________________
184
VENDÍDÂD.
• Åtar, the son of Ahura Mazda, watches as well (over a pregnant bitch) as he does over a woman.'
IV.
46 (127). O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If worshippers of Mazda want to have a bitch so covered that the offspring shall be one of a strong nature, what shall they do?
47 (129). Ahura Mazda answered: “They shall dig a hole in the earth, in the middle of the fold, half a foot deep if the earth be hard, half the height of a man if the earth be soft
48 (131). “They shall first tie up (the bitch] there, far from children and from the Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda”, and they shall watch by her until a dog comes there from anywhere ; then another again, and then a third again, each being kept apart from the former, lest they should assail one another.
49 (134)". 'The bitch being thus covered by
1. When a woman becomes pregnant in a house, it is necessary to make an endeavour so that there may be a continual fire in that house, and to maintain a good watch over it. And, when the child becomes separate from the mother, it is necessary to burn a lamp for three nights and days—if they burn a fire it would be better-so that the demons and fiends may not be able to do any damage and harm; because, when a child is born, it is exceedingly delicate for those three days' (Saddar XVI; West, Pahlavi Texts, III, 277).
? •From children, lest she shall bite them; from the fire, lest it shall hurt her' (Comm.)
. Cl. Justinus III, 4: maturiorem futuram conceptionem rati, si eam singulae per plures viros experirentur.
• The text of this and the following clause is corrupt, and the meaning is doubtful.
Digitized by Google