OCR Text |
Show A KABYLE MARRIAGE. Che Ceremony Is Complicated and WLbA Up With an Exciting Incident. The -wedding ceremony among jthft Kabyles is interesting because of ita comparative resemblance to the custom of the old Greeks and Romans and even to those which still prevail in sequestered seques-tered parts of France. Hero it is the girl's father -who exacts a wedding portion, por-tion, a sum of about 8, for which the bridegroom has generally to rely upon the advances of his friends. Often, too, the young man Las not a house for his brido, in which case his friends set to wofk and build one, no very difficult matter. On the wedding day the bride la led through the villages in the neighbor hood, mounted on a mule and escorted by friends and relations, who shout and fire guns again and orjain. The various householders hasten forth to offer her a sieveful of beans, nuts or dried figs. Oi these she takes a handful, which shs kisses and then replaces in the Bieva All the offerings are collected in sacks by the old women of the procession as contributions to the young people's larder. lar-der. At the bridegroom's house the girl' hands are washed with liquid butter. Then they give her some fresh eggs, which she breaks on the mule's head and inside the unhappy animal's ears, thereby, it i3 believed, counteracting any evil designs against her and her husband's happiness. Before entering the house she drinks milk, fresh anr our, and also water, and scatters ove her shoulder a handful of barley, whoa and salt for the good of the family. The husband then approaches her and fires a pistol above her head to Bignify that thenceforward he has the power ol life and death over her. Not infrequently infrequent-ly he makes the symbol even more emphatic em-phatic by firing into her headdress and petting her aflame. This done, little remains re-mains except for the youth to lift tho lady in his arms and carry her bodily Into his house. All the Year BounA |