amply rewarded. "The inhospitable man," the Vedic singer tells us, "acquires food in vain. acquires food in vain. I speak the truth-it verily is his death. . . . He who eats alone is nothing but a sinner." "He who does not feed these five, the gods, his guests, those whom he is bound to maintain, the manes, and himself, lives not, though he breathes." 2 According to the Vishnu Purána, a person who neglects a poor and friendless stranger in want of hospitality, goes to hell." On the other hand, by honouring guests a householder obtains the highest reward.1 "He who entertains guests for one night obtains earthly happiness, a second night gains the middle air, a third heavenly bliss, a fourth the world of unsurpassable bliss; many nights procure endless worlds. That has been declared in the Veda." 195 It is said in the Mahabharata that "he who gives food freely to a a fatigued wayfarer, whom he has never seen before, obtains great virtuous merit."" According to Hesiod, Zeus himself is wrath with him who does evil to a suppliant or a guest, and at last, in requital for his deed, lays on him a bitter penalty. Plato says:-" In his relations to strangers, a man should consider that a contract is a most holy thing, and that all concerns. and wrongs of strangers are more directly dependent on the protection of God, than wrongs done to citizens. He who is most able is the genius and the god of the stranger, who follows in the train of Zeus, the god of strangers. And for this reason, he who has a spark of caution in him, will do his best to pass through life without sinning against the stranger. And of offences committed, whether against strangers or fellow-countrymen, that against suppliants is the greatest." Similar opinions prevailed in ancient Rome. Jus hospitii, whilst 1 Rig Veda, x. 117. 6. 2 Laws of Manu, iii. 72. Cf. Institutes of Vishnu, lxvii. 45. 3 Vishnu Purána, p. 305. 4 Institutes of Vishnu, lxvii. 28, 32. Apastamba, ii. 3. 7. 16. 6 Mahabharata, Vana Parva, ii. 61, pt. v. p. 5. 7 Hesiod, Opera et dies, 331 sq. (333 $q.). Plato, Leges, v. 729 sq. 2 forming no part of the civil law, belonged to fas; the stranger, who enjoyed no legal protection, was, as a guest, protected by custom and religion.' The dii hospitales and Jupiter were on guard over him; hence the duties towards a guest were even more stringent than those towards a relative. Cæsar and Tacitus' attest that the Teutons considered it impious to injure a guest or to exclude any human being from the shelter of their roof. The God of Israel was a preserver of strangers." In the Talmud hospitality is described as "the most important part of divine worship," as being equivalent to the duty of honouring father and mother, as even more meritorious than frequenting the synagogue." Muhammedanism likewise regards hospitality as a religious duty.10 "Whoever," said the Prophet, "believes in God and the day of resurrection, must respect his guest. But the idea that a guest enjoys divine protection prevailed among the Arabs long before the times of Muhammed. 12 The Bedouins say that the guests are "guests of God." 13 The Christian Church, again, regarded hospitality as a duty imposed by Christ.14 8 "11 That a stranger, who under other circumstances is treated as an inferior being or a foe, liable to be robbed and killed with impunity, should enjoy such extraordinary privileges as a guest, is certainly one of the most curious contrasts which present themselves to a student of the moral ideas of mankind. It may be asked, why should 1 Servius, In Virgilii Æneidos, iii. 55: "Fas omne; et cognationis, et iuris hospitii." von Jhering, Geist des römischen Rechts, i. 227. Leist, Altarisches Jus Civile, i. 103, 358 sq. Servius, In Virgilii Æneidos, i. 736. Livy, Historiæ Romanæ, xxxix. 51. Tacitus, Annales, xv. 52. Plautus, Panuli, v. I. 25. 3 Gellius, Noctes Attica, v. 13. 5: "In officiis apud maiores ita observatum est, primum tutelae, deinde hospiti, deinde clienti, tum cognato, postea affini." 4 Cæsar, De bello Gallico, vi. 23. Tacitus, Germania, 21. 6 Psalms, cxlvi. 9. 7 Deutsch, Literary Remains, p. 57. 8 Kiddushin, fol. 39 B, quoted by Hershon, Treasures of the Talmud, P. 145. 9 Sabbath, fol. 127 A, quoted by Katz, Der wahre Talmudjude, p. 103. 10 Koran, iv. 40 sqq. 11 Lane, Arabian Society in the Middle Ages, p. 142. 12 Wellhausen, Reste arabischen Hei dentums, p. 223 sq. 13 Doughty, Arabia Deserta, i. 228, 504. 14 Laurent, Études sur l'histoire de Humanité, vii. 346. he be received at all? Of course, he stands in need of protection and support, but why should those who do not know him care for that? One answer is that his helpless condition may excite pity; facts seem to prove that even among savages the altruistic feelings, however narrow, can be stirred by the sight of a suffering and harmless stranger. Another answer is that the host himself may expect to reap benefit from his act. And there can be little doubt that the rules of hospitality are in the main based on egoistic considerations. It has been justly observed that in uncivilised countries, where there is no public accommodation for travellers, "hospitality is so necessary, and so much required by the mutual convenience of all parties, as to detract greatly from its merit as a moral quality.' When the stranger belongs to a community with which a reciprocity of intercourse prevails, it is prudent to give him a hearty reception; he who is the host to-day may be the guest to-morrow. "If the Red Indians are hospitable," says Domenech, "they also look for their hospitality being returned with the same marks of respect and consideration." Moreover, the stranger is a bearer of news and tidings, and as such may be a welcome guest where communication between different places is slow and rare. During my wanderings in the remote forests of Northern Finland I was stantly welcomed with the phrase, "What news?" But the stranger may be supposed to bring with him something which is valued even more highly, namely, good luck or blessings. 1 Winterbottom, op. cit. i. 214. Domenech, Seven Years' Residence in the Great Deserts of North America, ii. 319. Cf. Dunbar, 'Pawnee Indians,' in Magazine of American History, viii. 745; Brett, Indian Tribes of Guiana, p. 347; Bernau, Missionary Labours in British Guiana, p. 51; von den Steinen, Unter den Naturvölkern Zentral-Brasiliens, p. 333 sq. (Bakaïri); Georgi, op. cit. iii. 154 (Kamchadales); Smeaton, op. cit. p. 146 (Karens); During the first days of my stay at Demnat, in the Great Atlas, the natives in spite of their hostility towards Europeans, said they were quite pleased with my coming to see them, because I had brought with me rain and an increase of the import of victuals, which just before my arrival had been very scarce. So, too, whilst residing among the Andjra mountaineers in the North of Morocco, I was said to be a person with "propitious ankles,' because, since I settled down among them, the village where I stayed was frequently visited by Shereefs-presumed descendants of the Prophet Muhammed-who are always highly valued guests on account of the baraka, or holiness, with which they are supposed in a smaller or greater degree to be endowed. The stranger may be a source of good fortune either involuntarily, as a bearer of luck, or through his good wishes; and there is every reason to hope that he will, if treated hospitably, return the kindness of his host with a blessing. According to the old traveller d'Arvieux, strangers who come to an Arab village are received by the Sheikh with some such words as these :-"You are welcome; praised be God that you are in good health; your arrival draws down the blessing of heaven upon us; the house and all that is in it is yours, you are masters of it." It is said in one of the sacred books of India that through a Brahmana guest the people obtain rain, and food through rain, hence they know that "the hospitable reception of a guest is a ceremony averting evil." When we read in the Laws of Manu that "the hospitable reception of guests procures wealth, fame, long life, and heavenly bliss," it is also reasonable to suppose that this supernatural reward is a result of blessings invoked on the host. In the Suppliants' of Aeschylus the Chorus sings:-"Let us utter for the Argives blessings in requital of their blessings. And may Zeus of Strangers watch to their fulfilment the rewards that issue from a stranger's tongue, that 、 1 d'Arvieux, Travels in Arabia the Desart, p. 131 sq. 2 Vasishtha, xi. 13. they reach their perfect goal." We can now understand the eagerness with which guests are sought for. When a guest enters the hut of a Kalmuck," the host, the hostess, and everybody in the hut, rejoice at the arrival of the stranger as at an unexpected fortune." 2 Among the Arabs of Sinai, "if a stranger be seen from afar coming towards the camp, he is the guest for that night of the first person who descries him, and who, whether a grown man or a child, exclaims, There comes my guest.' Such a person has a right to entertain the guest that night. Serious quarrels happen on these occasions; and the Arabs often have recourse to their great oath-—' By the divorce (from my wife) I swear that I shall entertain the guest; upon which all opposition ceases.' It is also very usual in the East to eat before the gate of the house where travellers pass, and every stranger of respectable appearance is invariably requested to sit down and partake of the repast. Among the Maoris, "no sooner does a stranger appear in sight, than he is welcomed with the usual cry of Come hither! come hither!' from numerous voices, and is immediately invited to eat of such provisions as the place affords." If efficacy is ascribed to the blessings of even an ordinary man, the blessings of a stranger are naturally supposed to be still more powerful. For the unknown stranger, like everything unknown and everything strange, arouses a feeling of mysterious awe in superstitious minds. The "Do not treat strangers slightingly, for you never know whom you are entertaining.' According to the Hitopadesa, "a guest consists of all the deities." It is significant that in the writings of ancient India, Greece, and Rome, guests are mentioned next after gods as due objects of regard.8 Thus Aeschylus speaks of a man's Ainos say, 1 Aeschylus, Supplices, 632 sqq. 2 Bergmann, op. cit. ii. 282. 3 Burckhardt, Bedouins and Wahábys, p. 198. 4 Idem, Arabic Proverbs, p. 218. Chasseboeuf de Volney, Travels through Syria and Egypt, i. 413. 7 5 Yate, op. cit. p. 100. Cf. Turner, Nineteen Years in Polynesia, p. 325 (Samoans); Sproat, op. cit. p. 57 (Ahts). Batchelor, Ainu and their FolkLore, p. 259. 7 Hitopadesa, Mitralâbhâ, 65. |