Page:Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje - The Achehnese - tr. Arthur Warren Swete O'Sullivan (1906).djvu/271

 Chinese guns" as they call them). At sunset persons of substance bring complete idangs to the meunasah, so that on this occasion the celebrants of the feast may enjoy a hearty meal instead of the preliminary mess of pottage with which they usually break their fast.

The tradition has it, that during the qadar night the very trees bow to the ground in awe in the direction of the kiblat, that is to say toward the Sacred Mosque at Mekka. This is firmly believed by the Achehnese, though with this restriction, that the phenomenon its rarely visible to the eyes of ordinary mortals. The young folk, however, make expeditions on the night of the 27$th$ "to seek trees doing obeisance" (tajaʾ mita kayèë sujut); but this popular expression must not be taken as seriously meant.

The belief is also universal in Acheh that the jinn (arab. jén) are chained up during the fasting month, and thus, where hostile to man, powerless to harm him. Thus during the Puasa the fear of going about in the dark is reduced to a minimum.

There is no objection to marrying during the Puasa, but other seasons are of course preferred, since in this month the opportunities for feasting are so extremely limited.

We have seen that the markets are, for reasons easy to explain, practically closed during the first half of the fasting month. It must be added that during the first week, marketing is absolutely pantang, i.e. forbidden by the adat, the general opinion being that a breach of this rule entails misfortune. These pantang periods of seven days play a great part in Achehnese superstition. It is impossible to fish with luck during the seven days which follow the annual "sea-kanduri" of the pukat fishermen. Anyone who wishes to undergo the treatment with the curative root of the peundang must follow a prescribed diet for 2 × 7 days; and similarly measured by the number 7 is the time allotted for the special diet of those who desire to practice the science of invulnerability.

In the second half of Ramadhan the bustle of the market begins gradually to grow greater, and reaches its zenith in the last three days,