Chapter 12 Summary

Cunégonde told the man who spoke her language of the horrors she had been through. She fainted and he carried her to a house, where he fed and nursed her. He told her he was born in Naples and was castrated as a young boy. They castrate young boys in Naples to produce great voices. He was a musician in the Princess of Palestrina's chapel, which was her mother's chapel. He had known the young women until she was six-years-old. He tells her he will take her back to Italy. He did not keep his word and sold her the next day. The plague infected Africa and she got sick.

After the plague was finished she was sold again and then six more times, finally being bought by an Aga of the Janissaries. He defended the Aga against the Russians. The enemy...