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Pantang rules.There is another branch of popular lore much akin to the hadih maja described above, namely the rules or restrictions comprised under the generic name of pantang or taboo. There are indeed many prohibitory rules (as is also the case with the pamali of the Sundanese) employed in the education of children; but in these the representation of the awful consequences of disobedience is merely a rod in pickle, so that they may be described as imitations of the true pantang, employed for educational purposes.
Men must never eat an egg taken from a fowl that has been killed; should they neglect this prohibition and afterwards be struck by a bullet, all efforts to extract it would be in vain. This is a true pantang rule.
If a child lies on its back in the court-yard, its father will die; should it lie on its face with its feet raised, its mother will die. This is mere imitation, utilized to train children.
We have already noticed in passing sundry pantang regulations connected with pregnancy[1], agriculture[2], fishery[3], certain diseases[4] etc. We shall now add some others which are among the best known.
To wish to regain something one has given away gives rise to sores on the elbows. Eating rice from the cooking-pot (kanèt) after marriage causes the face to turn black. Throwing raw rice[5] into the mouth with the hand causes the teeth to decay; while a swollen stomach results from sitting in the wind or sleeping under the open sky. Want or poverty threaten him who shakes the dust from his clothes in the evening, or who has a chéʾbréʾ tree (Jav. juar) growing in his compound.
Cocoanut trees should be planted only at night and under a clear sky, so that the fruit may be as many as the stars. A green cocoanut in which a hole has been cleft accidentally in some other part than the top or bottom should be avoided, as he who drinks its water will run a great risk of losing his life by sword or bullet. One should not kill the iguana, lest one become sluggish and awkward. A woman who eats twin plantains (pisang meukeumbeuë) runs the risk of having twins. In winnowing rice the mother should never turn the point of the winnowing basket (jeuʾèë) towards the sleeping-room, (jurèë) lest one of her children be compelled to go on distant journeys.
Pantangs of speech.To pantangs of speech, words which may not be used under certain,
