Page:Swahili tales.djvu/510



1. [P. 17, l. 20. And they stayed in her house till the space of seven days was ended.] It is the rule on the Swahili coast that the bride's father or family should find her a house, and that the husband should go to live with her, not she with him. If a man has several wives, he is bound to spend an equal portion of his time in each wife's house. In practice, men often make their own mother's house their home; others have a house of their own in which their female slaves live, or perhaps one wife, and have regular times for going to their wives' houses. But among poor people many have only one wife, and her house is their home.