122 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 12 



Stores are expected to close when a procession 

 passes, as also when a coffin is being carried by on 

 the way to the cemetery. 



At a dance, the use of a coat on the part of a 

 man is obligatory; the use of a tie, however, as 

 has been indicated,"" is optional. Preceding and 

 succeeding each dance, the men remain together 

 on one side of the room and the women together 

 on the other side. To arrange a partner, a man 

 walks over and, stopping in front of the girl whom 

 he wishes to invite, looks directly at her and 

 mumbles a few words which are usually unintelli- 

 gible. To refuse a request is a gross insult and 

 may lead to violence. The girl leaves her place, 

 dances with the man without conversing, and re- 

 turns to her seat immediately the music termi- 

 nates. Formerly, an engaged girl was always ex- 

 pected to dance only with the man to whom she 

 was engaged, although he was in no way subject 

 to the same restriction, a custom still largel.v ad- 

 hered to, although now apparently beginning to 

 change. Ordinarily, a wife still dances only with 

 her husband, although the same restriction does 

 not appear ever to have held for the man. There 

 are occasional indications, however, that this re- 

 striction on the wife's behavior is also beginning 

 to break down. 



Wlien villagers and farmers gather on Satur- 

 days, Sundays, and holidays in the village stores 

 or in the hotequins, the tomar um gole de pinga 

 (taking a swallow of pinga), or rodada (treat), is 

 a common practice which follows a set form. 

 '■^Bamo tomd uma coisinha? (Shall we take a 

 little something?)" one man says to a friend or 

 two. '■''Bamo! (Lets!)," each replies. Coming 

 up close to the counter, the one who is treating 

 will say to the owner, "Put a little pinga there for 

 us !" The owner sets a large glass on the counter 

 and takes up a bottle of pinga and begins pouring 

 into the glass, as he says, "Say when it's enough." 

 "There, that's good," one of the men will say. 

 The one who is "treating" then takes the glass and, 

 addressing each person in turn in the store or 

 botequim asks, "T'a servido? (Are you served?)," 

 to which the expected answer always is ^'Ohrigado 

 (Thank you)." If, among the men present, in 

 addition to those at the counter, there is a close 

 friend of the man who is "treating," he will be 



2s° See Dress, p. 48. 



more insistent, '■^Toma um gole, num faga ceri- 

 monia! (Take a swallow; don't stand on cere- 

 mony!) ;" to which the expected reply is, "Thank 

 you very much, I've just taken a drop. Que Ihe 

 faga Mo proveito ! (May it do you good ! ) " After 

 which, the man hands the glass to one of his 

 friends standing with him at the counter and 

 says, "You begin." "No, you first," is the ex- 

 pected reply. "Not at all! You begin!", says 

 the one who is doing the "treating," as he puts the 

 glass in the hand of his friend. The latter takes 

 a swallow and passes the glass to another at the 

 counter, if there be other men, and then the one 

 who is "treating" also takes a drink. 



The virada, or "taking of turns," also is a com- 

 mon practice with rigidly prescribed rules of eti- 

 quette. It is similar to the rodada, except that all 

 persons present are involved. The pinga ordi- 

 narily is served in a glass which the storekeeper 

 ( or proprietor of the 'botegubn) fills almost to over- 

 flowing. The man at whose initiative the pinga 

 has been ordered will then pick up the glass from 

 the counter and offer it to the man closest to him 

 who, after a show of reluctance, gives in to the im- 

 portuning of the donor, takes the glass, drinks a 

 swallow from it and hands it on to the man nearest 

 him. The glass then continues on around the 

 room, each man putting it briefly to his lips and 

 taking a swallow, until it comes once again to the 

 man at whose initiative it was filled, who then 

 "dries it up," in the words of local slang. 



These viradas, in external appearance as well as 

 in social function, are reminiscent of the handing 

 around of the "common cup" in certain religious 

 ceremonies in other communities. Both practices 

 symbolize and reenforce the solidarity of the 

 group. No restrictions of any sort are put upon 

 participation. Everyone present, of whatever 

 race, age, or social position, except small children, 

 is expected to participate. "Good form" demands 

 that the donor offer the glass with a show of hos- 

 pitality and insistence. Actual refusal, except on 

 grounds of known inability to participate by rea- 

 son of illness or other excusable circumstance, is 

 subject to disapi^roval. If the refusal occurs 

 under conditions in which serious "loss of face" 

 is implied for the donor, it becomes a serious of- 

 fense and may even lead to violence. To a 

 stranger who by chance may be present, the glass 

 is also offered, although he is not expected to ac- 



