Note 107 — Chapter XXIV · HOSPITALITY

Isaac also blessed his son by eating of his food (Genesis, xxvii. 4, 19, 24). The subject of hospitality has been incidentally dealt with by Mr. Crawley in his interesting book, The Mystic Rose (p. 239 sqq.; cf., also, p. 124 sqq.). I must leave the reader to decide how far the theory I am here advocating, which mainly rests upon my researches in Morocco, coincides with his. All through his book Mr. Crawley lays much emphasis on the principle of transference; but, if I understand him rightly, he also regards commensality as involving a supposed “exchange of personality” between the host and the guest, in consequence of which “injury done to B by A is equivalent to injury done by A to himself” (p. 237). To this opinion I cannot subscribe (cf. infra, on the Origin and Development of the Altruistic Sentiment). So far as I can see, the mutual obligations arising from eating together are fundamentally based on the idea that the common meal serves as a conductor of conditional imprecations.