de aquellos o entonces.

[Paul Gaya Ochieng Simeon Juma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can comfortably say that this is one of Voltaire's books which I have read and understood fully. And that makes me proud. Not that I never understood some of his previous works, but lets jist say they were not easy to grasp. One thing they have in common is there profound moral stories.

Here Voltaire narrates to us they story of a princess who is being wooed by three kings and one ordinary man. However, she is not lucky enough to find her Knight. As the oracle predicted, she will not fall in love untill she travels through the whole world. So she goes to China, Russia, Egypt et cetera. Through her journeys we see the different political organizations and cultures.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the Princess of Babylon Voltaire shamelessly uses his characters and the storyline to display his ciritcal ideas about society in the early eighteenth century. With his notorious sharpness, irony and use of methaphors he manages to write both and engaging and eloquent story by which he ropes you into his ideas without you even realize it. I often laughed out loud and marveled at his creativity in making comparisons and hiding easter eggs in the plot. Would recommend.

[Nara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one, toghether with the Candide, made me cry of laughing! The inteligent comedy is the outmost!

[Catarina Brandão · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este foi o primeiro livro que li de Voltaire, e foi com muito interesse que encontrei uma forte crítica à sociedade mascarada em torno de uma uma atribulada história de amor entre a mais bela mulher a habitar a terra, Formosanta, princesa da Babilónia, e o mais belo e sensato dos homens, o pastor gangárida Amazan.

De acordo com os costumes da época, organizou-se um evento formal onde o rei da Babilónia, através de esforços desportivos e morais, decidiria o príncipe que deveria casar a sua filha Formosanta. No meio de candidatos aparentemente tão nobres e ricos, Amazan surge, em toda a sua beleza, com humildade de caráter, e com apenas uma fénix (que Formosanta descobre, mais tarde, ter capacidade de falar) e um pagem. No entanto, este pastor humildade e justo revela-se o candidato mais adequado, e ambos os jovens se apaixonam loucamente um pelo outro. Infelizmente, o destino não lhes reserva bons ventos, e Amazan, equivocado, abandona a Babilónia pensando a Formosanta traíra o seu amor.

Enquanto descreve, com humor e surrealismo, a viagem que os dois amantes percorrem em torno do mundo, Formosanta em busca de Amazan, e Amazan a fugir se si próprio e do desespero que o assolava, Voltaire tece várias críticas à sociedade:

Primeiramente, critica a religião como um dogma, e as suas duras leis, que, por vezes, ultrapassam a racionalidade e se precipitam nas acusações. Comer animais é, também, um tópico abordado, sendo que Amazan vem de um país (Gangaridai) em que o paz reina, o amor prevalece, e o respeito mútuo entre todas as espécies é uma realidade, tanto que os animais "não-racionais" conseguem, tal como os humanos, falar, escolhendo não o fazer noutras sociedades devido aos maus-tratos que sofrem. Amazan diz, até, que "Os homens que se alimentam de carne e que ingerem licores fortes possuem um sangue azedo e adusto, que os enlouquece de cem maneiras diferentes. A sua principal demência é o furor de derramar o sangue dos seus irmãos e devastar planícies férteis para reinar em cemitérios.", o que está de acordo com a realidade em que vive, rodeado de países que praticam a guerra, e vivem cegos pela sede de poder e em constante desunião.

Um ótimo livro para passar o tempo, embora seja mais denso do que pareça à primeira vista!

[idk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Je l’ai lu avec le conte sur micromegas au début j’avais pas compris que j’avais acheté micromegas et que à l’intérieur ils avaient rajoutés la princesse de Babylone donc quand j’avais lu et que l’histoire avait changé je m’étais dit « wtf pourquoi ça a changé ? » alors que c’était juste ma stupidité ;-;

[Marine · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5

[Yasemin Macar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tarihi kurguyla biraz fantastik biraz mistik bir hava yaratılarak ilginç bir kitap olmuş.

[Grazia Gazale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Als immer, gut👍 Voltaire ist der Beste. Das Ende brachte mich zum Lachen. Doch, eine Wendung der Geschichte gefiel mir nicht.

[Lena · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Catalina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Plot
Formosante the princess of Babylon, daughter of king Belus, is the most beautiful woman that history could never record nor imagination begin to fathom. As in the tales of old, her suitors must prove their worth through a set of trials set by a wise and old-knowing oracle. The leaders of the world’s greatest empires, entirely diverse from one another – India, Egypt and Scythia, come to take up the challenge and claim the highest prize of any man. And still as in fables, it is the lonesome stranger, the only one equally matched to the princess in beauty as well as all human virtues, who in his modesty triumphs through all trials, yet in another show of righteousness instantly takes his leave as soon as he catches news that his father’s death is near.

As he galops away on his unicorn, he leaves her an unworldly splendid bird in his wake. But now the question of the princess’s marriage remains unsettled, and the spited suitors rest remorseful and vengeful. The bird, after revealing to his new mistress his ancient age and ability to converse with humans, as well as the name and people of her beloved Amazan, falls prey to the pharaoh of Egypt’s hateful arrow, and with his dying breath makes arrangements for his ash to be burnt. At the same time, the oracle instructs the princess to embark on a voyage of knowing the world, and so she does. Alas, her convoy is captured by the Egyptian pharaoh, and to escape she tricks him with a kiss and a sleeping potion. It is this fateful moment that a blackbird sent by Amazan witnesses and reports back, to the prince’s desperation. As the princesses fulfills her bird’s instructed death rites, she finds that said bird is a phoenix of lore, resurrected to her by fire, and together they make their way to Amazan’s people the Gangarides. Alas, here they only find his widowed mother, who tells them that her son, in desperate heartbreak, set off to wander the world and make an example of faithful abnegation.

So the journey begins, Amazan venturing from place to place, each time learning from the local people their ways and history and customs, each time refusing the tempting advances of the most seductive local women then moving on, and Formosante and the phoenix in pursuit, always barely missing him. And so it goes until Amazan, in a night’s weakness, falls to the charms of an opera-singer from Gaule, and it is finally asleep in her arms that Formosante finally catches up with him. Then the chase continues, just in the opposite direction – Formosante running into the world and Amazan in hot pursuit.

All until the princess is seized and condemned for sorcery by the inquisition in Sevilla, then heroically rescued by Amazan. They then set to conquer the armies of Egyptians and Indians besieging Babylon, accept the Scythian khan as a vasal and sanction his marriage to Aldee, Amazan’s sister and Formosante’s cousin, and give a wedding feast inspiring all of the others ever after.

The Moral

Through a lighthearted amusing twist of phrases, Voltaire dishes out meditations on human nature, mores and models of government:

“Tout le monde avouait que les dieux n’avaient établi les rois que pour donner tous les jours des fêtes, pourvu qu’elles fussent diversifiées; que la vie est trop courte pour en user autrement; que les procès, les intrigues, la guerre, les disputes des prêtres, qui consument la vie humaine, sont des choses absurdes et horribles; que l’homme n’est né que pour la joie; qu’il n’aimerait pas les plaisirs passionnément et continuellement s’il n’était pas formé pour eux; que l’essence de la nature humaine est de se réjouir, et que tout le reste est folie. Cette excellente morale n’a jamais été démentie que par les faits.”

“Ainsi, à son réveil, le roi de Babylone ne trouva plus personne. ‛Comme les grandes fêtes se terminent, disait-il, et comme elles laissent un vide étonnant dans l’âme, quand le fracas est passé’. ”

“ ‛Madame’, lui dit Irla, ‛voilà comme sont faits tous les jeunes gens d’un bout du monde à l’autre: fussent-ils amoureux d’une beauté descendue du ciel, ils lui feraient, dans de certains moments, des infidélités pour une servante de cabaret’.”

“il possédait tellement l’art de conter que le cœur de Formosante fut enfin plus calme et plus paisible; elle aurait voulu n’être point si tôt partie: elle trouvait que ses licornes allaient trop vite, mais elle n’osait revenir sur ses pas; combattue entre l’envie de pardonner et celle de montrer sa colère, entre son amour et sa vanité, elle laissait aller ses licornes; elle courait le monde selon la prédiction de l’oracle de son père.”

Protagonists’ travels serve as accounts about life in different parts of the world, or otherwise said about the different worlds that make up the world of humans:

- China is governed by a refined, wise and respectable emperor who elevated agriculture by practicing it himself, and whose legal system was merciful but righteous.
“C’était le monarque de la terre le plus juste, le plus poli, et le plus sage. Ce fut lui qui, le premier, laboura un petit champ de ses mains impériales, pour rendre l’agriculture respectable à son peuple. Il établit, le premier, des prix pour la vertu. ”

- Scythia is broad and arid, wild and free, with its martial air and vast steppes roamed by fierce and heroic nomads.
“Dès qu’elle fut en Scythie, elle vit plus que jamais combien les hommes et les gouvernements diffèrent, et différeront toujours jusqu’au temps où quelque peuple plus éclairé que les autres communiquera la lumière de proche en proche après mille siècles de ténèbres, et qu’il se trouvera dans des climats barbares des âmes héroïques qui auront la force et la persévérance de changer les brutes en hommes.”

- Cimmeria is under the reign of a wise enlightened empress – reference to Catherine 2nd – cultivating the arts and civilisation, ruling according to values of tolerance and compassion, acknowledging common morality as a greater good over group differences.
“Un seul homme a commencé ce grand ouvrage, répondit le Cimmérien ; une femme l’a perfectionné ; une femme a été meilleure législatrice que l’Isis des Égyptiens et la Cérès des Grecs. La plupart des législateurs ont eu un génie étroit et despotique qui a resserré leurs vues dans le pays qu’ils ont gouverné ; chacun a regardé son peuple comme étant seul sur la terre, ou comme devant être l’ennemi du reste de la terre. Ils ont formé des institutions pour ce seul peuple, introduit des usages pour lui seul, établi une religion pour lui seul. [...] Il vaudrait mieux n’avoir point de lois, et n’écouter que la nature, qui a gravé dans nos cœurs les caractères du juste et de l’injuste, que de soumettre la société à des lois si insociables.
Notre impératrice embrasse des projets entièrement opposés : elle considère son vaste État, sur lequel tous les méridiens viennent se joindre, comme devant correspondre à tous les peuples qui habitent sous ces différents méridiens. La première de ses lois a été la tolérance de toutes les religions, et la compassion pour toutes les erreurs. Son puissant génie a connu que si les cultes sont différents, la morale est partout la même ; par ce principe elle a lié sa nation à toutes les nations du monde, et les Cimmériens vont regarder le Scandinavien et le Chinois comme leurs frères. Elle a fait plus : elle a voulu que cette précieuse tolérance, le premier lien des hommes, s’établît chez ses voisins; ainsi elle a mérité le titre de mère de la patrie, et elle aura celui de bienfaitrice du genre humain, si elle persévère.”

- In Scandinavia a young prince governs over a free nation where peasants partake in state affairs alongside noblemen – reference to Gustave 3rd of Sweden who restored an ‘enlightened absolutism’, and Christian 7th of Denmark.

- In Sarmatia a philosopher-king keeps in check the lesser kings through a mighty political feat – homage to Stanislas Poniatowski.
“Chez les Sarmates, Amazan vit un philosophe sur le trône: on pouvait l’appeler le roi de l’anarchie, car il était le chef de cent mille petits rois dont un seul pouvait d’un mot anéantir les résolutions de tous les autres. Éole n’avait pas plus de peine à contenir tous les vents, qui se combattent sans cesse, que ce monarque n’en avait à concilier les esprits: c’était un pilote environné d’un éternel orage; et cependant le vaisseau ne se brisait pas, car le prince était un excellent pilote.”

- Germany liberates and integrates knowledge, reason, free thought and universal morality.
“Ils traversèrent ainsi toute la Germanie ; ils admirèrent les progrès que la raison et la philosophie faisaient dans le Nord: tous les princes y étaient instruits, tous autorisaient la liberté de penser; leur éducation n’avait point été confiée à des hommes qui eussent intérêt de les tromper, ou qui fussent trompés eux-mêmes: on les avait élevés dans la connaissance de la morale universelle, et dans le mépris des superstitions […].
Enfin les hommes osaient être raisonnables dans ces vastes pays, tandis qu’ailleurs on croyait encore qu’on ne peut les gouverner qu’autant qu’ils sont imbéciles.”

- in Batavia freedom, equality, abundance and tolerance flourished, but women were cold and unloving.

- Albion, after ages marked by civil war and senseless quarrels over religion and superstition, revels in the rule of law and practical common sense, an orderly constitutional monarchy where people pursue commerce and the sciences, where the judicial system is evidence-based, and the political one inclusive and balanced, a society whose better judgement triumphed over chaos and pettiness.
“On avait vu; par une fatalité singulière, le désordre, les guerres civiles, l’anarchie et la pauvreté désoler le pays quand les rois affectaient le pouvoir arbitraire. La tranquillité, la richesse, la félicité publique, n’ont régné chez nous que quand les rois ont reconnu qu’ils n’étaient pas absolus. Tout était subverti quand on disputait sur des choses inintelligibles ; tout a été dans l’ordre quand on les a méprisées. […] les lois mettent en sûreté nos fortunes: jamais un juge ne peut les expliquer arbitrairement; jamais on ne rend un arrêt qui ne soit motivé. Nous punirions comme des assassins des juges qui oseraient envoyer à la mort un citoyen sans manifester les témoignages qui l’accusent et la loi qui le condamne.”

“Il se trouva dans la compagnie des gens très-aimables, d’autres d’un esprit supérieur, quelques-uns d’une science profonde.
La maîtresse de la maison n’avait rien de cet air emprunté et gauche, de cette roideur, de cette mauvaise honte qu’on reprochait alors aux jeunes femmes d’Albion; elle ne cachait point, par un maintien dédaigneux et par un silence affecté, la stérilité de ses idées et l’embarras humiliant de n’avoir rien à dire: nulle femme n’était plus engageante.”

- Venice is the realm of debauchery, two-faced masquerades and prostitution.

- Rome's claim of authority over the world rests on its antiquated collection of artefacts and relics; here boys are castrated for the sake of their soprano voices, and the pope commands the world and its princes without for as much holding any financial or military power.

- Gaule is a decadent playground for superficial fools who comment and laugh and enjoy themselves, but don’t create or otherwise do anything themselves. The brains and hearts of these idlers are atrophied, they can no longer relate or react to the world and its complexities; they simply glance over all disturbance, deny it, then forget it in easy pleasures. Here judgement is senseless, as in a place where people have neither the custom nor the courage to think, they apply arbitrary, absurd and archaic dogma. Here creativity has dried out. This child-like worry-free suspended state is nonetheless pleasant and refines in enjoyment in the form of opera.
“Le temps, qui change tout, en avait fait une ville dont la moitié était très-noble et très-agréable, l’autre un peu grossière et ridicule : c’était l’emblème de ses habitants. Il y avait dans son enceinte environ cent mille personnes au moins qui n’avaient rien à faire qu’à jouer et à se divertir. Ce peuple d’oisifs jugeait des arts que les autres cultivaient. Ils ne savaient rien de ce qui se passait à la cour […] La douceur de la société, la gaieté, la frivolité, étaient leur importante et leur unique affaire: on les gouvernait comme des enfants à qui l’on prodigue des jouets pour les empêcher de crier. ”

“La décadence fut produite par la facilité de faire et par la paresse de bien faire, par la satiété du beau et par le goût du bizarre. La vanité protégea des artistes qui ramenaient les temps de la barbarie ; et cette même vanité, en persécutant les talents véritables, les força de quitter leur patrie ; les frelons firent disparaître les abeilles.
Presque plus de véritables arts, presque plus de génie; le mérite consistait à raisonner à tort et à travers sur le mérite du siècle passé […].”

“ ‛Les Germains, disait-il, sont les vieillards de l’Europe ; les peuples d’Albion sont les hommes faits ; les habitants de la Gaule sont les enfants, et j’aime à jouer avec eux’.”

- Finally, Turia is a dark and depressed land rules by the Inquisition.

Finally, the ending is one of fairytales, where the conquering hero and his princess enter triumphantly and rein over the ideal and splendid homeland of Babylon, have a wedding feast for the ages and live happily ever after.
“L’invincible et généreux Amazan, reconnu pour héritier du royaume de Babylone, entra dans la ville en triomphe avec le phénix, en présence de cent rois tributaires. La fête de son mariage surpassa en tout celle que le roi Bélus avait donnée. On servit à table le bœuf Apis rôti. Le roi d’Égypte et celui des Indes donnèrent à boire aux deux époux, et ces noces furent célébrées par cinq cents grands poëtes de Babylone.”

[Edwin Piston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesante satira de un tropo clasico de la literatura como lo es el de la princesa y el galante de cualidades divinas que se interpone guiado por el destino.

Principalmente la lateralidad que hay entre lo que pasa con nuestros personajes principales y el mundo en el que viajan hace aparente un doble discurso entre la virtud y los placeres terrenales.

[Adam Carnehl · Rating 3 out of 5]

What begins as an enchanting tale of love and bravery descends into an admittedly droll, yet rather formulaic and tiresome lambasting of Voltaire's contemporary Europe.

I first heard about this book in connection with early, "proto-fantasy" stories which, like folk and fairy tales, paved the way for later Victorian fantasy novels such as those by MacDonald and Morris. I had high hopes for Voltaire's. At first I was delighted by the magical creatures that he introduced: whole herds of unicorns, a talking phoenix that is 28 millennia old, an impossibly powerful sword called "Thunderer," and even a lost race of peaceful, enlightened vegetarians living East of the Ganges River. How wonderful would this book have been if Voltaire had told an original story with these elements? Instead he introduces them and then uses these strange creatures, these "aliens" to experience various nations and people groups, occasionally praising them (as is the case with the Chinese and Russians) and usually critiquing them (as is the case especially with the Italians). In everything, Voltaire viciously attacks the Catholic Church, specifically her wealth, pomp, violence, and hypocrisy.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by this book; it is, after all, a parable and not a fairy tale. It is more like Candide then I expected, but it's lacking some of Candide's light touches. But Voltaire in "The Princess of Babylon" almost set up a rollicking fairy tale; he almost achieved a dream-like flight of the imagination, taking great pleasure in exotic worlds and new possibilities. But, like I said, it's not this; it's a parable with strong and opinionated moralizing.

Lest I sound too disappointed, I should say that Voltaire's critique of society, especially the inane, childish pleasure-seeking of his fellow Frenchmen, is highly amusing. It is just not compelling enough for me to return to, revel in, or tell others about. This did not fill me with the excitement, wonder, and awe that other highly imaginative tales do. But, I do admit that with the above-mentioned mythical elements, Voltaire is doing something new. Authors like Beagle who wrote "The Last Unicorn" will obviously draw upon unicorns and mythical creatures again. Voltaire's semi-fantastic tale thus functions as a kind of bridge between the ancient and medieval-epics and the modern novel, at least when it comes to some of these elements and tropes now commonly expected to be present in any fairy tale or "fantasy" story.

[Monur B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Voltaire'in her zamanki gibi çağlar ötesine bile hitap edecek etik anlayışını, sağduyusunu yansıtan bir alegorik eser. Kısaca iki aşığın kavuşana kadar dünyada bir tur atmasını konu alıyor. Kendi memleketine, diğer avrupa ülkelerine ve özellikle de papalık makamına hiciv kisvesi altında ağır eleştirileri var. Ayrıca İspanyol engizisyonunu da unutmamış. Din yergisi bugün bile yobaz yönetimlerin (hangisi değil ki zaten) kaldıramayacağı düzeyde. Papalığın ve Voltaire'in birbirine düşman olduğu zaten bilinmeyen bir şey değil ama papanın, papalığın, avrupanın ve avrupa değerlerinin bugün bile bu seviyede eleştirilemiyor olması adeta dünya skandalı. Batıcı ve ilerlemeci bakış anlayışının adeta bir glitch'i. O günden bugüne sanki ilerleme yerine bir gerileme var. Evrensel etik kurallarının, fikir ve düşünce özgürlüğünün, kişilik haklarının içi bugün öylesine boşaltılıp sahte değerlerle ikame edilmiş ki yüzyıllar öncenin Voltaire'i gibi içimizden geleni söyleyemiyoruz. Bu kitabı okuyunca post modern, neo liberal, batı destekli ilerleme tapınımcılarının bulanık çamurundan, leş kokulu bataklığından kristal berraklığında serin sulara girmek gibi iç huzuru buluyor insan.

[Haman · Rating 3 out of 5]

در این کتاب شش داستان از شیرین ترین داستانهای ولتر نویسنده نامدار فرانسوی ترجمه شده است سفرنامه اسکارمانتو داستان جوانی است که در جستجوی حقیقت گرد جهان می گردد ولی همه جا جز گمراهی و تعصب چیزی نمی بیند در داستان سپید و سیاه ولتر مساله سرنوشت و جبر را به میان می کشد و در پی گشودن این معماست که اگر ادمیان در طی راههای پر و پیچ و خم زندگی ازادند پس معنای سرنوشت و تقدیر اسمانی چیست در داستان جانو و کولن با شوخی های لطیف و کنایه های فراوان تازه به دوران رسیده ها را به باد استهزا می گیرد و در داستان گاو سفید از مسخ شدن بخت النصر و عقاید سخیف کشیشان سخن می گوید در داستان شاهزاده خانوم بابل سرگذشت پر اشوب و ماجرای دلداگی دختری را بهانه می کند و از زندگی مردم اسیا و اروپای قرن هیجدهم نکته های بدیع می اموزد و در داستان میکرومگاس نویسنده زمین را از دریچه چشم یکی از ساکنان ستاره شعرای یمانی می نگرد و به گرفتاریهای مردم زمین می خندد

despite the above explaination but writing style of book is so boring.

[Walter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interessante o conto/novela/romance curto de Voltaire, onde por meio da ficção coloca algumas das suas ideias políticas e históricas. Pareceu-me uma narrativa atraente, envolvente e com alguns recursos narratológicos interessantes, apesar de, claro, haver uma distância muito grande com respeito aos romancistas da época, dado que não era a praia dele e, com certeza, tampouco pretendia que assim fosse. Enfim, bem melhor do que esperava, pelo que recomendo àqueles que, assim como eu, estavam receosos, de ler uma obra ficcional do século XVIII.