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Chapter Three. Phases of Life |
| caption: |
abstentions during pregnancy , diet ; male taboos |
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During the period of gestation, a woman was not allowed to eat the meat of buffaloes or mithan, because of the fear that the child might be born with horns, and she had to abstain from pork because sows were given to eating their own placentas. She was also forbidden to eat the flesh of birds caught in traps because if she did so the child might be imprisoned in the womb at the time of delivery. The husband of a pregnant woman was also subject to various taboos. He was not permitted to touch or cut up a dead animal, and was not supposed to make baskets or set traps for birds. |
