Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 18, 1907.djvu/358

 322 Collectanea.

like glass. In the wallet on her back there is a Sororo, or native woven vessel, full of milk. Each of the guests present goes over to the bride, the bridegroom included, and tastes the milk, but leaving a residue for her to carry to her new home, when the marriage ceremony is over. At this stage the father of the bride turns to the bridegroom and says, " I have some- thing to say to you. My daughter has never been ill-treated or flogged ; don't you behave ill to her. Don't refuse her clothing, give her that which she needs ; don't treat her harshly. Chastise her at your discretion." Then he says to his daughter, " If your husband beats you — whether justly or unjustly — submit to it"; after which he addresses the newly wedded pair, urging them to mutual forbearance and mutual kindness. At this stage, the bride's mother puts two or three red berries, a sweet fruit called by the Gallas biaia, into the fire. After a little while the berries burst with a loud crack, when she remarks: "The buna has spoken, the Jila (ceremony) is finished." The mystical knot having thus been tied, the wedding party leaves the hut, the bride's father leading the way, the bridegroom immediately behind him, and the bride next, the guests follow; all going into the cattle fold, where milk is drunk by everyone. Then an adjournment is made to the house of the newly-wedded pair, where milk is again imbibed as before. When this is over, the guests retire, and the newly-wedded pair are left alone in their home. As soon as the last visitor has departed, the husband leaves the hut and strikes a light with the new fire-sticks. The moment the friction produces fire, the man calls out : " The child is born ! may he remain ! " Then he makes a fire, and the first step is taken in Galla house-keeping : for the Galla hut is seldom without its fire or smouldering embers, although under an equat- orial sun.

The hut into which the newly-wedded husband leads his wife is built by the bride's mother; it is imperative that it be con- structed of new materials and built on the day of the wedding. Galla youths and maidens bear several names, given to them by friends of the family; but after the marriage ceremony the husband selects one out of the numerous names previously owned by his wife, and by that one only is she ever after known