re willing,
the guilty party may settle with them by paying in Chinese jars,
carabao, or money. The usual payment varies from fifty to one hundred
pesos. A thief is compelled to make restitution, and is also subject
to a small fine.
The practice of evil magic, and the breaking of a taboo, are considered
serious crimes, but as they have been treated under Religion and Magic,
they will not be repeated here.
_Lying, Cheating, Breaches of Etiquette._--Falling outside the realm
of law are those things which may be considered right and wrong,
but the infraction of which carries with it no penalty. Lying, for
instance, is not bad, if it is done to protect yourself or a friend,
but falsifying without purpose is mean and to be despised. Cheating
is not wrong. Your ability to outwit the other person is proof that
you are the smarter man.
It is bad manners for a man to sit with his legs far apart or to
expose all of his clout, or for a woman to sit on the floor with one
leg drawn up. A person should not walk about while others are singing
or dancing. Basi should never be drunk, until it has been offered to
every one present, especially the elders.
Before eating, a person should invite all in the room to join him,
even though he does not expect them to accept. A visitor should never
eat with the wife of another during his absence.
Always call before entering a house. Never enter a dwelling, when
the owner is away, and has removed the ladder from the door. Never
enter a village dirty; stop and bathe at the spring before going up.
Only dogs enter the houses without bathing.
_The Village_ (Plate XXXVIII).--A village generally consists of two
or three settlements, situated near together, and under the authority
of a single _lakay_ or headman. There is no plan or set arrangement
for the dwellings or other structures, but, as a rule, the house,
spirit structure, and perhaps corrals are clustered closely together,
while at the edge of the settlement are the rice granaries and garden
plots. Formerly a double bamboo stockade surrounded each settlement,
but in recent years these have disappeared, and at the time of our
visit only one town, Abang, was so protected.
The dwellings vary in size and shape. They conform in general to
two types. The first and most common is a single room with a door
at one end opening off from an uncovered porch (Plate XXXIX). The
second consists of three rooms, or rather two rooms, between which
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