Indian Antiquary Vol 48

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 337

INTRODUCTION
15
37. káto igbû dwa-longka lak bê-ringa-l'igla àrdû ru ûnranda. The people of that part are the best of all, they are all liberal. [ká to there. ig- Nos. 9, 10, 17. bûdwa dweller in a hut or village, fellow-countryman, see 7. lông-kalak sign of plural, used because there is nothing else in the sentence to indicate plurality. bê'ringa good. l'igla (l'euphonic) used alone means 'distinct', but when joined to a word of quality it shews the highest degree, superlative, most good, best, mai a igla- head chief. àrdû ru all. ûnrân-da (Nos. 7, 8, 12, 13, 16) liberal.]
38. mar .wii, ira- jodo bê dig kâ to reg pâta igba dignga bê dig mû-gum len pòichatnga l'edâ're reg-gû mul lê re. While there, Masters .wo'i and -fra- .jado, seeing the fat pigs for which their stomachs craved, broke their pig-fast. [bê dig also, see 36. reg pâ'ta pig fat, that is, fat pig, not pig's fat, see 34. ig-bâ'dig-nga seeing-(verbal subst.), see 11. bê dig consequent on. mugum inside or belly, târmúgum beneath. len to, postp. poi chat-nga fond of (any kind of food)-(verbal subst.). l'edâ're because of (see 23), i.e., feeling fond of food to their inside, reg-gû mul pig-ceremony. We have no corresponding word to gu'mul, it belongs to the peculiar institutions of the Andamanese. Mr. Man says: "Although .wo'i had been recently induced to marry, he was only a youth of about 16, and had not yet gone through the ceremony of young man making' known as gu'mul lê ke (gú mul devourdoes), when the young neophyte who has for some time past evinced his powers of self-denial, and thereby, in a measure, his fitness to enter upon the cares and trials of married life, is enabled after a course of three ceremonies (known as yâdî-gû'mul- turtle ceremony, a jagâ mul-honey ceremony, and reg-jiri- or simply, as here, reg-gumul- pig's kidney-fat or simply pig ceremony), which take place at intervals with a degree of external ceremony, to resume the use of these favourite articles of food. lê-re devour-did. These ceremonies apply to the young of both sexes before reaching puberty. After this period the individual is said to be botiga-, which implies that he or she may indulge in any kind of food at pleasure. During the period (lasting sometimes 2 or 3 years) of their abstention they are called â ka-ya b-, or â'kà-ya ba- and the fasting period is termed a kà-yap-"]
39. tárololen atyed're yabada. They have suffered no ill consequences thereby. [tàrolo-len last-to, that is, afterwards, see 18. at-yed-re, at is the plural form of the human prefix ab (see 11), yed be sick, re past time, that is, men were sick. yaba-da not. They fancy that to break the gumul (see 38) will entail serious consequences, the fact being 'that they then generally gorge themselves with these rich articles of diet, and hence make themselves ill.]
40. med a â'chitik é'kan leb rôgo ikpp'r moto-pai chalen chi lyuke. We are rearing a few pigs for ourselves. [med a we. à'chitik now. é kan selves. leb for. rôgo pig, ikpōr two, that is, a few; as two is the largest number for which they have a name, they use it indefinitely, see 36. moto our own, pascha lap, len to, that is, in our midst. dōto s. moto pl. ngōto and oto s. and pl. are the reflective forms of dôt s. mô tot pl., ngôt and it, etc., as ôl dôt jêrke he my-head shave-does, but dôl doto jêrke I my-own-head shavedo. chilyu ke fattening-are, see 17.]
41. târdî lêa mar'dûru ôtpägi kätchu len yàu'gare. The day before yesterday we all went again to Katchall. [tar probably beyond', diléa yesterday. mar'da 'ru we all, see 32. st-päg'i again, ig-pägi is also used, see ôt, ig, in Nos. 14, 15, and 9, 10, päq'i repeat. kät.