Voltaire ingenuous read. "Innocent" Voltaire. Analysis and retelling. Chapter Eleven. How the Innocent Develops His Gifts
The story "Innocent" is one of the most famous philosophical and satirical works of the great Voltaire, the greatest philosopher and enlightener of France in the 18th century. The story was first published in 1767 and soon, thanks to great success, was translated into many languages.
Voltaire, "Innocent": a summary. tie
It was July 1689 outside. One evening in Lower Brittany, the Abbé de Kerkabon and his sister were walking along the seashore. The abbot was meditating on the fate of his brother and his family, who 20 years ago set off from this coast on a ship to Canada, and since then there has been no news from them.
At that very moment, a ship enters the bay, lands, and a young man disembarks. He is dressed in Indian clothes and appears to be Innocent - that is what his English friends called him for his honesty and sincerity. The abbot invites him to spend the night with him.
The next day, the young man, wishing to thank the hospitable hosts, gives a talisman - several portraits of people unknown to the Innocent, tied with a cord. Among these images, the abbot recognizes his brother and his wife, missing in Canada.
The simple-hearted tells that he does not know his parents, but the Indians raised him. De Kerkabon and his sister become uncles and aunts for the young man, since then he lives with them.
The simple-hearted did not know his parents, and he was raised by the Huron Indians. Having found a loving uncle and aunt in the person of the prior and his sister, the young man settles in their house.
St. Ives
Highly moral and ideal, from the point of view of morality, creates the character Voltaire ("Innocent"). The plot of the work is intended to convince the reader that the behavior of the protagonist should become a reference for everyone.
So the Prior decides to baptize the Innocent One. But first it was necessary to initiate him into the foundations of a new religion for him. The young man reads the Bible and comprehends its meaning due to the absence of the influence of the educational society. The innocent goes through a church ceremony and falls in love with his godmother Sainte-Yves. They confess their love to each other, and the young man proposes to the girl. But first you need to ask the permission of the parents. The abbot explains to the Innocent that marrying a godmother is a sin. The young man replies that not a word was said about this in the Bible, as well as about many other things that are accepted in society and are considered part of religious rites.
The laws of society
Voltaire reveals the absurdities of his time. The simple-minded cannot understand why a pope living miles away should decide whether to marry his beloved or not. The young man believes that he must decide his own fate. After that, he bursts into Saint-Yves and offers to marry him, as he promised, and in general, this is his right. But others begin to explain that without the law, notaries and contracts, anarchy will come.
The simple one replies that only dishonest people need such warnings. But he is answered that the laws were invented just by enlightened and honest people. And if a person considers himself honest, then he must obediently obey the rules, setting an example for others.
The relatives of Saint-Yves decide to send the girl to a monastery, and then pass her off as an unloved, but profitable groom. Upon learning of this, the Innocent becomes furious and desperate.
English invasion
Shows the clash of a society mired in vices, and a natural person who grew up far from civilization, Voltaire ("Innocent"). A summary helps to understand how far society is from moral and true values.
So, the Innocent wanders along the shore in despondency. And then he sees a detachment of the French retreating in a panic. It turns out that the British squadron landed on the shore and is preparing to attack the city. Innocent joins the fight and wounds the admiral of the enemy. Seeing his courage, the French soldiers are inspired and win. The city is saved, and the Innocent becomes famous.
In the heat of battle, the young man wants to capture the monastery and free his beloved. But he is dissuaded and advised to go to the king in Versailles and ask permission to marry as a reward. No one after that will be able to challenge his right to marriage.
Persecution of Protestants
The wanderings of the protagonist of the story "Innocent" (Voltaire) continue. The content of the chapters tells how the young man goes to Versailles. His path runs through a small town. Protestants live here, who have just been deprived of all rights and forcibly converted to Catholicism due to the repeal of the Edict of Nantes.
In tears, residents leave their hometown. The simple-hearted cannot understand why the king, for the sake of the Pope, renounces 600,000 citizens devoted to him and dooms them to wandering and poverty. The young man comes to the conclusion that the unworthy advisers and Jesuits who surround the monarch are to blame for everything. Otherwise, what else could make the ruler indulge his enemy, the Pope?
The simple-hearted swears to the exiles that as soon as he meets the king, he will tell him the truth. Having learned the truth, the ruler will certainly help his people. Unfortunately, these words are heard by a disguised Jesuit who works as an informer for Father Lachaise, the king's confessor, who is the persecutor of the Protestants.
Versailles
Reveals the main shortcomings of the French power of Voltaire. The simple-minded arrives at Versailles at the same time as the Jesuit's denunciation. The young man, in his naivety, thought that as soon as he arrived, he would be able to see the king, tell about his exploits and receive permission to marry his beloved as a reward, and even open the eyes of the monarch to the true terrifying situation of the Huguenots.
With great difficulty, the Innocent manages to obtain an audience only with a simple court official. He informs the hero that in his position he can only count on buying the rank of lieutenant. The young man is outraged that he is also forced to pay for risking his life for the glory of the crown. The hero scolds the official and promises to tell the king about his stupidity. From this monologue, the courtier concludes that his guest is crazy, therefore he does not attach any importance to these words.
Father Lachaise receives two letters on the same day. The first is from a Jesuit, and the second is from the relatives of Saint-Yves, who call the Innocent troublemaker and madcap who incited the soldiers to burn the monastery and steal the girl.
After this news, the soldiers receive an order to arrest the young man. At night, they come for the hero and, despite fierce resistance, they are sent to the Bastille. Here he finds himself in the same cell with the Jansenist philosopher Gordon.
Bastille
At one time, Voltaire himself miraculously escaped imprisonment. “Innocent” (“Simpleton” in other translations) was also intended to show how easy it is for an honest person in France to end up behind bars.
Father Gordon, a man of the kindest soul, ended up in the Bastille without trial or investigation for refusing to recognize the unlimited power of the pope in France. The elder accumulated a lot of knowledge during his long life, and the young man had a great interest in everything new. The conversations between the two prisoners gradually become more entertaining and instructive. But the soundness of mind and the naivete of the Innocent often puzzle the philosopher.
The young man reads various historical books. From this, he concludes that humanity throughout its existence has continuously committed only crimes. But, after reading Malebranche, the hero understands that everything around is only a part of a huge mechanism, the soul of which is God. Gradually, the mind of the Innocent becomes stronger, he masters physics, mathematics, geometry.
Knowing the Truth
The work that Voltaire wrote had a very great resonance in society. "Innocent" is primarily a criticism of the monarchy, and for this one could easily lose one's head at that time.
The arguments of the young student horrify the old philosopher. Gordon looks at the young man and realizes that all his life he was only engaged in strengthening prejudices, and his naive student, listening to the voice of nature, managed to get much closer to the truth. Free from illusory notions, the Innocent One realized that the most important human right is freedom. He says that the disputes of the scholastics are empty and useless. God is everything that exists, so the arguments of believers are meaningless. Gordon realizes that his student is right and becomes discouraged by the realization of his mistakes. Voltaire ("Innocent") put his own judgments about the nature of religion into the mouth of his hero.
At the same time, Saint-Yves decides to go in search of her lover and travels to Versailles.
denouement
Saint-Yves escapes from the crown and goes to the residence of the king. The girl is desperate to get a meeting with various dignitaries, she soon finds out that her beloved is in the Bastille. The official told this by Saint-Yves regrets that he cannot do good in his position, otherwise he will lose it. But he suggests that Minister de Saint-Poinge can help. The girl gets an audience with him, but in exchange for the release of the Innocent, he wants the love of Saint-Yves. Friends push her to this victim. And so Saint-Yves was forced to fall for the sake of her beloved.
The simple-hearted is liberated. But the girl suffers because of her fall and dies of a fever. Upon learning of the death of Saint-Yves, Poigne repents of his deed.
Time passes, which softens everything. The simple-hearted becomes an officer and keeps the memory of his beloved until his death.
Voltaire, "Innocent": analysis
A distinctive feature of this work is that the philosopher not only expressed his opinion on the structure of the state and the church, but also paid great attention to depicting the feelings of the main characters.
In this story, Voltaire tried to find a balance between good and evil and find a measure of these phenomena. And they became human freedom, which the king was supposed to provide. The freedom of people was mainly violated by the church at that time, which is why the philosopher criticizes her.
In 1994, The Innocent (Voltaire) was filmed. The film was made jointly by the USA, Russia and France. However, he did not receive great popularity among the audience.
On a July evening in 1689, the Abbé de Kerkabon was walking with his sister along the seashore in his small priory in Lower Brittany and reflected on the bitter fate of his brother and his wife, who twenty years ago had sailed from that very coast to Canada and disappeared there forever. At this moment, a ship approaches the bay and disembarks a young man in the clothes of an Indian, who introduces himself as the Innocent, because his English friends called him that for sincerity and unfailing honesty. He impresses the venerable prior with courtesy and sanity, and is invited to dinner at the house, where the Innocent is introduced to the local society. The next day, wanting to thank his hosts for their hospitality, the young man gives them a talisman: portraits of unknown people tied on a cord, in which the prior with excitement recognizes his brother-captain and his wife who disappeared in Canada. The simple-hearted did not know his parents, and he was raised by the Huron Indians. Having found a loving uncle and aunt in the person of the prior and his sister, the young man settles in their house.
First of all, the good prior and his neighbors decide to christen the Innocent. But first it was necessary to enlighten him, since it is impossible to convert an adult person to a new religion without his knowledge. The simple-hearted reads the Bible, and thanks to natural understanding, as well as the fact that his childhood was not burdened with trifles and absurdities, his brains perceived all objects in an undistorted form. Godmother, according to the desire of the Innocent, was invited by the charming Mademoiselle de Saint-Yves, the sister of their neighbor, the abbe. However, the sacrament was suddenly threatened, because the young man was sincerely sure that it was possible to be baptized only in the river, following the example of the characters in the Bible. Uncorrupted by convention, he refused to admit that the fashion for baptism could change. With the help of the lovely Sainte-Yves, the Innocent was still persuaded to be baptized in the font. In a tender conversation that followed the baptism, the Innocent and Mademoiselle de Saint-Yves confess their mutual love, and the young man decides to marry immediately. The well-behaved girl had to explain that the rules require permission for the marriage of their relatives, and the Innocent considered this another absurdity: why the happiness of his life should depend on his aunt. But the venerable prior announced to his nephew that, according to divine and human laws, marrying a godmother is a terrible sin. The simple-minded objected that the Holy Book says nothing about such stupidity, as well as about many other things that he observed in his new homeland. Nor could he understand why a pope living four hundred leagues away and speaking a foreign language should allow him to marry the girl he loved. He vowed to marry her on the same day, which he tried to carry out by breaking into her room and invoking her promise and his natural right. They began to prove to him that if there were no contractual relations between people, natural law would turn into natural robbery. We need notaries, priests, witnesses, contracts. The simple-minded object that only dishonest people need such precautions among themselves. They reassure him by saying that it was just honest and enlightened people who came up with the laws, and the better a person is, the more humbly he must obey them in order to set an example for the vicious. At this time, the relatives of Saint-Yves decide to hide her in a monastery in order to marry her to an unloved person, from which the Innocent comes to despair and rage.
In gloomy despondency, the Innocent wanders along the shore, when he suddenly sees a French detachment retreating in panic. It turned out that the English squadron treacherously landed and was going to attack the town. He valiantly rushes at the British, wounds the admiral and inspires the French soldiers to victory. The town was saved, and the Innocent was glorified. In the rapture of battle, he decides to storm the monastery and rescue his bride. He is restrained from this and given advice to go to Versailles to the king, and there to receive a reward for saving the province from the British. After such an honor, no one will be able to prevent him from marrying Mademoiselle de Saint-Yves.
The path of the Innocent to Versailles leads through a small town of Protestants who have just lost all rights after the repeal of the Edict of Nantes and were forcibly converted to Catholicism. The inhabitants leave the city in tears, and the Innocent tries to understand the reason for their misfortunes: why the great king follows the Pope's lead and deprives himself of six hundred thousand loyal citizens to please the Vatican. The simple-hearted is convinced that the intrigues of the Jesuits and unworthy advisers who surrounded the king are to blame. How else could he indulge the pope, his open enemy? The simple-minded promises the inhabitants that, having met the king, he will reveal the truth to him, and having learned the truth, according to the young man, one cannot help but follow it. Unfortunately for him, a disguised Jesuit was present at the table during the conversation, who was a detective with the king's confessor, Father Lachaise, the main persecutor of poor Protestants. The detective scribbled the letter, and the Innocent One arrived at Versailles almost at the same time as this letter. The naive young man sincerely believed that upon arrival he would immediately be able to see the king, tell him about his merits, get permission to marry Saint-Yves and open his eyes to the position of the Huguenots. But with difficulty, the Innocent manages to get an appointment with one court official, who tells him that at best he can buy the rank of lieutenant. The young man is outraged that he still has to pay for the right to risk his life and fight, and promises to complain about the stupid official to the king. The official decides that the Innocent is out of his mind, and does not attach any importance to his words. On this day, Father Lachaise receives letters from his detective and relatives, Mademoiselle Saint-Yves, where the Innocent is called a dangerous troublemaker who incited to burn monasteries and steal girls. At night, the soldiers attack the sleeping young man and, despite his resistance, they are taken to the Bastille, where they are thrown into prison to the imprisoned Jansenist philosopher.
The kindest father Gordon, who later brought so much light and comfort to our hero, was imprisoned without trial for refusing to recognize the pope as the unlimited ruler of France. The old man had great knowledge, and the young man had a great desire to acquire knowledge. Their conversations become more instructive and entertaining, while the naivete and common sense of the Innocent confound the old philosopher. He reads historical books, and history seems to him a continuous chain of crimes and misfortunes. After reading "The Search for Truth" by Malebranche, he decides that everything that exists is the wheels of a huge mechanism, the soul of which is God. God was the cause of both sin and grace. the mind of a young man is strengthened, he masters mathematics, physics, geometry, and at every step he expresses quick wits and a sound mind. He writes down his reasoning, which horrifies the old philosopher. Looking at the Innocent, it seems to Gordon that for half a century of his education he only strengthened prejudices, and the naive young man, heeding only one simple voice of nature, was able to come much closer to the truth. Free from deceptive notions, he proclaims the freedom of man as his main right. He condemns the Gordon sect, suffering and persecuted because of disputes not about the truth, but dark delusions, because God has already given all the important truths to people. Gordon understands that he doomed himself to misfortune for the sake of some nonsense, and the Innocent does not find wise those who expose themselves to persecution because of empty scholastic disputes. Thanks to the outpourings of a young man in love, the stern philosopher learned to see in love a noble and tender feeling that can elevate the soul and give rise to virtue. At this time, the beautiful beloved of the Innocent decides to go to Versailles in search of her beloved. She is let out of the convent to be married off, and slips away on the day of the wedding. Once in the royal residence, the poor beauty, in complete confusion, tries to get an appointment with various high-ranking persons, and finally she manages to find out that the Innocent is imprisoned in the Bastille. The official who revealed this to her says with pity that he does not have the power to do good, and he cannot help her. But here is the assistant of the all-powerful minister, M. de Saint-Poinge, who does both good and evil. The favored Sainte-Yves hurries to Sainte-Poinge, who, fascinated by the beauty of the girl, hints that at the cost of her honor she could cancel the order to arrest the Innocent. Friends also push her for the sake of a sacred duty to sacrifice women's honor. Virtue forces her to fall. At the cost of shame, she frees her lover, but exhausted by the consciousness of her sin, the gentle Sainte-Yves cannot survive the fall, and, seized with a deadly fever, dies in the arms of the Innocent. At this moment, Saint-Puange himself appears, and in a fit of repentance he swears to make amends for the misfortune caused.
"Innocent" is one of the most lyrical philosophical stories of the great French poet, writer and thinker Marie-Francois Arouet, who entered world literature under the pseudonym Voltaire. This is a witty, playful, ironic story about the love of an ingenuous Huron Indian who ended up in France and a charming Mademoiselle de Saint-Yves, who faced court abominations and stupidity and a ruthless bureaucratic pyramid in the capital. The edition is supplemented with a newly edited and commented "Memorial Notes for the Life of Monsieur de Voltaire, Composed by Himself". For the first time in Russia, the book reproduces illustrations for The Innocent, created by the outstanding French artist Umberto Brunelleschi for the bibliophile Parisian edition of 1948. Gift edition with lace. The combined binding is made of natural Cabra leather and velvety Lynel Tann fabric. The cover of the book is decorated with gold and color embossing.
Innocent
A True Tale Extracted from the Manuscripts of Father Quesnel
Chapter first. How the Prior of the Temple of Our Lady of the Mountain and His Sister Met the Huron
One day Saint Dunstan, an Irishman by nationality and a saint by occupation, sailed from Ireland on a hillock to the French shores, and in this way reached the bay of Saint-Malo. Going ashore, he blessed the hillock, which, after making a few low obeisances to him, returned to Ireland by the same route by which it had arrived.
Dunstan founded a small priory in these parts, and called it the Mountain Priory, by which name it bears to this day, as everyone knows. In the year one thousand six hundred and eighty-nine in the month of July, the 15th, in the evening, the abbe de Kerkabon, prior of the temple of Our Lady of the Mountain, having decided to breathe fresh air, walked with his sister along the seashore. The prior, already quite old, was a very good priest, as much loved by his neighbors now as in the old days by his neighbors. He earned special respect for the fact that, of all the neighboring abbots, he was the only one who, after dinner with his brothers, did not have to be dragged to bed in his arms. He knew theology quite thoroughly, and when he got tired of reading Blessed Augustine, he entertained himself with a book by Rabelais: that is why everyone spoke of him with praise.
His sister, who had never been married, although she had a great desire to do so, retained a certain freshness until the age of forty-five: she had a kind and sensitive disposition; she loved pleasures and was pious.
The prior said to her, looking at the sea:
- Alas! Hence, in the year 1666, on the frigate Swallow, our poor brother and his wife left for service in Canada, and our dear daughter-in-law, Madame de Kerkabon, Had he not been killed, we would have hoped to see him.
“Do you think,” said Mademoiselle de Quercabon, “that our daughter-in-law was indeed eaten by the Iroquois, as we were told?” It must be assumed that if she had not been eaten, she would have returned to her homeland. I will mourn her all my life - she was such a charming woman; and our brother, with his mind, would have made great progress in life.
While they were indulging in these touching reminiscences, a small boat came into the mouth of the Rance on the waves of the tide: it was the English who brought some domestic goods for sale. They jumped ashore without looking either at the prior or at his sister, who was greatly offended by such inattention to her especially.
Otherwise, a certain very stately young man acted, who with one jump jumped over the heads of his comrades and found himself in front of Mademoiselle de Kerkabon. Not yet trained to bow, he nodded his head at her. His face and attire attracted the eyes of his brother and sister. The young man's head was not covered, his legs were bare and shod only in light sandals, his long hair was braided, a thin and flexible waist was covered with a short camisole. His face expressed belligerence and at the same time meekness. In one hand he held a bottle of Barbados vodka, in the other a kind of purse containing a glass and excellent sea biscuits. The foreigner spoke fairly good French. He regaled his brother and sister with Barbados vodka, tasted it himself, then treated them again - and all this with such simplicity and naturalness that they were fascinated and offered him their services, first inquiring who he was and where he was heading. The young man replied that he did not know this, that he was curious, that he wanted to see what the shores of France were like, that he had arrived here and then would return home.
Listening to his pronunciation, Mr. Prior realized that the young man was not an Englishman, and allowed himself to ask what countries he was from.
“I am a Huron,” he replied.
Mademoiselle de Quercabon, surprised and delighted by the meeting with the Huron, who, moreover, treated her courteously, invited him to dine with them: the young man did not force himself to beg, and they three went to the Priory of Our Lady of the Mountain.
A short and round young lady looked at him with all her eyes and from time to time said to the prior:
- What a lily-pink complexion this young man has! How soft his skin is, though he is a Huron!
“You are right, sister,” answered the prior. She asked hundreds of questions without respite, and the traveler answered them very sensibly.
The rumor that there was a Huron in the priory spread with extraordinary rapidity, and all the high society of the district gathered there for supper. The Abbé de Saint-Yves came with his sister, a young lady from Lower Brittany, very beautiful and well-bred. The judge, the tax collector, and their wives were also not slow to appear. The stranger was seated between Mademoiselle de Quercabon and Mademoiselle de Sainte-Yves. Everyone looked at him in amazement, everyone at the same time told him something and questioned him - this did not bother the Huron at all. He seemed to be guided by my lord Bolingbroke's rule: "Nihil admirari." But in the end, put out of patience by this noise, he said in a rather calm tone:
- Gentlemen, in my homeland it is customary to speak in turn; how can I answer you when you do not give the opportunity to hear your questions?
An enlightening word always makes people go deeper into themselves for a few moments: complete silence reigned. Mr. Judge, who always captured the attention of strangers, wherever he was in, and was known as the first master in the whole district in terms of questions, said, opening his mouth wide:
- What is your name, sir?
“I have always been called Innocent,” replied the Huron. - This name has established itself for me in England, because I always say what I think in all sincerity, just as I do whatever I want.
“How, sir, having been born a Huron, did you end up in England?”
- They brought me there; I was taken prisoner by the English in battle, though not badly defended; the English, who like courage because they themselves are brave and no less honest than we are, suggested that I either return me to my parents or take me to England. I accepted this last offer, for by nature I love to travel to the point of passion.
“However, sir,” said the judge in an impressive tone, “how could you leave your father and mother?
“The fact is that I don’t remember either my father or my mother,” answered the stranger. The whole society was touched, and everyone repeated!
“No father, no mother!”
“We will replace his parents,” the mistress of the house said to her brother, the prior. “How cute is this Huron!”
The simple-minded man thanked her with noble and proud cordiality, but made it clear that he did not need anything.
“I notice, Monsieur Innocent,” said the Honorable Judge, “that you speak French better than a Huron should.”
- One Frenchman, - he answered, - whom we captured in the years of my early youth in Huronia and for whom I was imbued with great affection, taught me his language: I learn very quickly what I want to learn. When I arrived at Plymouth, I met there one of your French exiles, whom you, I don't know why, call "Huguenots"; he somewhat improved my knowledge of your language. As soon as I learned to explain myself intelligibly, I went to your country, because I like the French when they don't ask too many questions.
Despite this subtle warning, the Abbé de Sainte-Yves asked him which of the three languages he preferred: Huron, English, or French.
“Of course, Huron,” answered the Innocent.
- Is it possible to! exclaimed Mademoiselle de Quercabon. “And I have always thought that there is no language more beautiful than French, except for Low Breton.
Then everyone vied with each other to ask the Innocent how to say “tobacco” in Huron, and he answered: “taya”; how to say "is", and he answered: "essenten". Mademoiselle de Quercabon wanted to know how to say "to look after women" by all means. He replied: "trovander" and added, apparently not without reason, that these words are quite equivalent to the corresponding French and English. The guests found the trovander sound very pleasant.
The Monsieur Prior, in whose library there was a Huronian grammar, given to him by the Reverend Father Sagar Theoda, a Franciscan and distinguished missionary, left the table to inquire about it. He returned, breathless with delight and joy, for he was convinced that the Innocent was truly a Huron. We talked a little about the multiplicity of dialects and came to the conclusion that, if it were not for the incident with the Tower of Babel, all peoples would speak French.
The judge, inexhaustible in terms of questions, who had hitherto treated the new person with distrust, was now imbued with deep respect for him; he spoke to him much more politely than before, which the Innocent did not notice.
Mademoiselle de Sainte-Yves inquired about the courtship of cavaliers in the country of the Hurons.
“They perform feats,” he replied, “to please persons like you.
On a July evening in 1689, the Abbé de Kerkabon was walking with his sister along the seashore in his little priory in Lower Brittany and meditating on the bitter fate of his brother and his wife, who twenty years ago had sailed from that same coast to Canada and disappeared there forever. At this moment, a ship approaches the bay and disembarks a young man in the clothes of an Indian, who introduces himself as the Innocent, because his English friends called him that for sincerity and unfailing honesty. He impresses the venerable prior with courtesy and sanity, and is invited to dinner at the house, where the Innocent is introduced to the local society. The next day, wanting to thank his hosts for their hospitality, the young man gives them a talisman: portraits of unknown people tied on a cord, in which the prior with excitement recognizes his brother-captain and his wife who disappeared in Canada. The simple-hearted did not know his parents, and he was raised by the Huron Indians. Having found a loving uncle and aunt in the person of the prior and his sister, the young man settles in their house.
First of all, the good prior and his neighbors decide to christen the Innocent. But first it was necessary to enlighten him, since it is impossible to convert an adult person to a new religion without his knowledge. The simple-hearted reads the Bible, and thanks to natural comprehension, as well as the fact that his childhood was not burdened with trifles and absurdities, his brains perceived all objects in an undistorted form. Godmother, according to the desire of the Innocent, was invited by the charming Mademoiselle de Saint-Yves, the sister of their neighbor, the abbe. However, the sacrament was suddenly threatened, because the young man was sincerely sure that it was possible to be baptized only in the river, following the example of the characters in the Bible. Uncorrupted by convention, he refused to admit that the fashion for baptism could change. With the help of the lovely Sainte-Yves, the Innocent was still persuaded to be baptized in the font. In a tender conversation that followed the baptism, the Innocent and Mademoiselle de Saint-Yves confess their mutual love, and the young man decides to marry immediately. The good-natured girl had to explain that the rules required permission for the marriage of their relatives, and the Innocent considered this another absurdity: why the happiness of his life should depend on his aunt. But the venerable prior announced to his nephew that, according to divine and human laws, marrying a godmother is a terrible sin. The simple-minded objected that the Holy Book says nothing about such stupidity, as well as about many other things that he observed in his new homeland. Nor could he understand why a pope living four hundred leagues away and speaking a foreign language should allow him to marry the girl he loved. He vowed to marry her on the same day, which he tried to carry out by breaking into her room and invoking her promise and his natural right. They began to prove to him that if there were no contractual relations between people, natural law would turn into natural robbery. We need notaries, priests, witnesses, contracts. The simple-minded object that only dishonest people need such precautions among themselves. They reassure him by saying that just honest and enlightened people came up with laws, and the better a person is, the more humbly he must obey them in order to set an example for the vicious. At this time, the relatives of Saint-Yves decide to hide her in a monastery in order to marry her to an unloved person, from which the Innocent comes to despair and rage.
In gloomy despondency, the Innocent wanders along the shore, when he suddenly sees a French detachment retreating in panic. It turned out that the English squadron treacherously landed and was going to attack the town. He valiantly rushes at the British, wounds the admiral and inspires the French soldiers to victory. The town was saved, and the Innocent was glorified. In the rapture of battle, he decides to storm the monastery and rescue his bride. He is restrained from this and given advice to go to Versailles to the king, and there to receive a reward for saving the province from the British. After such an honor, no one will be able to prevent him from marrying Mademoiselle de Saint-Yves.
The path of the Innocent to Versailles leads through a small town of Protestants who have just lost all rights after the repeal of the Edict of Nantes and were forcibly converted to Catholicism. The inhabitants leave the city in tears, and the Innocent tries to understand the reason for their misfortunes: why the great king follows the Pope and deprives himself of six hundred thousand loyal citizens to please the Vatican. The simple-hearted is convinced that the intrigues of the Jesuits and unworthy advisers who surrounded the king are to blame. How else could he indulge the pope, his open enemy? The simple-minded promises the inhabitants that, having met the king, he will reveal the truth to him, and having learned the truth, according to the young man, one cannot help but follow it. Unfortunately for him, a disguised Jesuit was present at the table during the conversation, who was a detective with the king's confessor, Father Lachaise, the main persecutor of poor Protestants. The detective scribbled the letter, and the Innocent One arrived at Versailles almost at the same time as this letter. The naive young man sincerely believed that upon arrival he would immediately be able to see the king, tell him about his merits, get permission to marry Saint-Yves and open his eyes to the position of the Huguenots. But with difficulty, Innocent manages to get an appointment with one court official, who tells him that at best he can buy the rank of lieutenant. The young man is outraged that he still has to pay for the right to risk his life and fight, and promises to complain about the stupid official to the king. The official decides that the Innocent is out of his mind, and does not attach any importance to his words. On this day, Father Lachaise receives letters from his detective and relatives, Mademoiselle Saint-Yves, where the Innocent is called a dangerous troublemaker who incited to burn monasteries and steal girls. At night, the soldiers attack the sleeping young man and, despite his resistance, are taken to the Bastille, where they are thrown into prison to the imprisoned Jansenist philosopher.
The kindest father Gordon, who later brought so much light and comfort to our hero, was imprisoned without trial for refusing to recognize the pope as the unlimited ruler of France. The old man had great knowledge, and the young man had a great desire to acquire knowledge. Their conversations become more instructive and entertaining, while the naivete and common sense of the Innocent confound the old philosopher. He reads historical books, and history seems to him a continuous chain of crimes and misfortunes. After reading "Search for Truth" by Malebranche, he decides that everything that exists is the wheels of a huge mechanism, the soul of which is God. God was the cause of both sin and grace. the mind of a young man is strengthened, he masters mathematics, physics, geometry, and at every step he expresses quick wits and a sound mind. He writes down his reasoning, which horrifies the old philosopher. Looking at the Innocent, it seems to Gordon that for half a century of his education he only strengthened prejudices, and the naive young man, heeding only one simple voice of nature, was able to come much closer to the truth. Free from deceptive notions, he proclaims the freedom of man as his main right. He condemns the Gordon sect, suffering and persecuted because of disputes not about the truth, but dark delusions, because God has already given all the important truths to people. Gordon understands that he doomed himself to misfortune for the sake of some nonsense, and the Innocent does not find wise those who subject themselves to persecution because of empty scholastic disputes. Thanks to the outpourings of a young man in love, the stern philosopher learned to see in love a noble and tender feeling that can elevate the soul and give rise to virtue. At this time, the beautiful beloved of the Innocent decides to go to Versailles in search of her beloved. She is let out of the convent to be married off, and slips away on the day of the wedding. Once in the royal residence, the poor beauty, in complete confusion, tries to get an appointment with various high-ranking persons, and finally she manages to find out that the Innocent is imprisoned in the Bastille. The official who revealed this to her says with pity that he does not have the power to do good, and he cannot help her. But here is the assistant of the all-powerful minister, M. de Saint-Poinge, who does both good and evil. The favored Sainte-Yves hurries to Sainte-Poinge, who, fascinated by the beauty of the girl, hints that at the cost of her honor she could cancel the order to arrest the Innocent. Friends also push her for the sake of a sacred duty to sacrifice women's honor. Virtue forces her to fall. At the cost of shame, she frees her lover, but exhausted by the consciousness of her sin, the gentle Sainte-Yves cannot survive the fall, and, seized with a deadly fever, dies in the arms of the Innocent. At this moment, Saint-Puange himself appears, and in a fit of repentance he swears to make amends for the misfortune caused.
Time softens everything. The simple-hearted became an excellent officer and honored the memory of the beautiful Sainte-Yves until the end of his life.