TI ran into Dr. Pangloss today, the best of all possible tutors. He asked me an interesting question:

Meet him at Pangloss Wisdom. The site even included the first 8 chapters of my favorite book: Voltaire's Candide. It is a bit disappointing that only the English translation is posted, without the original French version. It is the first French book that I read cover to cover. It was when I had only studied French for less than half a year. It took me a long time to learn that the story is a satire. Any reader should have found it fishy when Voltaire introduced "one of the most powerful lords" by telling us that his castle "had not only a gate, but even windows, and his great hall was hung with tapestry.", but at that time I thought it was strange to me only because I didn't understand the language well enough. I am however, probably simply stupid. The same also happened to me with My Fair Lady. It again took me many years to understand.

 

PS: Wow the internet is really full of everything. Here is the full original French text matched with English translation:

 

It is unfortunate that the paragraphs don't align correctly. It is much easier to read them on separate browser tabs: