The origin and development of the moral ideas

The stranger thus being looked upon as a more or less dangerous individual, it is natural that those who are exposed to the danger should do what they can to avert it. With this end in view certain ceremonies are often performed immediately on his arrival. Many such reception ceremonies have been described by Dr. Frazer,108 but I shall add a few others which seem to serve the object of either transferring to the stranger conditional curses or purifying him from dangerous influences. I am told by a native that among some of the nomadic Arabs of Morocco, as soon as a stranger appears in the village, some water, or, if he be a person of distinction, some milk, is presented to him. Should he refuse to partake of it, he is not allowed to go freely about, but has to stay in the village mosque. On asking for an explanation of this custom, I was told that it is a precaution against the stranger; should he steal or otherwise misbehave himself, the drink would cause his knees to swell so that he could not escape. In other words, he has drunk a conditional curse.109 The Arabs of a tribe in Nejd “welcome” a guest by pouring on his head a cup of melted butter,110 the South African Herero greet him with a vessel of milk.111 Sir S. W.

Baker describes a reception custom practised by the Arabs on the Abyssinian frontier, which is exactly similar to one form of l-ʿâr of the Moors:—“The usual welcome upon the arrival of a traveller, who is well received in an Arab camp, is the sacrifice of a fat sheep, that should be slaughtered at the door of his hut or tent, so that the blood flows to the threshold.”112 Reception sacrifices also occur among the Shulis,113 in Liberia,114 and in Afghanistan.115 Among the Indians of North America, again, it is a common rule that a dish of food should be placed before the new-comer immediately on his arrival, that he should taste of it even though he has just arisen from a feast, and that no word should be spoken to him or no question put to him until he has partaken of the food.116 Among the Omahas “the master of the house is evidently ill at ease, until the food is prepared for eating; he will request his squaws to expedite it, and will even stir the fire himself.”117 Among many peoples it is considered necessary that the host should give food to his guest before he eats himself.

This is a rule on which much stress is laid in the literature of ancient India.118 A Brâhmana never takes food “without having offered it duly to gods and guests.”119 “He who eats before his guest consumes the rood, the prosperity, the issue, the cattle, the merit which his family acquired by sacrifices and charitable works.”120 It is probable that this punishment has something to do with the evil eye of the neglected guest, for the idea of eating the evil wishes of others was evidently quite familiar to the ancient Hindus. It is said in Âpastamba’s Aphorisms:—“A guest who is at enmity with his host shall not eat his food, nor shall he eat the food of a host who hates him or accuses him of a crime, or of one who is suspected of a crime. For it is declared in the Veda that he who eats the food of such a person eats his guilt.”121 In Tonga Islands, “at meals strangers or foreigners are always shewn a preference, and females are helped before men of the same rank”—according to our informant, “because they are the weaker sex and require attention.”122 As to the correctness of this explanation, however, I have some doubts; the Moors, also, at their feasts, allow the women to eat first, and one reason they give for this custom is that otherwise the hungry women might injure the men with their evil eyes.

In Hawaii the host and his family do not at all partake of the entertainment with which a passing visitor is generally provided on arriving among them;123 and that their abstinence is due to superstitious fear is all the more probable as, among the same people, it is the custom for the guest invariably to carry away with him all that remains of the entertainment.124

Among the precautions taken against the visiting stranger kind and respectful treatment is of particularly great importance. No traveller among an Arabic-speaking people can fail to notice the contrast between the lavish welcome and the plain leave-taking. The profuse greetings mean that the stranger will be treated as a friend and not as an enemy; and it is particularly desirable to secure his good-will in the beginning, since the first glance of an evil eye is always held to be the most dangerous. We can now realise that the extreme regard shown to a guest, and the preference given to him in every matter, must, in a large measure, be due to fear of his anger, as well as to hope of his blessings. Even the peculiar custom which requires a host to lend his wife to a guest becomes more intelligible when we consider the supposed danger of the stranger’s evil eye or his curses, as also the benefits which may be supposed to result from his love.125 And when the guest leaves, it is wise of the host to accept no reward; for there maybe misfortune in the stranger’s gift.

That hospitality should be free of cost is implied in the very meaning of the word. Wherever the custom of entertaining guests has been preserved pure and genuine, remuneration is neither asked nor expected; indeed, to offer payment would give offence, and to accept it would be disgraceful.126 Such a custom might no doubt result from absence or scarcity of money, as it cannot be expected that the wandering stranger shall carry with him heavy presents to all his future hosts; and where the intercourse is mutual, the hospitable man may hope one day to be paid back in his own coin. But it seems likely that the custom of not receiving payment from a guest is largely due to that same dread of strangers which underlies many other rules of hospitality. The acceptance of gifts is frequently considered to be connected with some danger. According to rules laid down in the sacred books of India, he who is about to accept gifts, or he who has accepted gifts, must repeatedly recite the four Vedic verses called Taratsamandîs;127 or all gifts are to be preceded by pouring out water into the extended palm of the recipient’s right hand,128 evidently because the water is supposed to cleanse the gift from the baneful energy with which it may be saturated. On the other hand, “without a full knowledge of the rules prescribed by the sacred law for the acceptance of presents, a wise man should not take anything, even though he may pine with hunger.

But an ignorant man who accepts gold, land, a horse, a cow, food, a dress, sesamum-grains, or clarified butter, is reduced to ashes like a piece of wood…. Hence an ignorant man should be afraid of accepting any presents; for by reason of a very small gift even a fool sinks into hell as a cow into a morass.”129 Moreover, a gift, to be accepted by a Brâhmana, ought to be given voluntarily, not to be asked for.130 So, too, Hebrew writers are anxious to inculcate the duty of giving alms with an ungrudging eye, as also of not giving anything before witnesses—the latter, perhaps, with a view to preventing the evil influence which is likely to emanate from an envious spectator.131 An Atlas Berber, who had probably never before had anything to do with a European, spat on the coin which I gave him for rendering me a service, and my native friends told me that he did so for fear lest the coin, owing to some sorcery on my part, should not only itself return to me, but at the same time take with it all the money with which it had been in contact in his bag. Of the Annamites it is said that “for fear of bringing ill-luck into the place the people even decline presents.”132

The duty of hospitality is probably always limited by time, even though, among some peoples, a guest is said to be entertained as long as he pleases to stay.133 According to Teutonic custom, a guest might tarry only up to the third day.134 The Anglo-Saxon rule was, “Two nights a guest, the third night one of the household,” that is, a slave.135 A German proverb says, “Den ersten Tag ein Gast, den zweiten eine Last, den dritten stinkt er fast.”136 So, also, the Southern Slavs declare that “a guest and a fish smell on the third day.”137 Burckhardt states that, among the Bedouins, if the stranger intends to prolong his visit after a lapse of three days and four hours from the time of his arrival, it is expected that he should assist his host in domestic matters; should he decline this, “he may remain, but will be censured by all the Arabs of the camp.”138 The Moors say that “the hospitality of the Prophet lasts for three days”; the first night the guest is entertained most lavishly, for then, but only then, he is “the guest of God.”

The Prophet laid down the following rule: “Whoever believes in God and the day of resurrection, must respect his guest; and the time of being kind to him is one day and one night; and the period of entertaining him is three days; and after that, if he does it longer, he benefits him more; but it is not right for a guest to stay in the house of the host so long as to incommode him.”139 According to Javanese custom, it is a point of honour to supply a stranger with food and accommodation for a day and a night at least.140 Among the Kalmucks special honour is paid to a stranger for one day only, whereas, if he remains longer, he is treated without ceremonies.141 Growing familiarity with the stranger naturally tends to dispel the superstitious dread which he inspired at first, and this, combined with the feeling that it is unfair of him to live at his host’s expense longer than necessity requires, seems to account for the rapid decline of his extraordinary privileges and for the short duration of his title to hospitable treatment.