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CHAPTER XIV, 14-22.
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beaver 1 which they call the water-dog, the fox, the ichneumon (râsu), the hedgehog which they call 'thorny-back,' the porcupine ?, and the civet-cat; of which, two species are those accustomed 3 to burrows, one the fox and one the ichneumon; and those accustomed to jungle are such as the porcupine which has spines on its back, and the hedgehog which is similar. 20. Seventh, five species of the black • hare; two are wild species, one dwelling in a burrow 6 and one dwelling in the jungle. 21. Eighth, eight species of weasel ; one the marten, one the black marten, the squirrel, the Bez ermine , the white ermine, and other species of weasel. 22. Ninth, eight species of musk animals; one is that which is recognised by its musk', one
1 The Av. bawris upâpô of âbân Yt. 129.
· The word indra has usually been taken as a Pâz. misreading of the Pahl. aadrak (Av, udra, otter,' of Vend. XIII, 48, 167, 169, XIV, 2), but this would be more probably read andra. The Pahl. sûgar, porcupine,' is just as likely to be misread indra, and its meaning suits the context better.
3 The Paz. â mokhtesn, which is an ungrammatical form, is evidently a misreading of the Pahl. âmûkhtagân.
• K20 has seya, M6 has zyâgi hest. Perhaps some old copyist has corrected sîyâk-gôsh into khar-gôsh, and so both the epithets have crept into the text, the word 'black' being superfluous.
• Reading khan-mânist, the Pâz. khu being an obvious misreading of khan.
• The Paz. bez is written bedh in the Pâzand MS. (the z in M6 being shaped something like dh), and Justi supposes it represents the Arabic abyadh or baidha, white,' and is explained by the Pers. sapêd, white,' which follows; but there is nothing in the text to indicate that the second name is an explanation of the first. It is more probable that bez represents the Pers. bigâd, ' reddish, rufous, variegated,' an epithet quite applicable to the ermine in its summer fur.
7 Or, is known as the musk animal.'
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