Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 11, 1900.djvu/319

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concluded, the bridegroom is carried off by his friends to the outer chamber, where he has to "ask pardon." Nominally the bridegroom is expected to remain about two years at the house of the bride. After this he can remove to a house of his own. But to Hindu influence may be attributed the custom of treating the bride and bridegroom as royal personages for the time being, and terming them Raja sari, " the sovereigns of a day." Abduc- tion by force is also known, but seems always to be compounded for by a subsequent payment to the girl's parents. In its very mildest form a suitor merely sends his kris or dagger to the house of the girl's parents, with the message that he is ready to pay double the usual expenses.

In the more extended sense of the word the Malays are familiar with some of the aspects of the couvade. During the pregnancy of his wife a man has to be very careful in his actions lest they should have a prejudicial effect on the child and cause deformity. Formerly it was a taboo to hurt or take the life of any animal, to cut his own hair, or to sit in the doorway of his house. The wife has to be equally careful not to disparage any man or beast, or the qualities she dislikes will be reproduced in her child. And she must not sleep in the daytime, or her child will fall a prey to evil spirits.

The services of the pawang or medicine-man are naturally in constant request. He is the handy man that can turn his hand to anything, and has a charm, generally accompanied by an elaborate ceremony, for every emergency. In dealing with spirits — he is the recognised medium between them and mankind — he acts pre- cisely as if they were human beings speaking the same language as himself, and actuated by ordinary human motives. It is im- possible to read the majority of Malay charms without being struck by their remarkable likeness to those from Finland. They have the same ring, and often contain phrases for which very exact parallels can be found in Finnish examples, though some- times the imagination of the Malay is more vividly expressed. As in Finland, to inform a spirit, animal, or natural object of the source from which it originates renders it powerless. So " I know the origin from which thou springest," " I know your origin," are frequently in the mouths of the pazvang; and just as in Finland evil spirits may be addressed, " Retire ye hence to the depths of the ocean, to the peace of the primeval forest," " Return to the big X 2