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ADOLESCENCE Young people meet at the market, at harvesting-time, when everybody helps to cut the rice, at the river, and so forth, but especially at the frequent village celebrations and nocturnal theatrical performances, when the boys meet their friends and make new conquests. An attraction at all festivals is the pretty dagangs, girls who run small stands of food, drinks, cigarettes, and sirih. They sit behind little tables illuminated by petrol lamps, scraping coconuts, grinding sauces, and serving drinks, surrounded by a circle of admirers who squat on the ground, joking with them on the pretext of buying a pennyworth of peanuts or a package of cigarettes. Some girls know that it is best to remain cold and indifferent, attending to their business, while others are gay and friendly and can answer cleverly to the boys' wisecracks. To the Balinese, the average features of Nordics are not to be admired; sharp noses, prominent chins, white skin, blue eyes, blond hair, and so forth are distasteful to them. They compare blond hair to that of albinos', but red hair is still worse, since only witches and some devils have red hair. Only dogs, monkeys, and evil characters have long, prominent teeth and hair over their bodies. For the Balinese taste, the skin should be smooth, clear, and devoid of superfluous hair, which they call bulu, " feathers," to differentiate it from the " proper" hair of the head, which is called rambut. The hair of women should be thick, black, and glossy; goddesses are represented with hair down to their knees. The complexion should not be too dark and a girl with a golden skin is considered beautiful even if other requirements are missing. The face should be round, the eyes bright and almondshaped, but not too large, while the mouth must not be too small, with full arched lips and short even teeth. The already mentioned outline of the forehead is important. It must be high and narrow, in a deep arch coming down to the temples. Moles and beauty spots are admired, and it is believed that a woman who possesses a small mole in the area of the lips is destined to marry a Radja who will have to remain faithful to her. Perfume, either in the form of aromatic oil or as fresh flowers, is necessary to enhance one's attractiveness, and whenever there is a crowd the pungent smell of tjempaka and sandat blossoms, mixed with that of coconut oil, fills the air. |
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