maiden who has long gone childless and wants a good husband.  He who would till the earth, O Spitama Zarathustra! with the left arm and the right, with the right arm and the left, unto him will she bring forth plenty of fruit:  even as it were a lover sleeping with his bride on her bed; the bride will bring forth children, the earth will bring forth plenty of fruit.  He who would till the earth, O Spitama Zarathustra! with the left arm and the right, with the right arm and the left, unto him thus says the Earth:  ’O thou man! who dost till me with the left arm and the right, with the right arm and the left, here shall I ever go on bearing, bringing forth all manner of food, bringing corn first to thee.’  He who does not till the Earth, O Spitama Zarathustra! with the left arm and the right, with the right arm and the left, unto him thus says the Earth:  ’O thou man! who dost not till me with the left arm and the right, with the right arm and the left, ever shalt thou stand at the door of the stranger, among those who beg for bread; the refuse and the crumbs of the bread are brought unto thee, brought by those who have profusion of wealth.’”

O maker of the material world, thou Holy One!  What is the food that fills the Religion of Mazda?

Ahura Mazda answered:—­

“It is sowing corn again and again, O Spitama Zarathustra!  He who sows corn, sows righteousness:  he makes the Religion of Mazda walk, he suckles the Religion of Mazda; as well as he could do with a hundred man’s feet, with a thousand woman’s breasts, with ten thousand sacrificial formulas.  When barley was created, the Devas started up; when it grew, then fainted the Devas’ hearts; when the knots came, the Devas groaned; when the ear came, the Devas flew away.  In that house the Devas stay, wherein wheat perishes.  It is as though red hot iron were turned about in their throats, when there is plenty of corn.  Then let people learn by heart this holy saying:  ’No one who does not eat, has strength to do heavy works of holiness, strength to do works of husbandry, strength to beget children.  By eating every material creature lives, by not eating it dies away.’”

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!  Who is the fifth that rejoices the Earth with greatest joy?

Ahura Mazda answered:—­

“It is he who kindly and piously gives to one of the faithful who tills the earth, O Spitama Zarathustra!  He who would not kindly and piously give to one of the faithful who tills the earth, O Spitama Zarathustra!  Spenta Armaiti will throw him down into darkness, down into the world of woe, the world of hell, down into the deep abyss.”

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!  If a man shall bury in the earth either the corpse of a dog or the corpse of a man, and if he shall not disinter it within half a year, what is the penalty that he shall pay?

Ahura Mazda answered:—­

“Five hundred stripes with the Aspahe-astra, five hundred stripes with the Sraosho-karana.”