Note 57 — Chapter XXV · MATILALL IN JESSORE.

These are all signs of poverty in the East: oil has always been regarded in the East as a sign of prosperity, and we find it constantly referred to in the Hebrew Bible— It is like the precious ointment upon the head.

The absence of oil on the head is a distinct mark of poverty in the East. A thin stomach would also be regarded as a sign of poverty in a country like Bengal, especially where The fair round belly of Shakespeare, and The front like the front of Ganesh of the Bengali, is regarded as a mark of prosperity. A good story is told of an Indian client who had full confidence in the English barrister to whom he had entrusted his case because he was a very fat individual.