Note 48 — The Cycle of Life

Nowadays the couple goes to the home, prepared by the groom and his parents, as soon as it is ready, but the tales indicate48 that in former times they lived for a time with the boy's parents. They are accompanied by the groom's mother, and go very early in the morning, as they are then less apt to receive bad signs from the birds. The girl carries her sleeping mat and two pillows; but before she has deposited these in her new dwelling, she seats herself on the bamboo floor with her legs stretched out in front. It then becomes necessary for the groom to present her with a string of agate beads equal in length to the combined width of the bamboo slats which she covers. Before she can eat of her husband's rice, he must give her a string of beads, or she will become ill; she may not open his granary until a like present has been given, or the resident spirit will make her blind; neither may she take food from the pots or water from the jars, until other beads have been presented to her.