The Three Cities Trilogy: Rome, Volume 2
THE THREE CITIES ROME BY EMILE ZOLA TRANSLATED BY ERNEST A. VIZETELLY PART II
hunting grounds, always be happy and have eternal life.
After burial a feast was always called, and a portion of the
food of which each and every relative was partaking was
burned to furnish subsistence to the spirit upon its
journey.
_Modern funeral ceremonies_.--Provisions are rarely put into
the grave, and no portion of what is prepared for the feast
subsequent to burial is burned, although the feast is
continued. All the address delivered by the brave over the
corpse after being deposited in the grave is omitted. A
prominent feature of all ceremonies, either funeral or
religious, consists of feasting accompanied with music and
dancing.
_Ancient mourning observations_.--The female relations
allowed their hair to hang entirely unrestrained, clothed
themselves in the most unpresentable attire, the latter of
which the males also do. Men blacked the whole face for a
period of ten days after a death in the family, while the
women blacked only the cheeks; the faces of the children
were blacked for three months; they were also required to
fast for the same length of time, the fasting to consist of
eating but one meal per day, to be made entirely of hominy,
and partaken of about sunset. It was believed that this
fasting would enable the child to dream of coming events and
THE THREE CITIES ROME BY EMILE ZOLA TRANSLATED BY ERNEST A. VIZETELLY PART II