Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 23, 1912.djvu/492

468 the Kabul, all the woman's clothing and all cloths which she may have woven, even if they are in possession of others, are thrown away, the body is taken out of the house through the back door, and the back portion of the house is pulled down. The husband is not allowed to eat the flesh of any animal that has died, nor any vegetables unless he cooks them himself, until the annual festival which marks the close of the year. The village itself is closed for five days, and no one may go out; if any enter, they cannot leave till the fifth day is completed. In some villages, no thread may be dyed red or black for five years; in others, the prohibition is only for the current year. In Marām the whole house is demolished. Among the Tangkhuls, Mr. Pettigrew notes that the body must be buried by very old men and women, and that young folks are even prohibited from eating any of the meat either in the funeral feast or at the annual ceremony in honour of the dead, for fear that they themselves should die in the same way, or become barren or impotent. In most clans some purifying ceremonies have to be observed either by the whole village or by the family of the deceased. In Andro, the whole Sagei is unclean until the following ceremony has been performed on a day selected by the Maiba. The whole Sagei having assembled, two fowls are produced and laid on the ground, with their legs tied, so that they cannot move away. Each member of the Sagei then takes a mouthful of water, and, stepping over one fowl, blows the water over the other. After each has done this three times, all receive a little ginger, haimang (a jungle fruit), salt, and pepper, after which they are clean. The Maiba receives a black dog, a goat, and a fowl. None of the Sagei may eat the flesh of these animals. The corpse is burnt in the ordinary manner, but at Phayeng the corpse is taken to a special place outside the village, where it is burnt with some paddy, vegetables, and the body of a goat that is killed beside the funeral pile. Among the Manipuris a very elaborate ceremony has to be performed to remove the evil influence from the husband. The various articles having been arranged in the yard of the house, as shown in the following diagram,—