Tears of a bride summary by Sammy Crown, PDF, was published in 2020 and uploaded for 100-level General studies students of Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), offering GNS101 course. This ebook can be downloaded for FREE online on this page. Tears of a bride summary ebook can be used to learn Akofea, ajibike, lobinto, idileke, romoke, lapinni, ashabi, Ologbojo.
Tears Of A Bride Pdf
One of the most traditional speeches at a wedding is the father of the bride speech, where the proud dad gets to brag about how amazing his daughter is and how lucky her partner is to be marrying her.
The bride's father notifies friends and relatives that his daughter is to be married, and the chief of the village is informed that there will be a wedding. Thereafter, the father informs and invites the neighbours to the wedding. The father also appoints two men and two women to accompany the untsimba to the groom's homestead.[7] Grass mats and grass brooms are made by the young bride, her relatives and friends, which the bride will take with her when she leaves her parental home. She also takes along hand-made presents for her in-laws, which signals to them a spirit of friendliness and generosity.
Almost all Swazi functions and ceremonies include traditional beer called umcombotsi, which is brewed together with other beverages by the elderly women of the village for the bride's journey to her groom's homestead. Should the groom live close by, the bride takes a pot of beer known as tshwala beliqaka to the groom's home, which indicates to them that she has come with her family's full consent.[5]
Once a message has been sent to the future family that preparations have been made, the bridal party (umtsimba) is gathered together, mostly young girls and women that are relatives and friends of the bride. The size of an umtsimba is a matter of pride for a bride's family and may exceed fifty people. The important parties of the bride's maids are 1) ematshitshi (girls who have reached puberty but have not chosen a lover) 2) emaqhikiza (girls who have chosen a lover) 3) tingcugce (these are girls who have chosen a lover and are preparing for marriage).[7] The umtsimba also serves to test the hospitality of the future husband.
The day of departure is marked by intense activity, with young people wearing their finest traditional attire. Inkomo yekususa umtsimba (a cow to send forth the bridal parties) is killed and the meat cooked and eaten.[7][8] The bride's father and elderly relatives ensure that the meat is correctly allocated among members of the group. The inyongo (gall bladder) is set aside for the bride by the lisokancanti (first born son) of her paternal grandfather. The Lisokancanti performs a ritual where he squeezes the gall on to the bride's mouth, forehead, down the centre of her face, down the right arm and the right leg. This is done to strengthen her and give her good luck.[7] The bladder is then inflated and tied with a string above her forehead.[3][5] This is her lusiba (feather), which is the sign that she leaves her parental home with her father's consent[5]
The bride is then schooled by older women on the hardships of marriage. She is urged to practice restraint, never to answer insult with insult, and is strongly reminded that she represents the honourable name of her family. She is forewarned against accusations of jealous co-wives of witchcraft and laziness, and possible beatings from her husband. After the marital schooling, the father of the bride bids his daughter farewell and blesses her. The lisokancanti of the bride's grandfather, then issues instructions and advice to the appointed two men and women. He instructs them to ensure to return the insulamyembeti (tear wiper) cow, which will be mentioned later.[7] The bride and tingcugce have a ludzibi (a girl that helps with carrying luggage) to carry clothes and blankets for the bride and the older girls. The young men also assist. The bridal party then start singing and dancing wedding songs and they depart. Two of the songs they sing are the following:
These songs explain that the bride is in great demand. As a special favour, she is being sent to the bridegroom.[7] Depending on the distance between villages, the journey to the groom's homestead could take a number of days. Along the way, the bridal party is accommodated at the homes of specific kinsmen and friends. Today, the journey to the groom's homestead tends to be of much shorter duration, in part due to availability of modern transport.
The bridal party aims to arrive at the groom's homestead as the sun sets as it is believed that the ancestral spirits are at their most active and so welcome and bless the bride.[5] When the bridal party approaches the groom's homestead, members of the bridal party dance in order to make their presence known. They wait outside the gates and await to be welcomed. The bridal party forms an arc, with the bride at its centre, the men start loudly praising her clan name and praising her ancestors. The singing ends when the groom's female relatives, wearing rattles on their ankles, emerge to welcome the party.[6] As the bride starts singing the first song, a boy from the groom's village leads the bride and her tingcugce (single women) to her future mother-in-law. Kneeling, the bride places a string of white beads in front of her mother in law, and says: "I come to pay allegiance". The mother-in-law replies: "From whom do you come?" The bride answers "I was sent by my father".[7] The bride and her party are then led away to rest while the groom's family continues to sing and dance as a sign of joyful welcome. The bride and her 'girls ' sleep in the same room. She has not seen the groom.
Before sunset, the bridal party goes to the river where they eat and drink. The groom's family arranges that a cow or goat known as the sahukulu. Each member of the umtsimba accepts a portion, however mature girls are not permitted to eat the offal.[5] The bride herself is excluded from the sahukulu feast and only eats meals prepared for her from home or from relatives. The party then returns to the prepared rooms provided by the groom's family.
The marriage day is known as lilanga lokuteka.[3] The elders in the groom's family members are gathered before sunrise to summon the bride:[9] "Come out, mother, and mekeza, now I marry you".[5] Mekeza has no English equivalent, but it describes the mourning of the bride in leaving her family and her girlhood behind.
The bride stays symbolically silent and sad.,[10] as a man from the groom's side family calls her to mekeza, while her companions shout at him to go away. As the day progresses and the sun rises, the bride is accompanied by her girls to the groom's cattle-byre to mekeza, wearing simply her loin skirt from home[3][5][6][7][9]
The bride 'escapes' to her room with her bridal party, while the groom's family call to her: "We bring you back, mother, with your cow, a cow with a red stripe". This cow, always light in colour, is known as the insulamnyembeti[2] - the wiper away of tears - and shows the bride's mother that the groom's people appreciate the care she lavished on her daughter.[7][13][14] The mekeza can last from two to four hours and is very tiring for everyone.
Transfer of lobola occurs, which includes the transfer of cattle from the groom's family to the bride's family. This can occur months or years after umtsimba.[5][14]The Swazi tradition states:"akulotjolwa intfombi kulotjolwa umfati" which means that, the bride price is paid for a woman who is legally bound in marriage and not for a single woman.[15] However, nowadays lobola is mostly paid before the couple is married, when the woman is not as yet legally bound.
The unique cake was embellished with 5,000 hand-cut flowers with edible pearl inserts and five flawless three-carat white diamonds worth $200,000, making it worth $1m in total - and worthy of the name - the million-dollar bride.
From that day these marvels were constantly occurring; the tears were changed into pearls, the smiles scattered roses, and the water, even if she dipped but the tips of her fingers in, was filled with gold-fish.
The poor girl was terrified, and went back to tell her mother what had happened. And it was even so; for if she smiled hideous toads fell from her mouth, her tears were changed into lizards, and the water in which she dipped but the tips of her fingers was filled with serpents.
In his prosperity he did not forget his unhappy sister, for he felt very uneasy about her. When he had a few moments to himself he would sit down in some retired spot and gaze upon her portrait with a sad heart and eyes filled with tears. For the picture was a faithful likeness of her, and he looked upon it as a gift from his parents.
The lad burst into tears, and told him it was the living image of his sister, who a short time since had received as a special mark of favour from God, that her tears should be changed into pearls, her smiles into roses, and the touch of her hands in water should produce beautiful gold-fish.
At the conclusion of these words her own child became endowed with all the graces and beauty of her unfortunate step-sister. The two then continued their journey, arriving at the royal chapel at the appointed hour. The king received them with all honours, while the deceitful woman gave away her own daughter, whom the bridegroom believed to be the original of the beautiful picture. After the ceremony the mother went away loaded with presents. The king, as he looked at his young wife, could not understand why he did not feel for her the sympathy and admiration he had felt for the portrait she so much resembled. But it could not be altered now; what is done is done. So he admired her beauty and looked forward to the pleasure of seeing pearls fall from her eyes, roses from her lips, and gold-fish at the touch of her fingers. 2ff7e9595c
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