Note 427 — Chapter I · (continued 2)

The Náúroz, is the first day of the year, a great festival, the institution of which is ascribed to the earliest times. It lasts six days, beginning on the day of Ormuzd of the month Farvardin (March); this is the little Náúroz, and it ends on the day of Khordad (an Amshasfand who presides over the sixth day of the month), called the great Náúroz. It was on this day, they relate, that Ormuzd created the world and what it contains; that Káiomers triumphed over Eshem, the demon of envy, wrath, and violence, the enemy of Serósh, and the most powerful of the Dívs; that Mashia and Mashiáná, the first man and woman, came forth from the earth, and that several great events of the ancient history of the Persians took place, such as Gushtasp’s embracing Zoroaster’s faith: it is finally on that day that the general resurrection is to follow (Zend-Av., t. II. p. 574.)—A. T.