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November, 1873.] DERI PHRASES AND DIALOGUES. 331 from their privileges, very many of them have perished. A happy new birth depends upon a i person’s virtuous conduct. 4. Though the fruit ! of the plantain be ripened in the bitter season j of the margosa, it will not lose its sweetness, j Thus, although those who are naturally good, ■ associate with the bad, their friendship with j them will not corrupt their minds. 5. Sweet water may be produced even on the brink of the j sea-shore, and salt water on the side of a moun- | tain. 0 lord of the cool shore washed by the I waves of the ocean! it is truly said that sensi- j ble men will not imitate those with whom they i consort, but will preserve their own minds. 6. O j lord of the cool shore of the ocean where the thick-boughed punnei-trees flourish! will those I who are virtuous and impartial towards all, first ! contract and then dissolve friendship ? (Sooner) j than this, it is better that friendship should never be contracted. 7. To be united in friendship with the prudent, who think of that of which they ought to think, iB productive of the highest feli¬ city, and affliction is avoided by separating from fools, who know not what belongs to friendship. 8. Whether an individual establish himself in a good situation, or whether, spoiling that condi¬ tion, he debase himself, or whether he exalt himself to a much higher condition, or whether he make himself superior to all, he does so en¬ tirely by his own exertions. 9. In the way of business, even for tho great to follow after the ignorant is not folly, but wisdom, O nobly-born king of the cool shore resounding with ocean- waves ! 10. Having undertaken a profitable business, having experienced enjoyment, having performed acts of charity to the excellent, if any one in any one birth is able to do all this, such a consummation may well be compared to a mer¬ chant-ship that has reached her port. Chapter 26.—The want of understanding. 1. Poverty consists in the being destitute of accurate learning. Great wealth, which has been accumulated by acquisition, consists in the pos¬ session of that learning. Will not the herma¬ phrodite, who is destitute of manliness, adorn it¬ self with every jewel which is desirable in its eyes ? 2. Would you know why affliction and loss of dignity befall those who know the benefits of knowledge derived from many books ? It is this : when Sarasvati, of ancient renown, takes up her abode with them, Lakshmi, being coy, will flee away. 3. He that receives not, but despises as mere talk the command of his father to study, on a letter being gently held out to him in the presence of many, calls out to the person who presented it and seizes the rod of offence. 4. If one who has grown up in igno¬ rance enter the assembly of the excellent in learning, in the earth, and sits down, it will be like the sitting down of a dog; and though, not remaining quiet, he should say anything, it will be like the barking of a dog. 5. The vulgar will repair to the learned and speak of what they know nothing of; the good, though asked of all they know, display it not, knowing that it will be thrown away. 6. Those whose tongues are adorned with learning and knowledge fear the disgrace of evil speaking. The unwise indulge therein. Thus on the palm-tree the dry leaves maintain a perpetual rustling, whilst the green leaves make no noise. 7. When speaking of the way of virtue to those who comprehend not what is good, it is like pressing the sweet mango into a bowl of hogwash. Like a stick driven against a rock,—the point is broken, it will not enter in at the ear. 8. Though they wash it with milk and put it to dry many days, charcoal has not the property of becoming white. Though they strike with a stick, and thrust too, under¬ standing will not enter into the body void of virtue. 9. Like the fly, which battens on filth, instead of feasting on the sweet-smelling and (honey) dropping flower, so to those whose minds are inherently base, what pleasure is there in words that come from the mouth of the worthy, though clean and sweet as honey ? 10. The acute and faultless instruction uttered by the wise, strikes on the mind of the mean with¬ out laying hold of it. A mean man will look on the face of one like himself, and with him hold converse. (To be continued.) DERI PHRASES AND DIALOGUES. BY E. REHATSEK, M.C.E. The Zoroastrians who arrive in Bombay from Yezd and some other districts of Persia speak a peculiar dialect which is never written. Some people think it a language by itself, but nobody