This long Detail of Particulars, however, was not deliver’d without several Interruptions; for, said Zadig, with Abundance of Warmth and Confusion, Have you never heard, Sir, of what is become of the Queen Astarte? No Sir, not I, said the disconsolate Fisherman; but this I know, to my Sorrow, that neither the Queen, nor Zadig, ever paid me the least Consideration in the World for my Cream Cheeses; that my dear Spouse is taken from me; and that I am drove to the very Brink of Despair. I am verily persuaded, said Zadig, that you will not lose all your Money. I have heard much talk of that same Zadig; they say he is very honest, and that if ever he returns to Babylon, as ’tis to be hop’d he will, he’ll discharge his Debts with Interest, like a Man of Honour. But, as for your Wife, who appears to me, to be no better than a Wag-tail, never take the Trouble, if you’ll take my Advice, to hunt after her any more. Be rul’d, and make the best of your Way to Babylon. I shall be there before you, as I shall ride, and you will be on Foot. Make your Applications to the illustrious Cador; tell him you met his Friend upon the Road; and stay there still I come. Observe my Orders, and ’tis very probable it may turn out to your Advantage.
O puissant Orosmades, continu’d he, you have made me, ’tis true, an Instrument of Comfort to this poor Man; but what Friend will you raise for me, to alleviate my Sorrows? Having utter’d this short Expostulation, he gave the distrest Fisherman one full Moiety of all the Money he brought with him out of Arabia. The Fisherman, thunder-struck, and transported with Joy at so unexpected a Benefaction, kiss’d the Feet of Cador’s Friend, and cried out, sure you are a Messenger of Heaven, sent down to be my Saviour!
In the mean Time, Zadig every now and then ask’d him Questions, and wept as he ask’d them. What! Sir, said the Fisherman, can you, who are so bountiful a Benefactor, be in Distress yourself? Alas! said he, Friend, I am a hundred Times more unhappy than thou art. But pray, Sir, said the good Man, how can it possibly be, that he, who is so lavish of his Favours, should be overwhelm’d with greater Misfortunes than the Man he so generously relieves? Your greatest Uneasiness, said he, arose from the Narrowness of your Circumstances; but mine proceeds from an internal, and much deeper Cause. Pray, Sir, said the Fisherman, has Orcan robb’d you of your Wife? This Interrogatory put Zadig in a Moment upon a Retrospection of all his past Adventures. He recollected the whole Series of his Misfortunes; commencing from that of the Eunuch and the Huntsman, to his Arrival at the Free-booter’s Castle. Alas! said he, to the Fisherman, Orcan, ’tis true, deserves severely to be punish’d: But for the Generality, we find, such worthless Barbarians are the Favourites of Fortune. Be that, however, as it will, go as I bade you, to my Friend Cador, and wait there till I come. They took their Leave; the Fisherman blessing his propitious Stars, and Zadig cursing, every Step he went, the Hour he was born.
CHAP. XV.
The Basilisk.
As Zadig was traversing a verdant Meadow, he perceiv’d several young Female Syrians, intent on searching for something very curious, that lay conceal’d, as they imagin’d, in the Grass. He took the Freedom to approach one of them, and ask her, in the most courteous Manner, if he might have the Honour to assist her in her Researches. Have a care, said she. What we are hunting after, Sir, is an Animal, that will not suffer itself to be touch’d by a Man. ’Tis somewhat surprizing, said Zadig. May I be so bold, pray, as to ask you what you are in Pursuit after, that shuns the Touch of any Thing but the Hands of the Fair Sex. ’Tis, Sir, said she, the Basilisk: A Basilisk, Madam, said he! And pray, if you will be so good as to inform me, with what View, are you searching after a Creature so very difficult to be met with? ’Tis, Sir, said she, for our Lord and Master Ogul, whose Castle, you see, situate on the River-side, at the Bottom of the Meadow. We are all his Vassals. Ogul, you must know, is in a very bad State of Health, and his first Physician has order’d him, as a Specific, to eat a Basilisk, boil’d in Rose water: And as that Animal is very hard to be catch’d, and will suffer nothing to approach it, but one of our Sex, our dying Sovereign Ogul has promis’d to honour her, that shall be so happy as to catch it for him, so far as to make her his Consort. The Case, being thus circumstantiated, Sir, I hope you will not interrupt me any longer, lest my Rivals here in the Field should happen to circumvent me.
Zadig withdrew, and left the Syrian Ladies in Quest of their imaginary Booty, in order to pursue his intended Journey. But as he came to the Banks of a Rivulet, at the remotest part of the Meadow, he perceiv’d another young Lady, reclin’d on the Grass, and entirely disengag’d. Her Stature seem’d majestic, but her Face was cover’d with a Vail; and her Eyes were fixt, as one at her Looking-glass, on the River. Every now and then a Sigh burst out, as if her Heart were breaking. In her Hand she held a little Wand or Rod, with which she was tracing out some Characters on the dry Sand, that lay between the flow’ry Bank she sat on, and the purling Current. Zadig’s Curiosity induc’d him, unperceiv’d, to observe her Operations at some Distance. But approaching nearer, and perceiving very distinctly the first Character to be an Z. the next an A. and the third a D. he started; but when he saw the additional Capitals of I and G. his Astonishment was too great for Words to express. He stood for some Time perfectly thunder-struck, and as motionless as a Statue; At last, in a soft, faultring Tone, he broke Silence: O generous Lady, said he, forgive a Stranger, one overwhelm’d with Sorrows like yourself, if he asks you, by what amazing Accident he finds the Name of Zadig delineated by so angelick a Hand. Thus unexpectedly interrupted, and at the Sound of those Words, she turn’d her Head; and with a trembling Hand, lifting up her Vail, she espy’d Zadig himself. Upon which, she shriek’d; and as her Heart was flutter’d between the two Extreams of Transport and Surprize, she fainted away, and gently dropp’d into his Arms. ’Twas, it seems Astarte her self; ’twas the Queen of Babylon; ’twas the very Goddess whom Zadig ador’d; ’twas, in short, the very identical Lady, whose hard Fate he had so long deplor’d; and for whose sake he had felt so many agonizing Pains. For a few Minutes he stood speechless, and depriv’d, as it were, of all his senses, whilst his Eyes were fixt on his Astarte, who began to revive; and cast a wishful Glance at him, attended with some Confusion. O ye immortal Powers, cried he, who preside over the Destiny of us frail Mortals! Ye have restor’d me my Astarte; but alas! at what a Conjuncture, in what a Place, and in what a State and Condition do I view her? He threw himself prostrate on the Ground, and kiss’d the Dust of her Feet. The Queen of Babylon rais’d him up, and oblig’d him to sit by her on the flow’ry Bank whereon she was repos’d. Every now and then she wip’d her Eyes, as the Tears trickl’d down afresh her lovely Cheeks. Twenty times she endeavour’d to renew her Discourse; but was interrupted by her Sighs; she ask’d him over and over to relate to her the Hardships he had ran thro’ since their parting, and by what Chance he came to traverse that solitary Meadow; but prevented him at the same Time from returning any Answer, by repeating Question upon Question. At last, she gave him a particular Detail of her own Misfortunes, and again requested to know his. Both of them, in short, having, in some Measure, appeas’d the Tumult of their Souls; Zadig, in a few Words, inform’d her of the Motives that brought him thither.
But tell me, O unfortunate, tho’ ever-venerable Queen, how I came to find you out, reclining on this verdant Bank, dress’d in this servile Habit, accompanied by other Female Slaves, who, I find, have been all Day long in Quest after a Basilisk, which, as I understand, is by Order of a celebrated Physician, to be dissolv’d in Rose-water, as a specific Medicine for his dying Patient.
Whilst they busy in their fruitless Search, said the beauteous Astarte, I’ll tell you the whole Series of Sorrows which I have undergone since last we parted; and since Heav’n has thus unexpectedly blest my Eyes once more with the Sight of my dear Zadig, I’ll no longer exclaim against my impropitious Stars.