and the introduction of the Mohammedan faith in the seventh century A.D.,
the ancient Parsee language became greatly modified by the Arabic. It
adopted its alphabet, adding to it, however, four letters and three
points, and borrowed from it not only words but whole phrases, and thus
from the union of the Parsee and the Arabic was formed the modern Persian.
Of its various dialects, the Deri is the language of the court and of
literature.

2. ZENDIC LITERATURE.--To the first period belong the ancient sacred books
of Persia, collected under the name of _Zendavesta_ (living word), which
contain the doctrines of Zoroaster, the prophet and lawgiver of ancient
Persia. The Zendavesta is divided into two parts, one written in Zend, the
other in Pehlvi; it contains traditions relating to the primitive
condition and colonization of Persia, moral precepts, theological dogmas,
prayers, and astronomical observations. The collection originally
consisted of twenty-one chapters or treatises, of which only three have
been preserved. Besides the Zendavesta there are two other sacred books,
one containing prayers and hymns, and the other prayers to the Genii who
preside over the days of the month. To this first period some writers
refer the fables of Lokman, who is supposed to have lived in the tenth
century B.C., and to have been a slave of Ethiopic origin; his apologues
have been considered the model on which Greek fable was constructed. The
work of Lokman, however, existing now only in the Arabic language, is
believed by other writers to be of Arabic origin. It has been translated
into the European languages, and is still read in the Persian schools.
Among the Zendic books preserved in Arabic translations may also be
mentioned the "Giavidan Kird," or the Eternal Reason, the work of Hushang,
an ancient priest of Persia, a book full of beautiful and sublime maxims.

3. PEHLVI AHD PARSEE LITERATURES.--The second period of Persian literature