n the Veda. But the
characteristic change that has taken place between the Veda and Avesta
is that the battle is no longer a conflict of gods and demons for
cows, nor of light and darkness for rain. It is the battle of a pious
man against the power of evil. 'Le Zoroastrisme,' as Burnouf says, 'en
se detachant plus franchement de Dieu et de la nature, a certainement
tenu plus de compte de l'homme que n'a fait le Brahmanisme, et on peut
dire qu'il a regagne en profondeur ce qu'il perdait en etendue. Il ne
m'appartient pas d'indiquer ici ce qu'un systeme qui tend a developper
les instincts les plus nobles de notre nature, et qui impose a
l'homme, comme le plus important de ses devoirs, celui de lutter
constamment contre le principe du mal, a pu exercer d'influence sur
les destinees des peuples de l'Asie, chez lesquels il a ete adopte a
diverses epoques. On peut cependant deja dire que le caractere
religieux et martial tout a la fois, qui parait avec des traits si
heroiques dans la plupart des Jeshts, n'a pas du etre sans action sur
la male discipline sous laquelle ont grandi les commencements de la
monarchie de Cyrus.'

A thousand years after Cyrus (for Zohak is mentioned by Moses of
Khorene in the fifth century) we find all this forgotten once more,
and the vague rumours about Thraetaona and Azhi Dahaka are gathered at
last, and arranged and interpreted into something intelligible to
later ages. Zohak is a three-headed tyrant on the throne of
Persia--three-headed, because the Vaidik Ahi was three-headed, only
that one of Zohak's heads has now become human. Zohak has killed
Jemshid of the Peshdadian dynasty: Feridun now conquers Zohak on the
banks of the Tigris. He then strikes him down with his cow-headed
mace, and is on the point of killing him, when, as Firdusi says, a
supernatural voice whispered in his ear--[39]

Slay him not now, his time is not yet come,
His punishment must be prolonged awhile;
And as he cannot now survive the wound,
Bind him with heavy chains--convey him straight
Upon the mountain, there within a cave,
Deep, dark, and horrible--with none to soothe
His sufferings, let the murderer lingering die.
The work of heaven performing, Feridun
First purified the world from sin and crime.
Yet Feridun was not an angel, nor
Composed of musk and ambergris. By justice
And generosity he gained his fame.
Do thou but exercise these princely virtues,
And t