Voltaire: Zadig (Fleming Translation), v.1, 1 Nov 2007
 

François-Marie Arouet de Voltaire:
Zadig: The Mystery of Fate: An Oriental Tale
(1747)

The sage Zadig is wise but, despite his wisdom, the plaything of Fate. Will Fate ever allow him to be happy? Will he ever be united with the woman he loves?
Chapter 3 has Zadig playing detective and has been seen as the prototype of the detective story.

Publication Information
Extracted from Voltaire, The Works of Voltaire: A Contemporary Version. Volume: 2.
Translated by William F. Fleming. Revised by Another.
Publisher: E. R. DuMont. Place of Publication: Paris. Publication Year: 1901

The Fleming translation is MUCH better than the one that I posted previously. It is more complete and more readable. However, the Dedicatory Letter and Approbation sections were missing, as were all the sexual references. So I translated them myself and put them back.