Note 42 — The Cycle of Life
Reading edition
The bride's people have provided a coconut shell filled with water and a wooden dish42 containing cooked rice. These are placed between the couple, as they sit in the center of the room (Plate XIV). The boy's mother drops two beads into the shell cup, and bids them drink; for, “as the two beads always go together at the bottom, so you will go together and will not part. The cool water will keep you from becoming angry.”