CHAPTER II.
The Birth.—Distribution of Presents.—Writing on the Forehead.—The Feast of Eight Peas.—The Day of Purification, etc.
The Birth.—Distribution of Presents.—Writing on the Forehead.—The Feast of Eight Peas.—The Day of Purification, etc.
The Hindoos hold their male and female children in different degrees of estimation. They prefer one son to ten daughters, whom they represent as the worthless slaves of others, and the objects of pity, constant watchfulness, and particular anxiety. The preference arises from various sources. After the death of a Hindoo parent his oldest male child, or in his absence the younger one, is required to attend the funeral, perform the leading parts of the service, and on a fixed day redeem the spirit of the departed parent by some particular ceremony, which I will treat of in its proper place. But a female, being early separated from the family connection by marriage, is not privileged to do the same. If there be ten daughters present, and not one son, in that case the wife, or brother, or a nephew[2](brother’s son) of the deceased attends to the performance of the necessary rites.
At the birth of a son, the mother, besides other congratulatory blessings and benedictions, receives the surname of“herā beoonēe,” mine of jewel. The sacred shells which every family has in its possession, to blow thrice in the evening, and on the holidays, are now sounded; the father brings some gifts to the baby; the family barber is sent to the friends and relatives with letters for each, containing the glad tidings, and in return gets valuable presents from them; the shoemakers, whose business is to sound trumpets, come immediately with their drums, flutes, and cymbals to play on them. The neighbors crowd the house to congratulate the family, and it is believed that the very site of the family lifts up in joy fourteen times, symbolizing the pleasure of the fourteen deceased ancestors. In short, the whole family assumes an aspect of ecstasy. But in honor of a poor female baby nothing of this sort is held. A conflict between prejudice and affection fills the mother’s heart. With heaviness on the one eye, and tenderness on the other, she caresses her child, while the elderly women, wiser than herself, comfort her with the following remarks: “Do not weep, child. Let your disappointment be driven away by the thought that no human power could overrule these things. If we could, we would afford some remedy, but it is the will of Kristo that it should be so; and we all know that our fruits will be either male or female; female is child as well as male in the eyes of him who is their maker.” In fact everything seems so sad, so quiet, that a foreigner standing in the very yard of the house would hardly know that there is a baby in the house, unless she herself, by her innocent smiles and occasional cries, lets him know that there is. The rich father, at the birth of a son, sends presents of a brazen jar or pitcher, a piece of new cloth, some sweet things to thousands of Brahmun families, and to the low castes simply sweet things and a little money. On the evening of the sixth day, the Hindoos believe that Broh-mò will come towrite on the child’s forehead all about its future destiny. Everything is kept clean and purified for the reception of the supposed presence of the god. The Brahmuns and other friends are invited; a member of the family walks round with a plate on his hand, to take a little dust from each Brahmun’s foot, with which they touch the child’s forehead, and when this has been done, each person goes to his respective home, with some confectioneries given to him. A poothee, sacred manuscript, an inkstand, and a pen are kept on a piece of board, near the child’s bed, during the night. On the evening of the eighth day comes the feast of eight peas, “aught corie,” on which occasion all the children in the neighborhood are invited. The order of the exercise is as follows. As the custom is for a Hindoo mother to stay twenty-one days after her delivery in a separate room where none but the nurse is allowed to enter; children stand in the yard and put some funny question, in poetry, to the nurse, who sits on the door-stone to answer these merry folks. The meaning of their questions is the inquiry after the baby’s health, ending with some jokes upon the father. Eight boys hold a coolo or bamboo fan (of which there is mention in the Gospel of Matthew, iii. 12) in their left hands, and in their right hands the sticks. Now, when everything is ready, according to the order, one of them asks thus: “Aught corrie boughtcorria, chāla ancha valo?” and when the nurse has given her answer, saying,“Vālo,” nicely, they beat the fan with the sticks which they hold in their right hands. Sometimes the boys meet with a very disagreeable experience on his occasion, especially the less smart ones, for amid the universal excitement, and by reason of darkness, they hit each other’s hands. Suffering twice from the merry sticks of the boys, my hand bearing the doomed fan, I came to the conclusion never to join the party again.But this decision, however, proved impracticable; the friends interpreted my unwillingness as based upon cowardice (for it was truly so), and the girls would hurl jokes and shame me, saying, “Had we a right to join them, we would right off.” At last some kind but cunning boy furnished me with some prudent advice, that I must take my left hand away in season. I obeyed and was safe. When the storm has a little abated, they throw away the broken fan, over the roof of the baby’s room. The second exercise is the scattering of large quantities of small sea-shells or copper money, cents, over the yard, which the children pick up, knocking and falling upon each other. At the close each person present, young or old, male or female, gets a sufficient quantity of confectioneries, pop-corn, peas, &c.
On the twenty-first day, which is the day of purification, the mother comes out of her room to present her child unto the gods and goddesses.[3]Of the latter, Shustee, guardian of Infants, is worshipped with great reverence.
It may not be deemed improper to notice here about the dress and trappings of the children. Hindoo parents dress their younger ones with gold and silver ornaments, but not always with clothes. The reason is, that, in a warm climate like India, the children can hardly keep clothes on except in winter; moreover the Hindoo dress is merely long pieces of cotton cloth, untouched by the jaw of scissors, and unpinched by the point of needle, without any buttons or sleeves; consequently it would be childish if any should attempt to clothe a child with a dress like this. To dress in Hindoo fashion is very like erecting a house without nails, tacks, or screws, and that surely would require ingenuity. To say nothing of others, I myself did not learn to wear mycloth neatly, according to the fashion, until I was nearly eighteen years old.
When the child has attained the age of nine months, its parents perform “un-no pra-shun,” or the ceremony of rice. On a fixed day, before a large audience of guests and relatives, the father or uncle of the child puts one or two kernels of rice in its mouth, after the usual offerings to the gods. On this occasion it is customary for the guests to offer some gifts to the child. On the other hand, they, as well as intruders and beggars, are entertained in a grand feast.