Page:The evolution of marriage and of the family ... (IA evolutionofmarri00letorich).pdf/254

 the wife back to her family, after having shaved her head; the guilty one is then for ever dishonoured, and however beautiful she may be, she never finds another husband.

In case of repudiation, for any motive whatever, the Kabyle husband has the right to keep all his children, girls and boys, even those at the breast. As for the repudiated woman, she always returns to her parents, and it is to these last that a man must apply to marry her; but the new marriage cannot be concluded until after the payment to the first husband of the price of the redemption (lefdi), which is sometimes more, sometimes less, than the thâmanth, or price of the first acquisition. Generally, too, the parents profit by the opportunity to claim a supplement, or gratification. The father often agrees first with the husband, reimburses him for the thâmanth, and afterwards negotiates his daughter as he pleases. In a certain number of tribes the husband can directly sell his wife, but Kabyle morality reproves this practice, and permits the wife in that case to retire to her father, where she remains "prevented" (thamaouok't); however, if the father is powerful, he risks sometimes marrying his daughter, and the tribe at need stands by him. In any case, the repudiated Kabyle woman can only marry after a delay (aidda), generally of four months, which is conformable to the prescriptions of the Koran. If she flees the country, the parents must restore to the husband the thâmanth or lefdi, for this last can no longer gain them a new suitor. The whole of this régime is very partial to the husband. However, as public opinion in Kabyle is sovereign, it has decreed a few protective measures for woman, recalling from afar the proverbial liberality of the Berbers in conjugal matters. Thus, though the woman is deprived of the right of divorce, she is allowed a "right of insurrection" if she has just complaints to make. In this case she begins by telling one of her relatives, who fetches her back to her father openly, the husband not being permitted to oppose; it remains to