CHAPTER VIII. CUSTOMS CONNECTED WITH PREGNANCY AND CHILD-BEARING.

 The Couvade, its Prevalence in Savage¹ and Civilized² Lands.—Pregnant Women excluded from Kitchens.—The Deities³ of the Lying-in Chamber⁴.

 

Dr. Tylor113 gives the following account of the Carib couvade in the West Indies from the work of Du Tertre:114—

 

“When a child is born, the mother goes presently to her work, but the father begins to complain, and takes to his hammock, and there he is visited as though he were sick, and undergoes a course of dieting which would cure of the gout the most replete⁵ of Frenchmen. How they can fast so much and not die of it,” continues the narrator,52 “is amazing to me, for they sometimes pass the five first days without eating or drinking anything, then up to the tenth they drink oüycou, which has about as much nourishment⁶ in it as beer. These ten days passed, they begin to eat cassava only, drinking oüycou, and abstaining⁷ from everything else for the space of a whole month. During this time, however, they only eat the inside of the cassava, so that what is left is like the rim⁸ of a hat when the block has been taken out, and all the cassava rims⁹ they keep for the feast at the end of forty days, hanging them up in the house with the cord. When the forty days are up they invite their relations and best friends, who being arrived, before they set to eating, hack¹⁰ the skin of this poor wretch¹¹ with agouti-teeth, and draw blood from all parts of his body in such sort that from being sick by pure imagination they often make a real patient of him. This is, however, so to speak, only the fish, for now comes the sauce they prepare for him; they take sixty or eighty large grains of pimento or Indian pepper, the strongest they can get, and after well washing it in water they wash with this peppery infusion¹² the wounds and scars of the poor fellow, who I believe suffers no less than if he were burnt alive; however, he must not utter a single word if he will not pass for a coward and a wretch. This ceremony finished, they bring him back to his bed, where he remains¹³ some days more, and the rest go and make good cheer in the house at his expense. Nor is this all; for through the space of six whole months he eats neither birds nor fish, firmly believing that this would injure the child’s stomach, and that it would participate in the natural faults of the animals on which its father had fed; for example, if the father ate turtle, the child would be deaf and have no brains like this animal, if he ate manati, the child would have little round eyes like this creature, and so on with the rest. It seems that this very severe fasting is only for the first child, that for the others being slight.”

 

Among the Arawaks of Surinam a father must kill no large game for some time after his child is born. When a wife has borne a child, amongst the Abipones, the husband is put to bed and well wrapped up and kept as though he had had the child. Among the Land Dayaks of Borneo, after the birth of his child the father is kept in seclusion¹⁴ indoors for several days and dieted on rice and salt to prevent the child’s stomach from swelling¹⁵. All this is due to a belief in a bodily union between father and child; different persons with these savages¹⁶ are not necessarily separate beings.

 

Tylor says115 that Venegas mentions the couvade among the Indians of California; Zuccheli in West Africa; Captain Van der Hart in Bouro, in the Eastern Archipelago; and Marco Polo in Eastern Asia in the thirteenth century. In Europe even in modern times it existed in the neighbourhood of the Pyrenees. Strabo said,116 that among the Iberians of the North of Spain, the women, after the birth of a child, tend their husbands, putting them to bed instead of going themselves. Among the Basques, says Michel, “in valleys whose population recalls in its usages the infancy¹⁷ of society, the women rise immediately after childbirth and attend to the duties of the household, while the husband goes to bed, taking the baby with him, and thus receives the neighbours’ compliments.” Diodorus Siculus mentions the same thing of the Corsicans (v. 14). Hudibras says,117—

 

“For though Chineses go to bed

And lie in, in their ladies’ stead,

And, for the pains they took before,

Are nurs’d and pamper’d to do more.”

On this remarks Dr. Zachary Grey118:—

 

“The Chinese men of quality, when their wives are brought to bed, are nursed and tended with as much care as women here, and are supplied with the best strengthening and nourishing diet in order to qualify them for future services.” This is the custom of the Brazilians, if we53 may believe Masseus, who observes, “that women in travail¹⁸ are delivered without great difficulty, and presently go about their household business: the husband in her stead keepeth his bed, is visited by his neighbours, hath his broths¹⁹ made him, and junkets sent to comfort him.”

 

“Among the Iroquois, a mother who shrieks²⁰ during her labour is forbidden to bear other children, and some of the South American Indians killed the children of the mothers who shrieked²¹, from the belief that they will grow up to be cowards.”119

 

The origin of the couvade is not to be traced to the father and mother, says Starcke; it has to do simply with the well-being²² of the child. The father’s powers of endurance, tested so severely²³ as we have seen, are believed to be assured to the child.120

 

Max Müller traces the origin of the couvade to the derision of friends of both sexes.

 

Dobrizhoffen says of the Abipones:121 “They comply with this custom with the greater care and readiness because they believe that the father’s rest and abstinence have an extraordinary effect on the well-being of new-born infants, and is, indeed, absolutely necessary for them. For they are quite convinced that any unseemly act on the father’s part would injuriously affect the child on account of the sympathetic tie which naturally subsists²⁴ between them, so that in the event of the child’s death the women all blame the self-indulgence of the father, and find fault with this or that act.”

 

Badaga nursing-women physic themselves with ashes and pieces of sweet-flag (Acorus calamus), an aromatic²⁵ plant, with the idea of communicating medicinal properties to the milk. They also administer to the baby assaf?tida and a certain sacred confection taken from the entrails of a bull and similar to the bezoar stones so celebrated²⁶ in the middle ages.122

 

The Badaga folk do not permit a pregnant woman to enter the room where the provisions are kept and the fireplace stands; it would be feared that her condition, her supposed uncleanness, might lessen²⁷ the virtues²⁸ of the fire or diminish the nutritious²⁹ value of the food.123

 

Pliny says, “there is no limit to the marvellous powers attributed to females.”124 At certain times, according to him, a woman can scare away hailstorms, whirlwinds, and lightnings, by going about in scanty³⁰ costume. If she walk round a field of wheat at such times, the caterpillars³¹, worms, beetles³², and other vermin will fall from the ears of corn.54 If she touch “young vines, they are irremediably injured, and both rue³³ and ivy³⁴, plants possessed³⁵ of highly medicinal virtues, will die instantly upon being touched by her.” Bees, he says, will forsake³⁶ their hives if she touches them, linen³⁷ boiling in a cauldron will turn black, and the edge of a razor will become blunted. The bitumen³⁸ that is found in Jud?a will yield to nothing but this, and Tacitus says the same thing. Marvellous to say, poisonous and injurious as Pliny and other writers, and even popular belief at the present day, consider the catamenial fluid to be, a host of writers on medical and magical subjects have attributed certain remedial properties to it. Pliny says it is useful, as a topical application, for gout, the bite of a mad dog (what has not been recommended for this!), for tertian or quartan fevers and for epilepsy. Reduced to ashes and mixed with soot³⁹ and wax, it is a cure for ulcers⁴⁰ upon all kinds of beasts of burden; mixed in the same way with oil of roses and applied⁴¹ to the forehead, it cured the migraine of Roman ladies. Applied to the doorposts, it neutralises all the spells of the magicians—a set of men which even the credulous⁴² Pliny characterizes as the most lying in existence.

 

Both savages and classical peoples had the same curious notions about the touch of catamenial women. There may possibly be some foundation in bacteriology to account for them.

 

St. Augustine says:125 “The woman in child-bed must have three gods to look to her after her deliverance, lest Sylvanus come in the night and torment⁴³ her: in signification whereof, three men must go about the house in the night, and first strike the thresholds with an hatchet⁴⁴, then with a pestle⁴⁵, and then sweep them with besoms, that by these signs of worship they may keep Sylvanus out.”

 

Lying-in women in Germany in the seventeenth century were simply crammed⁴⁶ with food about every two hours, and they seem to have taken no harm from the practice.

1 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

2 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

3 deities   

n.神，女神( deity的名词复数 )；神祗；神灵；神明

参考例句：

• Zeus and Aphrodite were ancient Greek deities. 宙斯和阿佛洛狄是古希腊的神。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Taoist Wang hesitated occasionally about these transactions for fearof offending the deities. 道士也有过犹豫，怕这样会得罪了神。 来自汉英文学 - 现代散文

4 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

5 replete   

adj.饱满的，塞满的；n.贮蜜蚁

参考例句：

• He was replete with food and drink.他吃喝得饱饱的。
• This immense space may be replete with happiness and glory.这巨大的空间可能充满了幸福和光荣。

6 nourishment   

n.食物，营养品；营养情况

参考例句：

• Lack of proper nourishment reduces their power to resist disease.营养不良降低了他们抵抗疾病的能力。
• He ventured that plants draw part of their nourishment from the air.他大胆提出植物从空气中吸收部分养分的观点。

7 abstaining   

戒（尤指酒），戒除( abstain的现在分词 )； 弃权（不投票）

参考例句：

• Abstaining from killing, from taking what is not given, & from illicIt'sex. 诸比丘！远离杀生，远离不与取，于爱欲远离邪行。
• Abstaining from arguments was also linked to an unusual daily cortisol pattern. 压抑争吵也造成每日异常的皮质醇波动。

8 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

9 rims   

n.（圆形物体的）边( rim的名词复数 )；缘；轮辋；轮圈

参考例句：

• As she spoke, the rims of her eyes reddened a little. 说时，眼圈微红。 来自汉英文学 - 围城
• Her eyes were a little hollow, and reddish about the rims. 她的眼睛微微凹陷，眼眶有些发红。 来自辞典例句

10 hack   

n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳

参考例句：

• He made a hack at the log.他朝圆木上砍了一下。
• Early settlers had to hack out a clearing in the forest where they could grow crops.早期移民不得不在森林里劈出空地种庄稼。

11 wretch   

n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人

参考例句：

• You are really an ungrateful wretch to complain instead of thanking him.你不但不谢他，还埋怨他，真不知好歹。
• The dead husband is not the dishonoured wretch they fancied him.死去的丈夫不是他们所想象的不光彩的坏蛋。

12 infusion   

n.灌输

参考例句：

• Old families need an infusion of new blood from time to time.古老的家族需要不时地注入新鲜血液。
• Careful observation of the infusion site is necessary.必须仔细观察输液部位。

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

14 seclusion   

n.隐遁，隔离

参考例句：

• She liked to sunbathe in the seclusion of her own garden.她喜欢在自己僻静的花园里晒日光浴。
• I live very much in seclusion these days.这些天我过着几乎与世隔绝的生活。

15 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

16 savages   

未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There're some savages living in the forest. 森林里居住着一些野人。
• That's an island inhabited by savages. 那是一个野蛮人居住的岛屿。

17 infancy   

n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期

参考例句：

• He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。
• Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。

18 travail   

n.阵痛；努力

参考例句：

• Mothers know the travail of giving birth to a child.母亲们了解分娩时的痛苦。
• He gained the medal through his painful travail.他通过艰辛的努力获得了奖牌。

19 broths   

n.肉汤( broth的名词复数 )；厨师多了烧坏汤；人多手杂反坏事；人多添乱

参考例句：

• Other ingredients commonly used to thicken soups and broths include rice, flour and grains. 其它用来使羹汤或高汤变浓的配料通常包括米，面粉和谷物。 来自互联网
• When meat products, especially broths, are cooked, they often have lower oxidation-reduction potentials. 肉制品尤其是当肉汤被蒸煮时，它们经常有较低的氧化还原电势。 来自互联网

20 shrieks   

n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• shrieks of fiendish laughter 恶魔般的尖笑声
• For years, from newspapers, broadcasts, the stages and at meetings, we had heard nothing but grandiloquent rhetoric delivered with shouts and shrieks that deafened the ears. 多少年来， 报纸上， 广播里， 舞台上， 会场上的声嘶力竭，装腔做态的高调搞得我们震耳欲聋。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

21 shrieked   

v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She shrieked in fright. 她吓得尖叫起来。
• Li Mei-t'ing gave a shout, and Lu Tzu-hsiao shrieked, "Tell what? 李梅亭大声叫，陆子潇尖声叫：“告诉什么？ 来自汉英文学 - 围城

22 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

23 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

24 subsists   

v.（靠很少的钱或食物）维持生活，生存下去( subsist的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• This plant subsists in water holes only during the rainy season. 这种植物只有雨季在水坑里出现。 来自辞典例句
• The hinge is that the enterprise subsists on suiting the development of data communication. 适应数据通信的发展是通信企业生存的关键。 来自互联网

25 aromatic   

adj.芳香的，有香味的

参考例句：

• It has an agreeable aromatic smell.它有一种好闻的香味。
• It is light,fruity aromatic and a perfect choice for ending a meal.它是口感轻淡，圆润，芳香的，用于结束一顿饭完美的选择。

26 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

27 lessen   

vt.减少，减轻；缩小

参考例句：

• Regular exercise can help to lessen the pain.经常运动有助于减轻痛感。
• They've made great effort to lessen the noise of planes.他们尽力减小飞机的噪音。

28 virtues   

美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处

参考例句：

• Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
• She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。

29 nutritious   

adj.有营养的，营养价值高的

参考例句：

• Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。

30 scanty   

adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的

参考例句：

• There is scanty evidence to support their accusations.他们的指控证据不足。
• The rainfall was rather scanty this month.这个月的雨量不足。

31 caterpillars   

n.毛虫( caterpillar的名词复数 )；履带

参考例句：

• Caterpillars eat the young leaves of this plant. 毛毛虫吃这种植物的嫩叶。
• Caterpillars change into butterflies or moths. 毛虫能变成蝴蝶或蛾子。 来自辞典例句

32 beetles   

n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Beetles bury pellets of dung and lay their eggs within them. 甲壳虫把粪粒埋起来，然后在里面产卵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This kind of beetles have hard shell. 这类甲虫有坚硬的外壳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

33 rue   

n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔

参考例句：

• You'll rue having failed in the examination.你会悔恨考试失败。
• You're going to rue this the longest day that you live.你要终身悔恨不尽呢。

34 ivy   

n.常青藤，常春藤

参考例句：

• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
• The wall is covered all over with ivy.墙上爬满了常春藤。

35 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

36 forsake   

vt.遗弃，抛弃；舍弃，放弃

参考例句：

• She pleaded with her husband not to forsake her.她恳求丈夫不要抛弃她。
• You must forsake your bad habits.你必须革除你的坏习惯。

37 linen   

n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的

参考例句：

• The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
• Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。

38 bitumen   

n.沥青

参考例句：

• Bitumen paper can be burnt to gain energy.沥青纸可以焚烧以获得能量。
• In fact,a speciality crude is suitable only for bitumen production.事实上，这种特性的原油只适宜于生产沥青。

39 soot   

n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟

参考例句：

• Soot is the product of the imperfect combustion of fuel.煤烟是燃料不完全燃烧的产物。
• The chimney was choked with soot.烟囱被煤灰堵塞了。

40 ulcers   

n.溃疡( ulcer的名词复数 )；腐烂物；道德败坏；腐败

参考例句：

• Detachment of the dead cells produces erosions and ulcers. 死亡细胞的脱落，产生糜烂和溃疡。 来自辞典例句
• 75% of postbulbar ulcers occur proximal to the duodenal papilla. 75％的球后溃疡发生在十二指肠乳头近侧。 来自辞典例句

41 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

42 credulous   

adj.轻信的，易信的

参考例句：

• You must be credulous if she fooled you with that story.连她那种话都能把你骗倒，你一定是太容易相信别人了。
• Credulous attitude will only make you take anything for granted.轻信的态度只会使你想当然。

43 torment   

n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠

参考例句：

• He has never suffered the torment of rejection.他从未经受过遭人拒绝的痛苦。
• Now nothing aggravates me more than when people torment each other.没有什么东西比人们的互相折磨更使我愤怒。

44 hatchet   

n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀

参考例句：

• I shall have to take a hatchet to that stump.我得用一把短柄斧来劈这树桩。
• Do not remove a fly from your friend's forehead with a hatchet.别用斧头拍打朋友额头上的苍蝇。

45 pestle   

n.杵

参考例句：

• He ground the rock candy with a mortar and pestle.他自己动手用研钵和杵把冰糖研成粉。
• An iron pestle can be ground down to a needle.只要功夫深，铁杵磨成针。

46 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。