And they prepared the funeral pile, for in those days people used to burn the bodies of the dead. […] People in those days seem to have had very cruel ways of showing their anger. […] At sight of those comely boys and fair, trembling maidens, any heart might have softened. […] It seemed to him that he would never come out of those dark, gloomy passages. […] “Ah, those days are past,” he sighed.