Page:The evolution of marriage and of the family ... (IA evolutionofmarri00letorich).pdf/253

 repeats this formula three times. The wife remains dependent on him until he sells her by means of a price of redemption. If he accepts from the father or some other man this price (lefdi) he must, when the sum is once counted out, declare before witnesses that he gives up all rights over his wife. Then, and only then, the marriage is dissolved. Under the other form of repudiation the husband says, "I repudiate thee, and I put such a sum on thy head." The formula is pronounced once, twice, and thrice. In this case the husband is irrevocably bound, and by paying the sum fixed, the wife has the power to marry again; at the same time, the husband can specify the conditions, can say, for example, that if the woman is married to such or such a man, the price of redemption will be doubled or tripled. Sometimes the sum is so great that it amounts to an absolute interdiction of any fresh marriage, and the woman is then designated "a prevented one" (thamaouok't). When the formula of repudiation has only been pronounced once or twice, the husband can, by means of a fine paid to the djemâa, and with the consent of the father-in-law, take back his wife; but he loses his reputation, and his testimony is no longer legal. If the formula has been pronounced three times, it is irrevocable. As for the other revocation, public opinion does not admit that it may be revocable, unless it has only been declared once, and that the husband find a priest who will consecrate a fresh union.

If, after repudiation, the Kabyle woman marries again, and becomes a widow, the first husband can retake her without repayment and without a fine.

Without pronouncing the formula of repudiation, the Kabyle husband has the power to send his wife back to her family, with the consent of the said family. If the husband has serious reasons of displeasure he sends her to her parents without forewarning them, mounted on an ass, and conducted by a servant or a negro. This treatment is so ignominious for the wife that it is equal to repudiation, and public opinion then forbids the husband to take her back. Sometimes, in case of proved adultery, the husband sends