Page:Indira and Other Stories.pdf/176

 intermediary between bride and bridegroom. As he sits, he talks rapidly in a sing-song voice. This talk is called 'the marriage ceremony.' I regret to say that I have not been able to procure an actual specimen of the formula used on such occasions, but I gather that the allocution is somewhat as follows:—

"Oh, man and maid, be ye joined in the bonds of matrimony. If ye be thus yoked, I shall never lack sufficiency of rice and bananas. Be ye, then, joined together. On various ritual occasions in the life of this bride I shall then be in a position to intervene, and shall earn more rice and bananas. On even more frequent occasions in the life of your future offspring I shall obtain much rice and bananas. Be ye therefore joined together. In your joint existence as heads of a family you will have to perform many and meticulous ceremonies in which you will need my kindly and suitably compensated services. Be ye then indissolubly joined together. Be one flesh; never depart from one another, lest there be any deficiency in