I.

1 There dies a man in the depths of the vale: a bird takes flight from the top of the mountain down into the depths of the vale, and it eats up the corpse of the dead man there: then, up it flies from the depths of the vale to the top of the mountain: it flies to some one of the trees there, of the hard-wooded or the soft-wooded, and upon that tree it vomits, it deposits dung, it drops pieces from the corpse.

2 Now, lo! here is a man coming up from the depths of the vale to the top of the mountain; he comes to the tree whereon the bird is sitting; from that tree he wants to take wood for the fire. He fells the tree, he hews the tree, he splits it into logs, and then he lights it in the fire. What is the penalty that he shall pay?

3 God answered: "There is no sin upon a man for any dead matter that has been brought by dogs, by birds, by wolves, by winds, or by flies.

4 "For were there sin upon a man for any dead matter that might have been brought by dogs, by birds, by wolves, by winds, or by flies, how soon this material world of Mine would have in it only Peshotanus, shut out from the way of holiness, whose souls will cry and wail! so numberless are the beings that die upon the face of the earth."

5 O Maker of the material world, Thou Holy One! Here is a man watering a corn field. The water streams down the field; it streams again; it streams a third time; and the fourth time, a dog, a fox, or a wolf carries a corpse into the bed of the stream: what is the penalty that the man shall pay?

6 God answered: "There is no sin upon a man for any dead matter that has been brought by dogs, by birds, by wolves, by winds, or by flies.

7 "For were there sin upon a man for any dead matter that might have been brought by dogs, by birds, by wolves, by winds, or by flies, how soon this material world of Mine would have in it only Peshotanus, shut out from the way of holiness, whose souls will cry and wail! so numberless are the beings that die upon the face of the earth."

Ii.

8 O Maker of the material world, Thou Holy One! Does water kill?

God answered: "Water kills no man: his appointed term binds the noose around his neck, and, thus bound, the angel of death carries him off: then the flood takes him up, the flood takes him down, the flood throws him ashore; then birds feed upon him, and chance brings him here, or brings him there."

9 O Maker of the material world, Thou Holy One! Does fire kill?

God answered: "Fire kills no man: his appointed term binds the noose around his neck, and, thus bound, the angel of death carries him off. The fire burns up life and limb, and then chance brings him here, or brings him there."

Iv.

15 O Maker of the material world, Thou Holy One! Is it true that Thou, O God, sendest the waters from the sea Vouru-kasha down with the wind and with the clouds?

16 That Thou, O God, makest them flow down to the earth? and that then Thou, O God, makest them flow back unseen? that Thou, O God, makest them flow back to the sea Phitika?

17 God answered: "It is even so as thou hast said, O righteous Zarathustra! I, God, send the waters from the sea Vouru-kasha down with the wind and with the clouds.

18 "I, God, make them stream down to the earth; then I, God, make them flow back unseen; I, God, make them flow back to the sea Phitika.

19 "The waters stand there boiling, boiling up in the heart of the sea Phitika, and, when cleansed there, they run back again from the sea Phitika to the sea Vouru-kasha, towards the well-watered tree, whereon grow the seeds of My plants of every kind, by hundreds, by thousands, by hundreds of thousands.

20 "Those plants, I, God, rain down upon the earth, to bring food to the faithful, and fodder to the beneficent cow; to bring food to My people that they may live on it, and fodder to the beneficent cow."

V.

21 "This is the best of all things, this is the fairest of all things, even as thou hast said, O righteous Zarathustra!"

With these words the holy God rejoiced the holy Zarathustra: "Purity is for man, next to life, the greatest good, that purity that is procured by the law of God to him who cleanses his own self with good thoughts, words, and deeds."

22 O Maker of the material world, Thou Holy One! This law, this fiend-destroying law of Zarathustra, by what greatness, goodness, and fairness is it great, good, and fair above all other utterances of men?

23 God answered: "As much above all other floods as is the sea Vouru-kasha, so much above all other utterances of men in greatness, goodness, and fairness is this law, this fiend-destroying law of Zarathustra.

24 "As much as a great stream flows swifter than a slender rivulet, so much above all other utterances of men in greatness, goodness, and fairness is this law, this fiend-destroying law of Zarathustra.

"As high as the great tree stands above the small plants it overshadows, so high above all other utterances of men in greatness, goodness, and fairness is this law, this fiend-destroying law of Zarathustra.

25, 26. "As high as heaven is above the earth that it compasses around, so high above all other utterances of men is this law, this fiend-destroying law of God.

"Therefore, when the teacher has been consulted, when the one who calls to repentance has been applied to, whether for a devotion that has been undertaken, or for one that has not been undertaken; whether for a devotion that has been offered up, or for one that has not been offered up; the teacher has power to counsel him in repentance, and God remits the penalty to him: if he has committed any other evil deed, it is remitted by his repentance; if he has committed no other evil deed, he is absolved by his repentance for ever and ever."

Vi.

35 O Maker of the material world, Thou Holy One! If the dead one be a wicked, two-legged ruffian, an ungodly heretic, how much harm does he do to the creatures of God, directly, and how much indirectly in dying?

36 God answered: "No more than a frog does whose venom is dried up, and that has been dead more than a year. Whilst alive, indeed, O Spitama Zarathustra! that wicked, two-legged ruffian, that ungodly heretic, directly harms the creatures of God, and indirectly harms them.

37 "Whilst alive he fouls the water; whilst alive he puts out the fire; whilst alive he carries off the cow; whilst alive he smites the faithful man with a deadly blow, that parts the soul from the body; not so will he do when dead.

38 "Whilst alive, indeed, O Spitama Zarathustra! that wicked, two-legged ruffian, that ungodly heretic, never ceases depriving the faithful man of his food, of his clothing, of his house, of his bed, of his vessels; not so will he do when dead."

60 God, indeed, does not allow us to waste anything of value that we may have, not even so much as an Asperena's weight of thread, not even so much as a maid lets fall in spinning.

61 Whosoever wastes what is of value, even so much as a maid lets fall in spinning, is not a pious man.

62 The sinner shall go away into the world of the devils, into that dark world, made of darkness, the offspring of darkness. To that world, to the dismal realm, you are delivered by your own doings, by your own souls, O sinners!