utions to such AEnigmas as shall be
propos'd. 'Twas put to the Vote. As the Reputation of his being a
Man of the strictest Honour and Veracity was so strongly imprinted
on their Minds, the Motion of his Admittance was carried in the
Affirmative, without the least Opposition.

The first Question the _Grand Magus_ propos'd was this: What is the
longest and yet the shortest Thing in the World; the most swift and
the most slow; the most divisible, and the most extended; the least
valu'd, and the most regretted; And without which nothing can
possibly be done: Which, in a Word, devours every Thing how minute
soever, and yet gives Life and Spirit to every Object or Being,
however Great?

_Itobad_ had the Honour to answer first. His reply was, that a Man
of his Merit had something else to think on, than idle Riddles;
'twas enough for him, that he was acknowledg'd the Hero of the
Circus. One said, the Solution of the AEnigma propos'd was _Fortune_;
others said the _Earth_; and others again the _Light_: But _Zadig_
pronounced it to be _Time_. Nothing, said he, can be longer, since
'tis the Measure of Eternity; Nothing is shorter, since there is
Time always wanting to accomplish what we aim at. Nothing passes so
slowly as Time to him who is in Expectation; and nothing so swift as
Time to him who is in the perfect Enjoyment of his Wishes. It's
Extent is to Infinity, in the Whole; and divisible to Infinity in
part. All Men neglect it in the Passage; and all regret the Loss of
it when 'tis past. Nothing can possibly be done without it; it
buries in Oblivion whatever is unworthy of being transmitted down to
Posterity; and it renders all illustrious Actions immortal. The
Assembly agreed unanimously that _Zadig_ was in the Right.

The next Question that was started, was, What is the Thing we
receive, without being ever thankful for it; which we enjoy, without
knowing how we came by it; which we give away to others, without
knowing where 'tis to be found; and which we lose, without being any
ways conscious of our Misfortune?

Each pass'd his Verdict. _Zadig_ was the only Person that concluded
it was LIFE. He solv'd every AEnigma propos'd, with equal Facility.
_Itobad_, when he heard the Explications, always said that nothing
in the World was more easy, than to solve such obvious Questions;
and that he could interpret a thousand of them without the least
Hesitation, were he inclin'd to trouble his Head about such Trifles.
Other Ques