not seen the king's horse run by. 'No horse,' replied Zadig, 'is a better runner; he is five feet high; his hoofs are very small; his tail is about three feet and a half long; the studs of his bit are of pure gold, about twenty-three carats; and his shoes are silver.' -'Which way did he run? where is he?' demanded the huntsman. 'I have never seen him,' replied Zadig; nor did I, till now, ever hear that the king had such a horse.'

The principal huntsman and the first eunuch, not doubting but that Zadig had stole the king's horse and the queen's bitch, immediately caused him to be conducted before the grand desterham, who condemned him to the knout, and to be confined for life in some lonely and remote part of Siberia. Scarce was the sentence passed, when the horse and bitch were found. The judges were then under the disagreeable necessity of reversing their decision; but they condemned him to pay four hundred ounces of gold, for having said that he had not seen what he had seen. This fine he was obliged to deposit in court after which, he was allowed to plead his cause before the council of the grand desterham; when he spoke in these terms

'Ye bright stars of justice, profound abyss of sciences, mirrors of truth! who have in you the weight of lead, the inflexibility of steel, the lustre of the diamond, and the resemblance of the purest gold: since I am permitted to speak before this august assembly, I swear by Orosmades, that I have never seen the queen's illustrious dog, nor the sacred horse of the king of kings. I will, however, be ingenuous enough to declare the truth, and nothing but the truth. As

I was walking by the side of the thicket, where I afterwards met the venerable eunuch, and the most illustrious huntsman, I saw on the sand the traces of an animal, and easily judged they were those of a little dog. The light and long furrows impressed on small eminences of sand, between the marks of the paws, made me know that it was a bitch, whose dugs were hanging down, and that she had therefore lately whelped. As I observed, likewise, other traces of a different kind, which seemed to have grazed the surface of the sand, on the sides of the marks of the fore feet, I easily judged that she had very long ears. And as I remarked, that there was a fainter impression made on the sand by one foot than by the three others, I concluded that the bitch of our august queen was, if I may be permitted so to say, a little lame.

'With respect to the horse of the king of kings, give me leave to inform you, that as I was walking down the lane by the thicket-side, I took particular notice of the prints made upon the sand by a horse's shoes, and found they were all at equal distances; from which observation, I concluded the horse galloped well. The dust on the trees, in a straight road, seven feet wide, was brushed off a little both on the right and the left, at three feet and a half from the middle of the road. This horse, said I, has a tail three feet and a half long, which, by it's being whisked to the right and the left, swept away the dust. Again, I perceived under the trees, which formed a kind of arbour five feet high, that the leaves were newly fallen, and was sensible the horse must have shook them off; I therefore judged, him to be somewhat

M

As to the bits of his

more than five feet high. bridle, I knew they must be of gold of twenty-three carats, for he rubbed the studs against a certain stone which I knew to be a touch-stone, and which I have tried. To conclude, I have judged, by the marks which his shoes left on flints of a different kind, that he was shod with silver.'

All the judges were astonished at the profound and subtle discernment of Zadig. The news reached even the king and queen. Nothing was spoke of but Zadig, in the anti-chambers, in the chambers, and in the cabinet and though many of the magi were of opinion he ought to be burnt as a sorcerer, the king ordered that the four hundred ounces of gold he had been obliged to pay, should be restored to him again. The register, and other officers, then went to his house with great formality, to carry him his four hundred ounces: they kept back only three hundred, fourscore, and eighteen, for the expences of justice; and their servants demanded their fees.

Zadig saw how dangerous it sometimes is to appear too wise; and he firmly resolved, in future, to set a watch before the door of his lips.

An opportunity soon offered for the trial of his resolution. A prisoner of state having made his escape, passed under his window. Zadig was examined, but made no answer; however, as it was proved that he had looked at him from his window, he was condemned to pay five hundred ounces of gold for this crime; and, according to the custom of Babylon, thank the judges for their indulgence. 'Good God!' waid he to himself, 'what a misfortune is this to walk

near a wood, through which the queen's dog and the king's horse have passed! how dangerous is it to look out of a window! and, in a word, how difficult for a man to be truly happy in this life!'

CHAPTER IV.

THE ENVIOUS MAN.

As Zadig had met with such a series of misfortunes, he resolved to comfort himself by the study of philosophy, and the conversation of select friends. He had in the suburbs of Babylon a house adorned with much taste, where he assembled all the arts and all the pleasures worthy the attention of a good man. In the morning his library was opened to the learned ; in the evening, his table was surrounded by good company: but he soon found the danger there is in conversing with the sons of science. There arose a great dispute on one of the laws of Zoroaster, which forbids the eating of griffins. 'How should he prohibit our eating a griffin,' said one of the company, 'if this animal has no existence ?'-' It must necessarily exist,' said the others, since Zoroaster will not allow it to be eaten.' Zadig strove to make them agree, by saying-' If gentlemen, there are griffins, let us not eat them; if there are no such things, we cannot eat them; and thus we shall all obey Zoroaster.'

A learned man, who had composed thirteen volumes on the properties of the griffin, hasted to accuse Zadig before one of the principal magi, named Yebor,

the most foolish, and the greatest bigot of all the Chaldeans. This man would have impaled Zadig to do honour to the sun, and when he had done it, would have recited the breviary of Zoroaster with greater satisfaction. His friend Cador (a friend of more value than a hundred magi) went to old Yebor, and said to him- Long live the sun and the griffins! take care of punishing Zadig, for he is a saint; he has griffins in his inner court, and does not eat them; and his accuser is an heretic, who dares to maintain that rabbits have cloven feet and are not unclean.'— 'Well,' said Yebor, shaking his bald pate,' we must impale Zadig for having spoken disrespectfully of griffins, and the other, for having spoken contemptuously of rabbits.' Cador, however, put a stop to the affair, by means of a maid of honour, by whom he had a child, and who had great credit in the college of the magi; so that nobody was punished: whereupon many of the doctors murmured, and presaged the ruin of Babylon.-Zadig said to himself'On what does happiness depend? I am persecuted by every thing in this world, even on account of beings that have no existence.' He cursed the sons of learning, and for the future, resolved to keep none but good company. He now assembled at his house the most worthy men in Babylon, and ladies of the greatest beauty; he gave them delicate suppers, frequently preceded by concerts of music, and always animated by the most engaging conversation, in which he carefully avoided the desire of appearing witty; well knowing that to be a sure method of defeating it's own end, as well as of spoiling the most agreeable company. Neither the choice of his friends, nor that