There remain to comment on and to illustrate other stylistic virtues. Most works suffer through translation, and it must be admitted that Candide is no exception. But it has suffered much less than others. In his detailed discussion of the sentence structure and pattern in Candide, Ira O. Wade has pointed out that short sentences abound, ones with the so-called normal pattern of subject-verb, subject-verb-object. And when modifiers are added to one or more of these elements, the sentence never expands beyond modest proportions. Consider the very opening paragraphs:
"In the castle of Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh in Westphalia, there once lived a youth endowed by nature with the gentlest of characters. His soul was revealed in his face. He combined sound judgment with great simplicity of mind; it was for this reason, I believe, that he was given the name of Candide.
"The baron was one of the most powerful lords in Westphalia, for his castle had a door and windows. Its hall was even adorned with a tapestry. The dogs in his stable yards formed a hunting pack when necessary, his grooms were his huntsman, and the village curate was his chaplain. They all called him "My Lord" and laughed when he told stories."
