From out the phalanx on the right, Yermah stepped forward and lifted a determined face, pale as the linen robes he wore. Bringing his hands together high over his head, he said:
“Homage to thee, O Master of Truth! I come toward thee! I am here to contemplate thy splendor!”
“Give thy tongue truthful license, but speak no evil of the dead,” was the admonition of the Hirach.
Repeating the sign of asseveration, the Dorado began:
“Great and mighty Hirach, thou knowest that the gloom of the tomb is but the cradle of the sun. Before thee lies a pure, unsullied soul.
“Orondo had the three cardinal virtues of piety, because he loved his Creator, loved virtue, and loved man. He gave bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, garments to the naked. He who perceives him says he comes in peace.
“May he enter into rest, praised; may he go out, beloved—for there is no more fault or evil in him. Save him; protect him; for his mouth is clean and his hands are pure. He was free from the oppression of the widow and the fatherless.
“There was not by his fault either a fearful, or poor, or suffering or wretched one. He did not cause any one to weep.[[22]] He—”
Rahula who had been growing more and more excited, rushed to Yermah’s side, and throwing her hands up wildly, cried out:
“Hirach, thou who art mirrored in truth, palsy the tongue departing from thy formula! Orondo merits not an honored place in the Vale of Peace. The fishes yearn for his body. He lived not in truth, nor walked in the ways acceptable to the gods of magic mystery.”