Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1892-12-02
A HINDOO WEDDING.

J A HINDU w EUUINU.
YOUTHFUL BRIDES AND ELABORATE
CEREMONIES.
| It Takes Nine Hours to Get Through the
| Marriage Ceremony-The Bridegroom
| Doesn't Cut Much of Figure-Girl
Babies Are Not Popular.
in this country, where the march from
"Lohengrin,'' a white silk frock and a few
| ttnintelligible responses make an elaborate
] wedding, the bare idea of a small twelve
/ year-eld girl requiring nine hours to bind
/ herself to the man of her fathers choice
seems absurd in the extreme. Whether
| the outlay of strength and rupees that
| such an event incurs has anything to do
with the tenacious prohibition of a second
marriage for the gentler sex has never been
explained, but as the Hindoos are prac-
| tical people and an avaricious people it
| does not appear unlikely.
| In the first place, with them to be q
| woman and unmarried is little short of a
| crime, yet to marry obviously one must
| have money. AS an outcome of this, when
| daughters are born to the poor Bantam he
! helps them out of the world by the simple
! and negative method of not giving them
! food. One man admitted, quite as mat
| ter of course, having followed this up
| through long succession of some twenty
| girl babies. But if the baby's papa has a
| financial position that admits of her grow
ing up, and is a Bombay Hindoo-that is,
with no prejudice against Europeans you
may perhaps be hidden to one of those high
functions that come for her at an age
when our children are playing with dolls.
In that case, allowing for variations in in
dividual taste, you will find the affair
something in this wise:
At about 6 in the afternoon, when the air
has trif1e more life, and that thing they
call prickly heat is degree less agrees
i've, you make your way to the house of
the BRIDES father. Outside the door your
notice is first attracted by many rows of
shoes that the guests within have taken
off out of respect to the household gods.
This may be a delicate attention that the
gods refuse to get along without, but you
cannot help wondering how on earth any
one ever knows his own pair again. The
drawing room into which you are ushered
is in tawdry imitation of a French hotel.
furniture, which is exceedingly ornate, is
covered with bright crimson satin. By this
kindly provision of chairs, however, one is
enabled to sit "a la Anglais."
On entering, the head of the house comes
forward to greet you with profound sa-
laam; then all the standing or squatting
Hindoos follow his example, and it is your
duty to salaam indefatigably in return:
but always with your right hand, else the
company will think your manners exceed
ingly funny and, what is more, prove it by
laughing The bride and bridegroom move
about informally, speaking to acquaint-
ances. The groom shares with his western
brother the paradoXical fate of being neces-
sary, but unimportant. He is noticeable
only for high turban studded with a
priceless number OF uncut gems that make
it look neither comfortable nor brilliant.
The bride, on the contrary, is rather charm
ing. Her costume consists merely of a
tight fitting yellow india silk bodice, with
yards of the same material swathed loosely
about her supple body and one end thrown
over the hair. She is further ornamented
by earrings, finger rings, a nose ring and
BANGLES that reach to the shoulder; on her
pretty ankles are the heavy anklet chains
that, clink when she steps, Altogether she
would be a lovely and picturesque little
object if she were only playing in tableaux
instead of pitiful real life.
But all interest in her is Immediately
snuffed out on the arrival of the nautch
girls. They are two OF more hired dancers,
whose performance appears to be the most
welcome and wonderful feature of the en-
tire occasion. In dress they are not unlike
our own ballet girl, wearing from fifteen
to twenty gauze skirts. The longest of
these reaches to the feet, and the others
are graduated to within half a yard of the
waist. Their SO called dance is strange
and weird, and after the first fifteen min
utes remarkably uninteresting. 1t is made
up of a series of impossible poses, in parts
SO slow as to remind one of the last twitches
of mechanical toy when it is nearly run
down. AS an Indian ballad has it:
They posture, bob, whirligig, wriggle like cells,
And all the time shuttle about on their heels,
Keeping time to the pipers and tomtommers'
strains
With the clink of their anklets of resonant
chains.
When this has gone on until you are ex-
hausted and the rest of the audience is |
reduced to a state of entranced breathless- |
ness the really sacred part Of the rites be-
gins.
An adjournment is made to an outer |
room with an earthen floor, in the center |
of which bright fire is burning. Around |
this, in the presence of many witnesses, the |
young couple promenade solemnly seven |
times, carefully clasping each others right |
hand. By one of the Oldest customs ever |
kept up they must go always toward the !
right, because it is a festive occasion. |
Should a mistake be made and turn to |
the left be taken the direst misfortune and |
sorrow would be the result anticipated. In |
the meantime priest, the dirt of whose
once white garments is supposed to add to
his holiness, goes about majestically, NUT |
tering a lot of mystical words.
Finally this also is gotten through with, |
and the coolies enter bearing bowl of |
richly buttered rice. The groom then, as |
a sacred duty, feeds his wife, holding the |
oily mixture out to her in his palm; after |
ward he partakes himself, and does the |
proper thing in wiping his greasy mouth |
on the silken gown of his mother-in-law-I
which last goes to prove that human ma
ture and the position Of that unfortunate |
lady are pretty much the same the world |
over.
Later, when the feasting begins, sep |
arate table covered with English delicacies |
is set for the Christians present. Although |
your invitation means staying until in |
the morning, after supper the ordinary in
dividual is glad to say good night in his
best Hindoostanee and make his way home
ward in cab, or, better still, one of our
own American horse cars.-Boston Tran
script.
wn1te animals Among the Japanese.
A white fox is often mentioned in the
Japanese fables, and white serpent ap-
pears in their pictures of Benten, the god
dess of fortune. Among the Japanese, as
among the ancient Greeks and Scythians,
white horses were dedicated to the gods,
and are still attached to the larger temples
of the country. The milk and butter of
white cows were formerly priced as med
icine.-London Globe.
Breathing of Insects.
Insects generally breathe through spe-