| caption: |
morung life after marriage |
| text: |
The elders maintained strict discipline, and loyalty to the 'kienga' was strong. 'Rahangmi' were supposed, too, under the tuition of the married men, to perfect themselves in hunting, fishing, fighting, and the other manly arts. But still the buck's was a life of gilded leisure, to which the harried householder looked back regretfully ever after. |
| text: |
On marriage, a man ceased to sleep in his morung (except in time of war, when all the men collected there to be ready in case of a raid); but he used it as a convenient club-house. Indeed, the great halls with their long wall-benches, their wide floor-space, their seats round the fire, and their master's house at the back, whence came beer and a welcome for strangers, were indispensable public institutions. Dances, feasts, and informal meetings of the village court were held there; the elders discussed affairs; there the blacksmith worked, there drums, spears, torches and shields were kept, there the bucks lived and there travellers stayed; and all with a warm and friendly informality. |
