These close ties between the infant and the after-birth are
easily comprehended by a people who also believe in the close
relationship between a person and any object recently handled by him
(cf. p. 305). In general it is thought that the after-birth soon
disappears and no longer influences the child; yet certain of the
folk-tales reflect a firm conviction that a group of spirits, known
as _alan_, sometimes take the placenta, and transform it into a real
child, who is then more powerful than ordinary mortals. [55]

Immediately following the birth the father constructs a shallow bamboo
framework (_baitken_), [56] which he fills with ashes, and places in
the room close to the mother. On this a fire is kept burning constantly
for twenty-nine days [57] For this fire he must carefully prepare each
stick of wood, for should it have rough places on it, the baby would
have lumps on its head. A double explanation is offered for this fire;
firstly, "to keep the mother warm;" secondly, as a protection against
evil spirits. The idea of protection is evidently the original and
dominant one; for, as we shall see, evil spirits are wont to frequent
a house, where a birth or death has occurred, and a fire is always
kept burning below the house or beside the ladder at such a time. [58]

When the child has been washed, it is placed on an inverted
rice-winnower, and an old man or woman gives it the name it is to
bear. The winnower is raised a few inches above the ground, and the
woman asks the child its name, then drops it. Again she raises it,
pronounces the name, and lets it fall. A third time it is raised and
dropped, with the injunction, "When your mother sends you, you go,"
or "You must not be lazy." If it is a boy, it may be instructed,
"When your father sends you to plow, you go."