Introduction: Begging is the practice of requesting others to grant a favor with no expectation of reciprocation. Begging has several economic and sociocultural reasons. In this article, a traditional custom of begging in a small village in South Khorasan province has been described. 
Methods: This study was an anthropologic investigation about a traditional custom of Poof. Through snowball sampling, informant persons participated in the study. Interview and observation were used to data collection. Data were evaluated by qualitative content analysis.
Results: Fifteen informant persons participated in this study. The findings showed that traditional custom of Poof (traveling to other cities to earn money through beggary) usually is implemented by young men. Drum playing, showing a prescription, pretending to be ill, reading poems and deception by showing sick or hungry children; are used in traditional custom of Poof. Big cities and commercial areas are the places that are chosen for Poof. People who implement this traditional custom easily earn money but they have to deal with the dangers of traveling and the stigma of "beggar".
Conclusions: Although poverty has been mentioned as the main reason of beggary, it seems that the traditional custom of Poof is a social norm. Social pressure leads young men to implement this custom. Poof is a mechanism for social acceptance of a young man in his family and small community. Besides, persons are motivated to do this custom because it is an easy way of earning money.