BABYLON AND PERSIA

THE VENDIDAD. TIIE LESSER AVESTA. 133" And they shall let the lifeless body lie there until the birds be¬gin to fly. the plants to grow, the floods to flow, and the wind to dry upthe waters off the earth. . . . Then the worshippers of Mazda shallmake a breach in the wall of the house, and they shall call for twomen, strong and skilful ; and those having stripped their clothesoff, shall take the body to the building of clay, stones, and niortar,where they know there are always corpse-eating dogs and corpseeatingbirds."IIn another place, (Fargard V.) Ahura-Mazda di¬rects that in every borough there shall be raised, inthe prevision of such an emergency, " three smallhouses for the dead," large enough that a man stand¬ing erect in such a house should not strike his skull,nor, should he stretch out his hands and feet, strikethe walls with them.14. Proportionate to the merit of relieving theEarth from the pollution which is " sorest grief " toher, is the sin of wilfully inflicting such grief on herby burying the corpse of a dog or of a man ;and asany sin or guilt is removed by the former act, so nopunishment, not even death in this world, can atonefor the latter, if the offender does not repent anddisinter the corpse before the end of two years :"For that deed there is nothing that can pay . . .nothing than can cleanse from it ;it is a trespass forwhich there is no atonement for ever and for ever " ;which means that the offender's soul must go tohell and stay there until the general resurrection.Provided always that he is a professer of Mazdeismand has been taught the law, for contrariwise hedoes not know that he is committing a sin, and can¬not in justice be held responsible for it.15. This principle, sound as it is in itself, culmi-