R. Hinmnuna once came to Daru-Matha. He heard the sound of the Shofar announcing that a man had died. He saw people continuing in their work. He said to them: "May you be excommunicated! Isn't there someone in town who died (and needs to buried)?" They said to him: "We have a Hevrah (a group) in our town". He said to them: "If so, you are permitted to continue in your work".
Formerly the [expense of] taking the dead out [to his burial] fell harder on his near-of-kin than his death so that the dead man's near-of-kin abandoned him and fled, until at last Rabban Gamaliel came [forward] and, disregarding his own dignity, came out [to his burial] in flaxen5 vestments and thereafter the people followed his lead to come out [to burial] in flaxen vestments. Said R. Papa. And nowadays all the world follow the practice of [coming out] even in a paltry6 [shroud] that costs but a zuz.