BABYLON AND PERSIA

ARYAN MYTHS IN THE AVESTA. 79and state, he is addressed and spoken of with a res¬pectful tenderness, an affectionate familiarity, whichis sometimes very pretty in its naivetd."Atar, the son of Ahura-Mazda,. lifts up his voice to all those forwhom he cooks their evening meal and their morning meal.Fromall those he wishes a good offering. . . . Atar looks at thehands of all those who pass by :' What does the friend bring to hisfriend ?What does he who comes and goes bring to him who staysmotionless ? 'And if the passer-by brings him wood liolily brought. . . then Atar, the son of Ahura-Mazda, well pleased with himand not angry, and fed as required, will thus bless him: ' Mayherds of oxen grow for thee, and increase of sons. . . . mayestthou live on in joy of thy soul all the nights of thy life.'This is theblessing that Atar speaks unto him who brings him dry wood, wellexamined by the light of the day, well cleansed with godly intent."For if to the Athravansthe officially institutedclass of priests was committed the care of thesacred fires in the public places of worship, eachhouseholder's first religious duty was to tend thefire of his own hearth, to trim and clean it, and neversuffer it to go out. This was a more arduous taskthan appears at first sight, as the flame was to be fednot only constantly, but daintily, with small quanti¬ties, continually renewed, of driest, finely-cut chipsof the best, and in part fragrant, wood, such assandal, " well examined by the light of the day, andwell cleansed," so that no impurity of any kindshould pollute the sacred element ; besides which agood Mazdayasnian had to get up three times in thenight (as the Parsis do now, for that matter) to lookafter it." In the first part of the night, Atar, the son of Ahura-Mazda,Calls the master of the house for help, saying : ' Up ! arise, thoumaster of the house ! put on thy girdle and thy clothes, wash thy