The
slain never associate with the commonalty; they walk about rubbed with
white clay and clad in white; nor are they afraid of, whereas the others
fly from, and are unwilling to be seen by, the living. 'It is said in the
Dead-land below the earth there are kings as well as slaves. If you have
been long sick in this world you will recover health there after three
years, but one killed in battle or by accident will be well in a month or
so. It is said that Dead-land is below (earth); others declare it is above
(the sky). About this there is no certainty. Where one is taken to when he
dies there his spirit is; when they die and take you to the spirits'
grove, then your spirit is in the grove. The town (or land) of the
departed spirits is not in the grove, but in the earth; it is a large
town, and going there a mountain has to be climbed. The way of one who
died a natural death is dark in heaven; but if one who died in battle or
by accident take that way, some of the white clay with which he is rubbed
falls down; therefore his way (_via lactea_) appears white. In the
spirits' grove the departed spirits do not stay always; only on certain
days they assemble there for eating, drinking, and playing.
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