I bought my 99 Accord 4 cyl about four years ago from a Honda dealer. It had a replacement battery. The positive cable is stretched very tight to reach the rear of the battery. The terminals are closest to the fender with the positive toward the windshield. If this is the correct factory layout it might be that the battery physical size is different.
I would appreciate it if anyone can give me the measurements and layout for the ORIGINAL battery.

 

Check the owner's manual, the physcial size of the battery is called "group size"

when you picking up a proper group size battery, please also pick something up with the same or bigger CCA.(cold cranking amp)

 

I found the answer at Wal-Mart today. Their replacement battery for my Honda has the top posts so that they are on the engine side of the battery when it is installed, with the positive terminal toward the windshield. This would give some slack to both cables.