Bardo scene

Oru and his companions had set out early the following morning, the time for which their order was named. Light steps and nostrils full of countryside smells helped them among the wet grass. The calls of the night-fowl, returning from the hunt slowly gave way to the waking of the world. The road had been empty, hemmed in by the steaming rice marshes stretching endlessly into the pre-dawn darkness. But now they passed a farmhouse, and soon another, each with glowing windows and smoking chimneys, and the smells of roasting reached them.
Now they came upon a group of old men ribbing and joking one another on their way to the vineyards. As Oru passed them on the illhb, and his men on foot, the elders fell quiet; still with jolly faces and pleasant bows. Oru returned their smiles. As the last penitent cleared the gaggle of men, they fell instantly to harassing each other once more.