On the next day is the marriage. She is conducted after
dark to her future home, accompanied by a crowd with lanterns and
candles. She is led with closed eyes along the street by two
relatives, each holding one of her hands. The bride's head is
held in its proper position by a female relative, who walks
behind her. She wears a veil, and is not allowed to open her eyes
until she is set on the bridal bed, with a girl friend beside
her. Amongst the Zulus, the bridal party proceeds to the house of
the groom, having the bride hidden amongst them. They stand
facing the groom, while the bride sings a song. Her companions
then suddenly break away, and she is discovered standing in the
middle, with a fringe of beads covering her face. Amongst the
people of Kumaun, the husband sees his wife first after the
joining of hands. Amongst the Bedui of North East Africa, the
bride is brought on the evening of the wedding-day by her girl
friends, to the groom's house. She is closely muffled up. Amongst
the Jews of Jerusalem, the bride, at the marriage ceremony,
stands under the nuptial canopy, her eyes being closed, that she
may not behold the face of her future husband before she reaches
the bridal chamber. In Melanesia, the bride is carried to her new
home on some one's back, wrapped in many mats, with palm-fans
held about her face, because she is supposed to be modest and
shy.
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