Chapter 12

The brave Candide and his fellow travellers left a region, undoubtedly forsaken by Gaia, Bangdladesh, for a ground cherished of the gods. Bali, with its inhabitants with so soft manners, was going to put a little balsam at the heart of our travellers. During two days, they traversed a paradisiac island, with the rice plantations in terraces and the serene landscapes.

The third day, the gods gave up Bali. The " mads of god ", or of devil who knows?, exerted their talents there. With succint means, a van and sticks of plastic, they achieved a true exploit : more than 200 deads dispatched in one moment in another world, probably better, in addition to hundreds of casualties.

Martin: " The man is not a lamb for the man! "

Fortunate Bigboss: " Rather a wolf ".

The optimism of Candide wavered: "In Bangladesh, we tested the violence of nature, here that of the men"

Fortunate Bigboss: " What to make? Where to go? "

Martin: " Believe me! The best solution would be to let the earthmen to their fate and to leave this sad planet. We were happy during 250 years. If we wish to continue to be happy, thus give up these unhappy and will look after our pinks and our onions! "

Candide, disillusioned: "Yes! Let us turn over to cultivate our garden. It is surely the advice which my good Master Pangloss would have given us.... If he were still alive! "

Fortunate Bigboss: " Human civilization nevertheless incontestably progressed since your retirement! Quantities of inventions embellished the life of the men. Many transports, railroads, planes, boats, cars, facilitate the life to them. The splendid discovered ones and innumerable inventions like electricity, radio, television, telephone make the human life more pleasant. The standard of living of the populations, their knowledge, their health, their education, their longevity... much improved ".

Martin: " You are completely right. Considerable progress actually was accomplished ! Deaths per thousands on of insubmersible Titanics which sink with their first navigation, of the rail crashes to the impressive damage, tens of thousands of deads and of the hundreds of thousands of handicapped on all the roads of the globe, the planes which explode or are crashent.... Nuclear bombs which improve atomic bombs. Chemical and biological weapons increasingly effective. Splendid assessment ! As for the standard of living and the diseases, what a marvellous progress! The plague and the cholera, these plagues, practically disappeared. Unfortunately, completely inopportunely, of tens of million earthmen die only of paludism, of the AIDS and inappropriate bacterial and viral affections. One can perhaps also deplore that thirty million individuals, children, women and old men, die of hunger each year. No doubt, their too precarious health is not up to it !

As for education, its progress is quite as remarkable. Anaphalbetism and intolerance are its two udders. Hindouists who carbonize Moslems. And vice versa. Islamist bombs which pulverize the infidels ones. And reciprocally. Catholics who terrorize Protestants. And conversely. Many sects which proliferate, while misusing the most fragile brains.

As for the increased longevity of the populations, it especially benefits their cancers, osteoporoses and other diseases of Alzeimher ".

Candide: " You blacken much the table! "

Martin: " Do you believe ? Thus open television at evening. It is Tele-Calamity, the planet in all its states: hurricanes, crimes, seisms, swindles, floods, corruptions, catastrophes, wars, cyclones, terrorisms ... This nomenclature is well far from being complete... "

Candide: " You see only the bad side of the things. Your glass is with half-vacuum. Mine is with half-full ".

Glass with half-full of Candide was emptied abruptly. A raised fever, of unknown origin but with the frightening effectiveness, seized him in a few hours. His companions decided to make it transport urgently in a large New York hospital, the baliner hospitals inspiring to them, well wrongly obviously, a rather reduced confidence.

During three weeks, Candide struggled between the life and death against a mysterious affection, probably of tropical origin. After main efforts and the devotion of a whole medical team, Candide left the coma, regained consciousness and was quickly restored.

Candide prepared to leave the hospital when its doctors diagnosed a relapse. It was only the inevitable reverse of the medal. Candide had just contracted a nosocomial disease. He succeeds, thanks to his medical team, to overcome this new test which left it exhausted. A lawyer pack was hustled immediately with his bedside, pressing him to prosecute the hospital for negligence, making him hope considerable damages. Candide drove out them.

Candide: " Vultures ! They are vultures! They would like that I attack those which saved me the life! "

Martin: "They are simple businessmen. With like only religion, the dollar ! "

Insensitive with the religion of the dollar, Martin and Fortunate Bigboss took along the good Candide to be restored, far from the zealous followers of golden calf.