Papua New Guinea 1999 - Play: Ill wife (continued)


Contents Showtime Play: Ill wife (continued)	354 374

364. Play: Ill wife (continued)
The mother touches her forehead and falls to the ground. When the father and son come home she is still laying there. They try to raise her up but she is too limp to stand. The son is told to go and get the medicine man, but he is very tired so he goes first after some squabble.

After a few days the medicine man comes and prepares a greasy mess using rare plants most certainly growing only in darkness. He then applies the porridge to her and makes gestures from her stomach and out as if he is trying to drain her illness.