CHILDBIRTH

On this date the priest blesses the child again, while offerings are made to the family shrine, to the sun, and to the evil spirits. The well-to-do make a big occasion of the first birthday and give a banquet with theatrical performances, but it is a rule for all to give a shadow-play as a part of the ceremonies. After the first anniversary less attention is paid to birthdays; the third years has a special significance and perhaps the mother will make some offerings in subsequent years, but grown people forget a` them and soon lose track of their ages.

On his first birthday the child receives his magic name from the priest, who writes various propitious names, obtained through a divination, on pieces of palm-leaf which he burns. The name given to the child is that which can be made out most clearly from the charred remains, or the one that takes the longest time to burn.

This is a secret name that no one ever hears and soon even the father forgets it. A baby is simply called " the child of so-and-so," but eventually he is given a personal name by his parents. Even this name has an influence over his life and should he become sick often, the name is to blame and a more appropriate one is chosen by the priest or the witch-doctor. Boys and girls are called by their names, but it would be poor manners to do so after the child has grown up. A personal name is private property and it is always patronizing to call a person by his name. High-caste people keep their names secret and go through life called only by their caste titles.

Most commonly used are the words that refer to the order of a person's birth: the first child of Sudras is called Wayang; Putu or Gede for high castes; the second child is Made or Nengah; the third is Nyoman; and the fourth is Ktut. The order is repeated for subsequent children. Satrias add the word Ngurah to their other titles to indicate the purity of their descent (for example, Anak Agung Ngurah Gede).

The words for father (bapa) and mother (meme) have a very elastic application; every uncle and aunt is called bapa and meme, and every cousin is a brother or sister, but a well-bred young man calls his father guru (" teacher ") Elderly people are called grandfather (pekak) or grandmother (dadong) as a sign of respect in the same way that a young man calls his older friends " elder brother " (bli) , ~while a girl is called " sister " (embok).

After a Sudra couple have children their name changes to " Father or Mother of so-and-so." Our servant Dog, the father of little Muluk, was called Panmuluk and his wife was known as Menmuluk. Gusti's wife, a Woman of high caste, was called Gusti Rake, but after she became the mother of Gusti Gede she became known as Gusti Biang Rake, biang being a polite term for " mother."

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