O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!  What part of the water in a well does the Drug Nasu defile with corruption, infection, and pollution?

Ahura Mazda answered:—­

“As long as the corpse has not been taken out of the water, so long shall that water be unclean and unfit to drink.  They shall, therefore, take the corpse out of the well, and lay it down on the dry ground.  And of the water in the well they shall draw off the half, or the third, or the fourth, or the fifth part, according as they are able or not; and after the corpse has been taken out and the water has been drawn off, the rest of the water is clean, and both cattle and men may drink of it at their pleasure, as before.”

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!  What part of a sheet of snow or hail does the Drug Nasu defile with corruption, infection, and pollution?

Ahura Mazda answered:—­

“Three steps on each of the four sides.  As long as the corpse has not been taken out of the water, so long shall that water be unclean and unfit to drink.  They shall, therefore, take the corpse out of the water, and lay it down on the dry ground.  After the corpse has been taken out, and the snow or the hail has melted, the water is clean, and both cattle and men may drink of it at their pleasure, as before.”

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!  What part of the water of a running stream does the Drug Nasu defile with corruption, infection, and pollution?

Ahura Mazda answered:—­

“Three steps down the stream, nine steps up the stream, six steps across.  As long as the corpse has not been taken out of the water, so long shall the water be unclean and unfit to drink.  They shall, therefore, take the corpse out of the water, and lay it down on the dry ground.  After the corpse has been taken out and the stream has flowed three times, the water is clean, and both cattle and men may drink of it at their pleasure, as before.”

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!  Can the Haoma that has been touched with Nasu from a dead dog, or from a dead man, be made clean again?

Ahura Mazda answered:—­

“It can, O holy Zarathustra!  If it has been prepared for the sacrifice, there is to it no corruption, no death, no touch of any Nasu.  If it has not been prepared for the sacrifice, the stem is defiled the length of four fingers:  it shall be laid down on the ground, in the middle of the house, for a year long.  When the year is past, the faithful may drink of its juice at their pleasure, as before.”

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!  Whither shall we bring, where shall we lay the bodies of the dead, O Ahura Mazda?

Ahura Mazda answered:—­

“On the highest summits, where they know there are always corpse-eating dogs and corpse-eating birds, O holy Zarathustra!  There shall the worshippers of Mazda fasten the corpse, by the feet and by the hair, with brass, stones, or clay, lest the corpse-eating dogs and the corpse-eating birds shall go and carry the bones to the water and to the trees.”