This is practised before priests, and
in the presence of an assembly, when they appear before it to beg pardon
for a crime.
Relations, who have long been separated, testify their joy when they
meet by chucking each other under the chin, and shedding tears of joy.
I am not aware that grown persons ever kiss each other. Sometimes
mothers, or other individuals, will put their noses to the cheeks of
little children, and draw the air through them, just as we do when we
smell any thing which is agreeable. At other times they will apply the
thumb and first finger to the cheek of the child, and then apply them to
their own noses, and, as it were, smell them.
The women, as a mark of respect, turn their backs, or at least their
faces aside, when they are in the presence of those whom they highly
esteem. They are never permitted to sit in the presence of men. A
married woman cannot do this, even in the presence of her husband.
If a person meets another of high rank, he must leave the path, if on
foot, or alight, if on horseback, and remain standing until he has
passed. He must at the same time take off his slippers. He also must
take off his slippers when he enters a house.
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