BABYLON AND PERSIA

68 MEDIA, BABYLON, AND PERSIA." For whom the Maker, Ahura-Mazda, has built up a dwelling onthe Hara-Berezaiti, the bright mountain around which the manystarsrevolve, . . . and he surveys the whole of the materialworld from the Haraiti-Bareza. . . .' ' With his arms lifted up towards Immortality " (towards the abodeof the Immortals), " Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, drfves forwardfrom the shining Garo-nmana, in a beautiful chariot . . , wroughtby the Maker, Ahura-Mazda, inlaid with stars and made of a heav¬enly substance. . . ." Four stallions draw that chariot, all of the same white color,living on heavenly food, and undying.The hoofs of their fore-feetare shod with gold ; the hoofs of their hind-feet are shod withsilver ; all are yoked to the same pole, and wear tlie yoke, and thecross-beams of the yoke are fastened with hooks of metal, beauti¬fully wrought. . . ."lO.Mithra, being in his essence Light, is the nat¬ural foe of the daevas,z.c., the fiends of Darkness,who flee from before him in fear, or fall under thestrokes of his never failing weapons ;he is the pro¬tector and rescuer of the heavenly cattle which thedemons are forever stealing and driving into theirrobber holds.This most primeval of Aryan mythsis reproduced with beautiful entirety in a verse ofMithra's Yesht."The cow driven astray invokes him for help, longing for thestables When will that Bull, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures,bring us back and make us reach the stables ? When will he turnus back on the right way from the den of Druj (a name for" demon ") whither we were driven ? "He is therefore essentially a warrior, the mightiestof warriors, and a patron of warriors, who gives vic¬tory in a righteous cause :"A warrior, -with a silver helm, a golden cuirass, who kills withthe poniard, strong, valiant; ... the warrior of the white