122 of stone, without any covers, because they are guarding the person who feeds them. They spend very little and thus, the majority of them earn no more than two hundred reais per month and have a servant-boy. Generally, when they reach the age of seven, these nairs start attending school, in order to learn good skills and acrobatics; they are taught to dance there and spin round on the floor and do Arab springs and other jumps. They learn how to do these things when they are young and have two classes per day, and they become so agile and supple that they can bend their body the opposite way of nature. Once they become experts in this, they teach them to handle the weapons of their choosing, some of them go for bows and arrows and some of them with a stick in order to be lancers. The majority, however, go in for swords and shields, which is the most common, and they always practise this kind of fencing. Their teachers are known as Panikkars, who are highly esteemed and respected, especially by their pupils, who both old and young revere them. Whenever they meet them, the rules and customs oblige them to bow to their masters, even if the disciple is the older of the two, for no matter how old they are, nairs must take lessons in swordsmanship every winter until they die. Some of these Panikkars live with kings and great lords and do not teach but serve as army captains. This name is a rank and they are graduates in this science, just like the men of letters in our country. And thus, they receive more provisions from the people they live with than the other nairs; they are not married and their nephews, their sisters’ sons, are their heirs. Women from the nair lineage are very free and do what they want with Brahmins and nairs. However, they do not sleep with a man from a lower caste than their own, on pain of death. When they reach the age of twelve, their mothers hold a great ceremony for them. When a mother sees her daughter reaching that age, she begs her relatives and
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