Chapter 3 - Page 2

King's Palfrey run by him. No Horse, said _Zadig_,
ever gallop'd smoother; he is about five Foot high, his Hoofs are
very small; his Tail is about three Foot six Inches long; the studs
of his Bit are of pure Gold, about 23 Carats; and his Shoes are of
Silver, about Eleven penny Weight a-piece. What Course did he take,
pray, Sir? Whereabouts is he, said the Huntsman? I never sat Eyes on
him, reply'd _Zadig_, not I, neither did I ever hear before now,
that his Majesty had such a Palfrey.

The Head Huntsman, as well as the Head Eunuch, upon his answering
their Interrogatories so very exactly, not doubting in the least,
but that _Zadig_ had clandestinely convey'd both the Bitch and the
Horse away, secur'd him, and carried him before the grand Desterham,
who condemn'd him to the _Knout_, and to be confin'd for Life in
some remote and lonely Part of _Siberia_. No sooner had the Sentence
been pronounc'd, but the Horse and Bitch were both found. The Judges
were in some Perplexity in this odd Affair, and yet thought it
absolutely necessary, as the Man was innocent, to recal their
Decree. However, they laid a Fine upon him of Four Hundred Ounces of
Gold, for his false Declaration of his not having seen, what
doubtless he did: And the Fine was order'd to be deposited in Court
accordingly: On the Payment whereof, he was permitted to bring his
Cause on to a Hearing before the grand Desterham.

On the Day appointed for that Purpose he open'd the Cause himself,
in Terms to this or the like Effect.

Ye bright Stars of Justice, ye profound Abyss of universal
Knowledge, ye Mirrors of Equity, who have in you the Solidity of
Lead, the Hardness of Steel, the Lustre of a Diamond, and the
Resemblance of the purest Gold! Since ye have condescended so far,
as to admit of my Address to this August Assembly, I here, in the
most solemn Manner, swear to you by _Orosmades_, that I never saw
the Queen's illustrious Bitch, nor the sacred Palfrey of the King of
Kings. I'll be ingenuous, however, and declare the Truth, and
nothing but the Truth. As I was walking by the Thicket's Side, where
I met with her Majesty's most venerable chief Eunuch, and the King's
most illustrious chief Huntsman, I perceiv'd upon the Sand the
Footsteps of an Animal, and I easily inferr'd that it must be a
little one. The several small, tho' long Ridges of Land between the
Footsteps of the Creature, gave me just Grounds to imagine it was a
Bitch whose Teats hung down; and for that Reason, I concluded she
had but lately pupp'd. As I observ'd likewise some other Traces, in
some Degree different, which seem'd to have graz'd all the Way upon
the Surface of the Sand, on the Side of the fore-Feet, I knew well
enough she must have had long Ears. And