The Washington herald., 1912-09-15
EASY TO GET DIVORCE
in OLD MADAGASCAR
Dissatisfied Husband Simply Gives Wife Few Pieces
of Silver, Thanks Her for Services Rendered,
" and the Knot Is United.

Reno Is not the only place where di-
vorces can be readily secured. In far
away. unheard-of Madagascar the dis
satisfied husband simply thanks his wife
for her services. gives her a small piece
Of money, and the marriage is null. Those
are quick. expeditions doings, aren't
they? No ponderous law books to plod
over: no endless red tape OF the law
courts, and no big lawyers fees, simply:
Il thank you. madam the transfer Of
a little peice of slimony. and the hus-
band Is as free as a lark.
The poor wife has nothing to say about
the matter. II she does not attend to
the rice fields as she should, II she does
rot suit her husband by the manner OF
her loud snoring at nights, she Is sent
back TO her pepper" and ''mommer."
loaded with her husbands gratitude and
freed from his ''iowly company" She
has no appeal from his expression OF
gratitude"
Once. when I was in the southern part
CT the island among the Bara. / re-
mained all night in a village Of that
tribe. My host, the chief Of the vii
lsge, had divorced his first wife sew
eral weeks prior to my arrival He de-
ciared his other three wives to be a lazy
indolent lot who let his oxen grow lean
and his rice fields fill with weeds" The
cid chief was very much perturbed at the
way his affairs were going. and wished
to get his industrious wife back again.
He had divorced her because she snoar-
ed loudly at nights. and kept the entire
household awake.
He sent her this message which Is
Characteristic Of husbands In his plight.
not only in Madagascar. but in the United
StS:>s: Unfortunate that / am, Rafara
hal -,Rt
Of us. I have spoken Ill of thee. have
been unjust to thee. So come home
Rafara for the children are sad. the
house Is desolated. and the rice fields are
turned into marsh.''
To which the wife answered: when
you married me you thought the road
was not big enough for me. but when
you divorced me you considered me a
mere nothing When you asked for me
you spread out like the roof OF the
house. hut when you put me away you
folded up like Its gable. So enough OF
that husband. Protection from the rain
can be found by sewing the May um-
brella. but II is love that has spent and
love that is scattered and the cut ends
of the thread are not to be Joined to-
gether." Rafara. dear. came back with
some spirit. to say the least,
All Very Human.
But how characteristic, No doubt
many people who read this article have
seen or experienced just such g state of
affairs in their own homes. Who has not
seen the irate young wife pack her
things and go right home to mommer"
and vow she would never speak to John
again? Many John knows what the
house feels like after Mary has been
away for several days. Undoubtedly he
feels like my friend. the Bard chief
Madagascar marriage ceremony COM
prises symbols of every quality charac-
teristic OF a good wife. Once. when at
tending a marriage among the Tanala
tribe in the southeast Of the island.
noticed pretty young woman who sat
quietly In one place during the ceremony
without a motion. ! asked why she did
II. and was Informed that the girl SYM
bolized the great wifely virtue of staying
at home. Being all the time at home and
attending to her husbands affairs is. to
the Madagascar mind. an essential In a
good wife. This fault on the part OF the
wife is the cause Of many divorces.
Another wifely virtue was expressed by
a young woman laying at the feet of a
young man. This meant that the wife |
should be humble and submissive to the |
commands Of her husband. In the south |
ern part OF the island the wife Is prac- |
tically the slave of her spouse. She Is |
his drawer OF water and hewer OF wood |
in every respect |
The marriage ceremony itself is very |
simple. The two parties who have been |
betrothed since infancy met at a public |
place in the village. and eat rice out of |
the same bowl In full view of the viii !
layers. Around them are living symbolic |
telling young people how they can Sc
cure happiness by following all the vir. |
tues portrayed.
Betrothal is completely in the hands OF
the parents of each of the parties. Mar
riages are contracted with a view to |
keeping property in the tribe and with
In certain falimiles. Ie Is a means to |
property. Thus II an older
dies, the younger brother must marry |
his widow in order to retain his seniors
property In the family. This was COM
mon among the Hebrews before Christ.
Many Children Destroyed.
Marriages are contracted only the first /
eight days in each month. These primal |
days are held to be uniucky for birth I
Or marriage. Among the southern tribes
all infants born during these unlucky
lays meet instant death at the hands Of
the midwife. Among the Bara. the
tribe of which LShave spoken, the ILL.,
starred infant Is smothered by having
It's face held for several minutes in a
sooden bowl of warm water. This prac- /
ice Is to a great extent modified by the
French, who have been In possession of
he island for the past ten years. 1t is
found only in the out-of-the-way places.
Among the Tanala in the southeastern
part Of the island, the child born in the
Iniucky period, ID put head-drst into an
Int hill and eaten by the huge Nsda-