l men are born equal, and
that this mad-cap world would be a better place if there were neither
masters nor servants; however, as things are, so they must remain. The
great Lord of Heaven will suffer it yet for a season; but sooner or
later, perhaps very soon, everything will be quite different, and it is
our business to make ready for the day of equality. Then Paradise will
return on earth; there will be none greater or less than another, but we
shall all walk hand-in-hand and stand by each other on an equal footing.
Then shall war and misery cease; for all that is fair and good on earth
belongs to all men in common; and then all men shall be as willing to
give and to help others, as they now are to seize and to oppress.--We
have no marriage bond like other people; but when a man loves a woman
he says, 'Will you be mine?' and if her heart consents she follows him
home; and one may quit the other if love grows cold. Still, no married
couple, whether Christian or Parsee, ever clung together more faithfully
than my parents or my grandparents; and we will do the same to the end,
for our love will bind us firmly together with strong cords that will
last longer than our lives.--So now you know the doctrine of our master
Masdak; my father and grandfather both followed it, and I was taught
it by my mother when I was a little child. All in our village were
Masdakites; and there was not a slave in the place; the land belonged to
all in common and was tilled by all, and the harvest was equally
shared. However, they no longer receive strangers, and I must seek for
fellow-believers elsewhere. Still, a Masdakite I shall always remain;
and, if I were to take a slave for my wife, I should only be acting on
the precepts of the master and helping them on. But as for you, the
case does not apply to you, for you are the child of a brave freeman,
respected in all the land; our people will regard you as a prisoner of
war, not as a slave. They will look up to me as your deliverer. And if I
had found you, just as you are, the meanest of slaves and keeping pigs,
I would have put my hand in my wallet at once and have bought your
freedom and have carried you off home as my wife--and no Masdakite who
saw you would ever blame me. Now you know all about it, and there, I
hope, is an end of your coyness and mincing."

Mandane, however, still would not yield; she looked at him with eyes
that entreated his pity, and pointed to her cropped ears.

Ruste