A NAN1NG WEDDING-SPEECH. 33 



I come and fulfil the bond, 



I pay the bride-price, I bring the bride-groom my 

 kinsmen. 



130. My tale is told. 



Homage, Chief ! 



NOTES. 



(1) Line 54. Under Menangkabau exogamic custom, the bride- 



groom on marriage is severed from his own tribe, and 

 enters into the tribe of the bride. 



(2) Line 61. The husband is subject to the family of his wife, 



(tempat semenda,) lives in her house, and tills her fields. 

 On divorce the children of the marriage remain with her; 

 joint earnings or debts are divided ; lie removes the 

 personal property brought by him to the marriage. 



(3) Line 71. A Malay child, immediately on birth, before the 



severance of the umbilical cord, is given a name by one 

 of the parents ; that is, a baby name or pet name ; the 

 true name is given subsequently. 



The meaning of lines 71 and 72 is that the peculiar 

 debt of the parents commences to run from the moment 

 of birth: it ends with the marriage of the child. The 

 clan is the judge of its proper fulfilment. (Line 89.) 



(4) Lines 98 and 99 are customary phrases to describe the activities 



of the go-betweens, who make the informal advances 

 that precede a formal proposal of marriage. 



Kechapi is a Chinese string instrument, played after 

 the fashion of a guitar. The continuous ' beckonings ' 

 of the marriage-maker suggest the twitching fingers of 

 the lute-player. 



(5) Lines 101 and 102 mean that no obstacle to the union was 



found either in religious law or exogamic custom. See 

 lines 113 and 114. 



Trengganu. 



November, 1915. 



'PO 1 



H. A. Soc, No. 72, 1916. 



