Dedicatory Epistle
Original French
ÉPITRE DÉDICATOIRE
DE ZADIG
A LA SULTANE SHERAA,
PAR SADI.
Le 10 du mois de schewal, l'an 837 de l'hégire.
Charme des prunelles, tourment des coeurs, lumière de l'esprit, je ne baise point la poussière de vos pieds, parceque vous ne marchez guère, ou que vous marchez sur des tapis d'Iran ou sur des roses. Je vous offre la traduction d'un livre d'un ancien sage qui, ayant le bonheur de n'avoir rien à faire, eut celui de s'amuser à écrire l'histoire de Zadig, ouvrage qui dit plus qu'il ne semble dire. Je vous prie de le lire et d'en juger; car, quoique vous soyez dans le printemps de votre vie, quoique tous les plaisirs vous cherchent, quoique vous soyez belle, et que vos talents ajoutent à votre beauté; quoiqu'on vous loue du soir au matin, et que par toutes ces raisons vous soyez en droit de n'avoir pas le sens commun, cependant vous avez l'esprit très sage et le goût très fin, et je vous ai entendue raisonner mieux que de vieux derviches à longue barbe et à bonnet pointu. Vous êtes discrète et vous n'êtes point défiante; vous êtes douce sans être faible; vous êtes bienfesante avec discernement; vous aimez vos amis, et vous ne vous faites point d'ennemis. Votre esprit n'emprunte jamais ses agréments des traits de la médisance; vous ne dites de mal ni n'en faites, malgré la prodigieuse facilité que vous y auriez. Enfin votre âme m'a toujours paru pure comme votre beauté. Vous avez même un petit fonds de philosophie qui m'a fait croire que vous prendriez plus de goût qu'une autre à cet ouvrage d'un sage.
Il fut écrit d'abord en ancien chaldéen, que ni vous ni moi n'entendons. On le traduisit en arabe, pour amuser le célèbre sultan Ouloug-beb. C'était du temps où les Arabes et les Persans commençaient à écrire des Mille et une nuits, des Mille et un jours, etc. Ouloug aimait mieux la lecture de Zadig; mais les sultanes aimaient mieux les Mille et un. Comment pouvez-vous préférer, leur disait le sage Ouloug, des contes qui sont sans raison, et qui ne signifient rien? C'est précisément pour cela que nous les aimons, répondaient les sultanes.
Je me flatte que vous ne leur ressemblerez pas, et que vous serez un vrai Ouloug. J'espère même que, quand vous serez lasse des conversations générales, qui ressemblent assez aux Mille et un, à cela près qu'elles sont moins amusantes, je pourrai trouver une minute pour avoir l'honneur de vous parler raison. Si vous aviez été Thalestris du temps de Scander, fils de Philippe; si vous aviez été la reine de Sabée du temps de Soleiman, c'eussent été ces rois qui auraient fait le voyage.
Je prie les vertus célestes que vos plaisirs soient sans mélange, votre beauté durable, et votre bonheur sans fin.
SADI.
Musean translation
Complete machine-assisted Musean translation made directly from Voltaire’s French in Beuchot’s 1829 edition: Approbation, dedicatory epistle and all twenty-one chapters, including The Dance and Blue Eyes. Voltaire’s notes are retained; later editors’ notes are omitted. Source-language review is recorded with the source witness.
DEDICATORY EPISTLE
OF ZADIG
TO THE SULTANA SHERAA,
BY SADI.
The tenth day of the month of Shawwal, in the year 837 of the Hijra.
Delight of the eyes, torment of hearts, light of the mind, I do not kiss the dust of your feet, because you scarcely walk, or else walk on Persian carpets or on roses. I offer you the translation of a book by an ancient sage who, having the good fortune to have nothing to do, had the further good fortune to amuse himself by writing the history of Zadig, a work that says more than it seems to say. I beg you to read it and pass judgment; for although you are in the springtime of life, although every pleasure seeks you out, although you are beautiful and your talents add to your beauty; although you are praised from evening to morning, and for all these reasons have every right to lack common sense, you nevertheless have a very wise mind and very delicate taste, and I have heard you reason better than old dervishes with long beards and pointed caps. You are discreet without being suspicious; gentle without being weak; discerning in your generosity. You love your friends and make no enemies. Your wit never borrows its charm from malicious barbs; you neither speak nor do evil, despite the prodigious ease with which you could. In short, your soul has always seemed to me as pure as your beauty. You even have a little store of philosophy, which has led me to believe that you would take more pleasure than another in this work by a sage.
It was first written in ancient Chaldean, which neither you nor I understand. It was translated into Arabic to amuse the celebrated Sultan Ouloug-beb. This was when the Arabs and Persians were beginning to write The Thousand and One Nights, The Thousand and One Days, and so forth. Ouloug preferred reading Zadig; but the sultanas preferred the Thousand and One. “How can you prefer,” the wise Ouloug asked them, “tales that are unreasonable and mean nothing?” “That is precisely why we like them,” the sultanas replied.
I flatter myself that you will not resemble them, and that you will be a true Ouloug. I even hope that when you tire of general conversation, which much resembles the Thousand and One, except that it is less amusing, I may find a minute in which to have the honor of talking sense with you. Had you been Thalestris in the days of Scander, son of Philip; had you been the Queen of Sheba in the days of Solomon, those kings would have been the ones to make the journey.
I pray the heavenly powers that your pleasures may be unalloyed, your beauty lasting, and your happiness without end.
SADI.
Plain English translation
Complete machine-assisted Plain English translation made independently and directly from the French, in separate source-only translation tasks, not from the Musean edition or a published English translation. Same complete scope and author’s notes; later editors’ notes are omitted. Source-language review is recorded with the source witness.
Dedicatory Epistle
Of Zadig
To Sultana Sheraa,
By Sadi.
The 10th day of the month of Shawwal, in the year 837 of the Hijra.
Delight of the eyes, torment of hearts, light of the mind, I do not kiss the dust at your feet. You hardly ever walk, and when you do, you walk on Iranian carpets or on roses. I offer you the translation of a book by an ancient wise man. He was lucky enough to have nothing to do, and had the further good fortune to enjoy writing the story of Zadig, a book that says more than it seems to say. Please read it and judge it for yourself. You are in the springtime of your life. Every pleasure seeks you out. You are beautiful, and your talents add to your beauty. People praise you from evening until morning. All these things give you every right to have no common sense. Yet you have a very sound mind and very good taste. I have heard you reason better than old dervishes with long beards and pointed caps. You are careful about what you say without being suspicious. You are gentle without being weak. You use good judgment in helping others. You love your friends and make no enemies. Your wit never depends on cutting remarks about other people. You neither say nor do anything harmful, even though it would be extraordinarily easy for you. In short, your soul has always seemed to me as pure as your beauty. You even have a little grounding in philosophy. That made me think you would enjoy this wise man's book more than someone else would.
It was first written in ancient Chaldean, which neither you nor I understand. It was translated into Arabic to entertain the famous Sultan Ouloug-beb. This was when the Arabs and Persians were beginning to write works such as the Thousand and One Nights and the Thousand and One Days. Ouloug preferred reading Zadig, but the sultanas preferred the Thousand and One. "How can you prefer stories that make no sense and mean nothing?" wise Ouloug asked them. "That's exactly why we like them," the sultanas replied.
I like to think you will not be like them, and that you will be a true Ouloug. I even hope that when you tire of ordinary conversations, I may find a minute to have the honor of talking sense with you. Those conversations are very like the Thousand and One, except that they are less entertaining. If you had been Thalestris in the time of Scander, Philip's son, or the Queen of Sheba in the time of Solomon, those kings would have been the ones to make the journey.
I pray to the heavenly powers that nothing will spoil your pleasures, that your beauty will last, and that your happiness will never end.
Sadi.
About this section
Dedicatory Epistle is part of Zadig, or Destiny by Voltaire. This page sets the French original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is chapter 2 of 23 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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