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CHILDBIRTH It is at this point that serious trouble starts for the unfortunate father of the twins; he must pay all expenses for the costly purification offerings and ceremonies by selling his property if he h no ready cash. If the amount obtained is not enough, the town people have to raise the rest, but should the man be totally destitute, the village advances the money. In old times the man became a slave of the village until he could buy his freedom with labour, but today in many places he is allowed to beg from house to house, authorized by a special permit from the village head,, Since the purpose of his begging is for the good of the community, no one may refuse him, no matter how small the contribution. This strange calamity is only for the common people. Among the nobility the birth of such twins is generally a happy omen and people of high caste claim that should the boy and girl twins marry each other, the union would bring prosperity and happiness to the country and they would become rulers. A nobleman explained to me that when a couple of his class has led a model life of faithfulness unto death, they will reincarnate as twins " again married in the mother's womb," returning to their old home. Despite this idea, however, the marriage of twins has seldom happened and my Balinese friends knew of only one case where a noble boy married his twin sister. A logical explanation of these curiously contradictory customs has been given by Jane Belo in her thorough " Study of Customs Pertaining to Twins in Bali " (see Bibliography) ; on the native side, as originated by the dread of brother and sister incest so widespread among primitive peoples, a breach of marital taboos and consequently a crime.
The native idea came in conflict with the general policy of establishing
the superiority of the ruling class, who tried to liberate themselves
from the curse by legalizin2 the birth of such twins and declaring that
such was the desirable way for Radjas to have children; consequently
for the common links [ 1 ] - [ 2 ] - [ 3 ] - [ 4 ] - [ 5 ] - [ 6 ] - [ 7 ] - [ 8 ]
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