When we have expressed our astonishment at women singing such songs—for it is the women that sing them—the elders have quoted a proverb, Ushildilwe taitwa ku bushu, "a mourner is not to be passed before the face," i.e., he or she has license to do whatever he or she pleases. Under ordinary circumstances it would be reckoned tabu for women to utter such things in the presence of men; but at funerals all restraints are removed; people do as they like. Grass may be plucked out of thatched roofs; the fields may be robbed of the growing corn; all passions are let loose; and no complaints for damage, theft, or adultery can be made.1

1Smithn/an/an/an/an/an/a and Dalen/an/an/an/an/an/a, , 113 (The Macmillan Company. By permission).