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Zadig The Babylonian
by
“I flatter myself,” said Zadig, “that thou wilt not lose all thy money. I have heard of this Zadig; he is an honest man; and if he returns to Babylon, as he expects, he will give thee more than he owes thee. Believe me, go to Babylon. I shall be there before thee, because I am on horseback, and thou art on foot. Apply to the illustrious Cador; tell him thou hast met his friend; wait for me at his house; go, perhaps thou wilt not always be unhappy.”
“Oh, powerful Oromazes!” continued he, “thou employest me to comfort this man; whom wilt thou employ to give me consolation?” So saying, he gave the fisherman half the money he had brought from Arabia. The fisherman, struck with surprise and ravished with joy, kissed the feet of the friend of Cador, and said, “Thou art surely an angel sent from Heaven to save me!”
Meanwhile, Zadig continued to make fresh inquiries, and to shed tears. “What, my lord!” cried the fisherman, “art thou then so unhappy, thou who bestowest favors?”
“An hundred times more unhappy than thou art,” replied Zadig.
“But how is it possible,” said the good man, “that the giver can be more wretched than the receiver?”
“Because,” replied Zadig, “thy greatest misery arose from poverty, and mine is seated in the heart.”
“Did Orcan take thy wife from thee?” said the fisherman.
This word recalled to Zadig’s mind the whole of his adventures.
He repeated the catalogue of his misfortunes, beginning with the queen’s spaniel, and ending with his arrival at the castle of the robber Arbogad. “Ah!” said he to the fisherman, “Orcan deserves to be punished; but it is commonly such men as those that are the favorites of fortune. However, go thou to the house of Lord Cador, and there wait my arrival.” They then parted, the fisherman walked, thanking Heaven for the happiness of his condition; and Zadig rode, accusing fortune for the hardness of his lot.
THE BASILISK
Arriving in a beautiful meadow, he there saw several women, who were searching for something with great application. He took the liberty to approach one of them, and to ask if he might have the honor to assist them in their search. “Take care that thou dost not,” replied the Syrian; “what we are searching for can be touched only by women.”
“Strange,” said Zadig, “may I presume to ask thee what it is that women only are permitted to touch?”
“It is a basilisk,” said she.
“A basilisk, madam! and for what purpose, pray, dost thou seek for a basilisk?”
“It is for our lord and master Ogul, whose cattle thou seest on the bank of that river at the end of the meadow. We are his most humble slaves. The lord Ogul is sick. His physician hath ordered him to eat a basilisk, stewed in rose water; and as it is a very rare animal, and can only be taken by women, the lord Ogul hath promised to choose for his well-beloved wife the woman that shall bring him a basilisk; let me go on in my search; for thou seest what I shall lose if I am prevented by my companions.”
Zadig left her and the other Assyrians to search for their basilisk, and continued to walk in the meadow; when coming to the brink of a small rivulet, he found another lady lying on the grass, and who was not searching for anything. Her person worried to be majestic; but her face was covered with a veil. She was inclined toward the rivulet, and profound sighs proceeded from her mouth. In her hand she held a small rod with which she was tracing characters on the fine sand that lay between the turf and the brook. Zadig had the curiosity to examine what this woman was writing. He drew near; he saw the letter Z, then an A; he was astonished; then appeared a D; he started. But never was surprise equal to his when he saw the last letters of his name.