Since three-fourths of Lisbon had been destroyed, the wise men in Portugal, especially the scholars at the University of Coimbra, decided that auto-da-fé was called for if total ruin were to be avoided, and that the spectacle of people ceremoniously burned by slow fire should take place at once. Among the victims was a Biscayan charged with having married the godmother of his godchild, and two Portuguese known to have eaten chicken only after removing the bacon (thus proving that they were Jews and enemies of Christendom). Later Pangloss and Candide were seized and imprisoned, the former guilty of having spoken, the latter of having listened — obviously capital offenses. A week later, each was given a paper mitre and a sanbenito (a yellow robe that heretics condemned to the stake were required to wear). Mitre and robe alike were adorned fearsomely with flames and devils. The two marched in procession and heard a morning sermon followed by vocal music. Candide was flogged in time to the music; the Biscayan was burned at the stake; and, contrary to usual procedure, Pangloss was hanged. But on the same day, another terrible earthquake occurred.
Little wonder that Candide, reviewing all the things that had happened since he was turned out of the baron's castle, should wonder what other worlds were like if this one was the best. As he was being flogged and preached to, absolved, and blessed, an old woman appeared. She bade him to take courage and then to follow her.
