BABYLON AND PERSIA

I02 - MEDIA, BABYLON, AND PERSIA.soled, nor kngws that the Word is far mightier thanthe sword.'*7. After this preamble, we are prepared to seethe prophet enter on his mission. There is nothread of narrative to inform us of the course ofevents but the text speaks for itself, and as we readthe famous Chapter XXX. of Yasna, we havedifficulty in imagining the preacher addressing anassembled multitude of menpeople and noblesinthe presence, as can be inferred from one passage, ofthe king, who had believed in him, probably KavaVishtaspa.noAs this discourse is to Mazdeism, in itsfirst and pure stage, what the Sermon of the Mountis to our own religion, we shall give it almostuncurtailed.fINow shall I proclaim unto you, O ye all that here approachme what the wise should lay to their hearts ; the songs of praise andthe sacrificial rites which pious men pay the Lord (Ahura), and thesacred truths and ordinances (Asha), that what was secret until nowmay appear in the light. . . , ," 2 Hear with your ears that which is best, and test it with a clearunderstanding, before each man decides for himself between the twoteachings. ... ,-.,,"3 The two Spirits, the Twins, skilfully created, in the begin¬ning, Good and Evil, in thought, in speech, in deed.And, betweenthese two, the wise have made the right choice ; not so the senseless.' ' 4And when these two spirits had agreed to institute the spong¬ing up and the passing away of .all things [to create Life and Death],and to decree that in the end the lot of the followers of Lie {drtijvan,i eholders of the false gods and religion) should be the worst lifeand 'that of the followers of Truth {iishavan, of the true religion)should be the happitst mental state,* Freely given from the translation of Bartholomae, in " ArischeForschungen," III.f From Bartholomae's translation in " Arische Forschungen.II.