"You see yonder gulf," said he, "and the wide-stretching blue plains
beyond. It is the land of souls. You stand upon its borders, and my
lodge is the gate of entrance. But you can not take your body along.
Leave it here with your bow and arrows, your bundle, and your dog.
You will find them safe on your return." So saying, he re-entered
the lodge, and the freed traveler bounded forward as if his feet had
suddenly been endowed with the power of wings.
But all things retained their natural colors and shapes. The woods and
leaves, and streams and lakes, were only more bright and comely than
he had ever witnessed. Animals bounded across his path, with a freedom
and a confidence which seemed to tell him there was no blood shed
here. Birds of beautiful plumage inhabited the groves, and sported
in the waters. There was but one thing in which he saw a very unusual
effect. He noticed that his passage was not stopped by trees or other
objects. He appeared to walk directly through them. They were, in
fact, but the souls or shadows of material trees. He became sensible
that he was in a land of shadows.
When he had traveled half a day's journey, through a country which was
continually becoming more attractive, he came to the banks of a broad
lake, in the center of which was a large and beautiful island.
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