Summary of the “Simple-minded” Voltaire
In 1689, the evening of July 15, the abbot de Kerkabon, the Prior of the Madonna of Our Lady, along with her sister, walks along the seacoast. Loved by his flock is a priest and never married, 45-year-old Mademoiselle de Kercabon, talking about how in 1666 from these places to Canada their brother and wife swam away. As relatives were informed: the couple was killed by the bloodthirsty Iroquois.
The conversation between the Prior and his sister is interrupted by the appearance of an English ship and the courteous twenty-two-year-old Huron arriving there. At a dinner in his honor, it turns out that the young traveler is called Simplehearted, and like all Hurons, he lives by saying what he thinks and doing what he wants. According to the portrait hanging on the Indian’s neck, the Prior learns in it his nephew – the son of a brother who died in Canada.
The society of Lower Brittany decides to christen the Simple-minded. Huron at first resists, but after reading
After the rite of Baptism, the young Huron confesses in love to Mlle de Saint-Ives. The girl proposes to discuss marriage with relatives. The simple-minded stubborn, saying that this is only their business. The Prior puts his nephew on notice that a marriage between a godson and a godmother is forbidden by the church and people. Wishing to avoid the unraveling of the Huron, Mlle de Cercabon offers him permission to marry the Pope. The simpleheart does not want to go to distant Italy. He goes to Mlle de Saint-Yves and almost
Mlé de Saint Ives is imprisoned in a monastery. The simple-minded helps the local garrison to repel an attack by the British and goes to Versailles, to an introduction to the king, from whom he hopes to obtain permission to marry. On the way, he meets with the Protestants and learns about the persecution of their Catholics. Huron promises new friends to stand up for them before the king. The confessor of Louis XIV, Father de la Chaise, on the denunciation of his spy and the Breton judge, wishing to marry his son at the Mlle de Saint-Ives, concludes the Simple-minded in the Bastille. In prison, Huron meets with Jansenist priest Gordon, who trains him in geometry, religion, mathematics, history, philosophy, literature. The simple-minded becomes a jansenist, Gordon is a wise man and a good man.
The Prior and his sister go to Paris, but the higher clergy of the church are too busy to listen to their request for help. Not wishing to marry the son of a judge, Mademoiselle de Saint Ives flees from his wedding to Versailles. After it goes and the rest of society. Assistant Minister Saint-Poignage makes the girl an indecent offer. The Jesuit Tut-i-there inclines her to the path of sin. A friend of mine, Mademoiselle de Saint-Ives, forcibly takes her to dinner at Saint-Poignou. After a night spent with the assistant to the minister, the girl gets on hands the order about clearing of the Simple-minded and its best friend – Gordon.
The society of Lower Brittany is happy with the successful outcome of the case. The Abbot de Saint-Ives agrees to the marriage of his sister with the Simple-minded. The girl, suffering from her fall, in the meantime, falls ill, admits everything and dies. Mr. Saint-Poignes, who has blossomed with love for the beauty he has destroyed, sincerely repents of his crime. The simple-minded becomes an officer and honors the memory of a lost lover all his life.
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