The history of Sumatra : $b Containing an account of the government, laws, customs and manners of the native inhabitantsMarsden, William
History
The history of Sumatra : $b Containing an account of the government, laws, customs and manners of the native inhabitants
Marsden, William
Natural history -- Indonesia -- Sumatra; Sumatra (Indonesia)
She has then no title to claim a divorce in any predicament; and he may
sell her, making only the first offer to her relations. The other
appendages as already mentioned are the tulis tanggil (the meaning of
which I cannot satisfactorily ascertain, this and many other of the legal
terms being in the Rejang or the Passummah and not the Malayan language)
and the upah daun kodo, which is a consideration for the expense of the
marriage feast, paid to the girl's parent, who provides it. But sometimes
it is deposited at the wedding, when a distribution is made of it amongst
the old people present. The words allude to the leaf in which the rice is
served up. These additional sums are seldom paid or claimed before the
principal is defrayed, of which a large proportion, as fifty, eighty, and
sometimes a hundred and four dollars, is laid down at the time of
marriage, or in the first visit (after the parties are determined in
their regards) made by the father of the young man, or the bujang
himself, to the father of the woman. Upon opening his design this money
is tendered as a present, and the other's acceptance of it is a token
that he is inclined to forward the match. It lies often in his hands
three, six, or twelve months before the marriage is consummated. He
sometimes sends for more, and is seldom refused. Until at least fifty
dollars are thus deposited the man cannot take his wife home; but so long
as the matter continues dalam rasa-an (under consideration) it would be
deemed scandalous in the father to listen to any other proposals. When
there is a difficulty in producing the necessary sum it is not uncommon
to resort to an expedient termed mengiring jujur, that is, to continue a
debtor with the family until he can raise money sufficient to redeem
himself; and after this long credit is usually given for the remainder.
Years often elapse, if the families continue on good terms, without the
debt being demanded, particularly when a hundred and four dollars have
been paid, unless distress obliges them to it. Sometimes it remains
unadjusted to the second and third generation, and it is not uncommon to
see a man suing for the jujur of the sister of his grandfather. These
debts constitute in fact the chief part of their substance; and a person
is esteemed rich who has several of them due to him for his daughters,
sisters, aunts, and great aunts. Debts of this nature are looked upon as
sacred, and are scarcely ever lost. In Passummah, if the race of a man is
extinct, and some of these remain unpaid, the dusun or village to which
the family belonged must make it good to the creditor; but this is not
insisted upon amongst the Rejangs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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