I Was Informed That Some Years Ago
One Of The English Traders Had A Balinese Woman Of Good Family
Living With Him - The Connection Being Considered Quite Honourable
By The Natives.
During some festival this girl offended against
the law by accepting a flower or some such trifle from another
man.
This was reported to the Rajah (to some of whose wives the
girl was related), and he immediately sent to the Englishman's
house ordering him to give the woman up as she must be "krissed."
In vain he begged and prayed, and offered to pay any fine the
Rajah might impose, and finally refused to give her up unless he
was forced to do so. This the Rajah did not wish to resort to, as
he no doubt thought he was acting as much for the Englishman's
honour as for his own; so he appeared to let the matter drop. But
some time afterwards he sent one of his followers to the house,
who beckoned the girl to the door, and then saying, "The Rajah
sends you this," stabbed her to the heart. More serious
infidelity is punished still more cruelly, the woman and her
paramour being tied back to back and thrown into the sea, where
some large crocodiles are always on the watch to devour the
bodies. One such execution took place while I was at Ampanam, but
I took a long walk into the country to be out of the way until it
was all over, thus missing the opportunity of having a horrible
narrative to enliven my somewhat tedious story.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 239 of 419
Words from 65154 to 65418
of 114260
