Page:Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje - The Achehnese - tr. Arthur Warren Swete O'Sullivan (1906).djvu/336

 The entrance (or "going upstairs" as the Achehnese call it) takes place at the invitation of an eloquent elder of the bride's gampōng. The ranub dòng is brought forward by way of preliminary, and sirih is offered to the guests. Thereupon an elder of the bridegroom's gampōng speaks as follows: "Teuku keuchiʾ, Teungku and elders of this gampōng, our visit to you is on account of a little word which your servant desires to address to you. Our wish is to present N. (the suitor) to you as your slave. How then, do ye accept or not?" The answer, given by one of the elders of the girl's gampōng, runs as follows: "Your servant esteems your words as a command, but as far as this matter is concerned, I know naught of it, you had better apply to X" (indicating a fellow-elder).

The first speaker then turns to X, and repeats his question, but the other gives him the same evasive answer. This reference to others and pretence of ignorance sometimes goes on for a considerable time in the most serious way. When the farce is thought to have lasted long enough, the person last addressed replies: "There is no objection to the purpose conveyed by your words, which we esteem as a command; but whose child is this bridegroom N.? Who was his grandfather and who his great-grandfather"? As soon as the genealogy of the suitor has been set forth up to a certain point for the benefit of those present, the matter is considered settled. One of the elders of the suitor's gampōng now produces the tanda or token of good faith, a valuable gold ring or hair ornament (bungòng preuëʾ) or the like, and hands it to the keuchiʾ with the words "Let this serve as a token". The ranub dòng or "standing sirih" is thereupon brought up and presented to the fellow-villagers of the maiden with the words: "Behold one or two sirih-leaves which we have brought to offer you". The meeting concludes with a feast.

From this time forth the pair are one another's betrothed. Should the engagement be broken off later through the man's fault the tanda remains in the possession of the bride; but where the blame is on her side it is returned. When, however, the father of the bride breaks his word without reasonable cause, he must also pay a fine, generally a pretty heavy one, to the ulèëbalang.

In Acheh, just as in other parts of the Archipelago, no father allows his daughter to become betrothed so long as she has an elder sister still unbespoken, unless the latter happens to be blind or insane. Nay