We have spoken of marriage as a formal contract. It should be noted that this contract does not1_the same form in different societies. In Western societies, for instance, the_2 of a man and a woman is given the status of legal marriage by being registered by an official 3 by the state. In some African societies, 4 , marriage has nothing to do with an official registration of this kind but is legalized by the formal 5 of goods. Generally it is the bridegroom（新郎） who is required to make a payment of goods to the bride’s kin(亲戚), though sometimes a payment is 6 made by the bridegroom’s kin to that of the bride.
Among the Nuer, a 7 living in Southern Sudan, the payment made to the bride’s kin, called bridewealth, is in the 8 of cattle. Once the amount of bridewealth is agreed upon, and the formal payment is made, the marriage becomes a legal union. The offspring (后代) of the union become the acceptable 9 of the 10 .They remain his children even if the wife leaves him to live with another man.
Historians tend to tell the same joke when they are describing history education in America. It’s the one 61 the teacher standing in the schoolroom door 62 goodbye to students for the summer and calling 63 them, “By the way, we won World War II.”