Zadig, Chapter 17 summary

What happens

1. Zadig meets a learned hermit, cannot read his mysterious book, and promises to remain with him and allow his actions.
2. The hermit steals a rich host’s basin and gives it to a miser, claiming that both men need correction.
3. After enjoying a philosopher’s kindness, the hermit burns his house and says its ruins contain treasure.
4. A widow welcomes them, but the hermit drowns her helpful nephew and claims the boy would murder his foster mother.
5. The hermit becomes Jesrad, an angel who answers Zadig’s objections by describing suffering as part of divine foreknowledge.
6. Jesrad departs while Zadig still objects; Zadig kneels in submission and hears the command to travel to Babylon.

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