Yet the men have normally much less to do with the actual life inside the household than the women. Men farm in household groups, and they eat and sleep in their households. But most of them spend as much of their time as possible away from the actual house. In the summer they are often working in the fields, or perhaps away from the village altogether as migrant labourers. When they are at leisure, they will prefer to talk in groups out of doors, or to foregather in guest rooms. I have seen men standing out in a snowstorm under a sheltered wall rather than go to join their wives in the house. Of course, the few richer villagers who own and preside over guest rooms stay at home, but normally the guest room is strictly segregated from the rest of the household. In winter, when no male guests except for very close neighbours and kin were present, I have come across women sitting in the guest room with their men, presumably solely for warmth. On one occasion, an unrelated but intimate neighbour entered and on his own initiative ordered the women out. The younger ones went, but two old women stood their ground. On other occasions, women and girls entered guest rooms on some pretext - for example, to see a kinsman who had Just returned to the village - and stayed as long as possible, but the men were plainly anxious to be rid