BABYLON AND PERSIA

ARYAN MYTHS IN THE AVESTA.8lnations, born and unborn," and lastly to every law¬ful Aryan king asa sign of divine grace, and per¬haps, in mythical times, of. divine descent. ' He towhom it "cleaves" is assured of wealth, of power,prosperity, and victory ;exterminates his enemies.himself unconquerable, heBut the Hvareno cannotbe seized by violence or usurped by aliens ;and, if aking endowed with it tells a lie, it .straightway passesaway from him.Certain Yeshts give instances ofboth these occurrences, taken from the rich store ofthe national mythical epos. The most amusing isthe story of that " most crafty Turanian ruffian,Frangrasyan," who thrice stripped himself nakedand plunged into the sea Vouru-Kasha, "wishing toseize that Glory that belongs to the Aryan nations."But the Glory escaped him every time, until at lasthe " rushed out of the sea Vouru-Kasha, thinkingevil thoughts," and was fain to confess : " I have notbeen able to conquer the glory that belongs to theAryan nations, born and unborn, and to the holyZarathushtra ! " A most ingenious, half mythical,half allegorical rendering - of unsuccessful Turanianinvasions.19. But the Eranian Storm-god par excellence isTishtrya, the star Sirius, known also as the Dog-Star. The Eranians very curiously associated rainwith certain stars, which are said to contain the".seed of the waters." Over these and, indeed, itwould appear, over all the stars Tishtrya is set aschiefra??^ :"We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star, whomoves in light with the stars that have in' them the seed of theG