Page:Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje - The Achehnese - tr. Arthur Warren Swete O'Sullivan (1906).djvu/246

 the members of the governing body of the gampōng, the keuchiʾ, teungku and elders, but all the inhabitants are regarded as being included therein.

"Respectful greetings and good wishes from Teuku Keuchiʾ of gampōng X and the Teungku! They desire (or request) that You will come and partake of their kanduri on such and such a day." So speaks the messenger. They receive from him the sirih and pinang, hand back the empty baté, and answer simply: "it is well."

The viands are provided by all the heads of families. Each of them, if his means allow, brings on the appointed day an idang to the meunasah. The components of such an idang will be found detailed in our description of marriage ceremonies. The idang lintō (bridegroom's idang), the idang peujamèë (placed before guests at certain visits prescribed by adat and the idang Mòʾlōt are almost precisely identical. At times the competition between the people of the same gampōng to outshine one another in the costliness of their idangs reaches such a pitch, that the village headmen are obliged to fix a certain limit which must not be exceeded.

As meat, which the Atchehnese seldom eat on ordinary occasions, is indispensable for the idang Mòʾlōt, the kanduri is preceded by the slaughter of animals. Such general slaughterings take place on no other occasions except the last days of the eighth and ninth months and on a small scale at the "great" feast of the sacrifices on the 10$th$ day of the twelfth month.

Care is also taken that the sirih and its appurtenances be not wanting after the feast. Piles of sirih-leaves are heaped up high on dalōngs or trays, and between them are placed the betel-nut, gambir, tobacco etc., the whole forming what is called the ranub dòng or "standing sirih." The sirih is presented in the same form in offering a betrothal gift.

The cost of a single idang amounts to as much as four dollars, so that the less well-to-do families club together, three, four or five at a time to provide a single idang.

Besides those invited by the gampōng in general, each individual has his private guests, viz. all those of his relatives who live elsewhere and feel disposed to partake in the kanduri. These come without invitation, as according to the adat they are at liberty to regard the kanduri Mòʾlōt of a member of their family as their own.