THE PEOPLE

The pride of the Balinese has not permitted the development of one of the great professions of the East: there are no beggars in Bali. But this unique distinction is now threatened by tourists who lure boys and girls with dimes to take their pictures, and lately, in places frequented by tourists, people are beginning to ask for money as a return for a service. Ordinarily even a child would be scolded and shamed by anyone who heard him ask something from a stranger.

A gift must be reciprocated and we were often embarrassed by the return presents of our poor neighbours. We gave Ktut Adi, a little dancer of eight, a scarf of no great value; one day soon after she came to us with a basket of rice, some eggs, and a live chicken, carried by her mother because the load was too great for her. Children of the neighbourhood that Rose had treated for infected wounds always came back with presents of fruit, cakes, or rice which they handed casually to our house-boy, never mentioning them to us, as if they wanted to avoid making a demonstration of their generosity. Even children have a strong sense of pride.

The aristocracy is despotic and arrogant, but the ordinary people, although used to acknowledging the superiority of their masters, are simple and natural in an unservile and unstrbmissive way. By the threat of passive disobedience and boycott they kept the princes from overstepping their bounds. Europeans . complain that the Balinese make bad servants; they are too free, too frank, and do not respond to the insolent manner that the white man has adopted as " the only way to deal with natives.

Their moral code consists in maintaining their traditional behaviour, observing their duties towards their fellow villagers and paying due respect to the local feudal princes. Among themselves they are kind and just, avoiding unnecessary quarrels and solving their disputes by the simplest and most direct methods.

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