The Friday 56

The Friday 56 is a meme hosted by Freda's Voice -- sharing page 56 of the book you're reading.

I'm currently reading Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr by John Crowley.

from the book blurb: Dar Oakley—the first Crow in all of history with a name of his own—was born two thousand years ago. When a man learns his language, Dar finally gets the chance to tell his story. He begins his tale as a young man, and how he went down to the human underworld and got hold of the immortality meant for humans, long before Julius Caesar came into the Celtic lands; how he sailed West to America with the Irish monks searching for the Paradise of the Saints; and how he continuously went down into the land of the dead and returned. Through his adventures in Ka, the realm of Crows, and around the world, he found secrets that could change the humans’ entire way of life—and now may be the time to finally reveal them.

from page 56 -- Dar Oakley speaks to a human about war:
"When you win a battle," he said, "and kill those others, why do you go all around the field, and cut and stab and abuse them?"
"To take revenge on them for the hurts and humiliations their kind visited on our ancestors."
"And the ones whose heads you keep?" asked Dar Oakley. "The same?" 
"No," said the Singer. "They were great fighters. We honor them in that way, and in our possession they grant us some of their strength."
"They're dead," said Dar Oakley. "Dead as dead."
"You've learned to speak our words, Crow, the Singer said, smiling. "But you remain outside them still." 

How it was that Dar Oakley learned to speak to one of the People in this way, to argue with him and listen, is part of the story of how he came into Ymr; and it begins with the time Dar Oakley saw a Fox..."