Letters 18 - 32 Summary

In Letter 18, Usbek writes to update his friend Rustan on his location. He is now in Smyrna. Usbek writes of the troubled Ottoman Empire. Usbek says Smyrna is the only city that can be considered great or powerful. The only reason he sees this city is doing well is because it has been taken over by Europeans. Usbek writes about the offense caused him by his wife Zachi in Letter 19. Usbek has heard that Zachi was found alone with a white eunuch instead of the black eunuchs that should be serving her. This is a crime punishable by death to the white eunuch. Usbek claims that even if the white eunuch did not touch Zachi, he wonders what she would do if she were left to her own devices. Usbek assumes that it is because her female servant Zelide suggested that...