United States or Costa Rica ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
"Mamma," she said, standing on the top rung of a house-ladder, from which position she was handing down glass out of a cupboard, "are you sure that these things are ours? I think some of them belong to the house." "I'm sure about that bowl at any rate, because it was my mother's before I was married." "Oh, dear, what should I do if I were to break it?
Bátog: An unhusked coconut, resting on three bamboo sticks, goes by this name. It always appears in the Sayang ceremony, close to the Balag, but its use and meaning are not clear. Idasan: A seat or bench which stands near the house-ladder during the Sayang. A roof of cogon grass protects ten bundles of unthreshed rice, which lie on it. This rice is later used as seed.
For a similar reason it is a rule with the Toradjas of Central Celebes that no one may stand or loiter on the ladder of a house where there is a pregnant woman, for such delay would retard the birth of the child; and in various parts of Sumatra the woman herself in these circumstances is forbidden to stand at the door or on the top rung of the house-ladder under pain of suffering hard labour for her imprudence in neglecting so elementary a precaution.
"It must have been something like that. As she entered the light falling about the house-ladder, he had rushed at her too soon, impatient for vengeance. She had let out that second scream of mortal fear when she caught sight of him, and turned to run for life again. "This time she was making for the river, but not in a straight line. Her shrieks circled about Davidson.
When this chant is completed, the chicken is killed, as directed in the song; and at night the blood and rice are offered beside the stream. The chicken is eaten by the family, and its feathers are tied to a string, stretched across the room. Leaves are attached to the house-ladder as a warning that all visitors are barred, and for three days the family remains quietly indoors. Sagobay.
Ansisilit: The framework placed beside the guardian stones on the sixteenth morning of Sayang. It closely resembles the Inapapáyag. It is intended as a seat for guests, both spirit and human, during important ceremonies. Balag: A seat of wood or bamboo, placed close to the house-ladder during the Sayang ceremony.
As a further protection against evily disposed spirits, especially Ibwa, an iron plough-point is placed over the grave, "for most evil spirits fear iron;" and during this night and the nine succeeding, a fire is kept burning at the grave and at the foot of the house-ladder.
The coffin is then conveyed out of the house by lowering it to the ground with rattans, either through the floor, planks being taken up for the purpose, or under the caves at the side of the gallery. In this way they avoid carrying it down the house-ladder; and it seems to be felt that this precaution renders it more difficult for the ghost to find its way back to the house.
Word Of The Day