Two Years with the Natives in the Western PacificSpeiser, Felix
History
Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific
Speiser, Felix
Ethnology -- Vanuatu; Vanuatu -- Description and travel
Agelan now takes me to "view" a particularly fine tusked pig, tied
under a roof, on a clean couch of straw; the boy shows it bits of
cocoa-nut to make it open its mouth, so that I can see and admire its
tusks. Agelan would like nothing better than to show off all his pigs,
and if I were a native I would pass them in review as we Europeans
visit picture-galleries; but I refuse as politely as I can. We
return to the cook-house, where the cocoa-nut rasping is finished;
the man washes his hands in the water of a nut, splitting it open and
squeezing the water in a little spray on to his hands. Mrs. Agelan
knows a simpler way; she fills her mouth with water and squirts it on
her hands. The cocoa-nut gratings are kneaded with a little water,
while the girls sweep the earth off the cooking-place and uncover
the stones; an appetizing smell spreads, and the master of the house
watches the preparations with a sharp eye and a silent tongue. One
feels that the least carelessness will provoke an outburst, and,
indeed, a solemn silence has fallen on the company, only the wife
smiles quietly.
"Lap-lap banana good!" Agelan roars in my ear, and I nod assent. Now
the hot stones are removed with bamboo tongs, and the great flat
object, wrapped in banana leaves, is taken out. Mrs. Agelan throws back
the leaves and uncovers the beautifully cooked golden lap-lap. Her
lord looks at it critically, and returns to his corner silent, but
evidently satisfied. His wife cannot quite hide a smile of pride.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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