pfant "bore, '\s>e^eA^f, an^ Tsijric/. .513 



RICE. — Among Orientals, Rice is esteemed the symbol of 

 life, generation, and abundance. The Dyaks of Borneo and the 

 Karens of liurmah look ujx)n it as a divinity, and address prayers to 

 it to ensure a good harvest. In Siain, Rice and honey are offered 



to trees before they are felled. Rice plays an important part in 



the marriage ceremonies of India. At the altar, the bride is three 

 times approached by her friends, who on each occasion place Rice 

 in her hands. They also scatter Rice on the head of the bride- 

 groom. On the last day of the nuptial ceremonies, the bride and 

 bridegroom together offer the sacrifice of Soma, during which they 

 throw in the fire Rice moistened with butter. The Brahmans, 

 when performing the marriage rites, after having recited a variety 

 of prayers, consecrate the union of the couple by throwing a hand- 

 ful of Saffron mixed with the flour of Rice on their shoulders. 

 Offerings of Rice and Saffron are made by married women in India 

 to obtain healthy children, and to procure from the divinity exemp- 

 tion from the maladies of their sex. On the birth of a son, the 

 Brahman father, after having banished the females from the apart- 

 ment, takes the infant and places on its head Rice coloured red: 

 this is done in order to avert the Evil Eye. Another method is to 

 envelope small jxjrtions of Rice in cloths marked with the names 

 of women suspe<5ted of being witches, and to place the whole in a 

 nest of white ants. Should the ants devour the Rice in any of 

 these mystic bundles, the charge of sorcery is thereby established 

 against the woman whose name it bears. Young girls desirous of 

 husbands offer dressed Rice to the gods. At the consecration of 

 a Brahmanic disciple, the father of the candidate carries in his 

 hands a cup filled with Rice, and the assistants, after the bath, 

 cover the candidate with Rice. Rice is employed in many of the 

 Hindu sacrifices and religious ceremonies, and is regarded as 

 sacred : no one would touch it without having first made his ablu- 

 tions. At the time of sowing it, certain ceremonies are solemnly 



observed. In China, during the Spring Festival of the Fire, 



the priests of Tao march round the brasier, earring a basket filled 

 with Rice and salt, of which from time to time they cast a handful 

 into the fire, to conjure the flame and to obtain an abundant 



harvest. A Japanese legend relates that in ancient times the 



Bonzes (priests) of Nikko, like the other natives, lived solely 

 on herbs and roots, not knowing any other kind of nourishment. 

 One day, however, a Bonze observed a mouse hiding some Rice and 

 other grains in a corner. He could not understand where the mouse 

 could have obtained it, so he set a trap, and having caught the 

 little creature, he tied to one of its hind legs a silken thread; and 

 then, holding the other end of the thread in his hand, he set the 

 mouse free, and determined to follow wherever it should run. The 

 mouse led the priest into a remote and unknown land, where Rice 

 grew in abundance. The Bonze learnt how to cultivate it, and 

 speedily introduced it into his own country, where it proved such 



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