File:Shans at home. With two chapters on Shan history and literature (1910) (14784159533).jpg

Identifier: shansathomewitht00miln (find matches)
Title: Shans at home. With two chapters on Shan history and literature
Year: 1910 (1910s)
Authors: Milne, Leslie, Mrs., 1860-1952 Cochrane, Wilbur Willis
Subjects: Shan (Asian people)
Publisher: London : John Murray
Contributing Library: University of British Columbia Library
Digitizing Sponsor: University of British Columbia Library

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arvest. As thepaddy grows tall, the little walls of turf which dividethe fields disappear under the waving grain, whichturns golden as it ripens. At the time of harvest thepeople again help each other. The paddy, when cut,is laid in swathes in the sun to dry. The reapingbegins in September, October, and even as late asNovember, according to the kind of paddy : somevarieties ripen much earlier than others. The swathesare tied together to make sheaves, and the sheaves areheaped up to make large stacks. A few sheavescrown each stack; they are tied on the top to make apoint, the ears being carefully spread out, downwards,like thatch on a roof, so that if rain falls it may run off,the grain inside the stack remaining dry. After the reaping is over the people rest for two orthree weeks ; then, before the threshing, they makeofferings of pumpkins, sweet potatoes, and boiledrice to the spirits. There are two ways of separating the grain from thestraw. When there is only a small quantity it is
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f i THRESHING THE PADDY 153 beaten out by hand. The stalks are held firmly, theears are repeatedly struck on a flat stone until thegrain falls off. If there is a large quantity it isthreshed by a number of buffaloes, which are drivenround and round through the paddy as it lies in heapson the threshing floor. The rice of the first ears thatare threshed is cooked, not as usual by boiling, but bysteaming; it is then carried to the monastery andoffered to the monks. The buffaloes that have helpedin the ploughing and threshing are not forgotten, andan offering—z>. a good feed—of paddy, mixed withboiled rice, is given to them, because of their kind-ness in helping in the fields. After the paddy is threshed each family makes anoffering to the spirits, and gifts are carried to themonastery, with grateful thanks for the blessings ofa good harvest. Oxen carry the grain from the fieldsto the village in large baskets, two to each ox, and,on their backs, above the baskets, great bells of br

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