This objection is certainly pertinent and if it were adequate as well we
would gladly spare ourselves the trouble of our attempt to find a
further explanation. We postpone the consideration of this objection
until later and for the present merely contrast it to the interpretation
derived from our previous discussion of taboo. All these rules of taboo
lead us to conclude that other impulses besides those that are merely
hostile find expression in the behaviour towards enemies. We see in them
manifestations of repentance, of regard for the enemy, and of a bad
conscience for having slain him. It seems that the commandment, Thou
shalt not slay, which could not be violated without punishment, existed
also among these savages, long before any legislation was received from
the hands of a god.
We now return to the remaining classes of taboo rules. The
_restrictions_ laid upon the victorious manslayer are unusually frequent
and are mostly of a serious nature. In Timor (compare the reconciliation
customs mentioned above) the leader of the expedition cannot return to
his house under any circumstances. A special hut is erected for him in
which he spends two months engaged in the observance of various rules of
purification. During this period he may not see his wife or nourish
himself; another person must put his food in his mouth.[51] Among some
Dayak tribes warriors returning from a successful expedition must remain
sequestered for several days and abstain from certain foods; they may
not touch iron and must remain away from their wives. In Logea, an
island near New Guinea, men who have killed an enemy or have taken part
in the killing, lock themselves up in their houses for a week. They
avoid every intercourse with their wives and friends, they do not touch
their victuals with their hands and live on nothing but vegetable foods
which are cooked for them in special dishes. As a reason for this last
restriction it is alleged that they must smell the blood of the slain,
otherwise they would sicken and die. Among the Toaripi-or
Motumotu-tribes in New Guinea a manslayer must not approach his wife and
must not touch his food with his fingers. A second person must feed him
with special food. This continues until the next new moon.
I avoid the complete enumeration of all the cases of restrictions of the
victorious slayer mentioned by Frazer, and emphasize only such cases in
which the character of taboo is especially noticeable or where the
restriction appears in connection with expiation, purification and
ceremonial.
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