I don't want to say, like, I'm happy everything happened, but they all happened, so I just
Have to take it as, you know"this is my starting off point"
And what matters is how I deal with that, how I respond
The land of the living was not far removed from the domain of the ancestors
There was coming and going between them, especially at festivals
And also, when an old man died, because an old man was very close to the ancestors
A man's life from birth to death was a series of transition rites
Which brought him nearer and nearer to his ancestors
At last, the great day came, and Tortoise was the first to arrive at the meeting place
When all the birds had gathered together, they set off in a body
Tortoise was very happy and voluble as he flew among the birds
And he was soon chosen as the one to speak for the party, because he was a great orator