head uses the words—“Muhammad, short be your head” in the case of a boy,
and “Fatimah, short be your head” in the case of a girl.
Now comes the ceremony of administering to the infant what is called the
“mouth-opener” (lit. “mouth-splitter,” pĕmb’lah mulut); first, you take a green
cocoa-nut (niyor sungkoran), split it in halves (di-b’lah niyor), put a “grain” of
salt inside one-half of the shell (di-buboh garam sa-buku), and give it to the
child to drink, counting up to seven, and putting it to the child’s mouth at the
word seven (lĕtakkan di mulut-nya). Then repeat the ceremony, substituting
asam (tamarinds?) for the salt. Finally, take a gold ring, and after rubbing it
against the inside of the cocoa-nut (cholek di-dalam niyor), lay it upon the
child’s lips, (lĕtakkan di bibir-nya), saying “Bismillah,” etc. Do the same with a
silver and amalgam (gold and silver) ring respectively, and the ceremony will be
at an end.
I may note, in passing, that it is in allusion to the above ceremony that you will
sometimes hear old men say “It’s not the first time I tasted salt, I did so ever
since I was first put into my swinging-cot” (aku makan garam dahulu, dĕripada
tatkala naik buayan).
Sometimes a little “rock” sugar (gula batu) is added to make the “mouth-opener”
more palatable.
From the time when the child is about twenty-four hours old until it is of the age
of three months, it is fed with rice boiled in a pot on the fire, “broken” (di-
lechek) by means of a short broad cocoa-nut shell spoon (pĕlechek), mixed with
a little sugar and squeezed into small receptacles of woven cocoa-nut leaf
(kĕtupat).
Later it is taught to feed at the breast (mĕnetek), which continues until it is
weaned by the application of bitter aloes (jadam) to the mother’s breasts.
In the rice-jar (buyong b’ras) during this period, a stone, a big iron nail, and a
“candle-nut” must be kept, and a spoon (sĕndok) must always be used for putting
the rice into the pot before boiling it. Moreover, the mother, when eating or
drinking, must always cross her left arm under her breasts (di-ampu susu-nya di
lĕngan kiri) leaving the right arm free to bring the food to the mouth.