Thus a lease of land is made by the lessor handing over a clod of earth (which symbolises land) to the lessee; a contract of sale of cattle is entered into by handing over to the buyer a few blades of grass (which symbolise so many heads of cattle); a contract of payment of bride-price is made by the bridegroom's father or other relative handing over a number of _baris_ or small cakes of pulse (which symbolise so many rupees) to the bride's father or other relative; and a contract of service is made by the mistress of the house anointing the head of the intended servant with oil, and making a present of a few pice, and entertaining him to a feast, thus signifying that he would receive food, lodging and some pay." [112] Thus an abstract agreement is not considered sufficient for a contract; in each case it must be ratified by a concrete act.
The divisions of time are considered in a concrete sense.

The fortnight or Nakshatra is presided over by its constellation, and this is held to be a nymph or goddess, who controls events during its course.

Similarly, as shown in _The Golden Bough_, [113] many kinds of new enterprises should be begun in the fortnight of the waxing moon, not in that of the waning moon.

Days are also thought to be concrete and governed by their planets, and from this idea come all the superstitions about lucky and unlucky days.

If a day had been from the beginning realised as a simple division of time no such superstitions could exist.