Experimental investigation of the spirit manifestations, [electronic ...

422 PAGAN FEARLESSNESS OF DEATH.prise If one is not sufficiently favoured by fortune to be able to affordthe purchase of a coffin in advance, care is always taken before ^mintingthe tcorld^' as the Chinese say, a sick person shall at least have the satisfactionof casting a glance at his last abode ; and if he is surrounded by atall affectionate relations, they never fail to buy him a coffin and place itby the side of his bed.205G. " In the country, this is not always so easy, for coffins are notkept quite ready, and, besides, peasants have not such luxurious habits astownspeople. The only w^ay, then, is to send for the carpenter of theplace, who takes the measure of the sick person, notforgetting to observeto him that it must be made a little longer than would seem necessary,because one always stretches out a little when dead. A bargain is thenmade concerning the length and breadth, and especially the cost ; wood isbrought, and the workmen set about their task in the yard, close to thechamber of the dying person, who is entertained -with the music of thesaw and the other tools, while death is at work with him, preparing himto occupy the snug abode when it is ready.2057. '^All this is done with the most perfect coolness, and without theslightest emotion, real or affected. We have ourselves witnessed suchscenes more than once, and it has always been one of the things that mostsurprised us in the manners of this extraordinary country. A short timeafter our arrival in the mission of the north, we were walking one day inthe country with a Chinese seminarist, who had the patience to reply to allour long and tedious cjuestions about the men and things of the CelestialEmpire. While we were keeping up the dialogue as well as we could, in amixture of Latin and Chinese, using a word of one or the other as wefound occasion, we saw coming toward us a rather numerous crowd, whoadvanced in an orderly manner along a narrow path. It might have beencalled a procession.2058. ''Our first impulse was to turn aside, and get into some safecorner behind a large hill ; for, not having as yet much experience in themanners and customs of the Chinese, we had some hesitation in producingourselves, for fear of being recognised and thrown into prison ]possiblyeven condemned and strangled. The crowd had now come up withus, and we stood aside to let it pass. It was composed of a great numberof villagers, who looked at us with smiling faces, and had the appearanceof being uncommonly pleased. After them came a litter, on which wasborne an empty coffin, and then another litter, upon which lay extended adying man, wrapped in blankets. His face was haggard and livid, and hisexpiring eyes were fixed upon the coffin that preceded him. When everyone had passed, we hastened to ask the meaning of this strange procession.^It is some sick man,' said the seminarist, 'who has been taken ill in aneighbouring village, and whom they are bringing home to his family. TheChinese do not like to die away from their own house.''That is very natural;but what is the coffin for?' Tor the sick man, who probably hasnot many days to live. They seem to have made every thing ready forhis funeral.' I remarked by the side of the coffin a piece of white linen.'That, they mean to use for the mourning.'2059. "These words threw us in the most profound astonishment, andwe saw then that we had come into a new world—into the midst of apeople whose ideas and feelings differed widely from those of Europeans.These men quietly setting about to prepare for the funeral of a still living