The History of Antiquity, Vol. 5 (of 6)Duncker, Max
History
The History of Antiquity, Vol. 5 (of 6)
Duncker, Max
History, Ancient
Then the flocks found a home,
the beasts of draught, and men, according to their wish and desire."
Again three hundred years passed, and there was no more any room for
herds, beasts, and men; and at Auramazda's command Yima again caused the
earth to stretch asunder, and it became two-thirds greater than before;
and after another three hundred years Yima caused the earth to become as
large again as before.[54] Then a thousand years passed, and Auramazda
said to Yima, "Bitter cold and sharp frost will fall upon the earth, and
the snow will lie deep on the summits of the mountains and in the clefts
of the valleys. Make an enclosure (_vara_) of the length of a horse's
course on each of the four sides. Bring into it a stock of herds and
beasts of draught, of men and dogs, and birds and red flaming fires, and
make the enclosure to be a dwelling for men and a stall for the cattle.
Carry water thither, and build houses and tombs, and a fortification and
palisade round about, and drive them with the golden staff into the
citadel, and shut to the door. And Yima made a citadel of the length of
a horse's course. Thither he brought a stock of all men and women who
were the tallest, best, and most beautiful of earth, and a brood of all
animals which were largest, best, and most beautiful, and the seeds of
all fruits and growths which were best and most beautiful. And he
provided that a pair were ever together. There was no evil speaking
there, nor strife, nor injury, nor deception, nor meanness; nothing
crooked, no mal-formation of teeth, no crippled form, nor any other of
the signs which are the signs of Angromainyu. In this enclosure which
Yima made men lived the happiest life. A year was a day, and every forty
years two children, a male and a female, were born from each pair of
human creatures, and so also of each kind of animal."[55]
In an invocation in the Avesta we are told that the bright gleaming
majesty in the form of the bird Varaghna had passed from Yima when he
began to love lying speech. Yima fell terrified to earth, and Mithra,
the lord of wide pastures, seized the majesty. When it passed a second
time from Yima, Thraetaona seized it, and when it passed a third time,
Kereçaçpa seized it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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