I ON THE METHOD OF ZADIG 



about him sharpened his naturally good 

 powers of observation and of reasoning ; until, 

 at length, he acquired a sagacity which enabled 

 him to perceive endless minute differences among 

 objects which, to the untutored eye, appeared 

 absolutely alike. 



It might have been expected that this enlarge- 

 ment of the powers of the mind and of its store of 

 natural knowledge could tend to nothing but the 

 increase of a man's own welfare and the good of 

 his fellow-men. But Zadig was fated to experience 

 the vanity of such expectations. 



" One day, walking near a little wood, he saw, hastening that 

 way, one of the Queen's chief eunuchs, followed by a troop of 

 officials, who appeared to be in the greatest anxiety, running 

 hither and thither like men distraught, in search of some lost 

 treasure. 



" ' Young man,' cried the eunuch, ' have you seen the Queen's 

 dog ? ' Zadig answered modestly, ' A bitch, I think, not a dog. ' 

 ' Quite right, ' replied the eunuch ; and Zadig continued, ' A 

 very small spaniel who has lately had puppies ; she limps with 

 the left foreleg, and has very long ears. ' ' Ah ! you have seen 

 her then,' said the breathless eunuch. 'No,' answered Zadig, 

 ' I have not seen her ; and I really was not aware that the Queen 

 possessed a spaniel. ' 



"By an odd coincidence, at the very same time, the handsom- 

 est horse in the King's stables broke away from his groom in 

 the Babylonian plains. The grand huntsman and all his staff 

 were seeking the horse with as much anxiety as the eunuch and 

 his people the spaniel ; and the grand huntsman asked Zadig if 

 he had not seen the King's horse go that way. 



" ' A first-rate galloper, small-hoofed, five feet high ; tail three 

 feet and a half long ; cheek pieces of the bit of twenty -three 

 carat gold ; shoes silver ? ' said Zadig. 



B 2 



