which Arabia Petrea pays to the king of kings; and I punctually execute my office of collector, but shall not very speedily discharge that of paymaster.

"The great desterham of Babylon sent hither, in the name of King Moabdar, an insignificant satrape, with a commission to strangle me. This person arrived with his royal master's warrant. I was apprized of the whole affair, and ordered his entire retinue, consisting of four inferior officers, to be strangled before his face, after the same manner as was intended for me. I then desired to know what he was to have obtained by my death. He replied, that his fees would have amounted to about three hundred pieces of gold. I laid before him the advantage he would gain by staying with me; constituted him an inferior robber; and he is now one of the best and richest officers. Believe me, your success will be as great as his. There never was a better season for robbery than at present, for Moabdar is lately killed, and all Babylon is in the greatest confusion.'-' Moabdar killed!' exclaimed Zadig; then what is become of Queen Astarte !'-' I cannot inform you,' replied Arbogad: ' all I can tell is, that Moabdar lost his senses, and was murdered; that the people of Babylon are destroying one another; and that the whole empire is laid waste. There are some fine strokes yet to be taken; and, for my part, I have been already pretty successful.' But the queen, Sir!' said Zadig; ' are you acquainted with the fate of the queen ?'-' I have heard something of a prince of Hircania,' replied he: 'if she was not slain in the tumult, she is probably one of his concubines. But I am more anxious for booty than for news. I have taken many ladies in my

excursions, but I never keep them. When they are beautiful I sell them for the best price I can, without minding who they are. Nothing is given on account of rank; and a queen who is ugly will never find any one inclined to buy her. Perhaps I may have sold the queen, or perhaps she may be dead; but that is of little importance to me, and I suppose you have no more reason to trouble yourself about it than I have.' After this he drank so plentifully, that all his ideas were too much confused for Zadig to gain any farther information: he was struck dumb, confounded, and remained motionless as a statue. Arbogad continued drinking, told a number of merry stories, incessantly repeated that he was the happiest man alive, and invited Zadig to become as cheerful as himself. At length, being overcome by the fumes of his liquor, he sunk into a profound sleep; while Zadig passed the night in the most violent agitations. What,' said he, the king then has lost his senses! he is slain! I cannot but lament his fate. The empire is torn to pieces, and yet this robber is happy! O Fortune! O Destiny! A man who lives by rapine is happy; and the most amiable creature that Nature ever framed has, perhaps, either suffered an ignominious death, or lives in a state worse than even death itself! O Astarte! O Astarte! what is become of thee ?'

As soon as day-light appeared, he enquired about Astarte of every one he saw; but all were busy, and nobody made him any answer. During the night fresh plunder had been brought in, and they were employed in dividing the spoil. All he could obtain in this tumultuous confusion, was the permission to depart; of which he took advantage without delay,

and left the castle of Arbogad more overwhelmed with grief and deep reflection, than he had ever yet been.

Zadig proceeded on his way greatly agitated and disturbed: his thoughts were wholly employed on the unhappy Astarte; on the king of Babylon; on his faithful friend Cador; on Arbogad, the happy robber; on the capricious female, whom the Babylonians had seized on the confines of Egypt; and, in short, on all the misfortunes he had ever experienced.

WHEN Zadig had travelled some few leagues from the castle of Arbogad, he approached the banks of a small river, still lamenting his unhappy fate, and considering himself as the most unfortunate man existing. He there beheld a fisherman laying by the waterside, who was scarce able to hold, with his weak and trembling hand, a net, which he seemed little to regard; and raising up his eyes towards heaven-'I am certainly the most miserable wretch alive!' said the fisherman: 'I have been, in the opinion of every one, the most famous dealer in cream-cheese in all Babylon, and yet I am ruined. I had the most beautiful wife that a man in my station could wish; and by her I have been cruelly forsaken. There still remained my poor house; but even that I have seen pillaged and destroyed. I have taken shelter in a cabin; I have no other resource besides fishing, and yet I cannot catch a single fish. O my net! I will

no more throw thee into the water; it is myself I will throw into it.' On uttering these words, he arose, and advanced forward, in the posture of a man going to throw himself into the stream, in order to put an end to his life. 'What,' said Zadig to himself, 'is there a man living more wretched than I?' His eagerness to save the fisherman was as sudden as this reflection. He ran to him; stopped him; and questioned him, with an air of pity and compassion. We seem to be less unhappy when we have companions in our misfortunes; according to Zoroaster, this is not owing to a malignant disposition, but is the effect of a fatal necessity; for we then find ourselves attached to an unfortunate person, as to our own likeness. The transports of the happy would be insults; but two men in distress are like two weak and slender trees, which leaning together, mutually support and fortify each other against the storms that blow around them. 'Why,' said Zadig to the fisherman, 'do you sink under your misfortunes?'-' Because I find no means of relief,' replied he. 'I have been the most considerable person in the whole village of Derlback, near Babylon; and I made, by my wife's assistance, the best cream-cheese in the empire of Persia. Queen Astarte, and the famous minister Zadig, admired them extremely. I sent to their houses six hundred cheeses, and one day went to the city to be paid; when I was informed, on my arrival in Babylon, that both the queen and Zadig had disappeared. I ran to the house of lord Zadig, whom I had never seen, and found there the officers of the grand desterham; who, being provided with a royal licence, plundered it with great loyalty and order. I then flew to the queen's

kitchen; where some of the lords of the mouth to. me she was dead, others that she was in prison, ane others pretended that she was fled; but all of theta assured me that my cheeses would never be paid fcs. I then went with my wife to lord Orcan's-for he was one of my customers-and we begged his protection in our distress. He readily granted it to my wife, but refused it to me. She was whiter, Sir, than the cream-cheeses that began my misfortunes; and the bloom of her lovely cheeks was ten times more beautiful than the finest Tyrian purple: it was for this reason Orcan detained her, and refused his protection to me. I wrote to my dear wife a letter of desperation. She said to the messenger-" It is very well I have some little knowledge of the writer; I have heard speak of him: they say he makes excellent cream-cheese; let him bring me some, and he shall be paid."

"In the height of my misfortunes, I determined to seek redress in a court of equity: I had but six ounces of gold, and it was necessary for me to give two ounces to my counsellor, two to the solicitor who undertook my affair, and the other two to the judge's clerk. When all this was done, my business was not yet began, although I had expended more money than my cheese and my wife were worth. Notwithstanding this, I returned to the village, with an intention to sell my house, in order to regain my wife.

'My house was well worth sixty ounces of gold; but as my neighbours saw me poor, and obliged to sell it, the first to whom I addressed myself offered me thirty, the second twenty, and the third ten. At length, when I was ready to come to an agreement

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