| caption: |
sexual liaisons among the Zemi |
| text: |
In contrast to the freedom before marriage, absolute fidelity is expected, at least of the wife, after it; if the husband has one or two lapses, they are generally mere liaisons of a night or two only in some village he happens to visit. Occasionally a marriage does break up. A young couple in Laisong parted after about a year, owing to the boy, who was very good-looking, conducting an affair with a girl in the dekachang. The young wife left him and returned to her parents' house. The marriage is considered dissolved; the boy is back in the dekachang, but the girl has lost her unmarried status (she had a child, which died) and takes no part in dances, etc. Another youth approached her parents with a view to marrying her, but was firmly refused. |
