Note 24 — Tales of the Mythical Period

Certain well-known customs are strongly brought out in our material. The first, and apparently most important, is the necessity of offering liquor and food, both to strangers and to guests (p. 58). Refusal is so keenly resented that in one instance a couple decline to allow their daughter to marry a man whose emissaries reject this gift (p. 73). Old quarrels are closed by the tender of food or drink, and friendships are cemented by the drinking of basi24 (p. 134). People meeting for the first time, and even friends who have been separated for a while, chew betel-nut together and tell their names and places of residence. We are repeatedly told that it is necessary to chew the nut and make known their Page 14names, for “we cannot tell our names unless we chew,” and “it is bad for us if we do not know each other's names when we talk.” A certain etiquette is followed at this time: old men precede the younger; people of the home town, the visitors; and men always are before the women (pp. 45, 133). The conduct of Awig when he serves liquor to the alzados25 is that of to-day, i.e., the person who serves always drinks before passing it to others (p. 156).