at out
ten bundles, the second, twenty, and so on, until they clean fifty
on the fifth day.
Little occurs during the second and third days, but on these evenings
the young men and girls join the mediums and dance _da-eng_ by the
fire in the yard. The fourth and fifth nights are known as _ginitbet_
("dark"), for then no fires are lighted, and the mediums dance
alone. It is supposed that the black spirits, those who are deformed,
or who are too shy to appear before the people, will come out at this
time and enjoy the ceremony.
Beginning with the sixth day the women pound rice in the early
morning. Starting with ten bundles, they increase the number by
ten each day until on the thirteenth morning they pound out eighty
bundles. A fire is lighted in the yard on the sixth day, and is kept
burning continuously through the eighth, but the ninth and tenth are
nights of darkness. When the fire is burning, it is a sign for all who
wish, to come and dance, and each evening finds a jolly party of young
people gathered in the yard, where they take part in the festivities,
or watch the mediums, as they offer rice to the superior beings.
On the eleventh day, a long white blanket (_tabing_) is stretched
across one corner of the room, making a private compartment for the use
of visiting spirits. That evening, as it grows dark, a jar of _basi_
is carried up into the house. All lights are extinguished both in
the yard and the dwelling, so that the guests have to grope their way
about. After the liquor is consumed, they go down into the yard, where,
in darkness, they join the medium in dancing _da-eng._ The twelfth day
is known as _Pasa-ad_--"the building." During the preliminary days,
the men have been bringing materials for use in constructing the great
spirit-house called _balaua_, and on this morning the actual work is
started. In form the _balaua_ resembles the _kalangan_, but it is large
enough to accommodate a dozen or more people, and the supporting posts
are trunks of small trees (Plate XXI). After the framework is complete,
one side of the roof is covered with cogon grass, but the other is
left incomplete. Meanwhile the women gather near by and pound rice in
the ceremonial manner described in the _Pala-an_ ceremony (cf. p. 329).
As soon as the building is over for the day, a jar of _basi_ is
carried into the structure, a little of the liquor is poured into
bamboo tubes and tied to each of the corner poles. The balance of t
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