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dostat se z bláta do louie (Czech) out of the mud into the puddle

aasmaan se gire khajoor mein atke (Hindi) down from the skies into the date tree

takut akan lumpur lari ke duri (Indonesian) afraid of mud, escape to thorns

sudah jatuh tertimpa tangga pula (Indonesian) already fallen and hit by the stairs as well

lepas dari mulut harimau masuk ke mulut buaya (Indonesian) freed from the tiger’s mouth to enter the crocodile’s mouth

iz ognya da v polymya (Russian) from fire to flame

yağmurdan kaçarken doluya yakalanmak (Turkish) caught by the hail while running away from the rain

24.

The Great Beyond

człowiek strzela, Pan Bóg kule nosi (Polish)

man shoots, God carries the bullets

So where do we go once the body has been burned, buried or, as with the Zoroastrian Parsees of India, pecked off the skeleton by vultures? It’s hard for us to believe that the particular vitality that once animated the face of a loved one hasn’t gone somewhere:

hanmdohdaka (Dakota, USA) to tell of one’s intercourse with the spiritual world, to speak unintelligibly

dagok (Malay) clouds on the horizon of weird and changing form (believed to be ghosts of murdered men)

beina-fœrsla (Old Icelandic) the removal of bones (from one churchyard to another)

Fancy meeting you again

For Hindus, Buddhists and Native Americans, among others, the afterlife is not necessarily another place:

gatâgati (Sanskrit) going and coming, dying and being born again

púsápalan panninavan (Tamil) one who in the present life receives the reward of merit acquired in a former state

apagabbha (Pali, India) not entering another womb (i.e. not destined for another rebirth)

tihanmdeya (Dakota, USA) to have been acquainted in a former state of existence

Just a jealous guy

For others, the spirits of the dead may well stick around and remain animate enough to be called on in times of need:

hanmde (Dakota, USA) to have intercourse with the spirit world

zangu (Luvale, Zambia) a dance to immunize an adulterous woman to the spirit of her dead husband

ngar (Kaurna Warra, Australia) the call of a dead person

kuinyo (Kaurna Warra, Australia) the voice of the dead

andoa (Bakweri, Cameroon) to invoke spirits by spitting out the juice of leaves

havu (Bugotu, Solomon Islands) to make an offering to a ghost

False friends

sad (Sanskrit) being

pop (Bosnian) priest

bigot (French) sanctimonious

eleven (Hungarian) the living

fun (Lao) dream

hell (Norwegian) luck

Holy cockerel

Sometimes mere spirits aren’t enough and stronger supernatural agents have to be called on. Many and varied are the prayers and rituals offered to the world’s deities:

kahók (Tagalog, Philippines) the act of dipping fingers in holy water

a-cāmati (Sanskrit) to sip water from the palm of one’s hand for purification

hacer (se) cruces (Latin American Spanish) to cross yourself in the hope that God will help you to understand.

thì thup (Vietnamese) to go down on one’s knees then get up again, to make repeated obeisances

kiam (Malay) to stand during prayer

anda (Latin American Spanish) a wooden frame for carrying images of saints in processions

miau (Iban, Sarawak and Brunei) to wave a cockerel over a person while uttering a prayer

Broken sewing needles

Many and varied too are the building of their shrines and how they are decorated:

abhi-gamana (Sanskrit) the act of cleansing and smearing with cowdung the way leading to the image of the deity

laplap bilong alta (Tok Pisin, Papua New Guinea) an altar cloth

hari kuyo (Japanese) a shrine for broken sewing needles (out of respect for the tools of the sewing trade)

tintueta-wen (Buli, Ghana) the personal god of a living or dead person whose shrine has not yet been transferred to the front of the house

bìt torng lăng prá (Thai) doing a good deed in secret (literally, pasting gold leaf onto the back of the Buddha image)

One who understands

In most cultures, one spirit stands pre-eminent above all others and is always the One to be both consulted and worshipped:

Hawëníyu’ (Mingo, USA) God (literally,