Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 08.pdf/26

 The Indian Wife. a horse-laugh. Another classifies the fair sex as follows : Pudmininee, the incompar able beauty, with a good disposition : she is tall and well proportioned; her voice is as melodious as a silver bell; her breath is as the perfume of a rose; she is chaste and obedient to her husband. Next comes, in the diminuendo scale, Chittruunce, who is somewhat inferior to the former in beauty of face; her figure is neither fat nor lean; she rejoices in a small waist and full bust. Sunktnee, is fat and short, with violent tem per, and her quarrellings and wranglings with her husband are constant. At the bot tom is Hestence, who is even worse in appearance, temper and disposition than Sunktnee. (Manu, ch. 11, s. s. 7-10; Ayeen Akbery, Vol. 11, page 470-481). The lawyers of Hindustan had strong opinions anent the dispositions of the aver age woman. One, after mature reflection, writes : "Women have six qualities, the first, an inordinate desire for jewels and fine fur niture, handsome clothes and nice victuals; the second, inordinate lust; the third, vio lent anger; the fourth, deep resentment, i. e., no person knows the sentiments con cealed in their hearts; fifth, another per son's good appears evil in their eyes; the sixth, they commit bad actions. A woman's passion is never satisfied, no more than fire is satisfied with burning fuel, or the main ocean with receiving the rivers, or the em pire of Death with the dying of men and animals; in this case therefore a woman is not to be relied on. If a wife have her own free will, notwithstanding she be sprung from a superior caste, she will yet behave amiss." (Gentoo Laws, pages 282-283.) In the Mahabharata it is written, " Final destiny, wind, death, the infernal regions, the rage of the ocean, the edge of a razor, poison, venomous serpents, and devouring fire, all united are no worse than women." This is well nigh equal to St. Chrysostom's opinion, which was that woman is a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a desir

able calamity, a domestic peril, a deadly fascination and a painted ill. Or to the summary of the poet : — Mincers of each other's fame, Full of weak poison : But fit to flaunt, to dress, to dance, to thrum, To tramp, to scream, to burnish and to scour, Forever slaves at home and fools abroad. Among the Siamese it is a sin for a priest to speak to a woman in a secret place, or for him to receive anything from a femi nine hand. (Siam, by Sir J. Bowring, page 328.) Even in the old days in India, husbands went off on journeys, at times for one reason, at times for another. The law for the hus band in such an event was that, before " go ing, he must give his wife enough to furnish her with victuals and clothes, until the prom ised period of his return : if he goes without leaving such provision, and his wife is re duced to great necessity for want of such conveniences, then, even if she be naturally well principled, she yet becomes unchaste, for want of said victuals and clothes." But the law, although evidently fearing the effect of hunger and nakedness on the poor woman, did not approve of her giving way to tempta tion even under such circumstances; it said in no uncertain words, " when a woman whose husband is absent on a journey has expend ed all the money that he gave her, to support her in victuals and clothes during his absence, or if her husband went on a journey without leaving anything with her to support her ex penses, she shall support herself by painting, by spinning, or some other such employ ment." The right of the woman to paddle her own canoe, when her husband did not do so, was even recognized by these wise men of the East. The freedom and delights of the modern grass-widow were not thought of then; the law was explicit as to what the stay-at-home wife was not to do. " If a man goes on a journey, his wife shall not divert herself by play, nor shall she see any public show, nor shall she laugh, nor shall she