CHAPTER XIV
DOMESTIC LIFE: PREGNANCY, BIRTH, AND CHILDHOOD
DESIRE FOR PROGENY
The desire to fulfill the end of marriage is so strong that it may be said that there is almost rivalry and envy between the young men. Many a time I have heard the remark made that so and so is a-yo-á-yo--a sorry specimen of humanity--because he had no children. If you ask a Manóbo how many children he has he will seldom forget to tell you not only the number that died, but also the number of times that his wife suffered miscarriage, owing to a faulty selection of food, or to the noxious influence of some evil spirits, or to the violation of certain taboos, or to some other cause.
And thus it is that when the first evidences of motherhood manifest themselves, the husband procures a white or black chicken and after inviting a few friends, holds an informal party in honor of the occasion. I know of one case in which the ritual waving ceremony1 took place on pregnancy, but it was performed, so the husband told me, because of a conjunction of ill omens, and not because such a ceremony was customary.
1Kú-yab to má-nuk.
BIRTH AND PREGNANCY TABOOS
The precautions taken by both husband and wife during pregnancy, as also on the approach of parturition, are evidence of the sacredness with which they guard the dearest hope of their married lives.
The following pregnancy and birth taboos, verified by the writer, hold with little variation in every part of the Agúsan Valley, and several of them are still adhered to by the Bisáyas of that region.2