the blackest calumnies. Rich as he was,
he found it difficult to procure a set of flatterers. The rattling of
the chariots that entered Zadig's court in the evening filled him with
uneasiness; the sound of his praises enraged him still more. He
sometimes went to Zadig's house, and sat down at table without being
desired; where he spoiled all the pleasure of the company, as the
harpies are said to infect the viands they touch. It happened that one
day he took it in his head to give an entertainment to a lady, who,
instead of accepting it, went to sup with Zadig. At another time, as he
was talking with Zadig at court, a minister of state came up to them,
and invited Zadig to supper without inviting Arimazes. The most
implacable hatred has seldom a more solid foundation. This man, who in
Babylon was called the Envious, resolved to ruin Zadig because he was
called the Happy. "The opportunity of doing mischief occurs a hundred
times in a day, and that of doing good but once a year," as sayeth the
wise Zoroaster.

The envious man went to see Zadig, who was walking in his garden with
two friends and a lady, to whom he said many gallant things, without
any other intention than that of saying them. The conversation turned
upon a war which the king had just brought to a happy conclusion
against the prince of Hircania, his vassal. Zadig, who had signalized
his courage in this short war, bestowed great praises on the king, but
greater still on the lady. He took out his pocketbook, and wrote four
lines extempore, which he gave to this amiable person to read. His
friends begged they might see them; but modesty, or rather a
well-regulated self love, would not allow him to grant their request.
He knew that extemporary verses are never approved of by any but by the
person in whose honor they are written. He therefore tore in two the
leaf on which he had wrote them, and threw both the pieces into a
thicket of rosebushes, where the rest of the company sought for them in
vain. A slight shower falling soon after obliged them to return to the
house. The envious man, who stayed in the garden, continued the search
till at last he found a piece of the leaf. It had been torn in such a
manner that each half of a line formed a complete sense, and even a
verse of a shorter measure; but what was still more surprising, these
short verses were found to contain the most injurious reflections on
the king. They ran thus:

To flagrant crimes.
His