The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1897, Page 35

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

The Lutheran Pioneer. 35

Ne OO EEE —————————————

Baby Days in Siam. | He replied, ‘Only one, and that was given to

|me by a poor family unable to pay their doc-
“Zet me tell you,’? writes a missionary, |tor’s bill.’ He took the baby as pay for doc-

“how the Siamese kiss their babies. You| toring the family.

would never guess. They kiss with the nose! ‘‘As soon as a baby can talk it is taught to| doors, an elderly man, with a peculiar kind

instead of lips. Placing the nose close to,curse. I have seen a group of mothers, hay-| of wig known in that district, bright, smooth

baby’s cheek they snuff hard many times, |ing a little one in their midst just able to walk} and reddish brown, accosted him: |

|a little, teaching it curse words and laughing

Scotch parson. The parson was proceeding
from the manse to the church to open 3 new
place of worship. As he passed slowly and
gravely through the crowd gathered about the

saying, ‘Chupe luk,’ meaning ‘kiss baby.’|

Many of them love their babies, but others | aloud when it pronounced them. After awhile,

do not, or they could not do as I have seen| when that baby uses those words in cursing

them. j}its own mother, it will be cruelly beaten.
“Once a dear little baby was born in a! ‘Now let us visit a home in Siam not far} ‘‘No, doctor, I must speak to you now; it

bamboo hut near our home. It lived but a) from the little Christian chapel. It seems to|is a matter of my conscience.’’

short time, and as soon as it died its parents| be a happy home; all are glad to see you. ‘“‘Oh, since it is a matter of conscience, tell

“Doctor, if you please, I wish to speak to
you.”’

‘‘Well, Duncan,’’ said the venerable doc-
| tor, ‘‘can ye not wait until after worship?”

drove a large nail into its head, then crushed! Not long ago their baby, dressed in white, | me what it is; but be brief, for time presses.”

its little body into an earthen rice
pot, covered it tightly, and set it
afloat on the river. Why this cruel
act? Because the love of Jesus has |
not entered the parents’ hearts;
being filled with superstition they {
feared that the spirit of the baby
would return and bring evil to their
home, and took these cruel meas-
ures to keep it from doing so. We
have frequently seen rice pots thus
laden floating upon the rivers. Some-
times the bodies are cast into the
streams and temple grounds to be
devoured by the crows, vultures,
and other animal scavengers.

“The babies of Siam wear jewels
about their ankles, wrists, and
necks, but no clothing. I was once
amused by two babies of a princess.
They wore very large gaudy hats
from Europe, decked with flowers,
feathers, and ribbons, and these
were all the clothing the babies
wore.

“The babies do not have very
Sweet names; the most common
are, Oang (red), Nod (rat), 7t (brick),
Ma (dog). The mothers, instead of
saying sweet, loving things to them,
will say, ‘How ugly,’ or Na Kliet
(hateful), Should they give pretty names, or
express love or admiration, then the evil
spirits would be so jealous that they would
bring great evil to the babies.

“‘Baby’s hair is not permitted to grow and
curl, but the mother shaves all the hair from
its head, often with a dull razor, causing baby
to scream very loudly. Sometimes little tufts
are left to grow, very much like those you
have seen on Japanese dolls. Little bells are
fastened to baby’s feet, so that when he kicks
up his heels he makes music. A string of
Seashells, old nails, coins, and pieces of coral
are tied about his waist as charms to keep the
Snakes and evil spirits from doing him harm.
His food is soft boiled rice and roast bananas.

“In former years the parents sold their
little ones to get money with which to gamble.
Tam glad to tell you that the present king has
forbidden this. Once, a Siamese doctor came
to visit us. I asked if he had any children.

Treading out Corn in Palestine.

was carried to the chapel and baptized. You
now see it fast asleep in a nice swinging
cradle, something like your hammock. The
mother is seated beside the cradle with sew-
ing in hand, and she pushes the cradle to
keep it swinging that baby may sleep on.
She is singing in her own language one of the
sweet hymns you love to sing.

‘Why do you suppose this home is so
different from others we have seen? Because
Jesus has found a place in that mother’s heart,
and when He enters a heart and home, what
changes He makes! What love is then given,
not only to the little baby, but to all others!’’

—>- oP oe

The Grumbler Silenced.

There are people that like to grumble and
to find fault where there is no fault. Such a
grumbler was once prettily silenced by an old

‘The matter is this, doctor. You
see the clock yonder on the face of
the new church? Well, there is no
clock really there—nothing but the
face of the clock. There is no truth
in it but once in twelve hours.
Now, it is in my mind and against
my conscience, that there should
be a lie on the face of the house of
the Lord.””

‘Duncan, I will consider the
point. But I am glad to see you
looking so well; you are not young
now; I remember you for many
years; and what a fine head of hair
you have still!”’

“Eh, doctor, you are joking now ;
it is long since I have had my hair.””

**O, Duncan, Dunesn, are you
going into the house of the Lord
with a lie on your head?”

The doctor heard no more of the
lie on the face of the clock.

+o oo

The Greater Folly.

Were a house to be in flames to-
morrow, and were a mother to seize
her gold, and her jewels, and her
rings, and rush from the flames
with them, and forget her infant slumbering
in its cradle, she would neither be so inhuman
nor so inconsistent as that man who cares for
the toys of a day, and thinks nothing and
cares nothing about a soul that stands in eter-
nal jeopardy every hour if not justified and
pardoned. — Selected.

2 ~+0~<mme se

Do Not Quarrel.

If two goats meet each other on 4 narrow
path above a river, what will they do? They
can not turn back; they can not pass each
other; if they were to butt at each other,
both would fall into the water and be drowned.
What, then, will they do? Nature has taught
them—one to lie down, and the other pass
over it. Thus both are unhurt. So should
one man do to another—let himself be trod-
den under foot, rather than quarrel and con-
tend. — Martin Luther. ;