the house be joint property.

As religion has nothing to do with marriage, neither has it with
divorce. Marriage is a status, a partnership, nothing more. But it is
all that. Divorce is a dissolution of that partnership. A Burman would
not ask, 'Were they married?' but, 'Are they man and wife?' And so with
divorce, it is a cessation of the state of marriage.

Elders tell me that women ask for divorce far more than men do. 'Men
have patience, and women have not,' that is what they say. For every
little quarrel a woman will want a divorce. 'Thakin, if we were to grant
divorces every time a woman came and demanded it, we should be doing
nothing else all day long. If a husband comes home to find dinner not
cooked, and speaks angrily, his wife will rush to us in tears for a
divorce. If he speaks to another woman and smiles, if he does not give
his wife a new dress, if he be fond of going out in the evenings, all
these are reasons for a breathless demand for a divorce. The wives get
cross and run to us and cry, "My husband has been angry with me. Never
will I live with him again. Give me a divorce." Or, "See my clothes, how
old they are. I cannot buy any new dress. I will have a divorce." And we
say, "Yes, yes; it is very sad. Of course, you must have a divorce; but
we cannot give you one to-night. Go away, and come again in three days
or in four days, when we have more time." They go away, thakin, and they
do not return. Next day it is all forgotten. You see, they don't know
what they want; they turn with the wind--they have no patience.'

Yet sometimes they repent too late. Here is another of my memories about
divorce:

There was a man and his wife, cultivators, living in a small village.
The land that he cultivated belonged to his wife, for she had inherited
it from her father, together with a house and a little money. The man
had nothing when he married her, but he was hardworking and honest and
good-tempered, and they kept themselves going comfortably enough. But he
had one fault: every now and then he would drink too much. This was in
Lower Burma, where liquor shops are free to Burmans. In Upper Burma no
liquor can be sold to them. He did not drink often. He was a teetotaler
generally; but once a month, or once in two months, he would meet some
friends, and they would drink in good fellowship, and he would return
home drunk. His wife felt this very bitterly, and when he would come
into the house, his eyes red and hi