16 The Dog Book 



"Whoever shall smite a shepherd-dog, or a house-dog, or a Vohunazgar 

 dog, or a trained dog [probably a hunting dog], his soul shall fly amid 

 louder howlings and fiercer pursuing than the sheep does when the wolf 

 rushes upon it in the lofty forest." 



Penalties are set forth in detail for injuries to dogs. In the case of a 

 shepherd's dog the man committing the injury must pay for any lost sheep, 

 also for the wounding of the dog. If a house-dog was killed, the killer had 

 to pay for any lost goods and for the dog. In addition to which for killing 

 a sheep-dog he received eight hundred stripes with the Aspahe-ashtra, and 

 the same with the Srasho-carana. For killing a house-dog seven hundred 

 of each. 



"O Maker of the Material World, thou Holy One, which is the dog that 

 must be called a shepherd's dog ? 



"Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is the dog who goes a Yugyesta round 

 about the fold, watching for the thief and the wolf.' " 



Other questions are then answered as follows: 



"Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is the dog that goes a Hathra round 

 about the house, watching for the thief and the wolf.' 



"Ahura Mazda answered: 'It is the dog who claims none of these 

 talents, and only seeks for his subsistence." 



No reference is made in this special part as to the trained dog previously 

 mentioned, and we have in this last dog what may either be the vagrant 

 or the house pet. If the former, it shows that even they were not outcasts. 

 Penalties were prescribed as follows for giving bad food to a dog: If to a 

 sheep-dog, a punishment similar to that imposed if such food had been 

 given to a noble; if to a watch-dog, the same as in the case of a middle- 

 class citizen; the third section was placed as equal to a priest not a very 

 high placing of the priest, and this is taken by some to indicate that these 

 dogs were wanderers and had no settled abode, the priests being of that 

 class. 



The section containing the foregoing extracts concludes as follows: 

 "For it is the dog, of all creatures of the good spirit, that most quickly decays 

 into age, while not eating near eating people, and watching goods none of 

 which he receives. Bring ye unto him milk and fat with meat; that is the 

 food for a dog." Elsewhere we read: "Whenever one eats bread one must 

 put aside three mouthfuls and give them to the dog . . . for among 

 all the poor there is none poorer than the dog." 



