Unit8 Reading 1再生 Naghol | ENRICH LEARNING 1

4 Naghol
Just before the yam harvest, on the tiny Pentecost Island in Vanuatu, men tie two vines to their feet and jump from platforms 20–30 meters high. They cross their arms as they fall downward. When they reach the ground, their shoulders lightly graze the earth below. The most experienced jumpers usually jump from the highest tower.
Unlike the other coming-of-age traditions we've read about, this is one that men can perform for many years. A young boy usually does this for the first time when he is ready to end his childhood (around seven or eight years old). He will start by jumping from the lowest platform, which is about 20 meters high, as his mother watches him holding a memento of his childhood. Once he has jumped, the memento is thrown away and his childhood has finished.