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Candide Chapter 29
"How Candide Found Cunégonde and the Old Woman Again"
Candide, Pangloss, the Baron's son, Martin and Cacambo argue about philosophy and reach the shores of Propontis where Cunégonde and the old woman live. They see Cunégonde and the old woman washing laundry outside.
"Candide, that tender lover, seeing his fair Cunégonde sunburned, blear-eyed, flat-breasted, with wrinkles around her eyes and red, chapped arms, recoiled three paces in horror, and then advanced from mere politeness." Chapter 29, pg. 141
The reunion is quick, understated, and oddly devoid of the emotional excesses of previous reunions. Candide buys the old woman and Cunégonde from their master. At the old woman's suggestion, Candide buys a nearby farm. Cunégonde is unaware she is ugly. She sharply tells him to fulfill his promise to marry her.
When the Baron's son learns of the marriage plans he loses his temper and refuses to allow the marriage. In a surprisingly reasonable and articulate speech (for Candide, at least), Candide tells the ungrateful Baron's son that he is doing Cunégonde a favor by marrying her since she is so undesirable. The Baron's son is deaf to Candide's reason, and he prohibits the marriage.
