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Another girl keeps her company and sleeps with her, but she
may not touch any other person, tree or plant. Further, she may not
see the sky, and woe betide her if she catches sight of a crow or a
cat! Her diet must be strictly vegetarian, without salt, tamarinds,
or chillies. She is armed against evil spirits by a knife, which is
placed on the mat or carried on her person.
In Cambodia a girl at puberty is put to bed under a mosquito
curtain, where she should stay a hundred days. Usually, however,
four, five, ten, or twenty days are thought enough; and even this,
in a hot climate and under the close meshes of the curtain, is
sufficiently trying. According to another account, a Cambodian
maiden at puberty is said to "enter into the shade." During her
retirement, which, according to the rank and position of her family,
may last any time from a few days to several years, she has to
observe a number of rules, such as not to be seen by a strange man,
not to eat flesh or fish, and so on. She goes nowhere, not even to
the pagoda.


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