So let me see if I've got this right...

An 9 year-old Indian girl's father marries her to a dog to dispel the bad omen from her tooth growing on her upper gum.

And you think this speaks more to a failure of English to adequately capture the nuances of such an episode than to anything else?

Perhaps it is my western Eurasian hubris emboldening me to declare belief in the bad luck of black cats or broken mirrors idiotic nonsense, but I'd put marrying a little girl to a dog because of The Curse of the In-grown Tooth in the same ballpark.

Do you treat domestic superstition with the same respect? And if not, why give special dispensation to nonsense outside our borders?

Look, of course it’s rank superstition. But the fact that it’s rank superstition isn’t interesting. The world is full of rank superstition. There’s no “lesson” there — except maybe a remedial one, one that everyone already ought to have learned.

Forget why she was married to the dog for a second. What I like about the incident is that what these people mean by ‘marry’ is obviously not the same thing we mean by it in the West. (That’s where, from a perspective of comedic technique, the wire service story gets its impact.) My horizons as a speculative fiction writer and occasional armchair anthropologist are now slightly wider than they were when I got up this morning.

I think the concept of a girl being ‘married’, in some non-sexual, non-exclusive sense (which leaves out what would appear to be the core meaning of the English word, but as we know from all the controversies about domestic partner benefits, there’s a lot more to the institution than that) is one that has legs — and please, no jokes about how many. Not that a village stray is likely to be much use, but a well-trained working dog, a sheepdog or sled dog for instance, might make a very good ‘husband’ in certain circumstances — as would, in different and probably less pleasant ones, a pit bull.

And, by the way, just because I personally think a belief is bullshit, and can’t help feeling a certain sense of smug superiority over those who do believe it, doesn’t mean I don’t respect it.

Your interpretation seems reasonable to me, David (for what it's worth). The only alternative, of course, is that Rick Santorum knew what he was talking about and that seems like a longshot at best.

Every so often the thought does cross my mind that maybe the radical Christian right is on to something, and we really are living in the End Times.

Not like I’m going to do anything about it, naturally.

I didn't follow the link to the whole story, but I definately didn't realize that you were just talking about how "marry" was just an inappropriate translation or association for what was actually going on. I sort of got the idea that you were just saying the ritual was a far more beautiful thing that it sounded like, but that English really didn't have the words to properly describe it.

I agree, the writer of the article chose poorly when saying the girl and the dog were "married," however, I think the English language could have far better described the relationship between them.

I’m sure it could, just not without a lot of discursive explanation. (And then the story wouldn’t be as good.)

Believe me, I’m sure the real thing wasn’t particularly beautiful at all. More likely hot, dusty, and full of family argument.

I would be curious to know whether the girl and her ‘husband’ have any responsibility to one another now, or whether the poor dog is now back on the street.

David writes: "Look, of course it’s rank superstition."

Ah, okay. I thought perhaps you were saying it wasn't.

"Forget why she was married to the dog for a second."

I guess I find that extremely difficult to do. Had it not been for the idiotic superstition, I doubt the ceremony would have taken place.

If, for example, the story involved a marriage of convenience for the sake of some legal issue (such as settling a property dispute), I probably would have approached it from a different angle.

"And, by the way, just because I personally think a belief is bullshit, and can’t help feeling a certain sense of smug superiority over those who do believe it, doesn’t mean I don’t respect it."

How exactly do respect a belief you think is bullshit? And why, exactly, should you?

Maybe “bullshit” was a little strong. But something can be total scientific nonsense and still be rich in history, or aesthetically elegant, or a useful metaphor, or illuminating of some aspect of human psychology. Just because it’s not worth believing in doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile.

I may deplore the fact that the girl’s father and her community are so poorly educated, but given what they have to work with, I still have to admire their ingenuity.

I suppose the interesting thing is that - in what sense were they married? Was the ceremony that the Hindustani Times reported on a wedding ceremony? How much like a wedding ceremony was it? And if it was a lot like her eventual wedding ceremony (assuming she is one day really married, like to a human) what will that day be like for her, remembering that she's been through it all before, with a stray dog?

Imagine that scene, when she's kissing her husband with her perfect mouth that her first husband, the dog, allowed her to have.

Of course, I suspect that the ceremony was not really a wedding ceremony at all, but a scapegoat ceremony with some "marriage" language in it, and that our funny AP "girl marries dog" version would not be recognizeable to the participants. But, hey, work with what we've got.

Thank you,
-Vardibidian.

David writes: "I may deplore the fact that the girl’s father and her community are so poorly educated, but given what they have to work with, I still have to admire their ingenuity."

I guess I don't see what's ingenious about a mock ceremony between a little girl and a dog in order to break a curse based on the growth of a tooth.

As a speculative fiction writer, Derek, try to imagine yourself the as the father facing the pressure from his community to marry off his daughter. For any number of reasons ranging from the financial to emotional, he doesn't, at this time, wish for his daughter to be married. So there's the conflict. Societal pressure versus individual wants and needs.

But our protagonist finds a novel solution to the conflict that satisfies his community while serving his own individual needs and wants at the same time. In the context of his world, his solution is ingenious.

I consider myself a skeptic, an atheist, and a person with little tolerance for those who try to impose their supernatural beliefs on my life. But my parents grew up in a place where the banyan trees were inhabited by ghosts. In another place, another time, who knows what I'd believe today?

And I think that when you get down to it the point of my original post may have been that from their point of view it isn’t a “mock ceremony”. No matter how much we mock it.

And, I should probably add, no matter whether or not we think that point of view is a reasonable one.

"In another place, another time, who knows what I'd believe today?"

You don't seem to have much faith in the power of your intellect...

No trolling, please. If you have a point to make, make it.

I have no more faith in intellect than I have faith in a higher being. At least not by Mirriam-Webster's definitions of the word.

1 a : allegiance to duty or a person : LOYALTY
b (1) : fidelity to one's promises
(2) : sincerity of intentions
2 a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof
(2) : complete trust
3 : something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs

Now.. I'm going to try and analyze this with an open mind.

So let me get this straight.. A father makes his daughter marry a dog to get over a curse? Ok.. well.. now I'm definitley in no position to judge others on their beliefs; but does this not sound a little bit Middle Age cultish creepy?

I understand that they may hold different beliefs and may have a different type of education and social structure than I do in Canada... but come on folks there is a fine line between downright weird and what one constitutes as a legitimate belief in order to explain a phenomenon... and think the father in this scenario has definitley crossed that line onto the crazy train. I am alone in the belief that this guy is pretty crazy regardless of religious belief?

A father makes his daughter marry a dog to get over a curse?

Hey, it’s better than marrying her to the village idiot, or the village pedophile.

I am alone in the belief that this guy is pretty crazy regardless of religious belief?

Well, yeah, you are, pretty much.

I mean, some commenters above think he’s crazy because of his religious belief, and the rest of us — well, like Greg said, “In another place, another time, who knows what I’d believe today?” Given the guy’s environment, and the information available to him, it’s a rational solution.