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CHAPTER II, 37-41.
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words of random speakers (andêzo-gôkân) among the just and even the righteous; and the words of the ignoble and slanderers, of the disreputable and mockers, and of those of divers opinions they consider true and credible, about which they takel an oath, although with falsehood, and thereby give false evidence, and speak falsely and irreverently about me, Adharmazd. 40. They who bear the title of priest and disciples wish evil concerning 2 one another; he speaks vice and they look upon vice; and the antagonism of Aharman and the demons is much brought on by them; of the sin which men commit, out of five 3 sins the priests and disciples commit three sins, and they become enemies of the good, so that they may thereby speak of bad faults relating to one another; the ceremonies they undertake they do not perform, and they have no fear of hell.
41. 'And in that tenth hundredth winter, which is the end of thy millennium, O righteous Zaratūst ! all mankind will bind torn hair, disregarding revelation“, so that a willingly-disposed cloud and a
1 Literally, devour an oath,' which Persian idiom was occasioned by the original form of oath consisting in drinking water prepared in a particular manner, after having invoked all the heavenly powers to bear witness to the truth of what had been asserted (see the Saūgand-nâmah).
? Reading râî instead of lâ, not.' The whole section is omitted by the Pâz. MSS., possibly from politic motives, as the language is plain enough.
• The Persian paraphrase has'cight.'
• Referring probably to the injunctions regarding cutting the hair and paring the nails, with all the proper precautions for preventing any fragments of the hair or nails from lying about, as given in Vend. XVII. One of the penalties for neglecting such precautions is supposed to be a failure of the necessary rains. The
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