- Lisbon authorities decide that, as a preventative measure against further earthquakes, they will stage a public execution. It’s called an "Auto-da-fé" and it means "act of faith."
- One of the authorities chooses to execute a man who married his godmother (because he married his godmother), two Jewish men (because they are Jewish), and Pangloss (because he talks too much).
- The authorities flog Candide for having willingly listened to Pangloss’s teachings.
- Candide questions whether this can really be the best of all possible worlds.
- Candide at this point is bloody and disgusting. This is about the time when an old woman approaches and tells him to follow her.