Chapter XVI
Original French
Dialogue entre un mourant & un homme qui se porte bien.
UN Citoyen était à l'agonie dans une Ville de Province; un homme en bonne santé vint insulter à ses derniers moments, & lui dit:
Misérable! pense comme moi tout-à-l'heure, signe cet Ecrit, confesse que cinq propositions sont dans un Livre que ni toi ni moi n'avons jamais lu; sois tout-à-l'heure du sentiment de Lamfran contre Berenger, de St. Thomas contre St. Bonaventure; embrasse le second Concile de Nicée contre le Concile de Francfort; explique-moi dans l'instant, comment ces paroles: Mon pere est plus grand que moi, signifient expressément: Je suis aussi grand que lui.
Dis-moi comment le Pere communique tout au Fils, excepté la paternité, ou je vais faire jetter ton corps à la voirie; tes enfants n'hériteront point, ta femme sera privée de sa dot, & ta famille mendiera du pain que mes pareils ne lui donneront pas.
Le Mourant.
J'entends à peine ce que vous me dites; les menaces que vous me faites parviennent confusément à mon oreille, elles troublent mon ame, elles rendent ma mort affreuse. Au nom de Dieu, ayez pitié de moi!
Le Barbare.
De la pitié! je n'en puis avoir si tu n'es pas de mon avis en tout.
Le Mourant.
Hélas! vous sentez qu'à ces derniers moments tous mes sens sont flétris, toutes les portes de mon entendement sont fermées, mes idées s'enfuyent, ma pensée s'éteint. Suis-je en état de disputer?
Le Barbare.
Eh bien, si tu ne peux pas croire ce que je veux, dis que tu le crois, & cela me suffit.
Le Mourant.
Comment puis-je me parjurer pour vous plaire? Je vais paroître dans un moment devant le Dieu qui punit le parjure.
Le Barbare.
N'importe; tu auras le plaisir d'être enterré dans un cimetiere; & ta femme, tes enfants auront de quoi vivre. Meurs en hypocrite: l'hypocrisie est une bonne chose; c'est, comme on dit, un hommage que le vice rend à la vertu. Un peu d'hypocrisie, mon Ami, qu'est-ce que cela coûte?
Le Mourant.
Hélas! vous méprisez Dieu, ou vous ne le reconnaissez pas, puisque vous me demandez un mensonge à l'article de la mort, vous qui devez bientôt recevoir votre jugement de lui, & qui répondrez de ce mensonge.
Le Barbare.
Comment, insolent! je ne reconnais point de Dieu?
Le Mourant.
Pardon, mon frere, je crains que vous n'en connaissiez pas. Celui que j'adore ranime en ce moment mes forces, pour vous dire d'une voix mourante, que si vous croyez en Dieu, vous devez user envers moi de charité. Il m'a donné ma femme & mes enfants, ne les faites pas périr de misere. Pour mon corps, faites-en ce que vous voudrez, je vous l'abandonne; mais croyez en Dieu, je vous en conjure!
Le Barbare.
Fais, sans raisonner, ce que je t'ai dit; je le veux, je l'ordonne.
Le Mourant.
Et quel intérêt avez-vous à me tant tourmenter?
Le Barbare.
Comment! quel intérêt? si j'ai ta signature, elle me vaudra un bon Canonicat.
Le Mourant.
Ah, mon frere! voici mon dernier moment; je meurs; je vais prier Dieu qu'il vous touche & qu'il vous convertisse.
Le Barbare.
Au diable soit l'impertinent qui n'a point signé! Je vais signer pour lui, & contrefaire son écriture.
La Lettre suivante est une confirmation de la même morale.
Musean translation
Complete machine-assisted Musean translation directly from French, reviewed against it. Includes all 25 chapters, Voltaire’s notes and the added Article with six edition references. Article transcription: French Wikisource, Garnier 1879, revision 15479820. Translation and Article: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/.
Dialogue between a Dying Man and a Man in Good Health.
A citizen lay at the point of death in a provincial town. A man in good health came to insult his final moments and said to him:
“Wretch! Think as I do this instant; sign this paper; confess that five propositions appear in a book neither you nor I have ever read. Take Lanfranc’s side against Berengar at once, and St. Thomas’s against St. Bonaventure. Uphold the Second Council of Nicaea against the Council of Frankfurt. Explain to me this instant how these words, My Father is greater than I, expressly mean, I am as great as he is.
“Tell me how the Father communicates everything to the Son except fatherhood, or I shall have your body thrown on the refuse heap. Your children will not inherit; your wife will be deprived of her dowry; and your family will beg for bread that men like me will not give them.”
The Dying Man.
“I can scarcely make out what you are saying. Your threats reach my ears indistinctly; they trouble my soul and make my death dreadful. In God's name, have pity on me!”
The Barbarian.
“Pity! I can have none unless you agree with me in everything.”
The Dying Man.
“Alas! You can see that in these last moments all my senses have withered, all the doors of my understanding are closed, my ideas are fleeing, my thought is going out. Am I in any condition to dispute?”
The Barbarian.
“Well, if you cannot believe what I wish, say that you believe it, and that will satisfy me.”
The Dying Man.
“How can I swear falsely to please you? In a moment I shall appear before the God who punishes perjury.”
The Barbarian.
“No matter; you will have the pleasure of being buried in a cemetery, and your wife and children will have the means to live. Die a hypocrite: hypocrisy is a good thing; it is, as people say, the homage vice pays to virtue. A little hypocrisy, my friend—what does it cost?”
The Dying Man.
“Alas! You despise God, or do not acknowledge him, since you demand a lie from me at the hour of death—you who must soon receive your own judgment from him and answer for this lie.”
The Barbarian.
“What, insolent man! I do not acknowledge God?”
The Dying Man.
“Forgive me, my brother; I fear you do not know him. The God I worship is reviving my strength at this moment so that, with my dying voice, I may tell you that if you believe in God, you must treat me with charity. He gave me my wife and children: do not let them perish in poverty. As for my body, do what you will with it; I leave it to you. But believe in God, I implore you!”
The Barbarian.
“Do what I told you, without arguing. I wish it; I command it.”
The Dying Man.
“And what interest have you in tormenting me so much?”
The Barbarian.
“What! What interest? If I have your signature, it will earn me a good canonry.”
The Dying Man.
“Ah, my brother! My last moment is here; I am dying; I shall pray to God to touch your heart and convert you.”
The Barbarian.
“To the devil with the impertinent fellow who would not sign! I shall sign for him and counterfeit his handwriting.”
The following letter confirms the same moral lesson.
Plain English translation
Independent, complete machine-assisted Plain English translation directly from French, reviewed against it. All 25 chapters, author’s notes and added Article with six edition references are retained. Article transcription: French Wikisource, Garnier 1879, revision 15479820. Translation and Article: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/.
Dialogue between a Dying Man and a Healthy Man.
A citizen lay dying in a provincial town. A healthy man came to abuse him in his last moments and said:
"You wretch! Think as I do this instant. Sign this document. Admit that five propositions are in a book that neither you nor I have ever read. Agree this instant with Lanfranc against Berengar, with St. Thomas against St. Bonaventure. Accept the second Council of Nicaea against the Council of Frankfurt. Explain to me at once how these words, My Father is greater than I, expressly mean, I am as great as he is.
"Tell me how the Father communicates everything to the Son except fatherhood, or I will have your body thrown on the rubbish heap. Your children will not inherit, your wife will lose her dowry, and your family will beg for bread that people like me will not give them."
The Dying Man.
"I can barely understand what you are saying. Your threats reach my ears in a blur. They trouble my soul and make my death terrible. In God's name, have pity on me!"
The Brute.
"Pity! I can have none unless you agree with me about everything."
The Dying Man.
"Oh! You can see that in these last moments all my senses are failing. Every doorway to my understanding is shut. My ideas are slipping away; my thought is going out. Am I in any condition to argue?"
The Brute.
"Well, if you cannot believe what I want you to, say you believe it. That is enough for me."
The Dying Man.
"How can I swear falsely to please you? In a moment I will appear before the God who punishes false oaths."
The Brute.
"Never mind. You will have the pleasure of being buried in a cemetery, and your wife and children will have enough to live on. Die a hypocrite. Hypocrisy is a good thing. As people say, it is the tribute vice pays to virtue. A little hypocrisy, my friend—what does it cost?"
The Dying Man.
"Oh! You despise God, or you do not acknowledge him, since you ask me to lie at the point of death. Yet you too must soon face his judgment, and you will answer for this lie."
The Brute.
"What, you insolent man! I do not acknowledge God?"
The Dying Man.
"Forgive me, my brother. I fear you know no God. The God I worship is now restoring my strength so that I can tell you, in a dying voice, that if you believe in God, you must treat me with charity. He gave me my wife and children. Do not let them die in poverty. As for my body, do what you like with it; I leave it to you. But believe in God, I beg you!"
The Brute.
"Do what I told you, without arguing. I want it; I order it."
The Dying Man.
"And what do you gain by tormenting me so much?"
The Brute.
"What! What do I gain? If I get your signature, it will earn me a good position as a canon."
The Dying Man.
"Ah, my brother! My last moment has come. I am dying. I will pray to God to move your heart and convert you."
The Brute.
"To hell with the impudent fellow who would not sign! I will sign for him and imitate his handwriting."
The following letter supports the same moral lesson.
About this section
Chapter XVI is part of Treatise on Tolerance by Voltaire. This page sets the French original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is chapter 16 of 26 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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