Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 21, 1910.djvu/327

 Marriage Customs of the Bedu and Fellahin. 289

of joy inimitable by European throats. During this same visit to the town the bride is perhaps taken to the bath, where she is specially treated for the occasion, and whence she emerges with henna-stained nails and hair, and face shining from the entire removal of the down from the skin. The etiquette of the bath is most elaborate, and I have decribed it elsewhere.^^ The Jinn which haunt such places have to be propitiated, the evil eye averted, and the future kept in view. She must be confronted only with what is pleasant, a young mother, actual or prospective, must accompany her, and her companions should be healthy, good-looking, and gay.^"^ If the period be that of the new moon, as is generally desirable, proper measures must be taken to secure a favourable month. On seeing it, (or him as the Arabs say), it is proper to observe, — " God's new moon has appeared in his exaltedness. May it be for us a blessed new moon." Then, taking up a stick and breaking it, " We have broken a stick under the eyes of the envious." If any person is present of gloomy countenance or who is ill, the bride should turn away her face, and some pleasant object, such as a napoleon, should be held up before her.

The bridegroom usually goes to the house of a friend to be prepared and arrayed for marriage. In a country where the beard, (even in the future), is an object of importance, even of veneration, shaving is of course an important ceremony. This is done by the friends of the bridegroom ; each takes a share, to bring good luck to himself.

When the wedding day comes, all the men of the village meet at some open space and amuse themselves, firing at a target being a favourite sport. Their range is often up to 60 metres ! The prize may be a pair of shoes which

'^ Inner Jernsale?)i, pp. 305-7.

^^A Christian (whether bride or not) must never bathe on Sunday, on pain of losing the benefits of baptism.